A new year is around the corner, and many of us are strategizing our goals for 2023.
I’ve written previously about the power of vision boards in working toward your goals, and I stand by this simple tool. However, it takes more than slapping random pictures on a poster board to achieve your goals.
Following are some best practices I’ve gathered to help you create a meaningful vision board for your 2023 financial goals.
Take a Picture
When setting a goal, you’ll often hear that you should write it down. A vision board allows you to document your goal through images. Comb through magazines or search online to find images that represent each of your goals.
My 2022 vision board had a picture of pine trees and a meadow to represent my goal of purchasing property.
Words don’t have to be absent from your vision board. Through the years, I’ve included cut-outs of encouraging quotes and keywords that aligned with specific goals. “Honesty and growth” is one of my favorite phrases on my 2022 vision board.
Be Specific
A poor goal is “I want to save more money.” A better goal is “I want to save $14,000.” Maybe your vision board includes a picture of gold bars to represent $14k, or maybe you find a “14” to cut out of a magazine headline.
Perhaps instead of setting a goal to exercise more, your vision board includes a picture of a cyclist or a dancer to reflect specifically what type of exercise you wish to incorporate into your life.
Set a deadline
The vision boards my friends and I make represent what we set out to accomplish during the year. Perhaps your goals have more specific deadlines. If so, you could divide your board into quarterly timeframes and arrange your goals accordingly.
Make the goal difficult
You read that right. It has been said that people are motivated to perform better when their goals are difficult. Saving $50 a month probably is easy and requires minimal effort. But saving $500 – or even $5,000 – a month might require some sacrifice and creativity. Imagine how good it would feel to achieve that!
Create a budget
Don’t know where to start? Track all your expenditures for one month to figure out where you spend your money, and use that information to create a budget and identify potential areas where you can cut costs. Stick to your budget.
Monitor your progress
This is where your vision board becomes handy. Display it in a location where you’ll see it often. You might use a highlighter to place a check mark on each area as you accomplish your goals.
A highlight for me at the beginning of each year is looking at my previous year’s vision board and taking note of all that I accomplished.
Join me for a vision board session
I’m hosting a vision board workshop here at the Allen & Company Conference Center on Saturday, Dec. 17, 1-5 p.m. If you would like to join us and bring a friend, please register here. Seats are limited, so act now.
December 2022
