Thursday, August 13, 2009

20/20 Vision

So after yesterday's post, I had several of you comment or email "What's a Vision Board?"

It's simple.

Yet incredibly powerful.

I was 29 years old, just got married, just graduated college, just moved to a small town and was exhausted. Finding a job and moving forward was very much in the windshield of my life, but the rear view mirror was still calling me.

I phoned every counseling agency in the phone book.

Twice.

Nothing.

I started to think I wasn't ever going to be a counselor and in desperation, began looking at independent sales, working from home, sort of businesses. Mr. Realife advised against it, but as my stubborn ass always seems to do, I did what I wanted.

$400 later and not much to show for it and a couple of embarrassing stories later, I was stuck. in. a. rut.

At the time, I was still seeing my own counselor and told her a bit of what I was going through. She asked me a question that I'd asked myself a thousand times, but coming from her it just sounded different, "Anna, where are you going?"

She continued, explaining that our journey can't be aimless. We can't just say "Well, one day I want to, I hope to, I'm going to..." -- You actually have to make a plan, draw out a map and follow it. If you don't, you'll either 1.) never get there or 2.) it'll take you 10x's longer than it should have.

Over the next week, I wrote down what I wanted from my life. While I won't share those things, it was all inclusive - Personal , professional , financial , social , emotional, spiritual... the list goes on. I then cut out hundreds of pictures, words and phrases from magazines that represented my list of desires for my life. Mr. R looked at me sideways, but I didn't tell him what I was doing... this was for me.

I brought it back to her the next week and she said,

Every time you face a life issue, major decision or go through tough times,
you use this board to bring your life back into perspective.


Going home that night, I decided it was time to share this with my husband. While this life is my journey, I wanted to share with him where I was going.

With a few butterflies in my stomach, I sat him down and told him the story. He respected it. He knew that what I was telling him was important. What told me that was when he took it out of my hand and said "So the next time you want to sell ******, I get to pull this out and ask you if it fits in this plan?"

He got it and I love him for that.

Here's an example I found of a vision board.

19 comments:

Becky at lifeoutoffocus said...

i really like this idea! thanks for sharing!

ashley said...

love this! i'm pretty sure i'll be spending next week making a vision board! :-)

Lucky in Love said...

What a fantastic idea! I'm so glad that it helped you :)

Madison Sanders said...

Yep, Mr. R definitely got it. It's fun to put together a vision board.

ELP said...

Love it. May have to gove it a whirl, myself.

le chiquest said...

one time i attempted to do a vision board and i couldn't see clearly. so i had a bunch of question marks and one word: CALIFORNIA. i think i need to revisit my vision board and actually do it this time. maybe i will have more to place on it.
thanks for bringing this back to me. ; )

Heather @ Simple Wives said...

What a wonderful Idea! I need something like that! :)

Lauren said...

Love this idea!

Meg said...

I love this idea. And I love your blog. I just came across it and have been reading your beginning posts about being a newlywed. As a newlywed who is stuck in a rut and always wondering why things don't seem so great when everyone else says that's it's supposed to be the greatest time. It's so nice to see that it's not just me or us. Thank you for your honesty in your blogs! This was what I needed to read.

Izzy said...

I'm not sure I have a board big enough LOL. And maybe I should use pushpins instead of glue since I change my mind waaay too much :).

Thanks for sharing ... perhaps I'll create my own!

Ally Wasmund said...

What a fabulous idea! You rock!

Sweetbabs said...

Thank you so much for sharing! It is like mini session for everyone that reads. It has sure made me think about what my vision board would look like. I see lots of school activities, cook book cutouts along with lots of pictures of families having fun on vacations. If you can not already tell My dream is just to be the best mother and wife I can be. :-)

I want my daughter to know the family life that I never had. I want to be here I mean really be here for her with every new discovery she makes and journey she starts.

Ryan Biddulph said...

Vision boards attract prosperity. My life has changed dramatically since I began to use them.

The idea is that which we picture, and believe is already ours, will eventually manifest. The buffer of time between the construction of your vision board and the realization of your goals is in proportion to your faith in their manifestation.

Thanks for sharing your insight.

Rya

LWLH said...

My gf made one of these once and I loved it! :)

Chic Runner said...

I have been thinking that I need to do this as well. maybe it is what i am missing as well :) Thanks for re-planting the idea in my head and i'm glad it worked for you!

Ms. Salti said...

What a great idea... I think I may put one together!

Unknown said...

Love these! Tried them with my 5th graders last year and they turned out great!

Liz said...

I love this idea. Absolutely love it. I know someone who was doing a more internal "vision board" and all of a sudden "yoga" popped into her head. This was several years ago. Now she's an instructor part-time. Never dismiss the power of your mind! I'm reading a book that's helping me visualize a new life for myself, out of the rut I find myself in: "YOU UNSTUCK," by Libby Gill. She takes sophisticated concepts and distills them into simple action steps. (Simply is good for me...) She even promises that if you follow her program and it DOES NOT help you make significant life changes, she'll personally coach them.

Ashley @ {Let Go, Laughing} said...

This is an awesome idea.

I really think I need this for my life because I feel so aimless and stuck in a rut right now.

I may even start to think about what would be on my vision board tomorrow and take the steps to make my own.