Creating a Vision Board for Gratitude
Creating a vision board is a great way to remind yourself of what you are grateful for. What are you working towards in your daily life and why do you want to get there?
With a vision board you can use it to remind yourself of the qualities you want to have in your life – what do you want to feel, and what can you do to help yourself get there.
Daily glimpses will help you stay connected to what you are truly grateful for and be motivated to take an action every day to move you closer to that goal. The goal could be a promotion at work, or taking up a new hobby or skill such as climbing. Maybe it’s to have a better work / life balance, and to structure your work so that you can have more time off to spend with your family.
Whatever it is you are aiming for, here is my step-by-step guide for how to create your vision board and steer yourself towards your goals.
- Write down everything you are grateful for in your life now. It could be tiny things like that chocolate cake at lunch, to big life choices you have made that you are thankful for. Also remind yourself, or write down, your goals for the next 6 months, one year or three years depending on how long you want the vision board to reflect. Making the link between the goals and what you are grateful for is important.
- You may want to do two vision boards – one for 6 months and one for 3 years so that you break down the big goal on where you want to be in 3 years into a more manageable goal to achieve in 6 months.
- Create a space that you feel comfortable and inspired in and that you won't be disturbed. This may be your office or lounge at home before the kids return from school.
- Collect your supplies to make the vision board such as magazines, paper, scissors, glue and white board.
- Spend an hour or two with a heap of magazines, cutting out pictures and words that visualise what you are grateful for and how they connect to your goals.
- You may want to focus on different areas of your life such as health, finances, career, family, love, holiday, work life balance or home
- You could invite friends around to work on your vision boards together, and vocalise all of your gratitude’s as you are sticking them on. You can inspire each other and help each other to think of things they may not have noticed. With your goals too, friends can support you to take steps towards them, and check in with each other from time to time to see how they are going.
- Another option is to look for a workshop that gives you the space to create a vision board. If you have been procrastinating on setting yourself a goal this may be a great way to commit to setting your goals and creating the vision board.
- Have fun creating your vision board and thinking about how life and your career will be different if you achieve all of these goals.
- Place it on your wardrobe or fridge door and add it to your phone and laptop screen saver so it’s in constant view.
Every time you walk past or catch sight of your vision board, use it as a prompt to check in and acknowledge what you are grateful for. Add to it as new gratitudes come up, and you can also review it after a few months and see if your gratitudes or goals have changed. Celebrate often the goals you achieve and take the time to acknowledge how far you have come.
About the author
Caroline Arnold
Caroline Arnold is a Women’s Career Coach from the UK. After leaving her old job and relocating to Bristol, Caroline Arnold started her own coaching company. She wanted to help women in all kinds of careers overcome the challenges before them. Whether she’s coaching individuals, groups or entire companies, her goal is the same: to prove that confidence, passion and hard work should always lead to a rewarding career, no matter who you are or what your gender is.