If you’re looking to reinvent yourself, refresh your personal brand or try a new profession in 2021, you will find a vision board helpful in crystallizing your goals. Vision boards are simply visual representations of your goals. They can be digital or physical collages of images representing what you want to achieve.
Here are a few tips to help you go about it:
1. Be Specific: If one of your goals is to complete a certification course in 2021, post a mock image of the certificate. If you plan to complete your course in April, paste the word April above the image. If you want a more active leadership role in your company, find a picture of someone addressing a group in a meeting, paste a picture of your face over the person speaking and write the name of the meeting (e.g. Monday Sales Meeting) above it. Locate an image of your dream organization’s office and paste a picture of yourself directly in front of it with a date next to your target start date.
2. Be Realistic, But Stretch: Each item positioned on your board is a professional goal you will attain in 365 days. If you are currently a supervisor, it is probably not realistic to paste a picture signifying your being VP of Operations within the year. However, it may be a reasonable stretch to become a manager in a more desirable department.
3. Consider the Whole Picture: Your vision board should include goals which, although they may not seem directly linked to your aspirations, support your vision nonetheless. For instance, if you aspire to a training position requiring a large amount of travel in your company, include fitness goals on your board with the understanding that your health will impact your ability to perform. Incorporate items like healthy eating, and sleep targets on your board also.
4. Do the Work: Apply for professional courses if that’s your goal. Update your LinkedIn profile or follow Twitter job boards for your industry, to work on your goal of finding a new opportunity. Once your board is complete, display it somewhere you’ll see it often to serve as a reminder of your objectives, and the work needed to accomplish them. It is totally up to you to obtain the tools and help you need, then commit to doing the work to turn your board into a reality.
