As I was struggling to make progress on writing my book about our open adoption experience, an opportunity to create a Vision Board came my way. My good friend Lidia Buzek wanted to get her Widow-to-Widow Life Coaching business launched and she began to offer Vison Board sessions to friends and family to help hone her coaching process and skills.
Since I had been very involved in vision and mission setting in my corporate business life, I jumped at this chance. I knew how powerful vision setting can be as I have seen it work for teams. Why not do it just for me?
The process is a large investment in time and energy, and is so worthwhile. A couple of favorite quotes I brought with me from my corporate days-
“Strength and energy come from having vividly identified lifetime goals.”
“If you don’t know where you are going, you may end up somewhere else.”
I knew these ideas to be true. And now as a retired person, it was more important than ever to identify and develop clear goals. We all know intuitively about goal setting and how important it is. The added benefit of Vision Boarding is that by using pictures it produces the vividly identification to your goals. It uses not only powerful words but when you add favorite images, they elicit positive emotions and your goals become incredibly formidable.
I was excited to do this and Lidia set up a series of zoom calls with five of us. She took us through a process that included a self-assessment of what was important to us. We did an exercise to identify what we valued in all areas of our life such as family, personal development, spirituality, health, finance, and enjoyment. She helped us identify our level of satisfaction in each area and how important the area was to us.
Looking closely at the gaps between where we were and where we wanted to be, we could begin to see the areas where we each wanted to grow. We set goals and then it was time to have fun. We needed to create a vision for what it would look like when the goal was achieved. On our Vision Board we added images and color to help us see what we wanted to create in our lives. And we were encouraged to plan big, not small or incremental. It was inspiring to share our boards with the group.
For my writing goal I added a picture representing my published book as well as an image of presenting my work to groups of people in a workshop setting. I even added a visual of doing a TED X talk. Then I wrote affirmations on sticky notes to add to my board. Since writing my book was my most prominent goal, I gave it top right positioning on my board.
I also created pictures to represent my goals in other areas of my like fitness, travelling, spirituality and fun and enjoyment.
My board is my happy place and it is sitting in my dining room and I see it every day. I later added another favorite quote:
“You move to and become that which you THINK about.”
The Vision Board helps me think about what I want and with it as a powerful daily reminder, I naturally move towards those goals. When big or little opportunities present themselves that are aligned with my goals, I notice them and act on them. It is amazing to watch this work. Without setting and visualizing my goals I would likely not see or just pass up opportunities that come my way.
Since creating my vision board about a year and a-half ago, I have moved forward in every one of the areas where I set goals. I have actually completed my manuscript for my book The Branches We Cherish: Twenty-Five Truths About Open Adoption, and am now pitching to publishers.
I am far from complete but I can say with confidence I am moving in the direction I want my life to go. And that is a very good feeling!
Please share my blog with friends and family who might be interested in adoption. They can sign up at : lindarsexton.com. Six in ten Americans have had personal experience with adoption, meaning that they themselves, a family member, or a close friend was adopted, had adopted a child, or had placed a child for adoption.
You can check out coach Lidia at:
Need to think about a Vision Board as I approach retirement. Thanks for the idea to continue to set goals in your personal and professional life.
I love how the process of creating a Vision Board helps align our actions with our goals. So powerful! Thank you for sharing your Vision Board with us. It is very inspiring!