10 Jan Want To Have Success in 2019? Create a VisionBoard.

Success. What exactly IS success? Well if you hop onto Instagram and type in #success, you will get over 42 million pictures of things that people consider to be an example of success. Granted, probably 2 million of those are somehow tied to the classic “Success Baby” meme, but you get the idea. But you will also see pictures of fancy cars and people in nice apartments with skyline views. There are plenty of guys crushing weights at the gym and girls in business suits or traveling to exotic locations.

So in short, success is getting what you desire. Now, there are little successes everyday. Some consider getting their kids to school on time a success. Is that really a success? Sure it is! But that’s not what we are here to talk about. We are here to talk about doing hard things. The successes that a life is built around achieving. Some of you just got tired thinking about whatever popped in your head.

Quick! What is that thing? Is it to run a marathon? Travel to Hawaii? Lose 40lbs? Start your own business? Buy a home? Get your diploma? Start a family? Raise your family better? What is it that’s in your head right now? Do this for me and for yourself…write it down. Right now…

I’ll wait.

Okay, got it? Good. Take that thing and turn it into a goal which means having a quantifiable achievement and an exact end date.  Simply put, enter it into this phrase.

“My goal is (insert what you want to accomplish here) and I will achieve it by (insert a specific day here).”

Repeat this process for different aspects of your life and write them down. Take some time to really think about this. Once you have a few, you are ready to create your VisionBoard.

What Is A VisionBoard And How Do I Make One?

I have been creating VisionBoards for the past six years ever since a friend turned me on to them. Since then, I have averaged about eight goals per year and achieved all but two of them in those five years. Going 38 for 40 ain’t too shabby! And one of those goals was to go on a damn cruise! Not a goal you want to fail.

The principle is simple. Take some time (preferably at the beginning of a year) and consider things you would like to accomplish over the next 12 months. Once you have done that, wittle it down to anywhere from five to nine of your top choices. Examples of past ones I have are goals such as read 20 books a year, earn $150,000 of income, and go to Mexico for vacation.

You don’t want too few goals and you definitely don’t want too many. The science is to make them hard enough to really stretch you but realistic enough that you can feasibly achieve it. One question I ask myself to measure that is ‘will I have to cut something out of my life (ex. watch less TV, wake up 30 minutes earlier, put away my phone for a night, etc.) in order to achieve this?’ If the answer to that is yes, then I know I’m on the right path and its something that will stretch my abilities and current lifestyle.

Once I have my list of five to nine things, I open a Microsoft Word document. I turn the orientation of the page to Landscape (details on how to do all of this below). Then I go to a web browser. I find a picture that visually represents this goal to me. Some of them are factual and some are funny because that’s what I like. So for instance, my goal this year is to dive with Whale Sharks so I copied a picture of a Whale Shark onto the paper. Quite straight-forward. Then, I have a goal to make $200,000 at my day job (I’m in sales so monetary goals are important since I don’t have a fixed income) so I copied a funny meme about work in there. Once I’ve done that for all my goals, I write down the specifics at the bottom of the page.

Building a VisionBoard on Word:

1. Open a new document and a internet browser (I personally use Chrome)
2. Personal preference, but I turn the orientation to Landscape (Click on File>Page Set Up>Orientation)
3. Search images online for something to represent each goal.
4. Right click and ‘Copy Image’
5. Go to the Word document and ‘Paste Image’
6. When you copy an image onto Microsoft Word, it is stuck in place. Click on the selected image then go to Layout>Wrap Text>In Front of Text and then you will be able to drag the picture wherever you want on the page to make it nice and orderly.

Some people do it differently. A lot of people like to cut things out of magazines. That’s cool if you have some lying around, but magazines aren’t cheap and this is free. Now for THE most important part.

The purpose of a VisionBoard is to PUT IT SOMEWHERE YOUR VISION WILL REGULARLY VISION IT. I keep it in my office so I see it everyday. My wife has hers next to the bathroom sink. Next, share it with some close friends and family members. Tell them you WILL do these things this year. Studies show that we are more motivated by a fear of failure more than we are the thrill of success, but having BOTH is best. Back yourself into a corner. You will thank yourself for it later (and you can thank me too if you want for suggesting it).

Now, it’s all about focus and execution. It is rare that every day you will do something to move towards one of your goals, but if you have spent a whole week without doing ANYTHING to move closer to any of your goals on your VB, you need to reflect on whether this was truly a random thing or if you truly aren’t focused on what you said was important to you. We are human. It happens. The important thing is that you recognize that and fix it. You only have 52 weeks. Losing 4 of those in a year can be the different between what YOU defined as your SUCCESS and failure.

I have no doubt you will be happier if you follow through on this, even if you don’t meet all of your goals and fall a little short. I’m happier. My wife is. My friends that have started doing it are. Why? Because it’s too easy to get caught in the daily rush of things. The rat race happens and we’re stuck in traffic. Next thing you know, a month has gone by and you’ve just…existed. This is a tool to help you take control back and do what makes you feel alive.

(P.S. I’m excited about my VisionBoard this year. Big things planned. I love doing it because it gets me super jazzed about the year. Here is an image of mine for 2019 if you want another example.)