This is a special time of the year to reflect on the abundance of the previous year and to plan for the upcoming new year. In this very special case, we have a new decade to celebrate with the perfect 2020 Vision.

What would you like to see, do and be in this new year/decade?

Here at Artisan Creative, each year our a.team members work on their New Year’s goals and create a vision board or dream board. Most create physical boards, although a few opt for a digital version using Trello, Canva, Pinterest or PicMonkey.

We present our boards to one another at our first team meeting in January. The boards are a collection of our short and long term goals and include both personal and professional aspirations.

Presenting to the team creates accountability (one of our a.team core values) and enables the group to learn more about each other’s ambitions, dreams, and commitments. Some set a theme for the year, some have specific action words—others use inspirational quotes. All have in common a shared use of imagery that inspires, tells a story, and conveys a message to create a powerful visualization tool.

In addition to sharing our vision and goals at the start of the new year, we review our boards mid-year in our June meeting and share a recap at our year-end meeting. This helps keep us on track during the course of the year, which can have many twists and turns. This activity is one of our strongest team-building exercises, as it stays “evergreen”.

You can do a variation this year and create a vision board for the decade with a focus on long term goals.  An alternative is to create a gratitude board where you can continually be reminded of all things you are grateful for.

However you choose to proceed, here are some tips to create your vision board and get started on achieving your goals!

1. Select words and images that inspire and are true to your core values.
2. Create positivity and inspiration for yourself and others.
3. Imagine the integrated life/work you want to live.
4. You can either divide your board into sections for business and personal or mix the elements together throughout. The important point is to create an integrated board where your personal and professional aspirations are represented.
5. Hang the board where you can re-visit it daily—read the inspirational messages out loud— and often! Mine is right in front of my desk, so I get to see it every time I look up from my computer.
6. Share with others. Having an accountability partner will help you get closer to achieving your goals.
7. If you choose to go the digital route, change your desktop to the vision board artwork so you can see it every day for inspiration and setting priorities.

Tools needed:

• A large poster board to give you plenty of space to visualize your year, yet small enough to hang on your wall. We use the 22 x 28 size available from Staples.
• A good pair of scissors and a strong glue stick so the pictures stay on all year long.
• Variety of magazines to look through and find those inspiring words and pictures.
• (Optional) Markers/stickers to write on or embellish your board.
• Patience and Creativity.
• Time to reflect.
  Cut images and words throughout the month. Select aside a day to create the actual vision board. For some, it’s easier to start with a theme and for others, the pictures and words shape the theme of the board. There is no right or wrong method, harness your creativity any way that works best for you.

What is your goal-setting process?

Happy 2020!  We hope you’ve enjoyed the 550th issue of our weekly a.blog.