At the beginning of the year we hosted ‘How To Make A Vision Board’ Workshops helping people get intentional about the year ahead.

Writing this at the beginning of lockdown 2020, the sessions took place just over 10 weeks ago and in that time, the world has dramatically changed. I don’t think any of us imagined the year would go like this.

I knew had to do something to help focus on the things I can control and try and be mindful about letting go of the things I can’t. 

So I thought about the concept of vision boards, why can’t the same practice work for seasons as well as years. Surely you can make a positive plan for any season in life. New school years, moving homes, transitioning jobs etc.

So here’s your ‘How To’ guide on how to make a vision board for any season of life.

How to make a vision board

1. Choose your vision board style

Choose a style that you’ll enjoy making, a list, collage, Pinterest board, illustrations. This one I did in the style of a big doodled brainstorm on an A2 piece of paper.

2. Decide the areas you wanna focus on

On a scrap bit of paper, write down the main areas of your life that you would love to focus on or improve. If you’re struggling to think, we’ve created this handy guide to help you think of potential areas and ideas to go on your board. For me I chose:

• Friendships
• Marriage
• Reuben (my son)
• The home
• Faith
• Community
• Education
• Health

3. Dream up the best for each one

Go through each area, still on your separate piece of paper, write down ideas that you’d love to try, learn, do, feel. Think of things that might bring you joy. 

Think about your situation right now, how could you use your position or opportunity for the better? For example, as I’m writing in lockdown you might be one of the ones stuck at home, cut off from your normal routine. Are there things you’ve always wanted to do but never had the time? Are there things on your To Do list that just never get ticked off? What could this ‘time out’ offer you? A bigger appreciation for the simple things?

If useful, I’ll give you one of my own examples, under my child ‘Reuben’ I thought of all the things I could do will make the time with my 11 month old more special. Some things on my list:

• Make things for him to play with
• Create a fun photoshoot with him
• Try new recipes for him to eat
• Teach him a new word each week
• Find an online baby group to stream into
• Google sensory toy ideas from household objects
• Find alternative educational tv shows  

If you’re stuck for inspiration, I’d highly recommend checking out Pinterest and do a search for each area. E.g. ‘home improvement ideas’ or ‘fun activities to do with kids’ or ‘ways to have fun at home’. There really is so many resources out there that could inspire you on things you’d love to do.

Another example of thinking outside the box, you could be in a dead end job you don’t enjoy and are bored stiff. Are there moments of the day where you could explore other industries or roles? Are there people in your job, that you don’t know yet that could help you? Is anyone in job roles that you would love to be one day that you could shadow or learn from. Try and think out the box, and dream up new opportunities, building your roadmap on how to get there.

4. Prettify the vision

Once you’ve created your list, you can either leave it as it is, or turn it in into a beautiful illustration.

If you have magazines or newspapers at home, tear out images/words/colours that represent the things you’ve made on the list. E.g You want to start writing letters to your friends, find pictures of a postbox or envelopes, or a stamp.

If like me during lockdown you have no magazines or newspapers, turn your list into a colourful poster. If you’ve got kids, this could be an activity you could do together as a family. Write the areas of your life out in big, then write your ideas around them in different colours and font styles. You could doodle illustrations that match what you’d like to achieve. For example If you wanna use this time to learn French – you could draw a little French flag. 

Et voila!

There you have it, an intentional plan, bringing you purpose and highlighting the things that could bring you more joy.

It’s only been a few days since making mine, but it’s already made a difference to me mentally. Knowing I have a rough plan for the next few months is comforting and if on a day, the only task I manage to complete is ‘defrost the freezer’ I weirdly still feel a sense of accomplishment!

If this has inspired you or encouraged you to make something similar I’d love to know. Drop me an email or a message me in the comments below.