I'm not sure about you but new year's resolutions have never really worked for me. Not necessarily because I wasn't able to stick to them. I used to be a real workaholic, so keeping up insane routines and pursuing over-ambitious, borderline-crazy plans was my daily bread. No. The main problem was the way resolutions made me feel.
I don't want to go full on Marie Kondo-esque but there wasn't much joy or inspiration coming from them. They tended to blur out any difference between work and life. Suddenly everything felt like work. My morning routine (wake up, listen to a podcast while brushing your teeth, do some yoga, make a healthy breakfast). My evening routine (a language or art course of my choice, a light dinner, a documentary film or an "important" book).
I'm obviously exaggerating a little bit here, but not too much. The productivity obsession is real, and some of us fall deeper into it than others. Everything in my life seemed to be driven by rules. Everything demanded a tangible sign of self-improvement. A SMART goal. What do you mean you spent your whole summer sunbathing on your grandma's garden without learning a new language, going through a 650-page “Intro to Stats” book, or reading at least 10-15 books? (Btw, I have definitely done all those things previously...and you know what? Remember nothing from them).
No, now I can see that new year's resolutions only worked as a fuel for my anxiety- and OCD-driven self. And once I finally understood that, there was no coming back.
However, I understand that many people do like a fresh start at the beginning of the year. So what could be a more suitable alternative for those of us not thriving in the resolution craziness? For me, it was definitely a Vision Board. Vision Boards don't ask for tangible goals. For numbers, metrics, or comparisons. In fact, they don't need to contain any words at all. It's mostly a visual guideline for what you would like your life to feel like in the next year. What would you like to bring more of. What would you like to focus on more. What have you been missing in the previous year. What there was too much of. The limits are endless and it's literally only up to you what you decide to include in.
I started playing around with vision boards in autumn 2020, right after my summer burnout. That's right, I don't tend to do vision boards in January but rather in September. Primarily because it's my birthday month and I prefer to think about the year ahead around that time. But also because September for me marks the beginning of the school year, which has, for better or worse, influenced my perception of timing forever.
But whatever your new year scheduling preference, vision boards are here to help guiding you. The process of making them is fairly individual. It can take you just one day, a full month, or you can simply play with it throughout the whole year. Here are some easy tips that helped me start :)
1. Over the year, start saving up images that you feel drawn to. It can be photos, drawings, little sketches, marks on the floor, clouds, or even specific book pages or quotes if you are more inspired by verbal material. It doesn’t necessarily need to be an object, specific atmosphere, emotions, colours or shapes are just as valuable. You can use your Pinterest account to save them, cut out newspaper images if you have physical copies, or simply create a folder on your phone or laptop and throw in whatever catches your attention.
2. When your new year starts, open your visual folder and take time to really absorb what's in there. Scroll or flip through your documents. These are the things that have inspired you, that you might have been lacking the past year, or the things that you are simply craving more of. While you are scrolling or flipping through, you will inevitably start feeling drawn to a specific number of them. Save these in a new folder or leave aside the pile. This will be the core of your Vision board.
3. Open a photo editing programme (CANVA or Photoshop are classics, but even free online collaging editors will do the trick). Or take a large sheet of white paper if you are working with physical copies. Now sit down and start ordering the cut outs on a blank page. You can divide them by categories. Or make shapes out of them. Play with sizes, overlaps, blank spaces. Whatever feels right to you. Then step back and have a look. Is there anything that doesn't quite fit? Keep re-arranging or swapping images until you feel completely satisfied with the vibe it's giving you. No worries If you don’t have professional graphic or artistic skills. Vision boards are not about technical perfection but only your inner inspiration. So leave judgement aside.
4. Export your image from the editing programme or safely glue everything onto a paper. Set your Vision board as your new laptop or phone desktop or hang it on the wall. It's crucial that you have an easy access to it and can have a look at it frequently, if not daily.
5. If you want, now you can sit and write down for yourself what the vision board is telling you. Are there any specific themes or categories emerging? Can you easily see what it is that you are craving? I love doing this immediately after I finish my vision board. Never before though, as I prefer to choose my images intuitively. Deep inside, I already know what I want from the next year. There is no need to impose it artificially :)
I hope this article was helpful. Remember, no need to chain ourselves with resolutions. New year plans can be much more colourful than that!
Until next time.
~ Lucie
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