It’s that time of year again. The holiday season is over and just like clockwork, semblances of resolutions are forming in the back of your mind. You know, those ones we’ve all made a million times like, ‘eat healthier’, ‘save money’, ‘drink less’, and ‘exercise more’, but there is something different…
In the aftermath of an over-indulgent Christmas period, the common knee-jerk response is to craft out those overreaching New Years resolutions with a hopeful determination for the year ahead.
Sadly, studies* have shown that only 8 percent of us actually transform these resolutions into reality, and this usually isn’t through a lack of trying, but rather, because we are making our resolutions the wrong way.
Why not take a different tactic this year? Form your resolutions using a less overwhelming, more inspiring and fun approach – the vision board.
For those of you who’ve never watched Oprah or didn’t jump on ‘The Secret’ bandwagon a few years back, you may not know exactly what a vision board is. Well, it’s simply a board filled with images and words that specify and depict your goals towards creating the life of your dreams – be they motivational quotes, monetary figures, or pictures of exotic travel destinations.
Dr Espen Hjalmby, keynote speaker and wellness coach, says the key to nailing the perfect vision board is to form goals specifically congruent to the eight central areas of our lives that are 1. Physical Health, 2. Finance, 3. Career, 4. Mind and Emotional state, 5. Relationships, 6. Spirituality, 7. Personal Development and 8. Time and elaborate on them with visual cues and written specifics. Think – what is it that you really want? When do plan to achieve it?
“To manifest our New Year’s resolutions into our life, we have to pin them down somewhere we can see and be inspired by them each and every day – it’s all well and good to stick an image of Bora Bora on your board, but without written words describing when you want to travel there and an action plan of how you’ll make it happen financially, you’ll just be a dreamer, not a do-er,” he said. He continues to say; “The difference between theory and action is the difference between a life of quiet desperation and a life of abundant success and fulfillment – and your vision board is the action”!
Making a vision board is easier than you think just follow Dr Espen’s 7-step process:
Step 1: Rate yourself on a scale from 0-100 (0 being the lowest score and 100 being the highest score) of there you feel you are in each of the eight areas of life (1. Physical Health, 2. Finance, 3. Career, 4. Mind and Emotional state, 5. Relationships, 6. Spirituality, 7. Personal Development and 8. Time)
Step 2: Choose up to one (1) specific goal in each of the eight areas of life and decide which goals are most urgent and important. If you have fewer goals, that’s fine, just allocate them in order of priority.
Step 3: Using a white board or a large poster, write out each of your goals along with the action you’ll take to achieve it.
Step 4: Cut out images of inspiration from magazines, or print some off from your computer. Pick showstopper pictures that will really catch your eye and ignite your inspiration.
Step 5: Paste, tape or pin them to your board.
Step 6: Decorate to your taste – jazz it up with coloured paper, glitter, or stickers making it your own unique vision board.
Step 7: Place your board in a frequented space where you’ll be sure to see it, be inspired by and manifest it into your life, every day.
“An effective vision board links the mindfulness exercise of visualisation to realistic, measurable and detailed actions. With both these elements, you’ll have a clear path to stick to, and you’ll be considerably more likely to see your goals come to fruition,” Dr Espen said.
Research demonstrates that people who clearly write down their resolutions are 10 times more likely to realise their goals than those who do not*. When placed in a prime position where it will be constantly viewed, a vision board is an extremely useful visualisation tool, as it will prompt you daily to revisit and reaffirm those challenging goals you so often tend to give up on, while empowering you to create the fulfilling life you imagine.
To some, the idea of sitting down pasting pictures to pin board seems a little far fetched, but for Dr Espen Hjalmby and thousands of other people around the globe, vision boards are the secret weapon to lock down those fleeting resolutions and see them finally come to pass. What do you have to lose?
For more information on Dr Espen’s programs and presentations, or to download his free eBook Super Food, Super Fit, Super YOU, please visit www.drespen.com/
* Study conducted by Statistic Brain Research Institute – www.statisticbrain.com/new-years- resolution-statistics/
