I was intrigued by this Instagram post a couple of months back from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: “Every crazy movie idea/goal/ambition/dirty joke goes up on my vision board…”
Whether or not you are a fan of The Rock, you can’t argue with his success. Whatever he has set his mind to — wrestling, acting, producing — he has been successful.
But I don’t have to look to The Rock for proof of the power of vision boards. I’ve been using them personally since I was twenty, as well as finding them to be an invaluable tool in my career as a professional coach and business consultant.
Simply put, vision boards put your goals into pictures, thereby creating a material and visually stimulating reference to keep you focused on your aspirations and what you need to do to get there. When you can clarify your goals, you can reach your goals.
Ten years ago, I had a client who had left her career to stay home with her kids, and she was now ready to re-enter the workforce. She was concerned about work-life balance, so her vision board took a whole-life approach. There was an image of a mother at her desk; pictures of home renovations she wanted to make; and exercise photos, because she knew activity would help her manage both her stress and her weight.
It was a very busy vision board because she’s a very, very busy person. The richness that she put into the vision board has come to fruition. She got her master’s degree, landed a great job, and exercises daily. And she swears that the board helped keep her on track and focused.
The beauty of vision boards is that they are flexible. Your vision board can encapsulate what you would like your whole life to look like, or it can focus on a single aspect, such as organization or nutrition or finances. It’s your board, so there are no hard and fast rules. And you might have multiple boards — maybe one for your personal running program and another for the new product you want to launch at work.
Vision boards can be useful for teams as well since they articulate goals in visual form and can be posted in a common area as a reminder of your team’s aspirations.
So make like The Rock and make your board awesome! And let me know how you’ve used vision boards to reach your goals.
A few days ago, my friend posted a picture of the most beautifully decorated dorm room I have ever seen. It looked like a catalog ad. Knowing my friend, she placed as much effort and thought into preparing her daughter emotionally for college as she did in helping her decorate her room. She has always been a devoted and thoughtful parent.
Since I’m not busy this year buying comforters and setting up bank accounts, I decided I would compile advice for parents of college students. Having made the transition twice, I consider myself a quasi expert. Below are my musings…
Whether you are looking forward to your child being out of the house, or dreading it, or a combination of the two, there’s a lot of change going on in your world. Be gentle and accepting of yourself.
If you are old enough to be the parent of college student, you are old enough to remember life without cell phones. It was cumbersome to call home when we went to college. We may have used one central phone. We may have paid a fee for every minute we spoke; we may not have had privacy. Unless your child is studying in a remote and foreign land, it will be easy for him or her to call home.
Then again – just because it is easy to call, doesn’t mean it will happen. If you want to be called often, be a friend worthy of calling. That’s right, a friend. If you are supporting your son or daughter, you can choose the level of responsiveness that you expect with that compensation, but it’s a choice and it should be considered, not assumed.
If you are feeling an incredibly strong urge to give advice, call a different friend. Call someone who’s known you as a friend for say, 20-30 years and will feel comfortable ignoring you. Don’t give this new friend/your son/daughter advice. Remember that this is a new friendship and it is fragile.
If your daughter actually solicits your advice, even then consider stifling yourself. I remember asking my mother for advice once in college and she said, “You have always made wonderful decisions and I know you will continue to make good decisions. I believe in you and I will support whatever you decide.” While I admit that I was frustrated not to have an “easy” answer from Mom, I have remembered her answer for decades; 3 plus decades in fact.
What advice have you been given that has lasted 3 or more decades?
