3 Reasons Why Your 2020 Vision Board Might Still Have A Chance
The year isn’t lost.
Many people started the year – and new decade -- with hope and anticipation. My vision board workshops were full of bright faces who laid out beautiful and inspiring words and visions of what participants wanted to do, have, be, and feel in 2020.
Then, the Coronavirus hit.
For a lot of people, this pandemic has brought a lot of strife. Plans to reach new career heights, amass monetary gains, travel the travel, experience romance, and explore other pursuits have been thwarted. For others, serenity has turned into fear. Sadly, for others still, illness and death from this virus have caused pain and loss.
Yet, amidst the heartbreak and chaos of 2020, the year is not lost. And the vision board you created for yourself at the beginning of this year might still have a chance. Here’s why:
1. Vision boards create openings for abundance and opportunities to be fully present to your life.
Many people create a vision board intending to get what they want. Expectations often lead to disappointment, worldwide pandemic, or not.
To realize the benefits of a vision board more fully, I teach my clients to connect with who they want to be and how they want to feel. If you focus on how you live your life, you will be happy no matter what you do or what happens to you.
Your mindset matters.
You have the power to be who you want and feel what you want right now, in this very moment.
Approach your vision board journey with openness about what is possible and an indefinite timeline, and you’ll have greater success.
2. What’s important to you might be more apparent than ever before.
Dreams don’t exist in a vacuum. It’s also ok to adapt your vision or change your mind. And, given what you’ve experienced so far this year, it’s natural – if not necessary, to revisit the ideas you had in January.
Set aside some time to figure out if you need to make some revisions and make your changes:
Take a good, long look at your vision board.
Ask yourself what seems less relevant now. What clarity has emerged out of this pandemic? What feels more important and urgent for you to do/be/have/feel?
Get out some magazines or go online and find some new words, affirmations, and images that speak clearly to where you are at today.
Update your vision board with the new pieces.
Resume your daily practice of engaging with your board.
Think of your vision board as a process in which you’re free to adapt as you grow and learn, and you’ll feel more connected to it and more likely to benefit from its use.
3. Sometimes things happen that we don’t expect – and sometimes they are better things.
Creating a vision board isn’t about being prescriptive. Of course, the clearer you are about what you want to bring into your life, and then you engage your brain’s Reticular Activating System (RAS) in visualizing these things, the more likely you are to get what you want. The RAS then routinely seeks information in your environment to help you and build your capabilities as well as your confidence.
But, sometimes, no matter how much you visualize what you want, the universe has other plans.
You cannot fully control what happens to you; you can only set intentions.
Sometimes, the universe brings you life experiences – and with it, life lessons – before you can realize your dreams. Other times, the universe has something else in mind; something better.
Take heart. You don’t have to feel discouraged and toss out your 2020 vision board. If you reflect, revisit, and reframe what’s happened year-to-date and what you want to create going forward, you’ll be able to gaze at your vision board with hope and clarity and keep building a life you love.
Lisa Petsinis is a certified life and career coach who works with women who are stuck and depleted to find their passion and purpose so they can embrace their future and live a fulfilling life. Contact Lisa on her website and jumpstart the changes you want, starting today.