Creating a vision board for a productive year

Facing up to the challenges of a new year is exciting and daunting at the same time.  There can be nothing more scary than sitting contemplating life's goals with a blank sheet of paper in front of you.

We've been working with the athletes of Team Poppy Sports this month on getting past the stage of 'blank paper' and make it to the 'finish line' of a vision board that sums up their goals for the year. 

We use a workbook to tease out and evaluate our successes/challenges from the previous year then move onto building on those to set our focus for the coming year ahead.

How I got from workbook to vision board

My own vision board below was a result of six pages of notes, scribbles, drawings condensed into one motivational image that I'll be framing and hanging on the wall next to my desk.

My personal dilemma before I even started writing was do I limit the responses to just my personal life, or also include bigger business goals for Poppy Sports?  

I went with the latter; Poppy Sports is as much part of my everyday as my family, friends and aspirations.

What will your focus be?  

Once I opened those flood gates, the pen started to flow. I was quietly shocked at how much I did achieve in 2015 when I wrote it down.  I made mistakes too, but I was not shy on noting them down too.  Ouch.

The world of mind maps

One of our team members asked this week how to progress from a list of scribbles to the final vision board. 

This is where mind maps come into play. Since I was a young lass I have drawn mind maps and diagrams to help my brain break down and comprehend concepts.

Here is how I approached the process to get from bullet points to inspirational words to the final vision board

From scribbles to vision board

1. Set a timer for five minutes and give yourself the permission to write down anything and everything.  No one has to see what you've written.  You can burn it afterwards if you want (just be careful!) but be honest with yourself for five minutes. 

I'm sharing my own scribbles with you below. These are very personal to me and represent a tumultuous year plus a stretch goal I had with myself. Add into the mix keeping my sanity, another goal of no training injuries and spending quality time with my family.

2. Once everything was down on paper, I walked away for 30 minutes to let things percolate. Then I looked for themes emerging from the text.

With a fresh eye the themes became the three guiding words for the year.

Health, Happiness, Stability.

3. .Out of those three words come the images on the vision board. Each image represents something in the mish-mash of bullet points and all add value to the three guiding words for the year.

Next week, I'll talk more about the eight images on my own board, what they mean and what I plan do to with the board for the next 11 months!