At the start of each new year, I update my vision board. I’m pretty proud of my board; it’s evolved & improved over the years. I find it provides focus, motivation and, to be honest, looking at it makes me feel happy.
A well-created vision board is something I recommend to everyone with dreams and goals to realise. So as I took down my 2021 board, I shocked myself by deciding not to make another.
2022 The goalless year?
Absolutely not, well maybe, OK, here’s the backstory…
Towards the end of last year, I began to burn out. I had such high expectations and was often unrepentant in admonishing myself for not meeting these – quite frankly – unreasonable standards. So there I was, pushing myself, not letting up, when my son had an accident.
Long story short, he was thankfully OK, but it floored me. It stirred up past trauma and left me feeling flatter than a crepe. I gave myself a bit of time to process it all, but I could not drown out the voice inside saying, ‘There’s too much to do for you to take a break.’ ‘You’re falling behind.’ ‘You’ll never get anywhere at this pace.’ (Wow, I can be a cow to myself sometimes). Rather than silencing this inner-critic, I gave in and got back to work. You may have already guessed how well that didn’t go, and I ended up needing help.
You can’t bury depression. Don’t. Even. Try. Go and get help!
Just as I was getting back on my feet, Covid struck.
And it decided to stick around. It’s still sticking around, like an annoying housemate who steals your food and needs a course in flushing the toilet. Now I would love to be one of those superstar people who pushes through it – I have a friend who started a new company whilst fighting cancer – but I didn’t have it in me; some days, even thinking was draining too much energy. And so I did something I rarely ever do; I gave myself a pass. I let myself have the time to recover.
Writing that makes me think, well duh, of course, you need to let yourself recover. But that’s perhaps a good illustration of how pushy I can be towards myself. Whilst on hiatus, aside from resting, I worked on building up my strength and began thinking a lot about my direction for 2022. Except I came up with nothing, my brain was a complete blur. I would leave it and come back to it, but it was the same blurry mess each time.
At first, I panicked, but then I realised it wasn’t such a bad thing. This pressure of trying to plan and determine goals wasn’t helping my mental or physical health; it only slowed my recovery. It was time to take a different approach.
Side note: I know that for many making plans and having goals actually aids recovery, but that isn’t the case for me this time. Recovery isn’t one size fits all. I would always advocate you take the approach that works best for you. And remember to seek support if you need it (very important).
So there I was clearing down my 2021 vision board…
It was cathartic looking at each item I took down, feeling gratitude, pride, recollecting good memories from the year. Even taking a moment to reflect on what I didn’t accomplish, for whatever reason, and uncovering the lesson was helpful.
I started to think about what I would fill the next board with, but it felt forced. Then I considered changing it into a ‘wins’ board, simply noting every success (no matter how small) and watching it fill throughout the year. But even that didn’t resonate.
The corkboard stood empty before me. Marked with pinholes and Blu Tack residue (if anyone knows how to remove it, please let me know!) ‘What am I going to do with you?’ I thought. I looked down, in my hand, I held a postcard. It wasn’t new or unknown to me, but it was the first time I connected with it. In big black capital letters, it stated, ‘YES YOU CAN’ I pinned it to the middle of my otherwise blank board. At that moment, I knew in my heart this was the only message I needed to see for now. This is the message that will support & guide me through the year ahead.
YES YOU CAN!
January always invites serious expectations (New Year’s resolutions, anybody?), and we rarely stop to question whether those expectations are actually reasonable or even if it’s truly right for us. Ripping up the plan-making playbook feels good; I’m stepping into new territory and going with the flow (no doubt to the horror of success coaches and Law of Attraction Disciples everywhere).
I want to be more open and self-aware, learn to trust my instincts, and have more faith. This year, I’m freeing myself to explore all the paths (at my own pace) and hopefully learn a lot along the way. I’m not stopping or giving in, but personally, for me right now, this is the better way forward.
And who knows, perhaps, in the end, this will work out to be my most helpful vision board yet.
What do you think of my new approach? Is it something you would try? Or are vision boards and goal setting the best way forward for you? Either way, I hope this post encourages you to release some unnecessary pressure from yourself. If there is anything you’d like to say or ask, please do get in touch via the box below. I’m happy to help and I always love to hear from you! Wishing you all the best for the Year ahead, wherever life takes you.
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I am glad that you took time to take care of your mental health. I have learnt to surrender in valley season and rest, reflect and then reset. We are always doing, doing, doing. Sometimes we need to be still…I am glad that you back!! I missed your posts.
Thank you so much! I’m very happy to hear you’ve already adopted a way that works far better for you. I wish you a wonderful year ahead xx
Yes, it is so important to each of us to evaluate, reflect and take proactive action to preserve our mental well-being.