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In January 2018, I created my first vision board. I placed a new home on it without any solid plans or ideas for achieving this dream. Fast forward to now and, here I am in my brand new kitchen with my hubby celebrating this thing called life. #lookatGod #wonthedoit #newhomeowners #grateful #otownbloggersquad

A post shared by Tian McCaw-Binns (@tianshanae) on Aug 29, 2018 at 4:51am PDT

SELECT FORMAT

The first thing to consider, when putting together an annual vision board, is whether or not you are going to create a physical or electronic format. For the physical format, as an example, you can use magazine cutouts and/or printed images displayed on a backing in a picture frame or on a corkboard bulletin board. Electronic formats include a collage generated with tools such as Canva, Picmonkey, or Photoshop. I’ve always gone the electronic route, as I like to see my vision board right before I unlock my phone. This ensures that I see my board every single day and without failure. I highly recommend this approach but if you do decide to go the physical route, you should definitely place the board where you will see it every day.


CATEGORIZE GOALS

My vision board tends to be a snapshot of the goals I have set in place for myself. Before I put together any images, I sit with my notebook and plan out what I want my year to look like. To make this task a bit easier, I usually start with the creation categories (e.g., Finance, Travel, Home, etc.) and write those down. I typically have three to four bulleted items under each category.


ANALYZE COSTS

The other part that I think is very important is the cost of each item on your list. A lot of times, I feel like the common perception is: Yes Tian! Create a vision board and the things you want will magically fall out of the sky! While this, in some way, happened to me, I don’t think it is enough to solely rely on this method. Yes, the science behind vision boards state that the more you see something, the more your subconscious will work for you to achieve it; but, I do think it will be a lot easier if you have the groundwork of a plan laid out.

This is why it is important to know what the things you want to achieve may cost in the short or long term. Once I am aware of all associated costs, I can start putting things in order based on the things I can most likely achieve on my own without receiving a miracle. For example, most people may think it’s difficult or even out-of-reach to pay for a dream vacation, but the truth is this: If you find out the cost of the absolute best version of that vacation, then you have some semblance of a starting point. From there, you can see how much you will need to save monthly, weekly or daily to make it a possibility. On the alternative, you may end up saying, ‘no, this won’t work’ and extract what you like about the original plan and decide on what you are willing to compromise on. Examples could include flying out a different city, picking a cheaper hotel, selecting fewer or different excursions, etc. Once you have completed your analysis, you can either move forward with the item on your 2020 board or re-categorize the item on a longer termed vision board. The idea here is to never lose sight of any goals, no matter the timeframe you associate with them. This principle, in my opinion, works for achieving most goals that have a monetary value attached to them.


BE TRUE TO YOURSELF

The last, but most important tip, is don’t lie to yourself no matter what. This is the one that was the hardest to learn for me. Let’s start with my personal favorite: “I am going to the gym every other day this year.” I used to do this to myself every year and then end up disappointed and depressed when I quit three weeks later. The point is, I really dislike the gym and, maybe (just maybe), I would have served myself better if I had spent my time looking for other forms of physical activity instead. Point being: Acknowledge your roadblocks and find a suitable work-around that works for you.


ASSEMBLE

Finally, with all of that out of the way, we can get back to the vision board. Take the top item from each category and pick the best images that represents those things and place them on your vision board. For image selection, I tend to use google to source my images and try to find ones that are as close to the representation of the goal as possible. For example, if I wanted to put a vacation to Fiji on my board, I would try to find an image of the exact hotel I’d like to stay at; not necessarily an image of the island of Fiji.

Once you have all of the images saved, go to your vision board tool of choice and start to lay them out in whichever way feels best to you. I go with aesthetics and don’t prioritize any goals. This is where you put your own spin on things and make it your own. Make sure to setup your board for easy manipulation at a later date. Trust me! You will want to make minor tweaks here and there as the year progresses.

Voila! You are done. Now, every time you look at that vision board your mind will continue to build upon the base plans you already have. Furthermore, you will have established a baseline for new goals for years to come!

Until next time guys, thanks for reading.

Hey Guys,

We are not only starting a new year, but a new decade; it’s almost unbelievable. I wanted to start off this blogging year by looking back at 2019, as it was definitely a hard one for me. 2019 took me on the roller coaster ride of a lifetime. I am not sure how I survived but I did, and I get to keep on fighting for my dreams. This is something I take so seriously as a lot of us don’t get that option.

So, follow me on this journey as I recap the year.

January was a wonderful month. My sister got married and I gained a bother-in-law in the process. They had been together for a decade prior, so I felt blessed to take part in and witness their beautiful nuptials. We started the year with love and I don’t think it could have been better.
In February Kelly and I hosted our Galantine’s event which turned out pretty great, if I may so
In March things took a turn for the worst. I had two deaths in my family, one of them being my cousin. She was only 28 years old and like a sister to me. I just saw her at my sister’s wedding; how on earth could this have happened?!........If I said I understood any aspect of death I would be lying. This left me shattered and, to this day, I am still trying to put myself back together. I pray for her Mother, Father and Sister because if I feel like this, I don’t think I can comprehend their pain.

I love you Sharane, RIP