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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.

In the summer, I took my dream vacation cruising the Mediterranean with family and friends. It is an experience that I am extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to have. We also spent a week exploring Barcelona and Paris, if that wasn’t enough :).

Shortly after that, I was lucky enough to take another cruise to the Bahamas. This cruise was a birthday gift to myself, as traveling has become the thing that feeds my soul.

Jason and I celebrated our 7-year anniversary. To be honest, I can’t believe it’s been seven years. I feel like I got married yesterday and the time has literally disappeared. Just like with any marriage, there are ups/downs and challenges/opportunities but I am very grateful and blessed to have him in my life.



I ended the year the way I started it, with family. Christmas was definitely magical to say the least. Over the years, I have come to realize that I am always the happiest when surrounded by the people that know me the best. So, I wouldn’t have it any other way. My Christmas will always be spent with loved ones.

Mi Familia

Christmas Dinner Tablescape

As social media influencers/Bloggers/Content Creators (whichever title you prefer), we tend to only share the stuff that paints our lives to be perfect. I don’t want to play a part in that, so, here are a few of the “bad” moments of my 2017. 

1. On my return trip from Texas, I went into a Sickle Cell Crisis mid-flight from Texas to Atlanta. Luckily, there was a doctor on board who suggested the airline get me some oxygen as I waited for my pain meds to kick in. Jason and I could not get on our connecting flight to Orlando, as that would have made things a lot worse for me. After being checked by the EMT, and refusing to go to the hospital, Jason got us a rental car and drove us home 7 hours while I slept.

2. I have had a cough since the start of October that just won’t seem to go away. I have seen endless doctors and have tried endless medications but nothing seems to help. I have had sleepless nights as I cough all night long and, to be honest, it’s probably the stress of this ordeal that caused the crisis I had on my flight from Texas. I am writing this on January 18th and I still have this cough and sleepless nights, but I pray to God it will be over soon.

We all have 365 days to make the year everything we want it to be. I implore you to take a chance on something you have always wanted to do because once you start, you might wonder why it took you so long to start in the first place. Enjoy your 2018!!!!!!!!!! I will talk to you in the next post, where I will share a little about my favorite products of last year.

Until next time guys, thanks for reading
xoxo TianShanae