Why You Should Make a Family Vision Board

[Why You Should Make a Family Vision Board Featured on CAMP.com – Family New Year’s Resolutions That Will Be Fun To Keep]

We’re back to regular programing around here.  Routine is good for us all, I find.  While I loved having no schedule, time off work and loads of time to “just be”, lots of time indoors because of the extreme cold had us all going a bit insane.

I always find the end/beginning of the year is such a reflective time – what’s happened over the last year, and dreaming about where we want to go/accomplish in the year ahead.  To be honest, the end of Winter break had me feeling rather blah, but I don’t like wallowing and wanted to find a way to get myself out of that funk.

I’d heard of vision boarding nearly a decade ago on Oprah when she featured The Secret on her show, and have always intended to do one.  I did a digital version a few years ago, but wanted to do one the old fashion way – cut and paste. I have been stock piling magazines since the Summer so seized the moment and got to it just before the new year.

I turned on some chill tunes and got busy making my pretty little board.  But you know what happens when Mom looks busy, relaxed, and in a creative zone right?   Well the kids saw me making it and wanted to join too.  It was all good, though.  It turned the crazy cabin fever into an activity we all enjoyed and want to do again together every year going forward.

So, what is a vision board anyway?

By definition, a vision board is a tool used to help clarify, concentrate and maintain focus on a specific life goal. Literally, a vision board is any sort of board on which you display images that represent whatever you want to be, do or have in your life. 

A family vision board, then, would be a collective creation of each member of your family’s wants, desires and aspirations.  Neat, huh?  So how do you make one?

Start with brainstorming & intention setting:

–          What new things do you want to try?

–          How do you want to feel this year?

–          What things would you like to experience?

–          What are the qualities you want to have?

–          What did you love about the year that passed?

–          What kind of person do you want to be?

–          What do you want to achieve?

The convo brought lots of ideas (and humour) and letting them know no ideas were wrong made them open up tons.  While it’s good to focus on the things we want to draw into our lives, I also encouraged them to think about the things they already have or experienced and that being grateful for those things draws more to be grateful for.

Materials:

The great thing about the vision board is there’s no right or wrong way to do it.  We let our creativity flow.  Here’s some suggestions to get you started:

–          Magazines (no need to buy – we collected ours from community centres and grocery stores over several months)

–          Print photos, words, quotes from the internet

–          Poster board (we got ours from a local dollar store)

–          Glue sticks, tape, stickers, and/or sticky mounting squares

–          Make your vision board pop with materials from around your home like décor, flowers, buttons, pins, anything.  The idea is to be inspired by your creation so pick the things that make you feel that way

–          Instead of poster board, you can also use an existing bulletin board, mural/kraft paper or large piece of cloth

Why we’ll be making this an annual tradition:

While this started off as a solo endeavour, having the entire family join in willingly and actually enjoy doing it made this something we hope to create at the start of every year from now on. Here’s why:

–          It’s such a great way to teach kids about mindfulness and going after the things they want for their life.

–          It’s a great way to encourage kids to dream, imagine and start the year off with an optimistic mindset.

–          It initiated talk about the importance of not just focusing on the things we want, but remembering to be grateful for all the small blessings that we’ve already experienced.  Gratitude discourages that lack mentality and I always want them to appreciate all that we already have in our life already.  We discussed how the goal of the vision board isn’t to get a whole bunch of new things, but to focus on and think about the experiences and messages that make us feel content.

–          It opened up a good conversation with the bigger kids about how our potential is limited only by the things we fill our minds with, and when we focus on positive, uplifting messaging, anything becomes possible.

–          We all learned so much about each other and it created a space for us all to share in a constructive way.  We learned one of our kids wants to raise money for sick kids, one wants to learn how to code, and one wants to take singing lessons.  Some things were very BIG vision, but nothing was off the table and we encouraged them to dream big.

–          It was a great way for Andrew and I to connect and get on the same page about how we see our family moving forward and where we want to be in the future.  I secretly snuck in a picture of the Eiffel Tower – have been not so subtly hinting for years he can surprise me with a trip to Paris any time…still waiting! 😉

–          Can I say almost zero sibling quarrelling? – that in itself makes this a must-do for next January

–          It encouraged us to consider each of our hopes and desires for the year ahead and to get on the same page for what we’d like for our family this year.  It’s a form of visual intention setting and manifesting and good practice I hope will inspire the kids to keep at for many years to come.

–          Whether or not things come through to fruition, it was a meaningful activity to do as a family forging some quality connection during an otherwise blah day indoors

–          It opened their minds to keep looking for things that inspire them in the days after

What to do with it:

The point of making the family vision board is to have a visual of your hopes, goals and dreams so putting it in a high traffic place where all family members will see it daily is the last important step.

Ours is in our mudroom where the kids pass by every day and where Andrew and I spend WAY too much of our time because laundry never sleeps 😉

We left lots of white space to add to it as more images/words/quotes capture us as the year goes on.

We’re all looking forward to seeing what “visions” came to life a year from now.

Have you done a family vision board?  Share in the comments below how it made an impact on your crew and any cool stories about things that came to life for you!

Love & light,