One way I set and achieve my goals is by visualizing exactly what I want and then creating a Vision Board. It helps me stay focused and thinking positively about each goal. You can do the same thing. Here’s a quick overview of how to create your own Vision Board:

  • Make a list of the top 10 things you want to have or create in your life. They can be anything – tangible or intangible - like a trip to Macchu Pichu, someone to help you market your business, or a certain amount of money you want to have to give away to charity
  • Get a posterboard or a large sheet of paper. 
  • Cut out or draw pictures of the top 10 things that you want and place them on your vision board. The order or placement is completely up to you. 
  • Place your Vision Board somewhere you will see it every day. Your end result should be something that when you look at it, you know clearly what you’re going for and you get excited about the possibility of having it.

My Vision Board is hanging up in my office where I can see it every day. Having my Vision Board front and center keeps me focused on my goals and priorities.
Visioning is a fabulous way to help you achieve your goals. But some people think that the movie The Secret and other mediums that promote the Law of Attraction don’t tell the full story. So let’s de-bunk the myth. Developing a vision for your life and career path, and imagining your goals is a key component to enable you to achieve them.

But you can’t just sit on your couch and expect things to happen because you’re picturing them. My coaching teleclass leader Michael put it perfectly, "action is part of the word 'attraction.'" Nothing's possible without taking action. You have to get off the couch to make things happen, they aren’t going to just appear.
The key is to take inspired action, meaning action that feels good to you and just seems like the right thing to do in the moment. The way I can tell if I'm taking inspired action is if I feel like I’m in the flow and things are just clicking.

There is an important distinction between visioning and goal-setting. Here's the difference...

Visioning: Visioning is pure dreaming. It's allowing yourself to look at your life from a big picture perspective, asking “What do I want to have in my life in the future? Who do I want to be? What people do I want to have around me?” This goes for anything - from tangible things you may want like a a boat or a trip to Bali, to less tangible things like help with your business or to serve on the board of a nonprofit you are passionate about. If it's something you want and it gets you jazzed, it should be part of your vision. Visioning is playful and inspiring.

To create your vision:

  • Give yourself lots of mental space to picture what you want in your life
  • Think out of the box
  • Have fun with it. Imagine it as vividly as you possibly can, down to how it will feel to have these things.

Two important points - visions don't have time frames and you don't worry about how you are going to achieve them. You just picture them, period. Visioning is a helpful tool because it not only provides clarity about what you want, but it also gets you “in the flow” - excited and motivated to work towards these things.

Goal setting: Setting goals is the down to earth, nuts and bolts planning. It's identifying what you want to achieve this week, this month or this year. Goals have a specific time frame, action steps to achieving them, and they include the "how" - how you are going to achieve them.

To develop your goals, you need to make sure they are specific, measurable, tangible, realistic and a challenge for you. They must have a deadline.
While you can use your Vision Board to identify what your goals are, visioning is nothing without action. You have to take action, in the form of setting goals, to achieve what is on your Vision Board.

To achieve your goals I suggest using both visioning and goal setting together. If you need help with goal settingcontact me for a complimentary consultation.

Author's Bio: 

Blast off in your search for your ideal career!

Hallie Crawford is a certified career coach who can help you
find your direction and identify your ideal career path. To learn more about Hallie and schedule a complimentary consultation visit http://www.halliecrawford.com/contact.html

Bring Hallie to your next event! Hallie is a compelling, humorous and passionate career speaker recently featured on CNN and Fox Business News [http://halliecrawford.com/speaker.html]. Find out how you can invite her to speak at your next association, club or networking meeting.