Vision Board

Vision Board

What is a vision board? It is a collage or collection of images that talk about our dreams and goals. This is designed to serve as a source of inspiration and motivation to achieve those dreams and goals. What you focus on grows. This is my motto for this year, and why I created my vision board. Everything that I want to focus on all in one really easy to see place.

I must confess that at one point I thought these kinds of things were ridiculous. Especially when long-grown adults were telling me this was a good idea and they had done it. Why in the world would a middle aged person need this?

Shouldn’t they have it together long before creating a board where they glued pretty pictures on it and dreamed unreachable dreams? It really did seem silly to me. We’re not in middle school anymore dreaming of what we want to be when we grow up. Leave it there.

I also came to the realization that these were not things I really wanted to focus on growing. Once I figured out exactly what I wanted, I knew I could absolutely make it grow. In the past, it was just me trying to find something and failing at it. When I finally found what I wanted to focus on and grow, the concept of the vision board made perfect sense to me!

Are Vision Boards Useful?

Which brings me to my next point. If you are in the same mindset I once was about the validity of a vision board, I would encourage you to take a step back and really evaluate what you’re focused on. Is that is the right direction for you? Because it is perfectly normal to change directions and find what excites you. If it doesn’t excite you, it isn’t worth your time.

I’m going to talk a little bit about my board and my story. Because I know it can be very hard to get started. What do you even put on a board? Why? How do you put it together? Is there a right or a wrong way to do it? Nope. No right or wrong answers. It is not a test, I promise!

Start Your Vision Board

I started with my name. The Prepping Wife. This is because I’ve been very focused over the last year on finding my identity. For many years my identity was wrapped up in other people. I was always that person who was forever putting my life on hold to take care of others. When I stopped that, the question really became, who am I now?

I have no idea! It was just sort of existing for a while, until I could figure that out. The goal was to embrace my identity as The Prepping Wife. I am a blogger, a prepper, and a wife. Perfect place to start. The interesting thing is this was likely where all four blogs started, not just The Prepping Wife. I just didn’t see it right away.

That is absolutely something I want to focus on. This would also be where the phrase “you got this” in two corners came from. I can do this, I will do this! It was a reminder of how determined I am to embrace this whole identity and finding my place in life to be successful.

Vision Board Materials

After that I went to the store and found a bunch of magazines. Picking up some about survival and emergency preparedness, cooking and DIY projects. Your ideas will probably vary significantly.

Do whatever works for you. I skimmed through the pages to see if I could find things that obviously stood out. Found a few. Although not as many as I’d hoped. That was OK. I was set to give this a try and at least get it started. If I didn’t find good stuff, I would simply try again.

One of the things that added to my excitement about starting this project was how supportive my husband was. I asked him to take me to the craft store and explained to him what I wanted to do. In fact, he helped me find the right board for it.

Which is kind of funny because I was trying to explain this with the most vague description ever. You know those boards we created in middle school for like a science fair? Yeah, so that, but smaller. Like only one piece instead of three. That was how that conversation started. Luckily for me, he figured out what I was talking about and helped me out. I love that. This is one of those perfect experiences that reminds me my life is exactly where it should be.

I started my board with my name. As I said earlier, I’m embracing that. The best place to start. I ended up leaving it for about a week after that. Along with all the supplies for it. It took me a little bit to really get started with the rest of it. I had no real idea of what I wanted it to look like.

Finally I knew I needed to get moving on it and was kind of itching to do so. When I sent my husband off to work that night, I sat down at the table to start flipping through my magazines.

Enjoy the Process!

This was fun because I started reading some of the articles. They were really interesting and enlightening, I must admit. I made sure to read the articles before I cut up the pictures. After amassing what felt like a pretty decent pile of stuff when I was done. Pictures, words, full sentences. A mix of everything I thought could work.

Start there. You may have more or less than what you need. You really won’t know until you get going. Just dive right on in. Nothing to do but to do it. Once you have material to work with, so to speak, start laying them out.

I started sorting out my pictures I had cut out in the top left corner. One day, I want to own my own homestead and go in the farming self sufficient way of life. That is a dream of mine, with a huge kitchen. Warm and welcoming to my friends and family. I can see my blog evolving into that direction with me too. With that, I added words that made sense to that way of life.

The bottom portion is devoted to my emergency preparedness way of life. The right side is meant to encourage me to develop my skills and areas like self-defense and DIY projects. A reminder to never stop learning new skills. Something I’ve challenged myself to do in the new year, and keep doing. Never ever stop learning!

I added pictures of food because I love cooking, and it is a big part of my blog. Sharing recipes that bring me joy, remind me of traditions and love. The recipes that I share are a huge part of who I am. They mean family, memories, and so much more.

I added pictures of firearms because that is a hobby that I enjoy, and I want to develop that even more. My firearms are also a means of self defense, and part of my preparations. I would also like to make the money to be able to increase my collection of firearms.

The last thing that I added was the words “chasing a dream” underneath my name. This is the one piece that stood out to me the most. Because that is exactly what my blog and the entire journey of it has been, chasing a dream.

I have never had the freedom to chase dreams before this, because I was always the person putting my life on hold for others. It took me a while to figure out what kind of dream I wanted to chase. There came a point where I knew it was time to do so. My blog is me chasing a dream.

It doesn’t matter if I fail or succeed. What matters is that I am chasing my dream. Now it is much more than that. There is a serious drive and determination to do it because I feel like I’ve found my happy place. But that’s what it started as. Just being happy with chasing a dream for the first time in my life. Sometimes we just have to take the plunge or risk and start chasing dreams.

As I said earlier, it started simpy with chasing a dream. Now it is turning that dream into something successful. I am very determined to do so, and on the right track to being successful. I keep this board in view at all times. Because what you focus on grows.

My plan is to focus on everything I put on that board. Because it is everything I want to grow. My identity as The Prepping Wife, my blog, my cooking, my hobbies, and developing new skills around all of it. That is what I want my life to be centered around. The dream that I am chasing in life.

Be Creative!

One of the fun parts about this is that I could be creative! It was all mine. Just for me. You can do the same. Do whatever you want, be as creative as you want, really decorate it. The key really is to have fun with it.

Mine started out a bit stressful. I always feel the need to plan and prepare, to see things before I’ve done them. Yet I had no choice but to just dive right in and get going. Dressing it up and turning it into one of the most amazing projects that I have ever done. It was a huge asset to me and my journey.

Vision Board Discussion

What do you want to focus on and grow? Think about that as you get ready to create your own vision board. If you can focus on anything in your life and get better at it. Or have more time to devote to. That is what you want to put on your board. Hopefully this helps you get started on the goal of chasing your own dreams and achieving goals!

I didn’t worry about perfection. I just did it. Without worrying about perfect, it is the best project I’ve done for myself.