Blog: Map Out the New Year — It's Not Too Late!

The month of January has flown by. I have been contemplating what I want for the rest of this year. I have now had time to review what happened in the and I am now ready to set my sights on 2012.  

I read recently that the 3rd week of January is the time when people wane on their New Year’s Resolutions. I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. I like to consider what I want in the New Year whether it be something tangible (a new car), or a quality I want to encourage (calmness). I decided to make a collage expressing what I want this year. This kind of collage can be called a Vision Board, which is a collection of images and words that express your goals. The images and symbols can keep the goals in your mind throughout the year in a fun and creative way.

This year I decided to focus on a phrase or word to guide me in 2012. The word that came to me was “Movement.” Some people also suggested coming up with 3 words to use as a guide in the New Year. Mine would be movement, move, and moving. You get the idea. From there I created my affirmation, “I move forward.” An affirmation is a positive statement that you repeat to yourself as a positive intent.  

If you are interested in making a Vision Board of your year you can do it in many different ways. Here are some tips to get it together:

1. Spend some time determining what you would like to see happen this next year. Is it a new job, new house, increase in money, or bringing more happiness into your life? If one word or 3 words come up for you, use those.
2. Get together some heavy paper in a size that fits for you. I used a large piece of poster board and cut it in half. Pull out some old magazines, scissors, and glue and get cutting.
3. Cut out pictures and words that seem to speak to you. Don’t over think it. Just use what seems to fit where you want to be at the end of this year.
4. Organize and glue the pictures on the paper in a way that looks pleasing to you. We are not talking about artistic work here. If you are not an artist, all the better; just get the pictures and words on the paper.
5. Hang the picture in a place where you can see it daily. Mine is in my bedroom on the door, so I can see it every day and night. Be conscious of who might see this and determine if that is ok for you. This can be a very personal process and you might feel too exposed by having others see what you created. Their judgment is not helpful.

My Vision Board is hanging up and I love how it looks. I do not know what all of the images mean, but I am positive it will make sense at the end of the year. I will just keep moving forward and enjoying this brand new year.  

If you made some resolutions that don’t fit for you anymore, try a Vision Map. It is never too late to start new.