Using a Vision Board to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

Have you considered creating a vision board to help you with your New Year's resolutions this year? This can be a fantastic way to stay on track and actually make your resolution achievable. Plus you can use a vision board for any type of goal or dream that you want to achieve.

Not sure what a vision board is? It’s a collection of pictures and words pasted onto a board, either a physical board or a virtual one.  In my youth I thought of a vision board as a treasure map - with my goals being the treasure depicted on the map.

The images and pictures you use can be your own or can be ones that mean something to you in some way or other. For a modern day vision board you can use a site like Pinterest.

Pinterest allows you to set up boards on which you Pin images. For example if your resolution is to lose weight you can create a Weight Loss Board. Then Pin an image of how you look at the start of your weight loss journey along with pictures of things that hold meaning to you. This could be pictures of a smaller pair of jeans, or a super black dress or a bathing suit that you want to fit into.

If you prefer to do this at home then you can use a cork board set up in your home. Or you could just attach images to your fridge or bathroom mirror.

By far the best way though, in my opinion, is to combine images, words and sounds - especially music which reflects in some way the goals you want to reach.  Don't be put off by the apparent complexity of doing this, as it is a lot simpler than it sounds if you have the right tools.  There is a digital product which makes it as easy as falling off a log!  This is the "Digital Vision Board Creation Kit" by Mind Movies, the brainchild of my friend Natalie Ledwell.  You can get 6 completely free pre-made digital vision boards on attracting wealth, finding inner peace, having a great social life, becoming healthier, becoming more confident, and learning to love yourself.  Click on the image below to pick up your 6 free digital vision boards and to find out more about the Digital Vision Board Creation Kit you can use to create your own personalized digital vision boards.  When you get your 6 free pre-made Mind Movies, you'll also get instant access to this cool video series that tells you why and how Mind Movies work. The first video is with the legendary Law of Attraction Expert Bob Proctor and it's super interesting!

The problem with New Year's resolutions is that they can be difficult to keep. The sad fact that is by the end of January almost 90% of resolution have been forgotten about or broken. Don't let this happen to you this year.

When it comes to keeping your resolution you will be more successful if you set up a plan of action. As well as writing down what your goal or resolution is try using pictures so that you can visualize your goal.

To be truly successful with your resolution your best bet is to only select one resolution to work on at a time. Write your resolution out as a statement and attach a date to end.

For example "I lost 50 pounds by December 31."

As you can see we wrote this goal out as though you have completed it. This helps to reinforce your commitment to reaching your goal. It doesn't hurt to repeat this to yourself every morning or whenever you feel your motivation lacking.   That verbalization gives your subconscious cues about what you want to happen.

If your resolution is one that you have used before it is important to forgive yourself for not reaching it before. Don't think about what you did to fail last year. Instead focus on how you will succeed, and using a vision board is a great way to do this.

You want to fill your vision board with all your hopes and dreams for things that you desire once your resolution is completed. This could be a picture of a new car, a new home, or a new wardrobe of clothes for your skinny body.

On your vision board you can create milestone sections. These could be 2 or 3 month markers. With a digital vision board you could create one for, say, the next couple of months, then update it, archiving the old board so you can look back at earlier targets.  Evaluate your progress when these dates arrive and make any changes if necessary. If you aren't on track then look back on your vision board to see where you were 3 months ago. You will be reminded that you have made progress and this can help re-motivate you.

Concentrate on what you have achieved so far and celebrate your success. No matter how small a step you have taken it is important that you acknowledge it.

A reminder again about the free Digital Vision Boards you can get from my friend Natalie Ledwell.  Here is the link:

http://www.mindmovies.com/mm4/bobproctor.php?25923

You Are a Star!

You are a Star, a child of the Universe!

In 1969 Joni Mitchell wrote the song "Woodstock" which contains the following lines:

"We are stardust

Billion year old carbon

We are golden"

This is literally true.  You ARE made from star dust, as is everything else in this universe.  As a star cools and dies it throws off elements such as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and some of these eventually find their way into the material making up the atmosphere of a planet.  And so into all forms of life.  So you ARE literally made from star dust!  You ARE a child of the universe.

The image above is a photo of the Orion Nebula - a nursery where new stars are born.  Look on in wonder at the beauty of this Universe!

That is the end of my astrophysics lesson!

But now think about this more metaphysically.

Stars have a special psychological meaning for us.  They represent the ultimate goals for which we are aiming.  And we make wishes upon stars, and especially upon comets that are carrying star dust to its next destination.  So realize that you ARE a Star.  And if you are a Star, that means of course your goal is achievable, no matter what it may be.

You are a child of the Universe.  Whether you believe the ultimate creator is God, Allah, Yahweh, Brahma, or simply the Universe, you are its creation, its child.  I will continue to refer to the Universe here, but simply replace that word with whatever fits into your own belief system.  Just as you want the best for your children, so the Universe wants what is best for you.  It will do whatever is necessary to bring you what is best for you, provided this is not contrary to your free will.

There does seem to be a universal principle that nothing should interfere with free will.  And this is both a bane and a blessing.  The bane is that if you focus on the negatives, then that is what you will attract to you.  The Universe wants to bring you everything that is positive, but it will not contradict you, so if you are focused on the opposite, then the opposite is what you will get.  The blessing is that once you recognize you truly are a child of the Universe, and focus on the positives, the things you really want, then that is what the Universe will deliver to you.  Or rather, the Universe will so order things that as you work on achieving those goals the right people and the right resources will appear.

From now on, keep these two principles in mind.  You are a Star, and you will reach all your goals.  You are a child of the Universe, and as you work on reaching your goals the Universe will steer towards you whatever you need to reach them.

I will never make it because …

Did you know at least three presidents of the United States lost everything and went bankrupt before making their fortune again?  There may be more, as I am not an expert on American history, but I do know of Abraham Lincoln (bankrupt in 1883, eventually worth $18,400,000), Ulysses S Grant (bankrupt in 1881, eventually worth $95,100,000) and William McKinley (bankrupt in 1893, eventually worth $7,500,000).

There are plenty of other names you will probably recognize who have been through this experience of bankruptcy followed by financial success.  How about Walt Disney, for example?  Walt Disney had a dream, but in his early years not much else!  He was also considered rather a failure at school, had to repeat his second grade, and often dozed off in his lessons.  In 1921 Walt Disney went bankrupt.  By the time he died in 1966 he was worth $1,100,000,000, and he had also realized his dream of establishing a clean, wholesome entertainment park for children young and old – Disneyland.

Or how about Henry Heinz – the founder of the Heinz food company?  Like Disney, Heinz also had a dream.  He dreamed of creating safe and sanitary food, and of a nurturing and safe environment for his employees, and he achieved those dreams.  But not without going bust when he was 31!  When he died at age 74 Henry Heinz was worth $400,000,000.

Francis Ford Coppola, the director famous for both “Apocalypse Now” and the Godfather series of films, filed for bankruptcy three times in nine years – in 1983, 1990 and 1992.  Each time he arose from the flames of bankruptcy like a phoenix.  I have seen estimates of his net worth now varying between $25 million and $250 million.

Another “Ford” who went bankrupt and recovered is Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford car empire.  Ford was fired from his first job.  He filed for bankruptcy twice, but died with a net worth of $188,000,000,000.

If you do a little research you will find dozens of similar examples.  George Foreman, the rapper M C Hammer, Larry King, Bob Guccione (of Penthouse fame), the chocolate king Milton Hershey, the property magnate Donald Trump, Kim Bassinger, Burt Reynolds, the showman P T Barnum, even Buffalo Bill!  All went broke but recovered big time!

Usually the biggest obstacle that seems to prevent us achieving our dreams is the lack of money.  “I will never make it because I don’t have enough money!”  All of the above went bankrupt at least once but bounced back and made it – and so can you!

Or maybe you see a different obstacle.  “I will never make it because I am not clever enough!”  Albert Einstein was considered a very slow learner in his early childhood – so much so that his parents had to consult a doctor to check his mental abilities.  Richard Branson is dyslexic, but that didn’t stop him founding the Virgin empire.  Helen Keller contracted an illness that left her permanently blind and deaf from 19 months old, yet achieved her dreams of becoming a university graduate, a published author, a political activist and a lecturer.  Can you really say that whatever you think is holding you back is a more insurmountable obstacle than faced by Helen Keller?

No matter what obstacles you see, there is only one thing that can stop you reaching your goal – and that one thing is YOU!  Keep saying “I will never make it because …” and you WILL never make it.  Determine today to strike that phrase from your memory.  Replace it with “I WILL make it because …” and you, like all the above, will achieve your dream.

New Year Resolutions or Goals

Do you enjoy making New Year Resolutions, or actually the question should be do you keep your resolutions?  Did you know that 9 out of 10 people fail to keep their resolutions?  In fact I started a MOOC course on 5th January which had as its opening sentence "It’s January. The holiday is over, and you have already broken your New Year’s resolutions."  So what is the reason for this?

One of the main reasons that New Year's resolutions fail is simply because you are not totally committed to them.  Many people make so many resolutions that it is simply impossible to know where to start.  So instead of taking action it is much easier to give up on all of them.

The best way to get around this issue is to find something that you truly want to achieve with all of your heart.  This might be to lose 50 pounds to save $1,000 or to take up a new hobby.

Another way to look at your New Year's resolution is by shifting your perspective of it.  Resolutions are viewed as wishes and dreams by many people, and this is another reason why people aren't successful with them.

Instead you want to turn your resolution into a life goal.  Goals are more often specific things and desires that you want to achieve.  When you tell people what your goal is they are more likely to be supportive.  When you say that you just made a New Year's Resolution they often assume that once February hits your resolution will have disappeared.

Be very specific with your resolution and make it based on one thing.  This way you will find it much easier to stay on track and achieve your goals.  If your goal is a large one that includes a lifestyle change then break it down.

Break down a large goal into monthly, weekly and even daily goals.  By attaining a smaller goal you are less likely to lose your focus and you will be able to see that you are making progress.

Let's look at an example here.  Say you want to lose 50 pounds by next Christmas and make this your New Year's resolution.  If you leave it at that and start working on losing weight in January things are great.  What happens, though, is that you don't lose weight fast enough, and by February you have only lost 5 pounds.  Your immediate reaction is to give up because at that rate you won't reach your goal by the end of December.

You are not alone if you think like this, many people do and giving up acts as an excuse for not continuing.  A better scenario would be this:

Break up the 50 pounds into a yearly goal by setting a weekly goal to lose 1 pound.  This is much more realistic and attainable.  The chances are that you will have weeks where you lose more than 1 pound and this can help spur you on.  Plus it offers you a safety guard for those weeks when you don't lose any weight.

You must always remember that it is okay to get off track a little and not meet your goal.  For instance you may not lose weight but you may be exercising more and feeling great.  Think about how one balances out the other.  You are feeling great and this is a positive.  While not losing pounds is not what you want, you are still working on improving your lifestyle, which is a different plus!

This year try defining your resolutions as goals instead.  If you have made your resolutions, re-define them now.  Do this even if you have already failed to keep them.  If, like many, you didn’t even bother to set yourself any resolutions because you knew you wouldn’t keep them, set them now, but as goals.  Don’t worry about the fact that you didn’t set them for 1st January, as they are now goals, not resolutions.  Give yourself a time when you want to achieve them and tell your family and friends what your goals are.  You may find that they are more supportive than you expected.

Finally, if you would like some help from me in keeping your resolutions, simply send a blank e-mail to resolution@getresponse.net.  When you do this you will get an e-mail back asking you to confirm you wish to subscribe to my e-mail list.  If you confirm your subscription you will then receive 52 weekly supportive e-mails which will help keep you on track.  This is a free service, so why not take advantage of it!