Why Setting Small Goals is the Key to Achieving Your Vision

 
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About a year ago, I finally got the job of my dreams. (Prior to that I had a series of wish-and-a-prayer jobs - that included a lot of restaurant experience and not a lot of money.) Needless to say, this was my first time EVER being able to afford a student loan payment. 

(Listen, my life was the serious struggle - and I was deferring those payments left and right. I didn't even know what making a payment felt like. #DontJudge)

The moment I was able to start making payments, I realized one thing: The interest on my $40k worth of debt added up to $200/month. In short, it finally hit me that the money I borrowed at 18 (a bright-eyed-bushy-tailed first generation college student with no understanding of student loan debt) was costing 28-year-old me $200 of my hard earned cash each month.

AND I WAS NOT HAVING THAT. (I'm a girl who likes her money. #SorryNotSorry)

So I decided then and there, after my first student loan payment, that I was going to pay this loan off before 30 (a little over 2 years).

I started to think about how I was going to get out of that debt and I had a few options to bring in more cash:

  1. Start Blogging (fo' profit)

  2. Become a freelancer

  3. Create a business of some sort (I wasn't very sophisticated at this point.)

  4. Sell stuff

  5. Get a raise at work

  6. Cut my expenses

At first glance, the idea of paying off $40K in debt in 2 years is a tough pill to swallow. (On top of that, I'm a single mom so I can't exactly live in my car and eat Ramen.) What I really needed was a strategy, a different frame to put around this big goal so I could see it differently.

I decided to go with one of the greatest goal setting principles of all time.

BREAK DOWN LARGE GOALS INTO SMALLER GOALS.

I love this principle, quite simply, because it works.

Breaking down your goals means to take the gigantic goal that you want to accomplish - and find smaller milestones within that goal that you can focus your attention on. When done right, the small milestones will eventually lead you to accomplishing the larger goal. 

For example, I have a large goal of paying off 40K of debt in two years, but rather than focusing on the whole 40K, I can focus my efforts on paying off $1,000.

Focusing on $1,000 (aka. the much smaller goal) can make a huge difference in whether or not I make it across the debt-free finish line, here's why:

 

small goals make your large goal easily DIGESTIBLE.

In my journey, I decided to focus on paying $1,000 at a time. For the first few months, I was able to rent out a room in my apartment for $500/month. Then, I did vision board workshops for nonprofits and companies. At each moment, I knew what my goal is in the back of my head and with no stress, I was able to find more opportunities to work on my next thousand.

While a very large goal can feel incredibility out of reach, a small goal makes you feel like you can reach the goal - and it will be easy. This makes it much easier to START.

 

Helps You Build Momentum

The moment I paid off the first one thousand dollars, I knew how easy it would be to pay off the next one thousand and IT FELT SO GOOD to pay it off. It was a huge win for me. Rather than watching all of my payments go to interest, I was able to see the fruit of my labor. I put a dent in those darn student loans. In my head...

I WAS ALREADY WINNING.

One key to achieving anything is the way you FEEL while you're doing it. Feeling good about something can push you forward on those days where you're feeling less motivated. 

 

Build Towards A Larger Goal

Each time I could pay off one thousand dollars, I was buiding towards the 40K, but I don't even think about the 40K anymore, I think about the next thousand - and celebrate each one. That way, reaching my goal feels like a succession of wins.

Rather than thinking, "I still have 39K to go" I can think - "Wow. I've ALREADY paid of 1K!"

Small goals are you opportunity to win - even if you haven't won the war (yet), you can win the battle over and over and over again.

Keep winning!

xoxo,
Chantl Martin

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

  1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

  2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts

  3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

 This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

 

Are Your Goals Crushing You? The Secret To Successful Goal Setting

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After college, I had a very difficult time trying to find a job and I struggled to find my place in the world. As a straight-A student, every teacher's favorite and overachiever. (Seriously, I was nominated for the math and science honor's society when I wasn't a math or science major.) I had my life together - and more importantly I knew that after graduation I was going to totally win at life. 

And that is the opposite of what actually happened. 

The next two years of my life was a series of closed doors, failures and one incident where I cried in front of the lady interviewing me at a temp agency because the only job I qualified for with my straight A's, leadership and community service was a receptionist. Even my induction into the math and science honor society meant nothing to her. (Side note: Why did no one prepare college graduate me for the real world?)

I took the job - and the heartbreak that came along with it. 

At that moment I decided that if the world (and the snooty lady at the temp agency) wasn't going to choose me, I would choose me. I decided then and there that I would start a blog - and I also got a part time job as a waitress on the weekends. 

I started to blog about arts and crafts and parenting (because I was sooo original at the time). After about 6 blog posts, I decided I wasn't making any money so I started working on a project to sell arts and crafts activity kits to families (because my six blog posts meant I was totally qualified to do that). Once I started doing research on what it would take to create these arts and crafts activity kits, I realized that I would need...

(you guessed it) capital.

My new receptionist job didn't quite pay me enough to start a side business so I started to freelance on the side - and when the money didn't add up, I started to study for the GRE. 

I didn't have much additional time to study with the blog, researching the arts and crafts kit, managing the social media accounts for my blog, waitressing and freelancing. So I started to wake up at 3AM to study. #teamnosleep

During that low period of my life I learned one thing for certain: 

CHOOSE ONE THING AND DO THAT ONE THING UNTIL YOU'RE SUCCESSFUL

In a world of it being common (and even praised) to be multi-passionate or a serial entrepreneur and where everyone seems to be on the constant quest to having "it all" it may seem counter-intuitive to pursue only one thing. (THERE'S SO MUCH OPPORTUNITY!!!)

I've found that's the best thing you can do to actually accomplish your goals and become wildly successful, here's why: 

 

Choosing one goal funnels all of your energy in one direction. 

Just take a second to think about how many projects I was working on: 

  1. Blogging + Social Media

  2. Creating Arts and Crafts Kits

  3. Waitressing

  4. Freelancing

  5. Studying for the GRE

After work and family time, I would go straight to sleep and my side hustle hours were from 3AM - 8AMeach morning before it was time to get back to work. That means I had five hours to work on any items I had to do that day. That means If I had freelancing projects, I could not study. If I had to publish a blog post that day and schedule social media, I could not work on my arts and crafts kits. 

Focusing on one goal means that all of the time you have and all of the energy you have to give can be directed into one thing. Rather than taking your available hours and splitting them between different projects you can focus all of those hours into ONE project. This speeds up your ability to move forward on that project leading faster improvements, bigger wins, and higher probability of success.

 

 

Your brain can focus deeply on what you are doing.

When I was working on several different projects at once, I could never focus deeply on what I was doing. For example, at any given time, I could receive an email from a freelance client while I was at my receptionist job or while I was waitressing and it would completely derail my productivity. I could no longer focus on what I was doing. I would try to reply to my clients while I was waiting for food to come out of the kitchen at the restaurant. I would constantly get distracted by an idea for one project while working on another. My brain wanted to solve too many problems. 

Your brain is constantly working to solve your problems, even while you sleep! This is great when you have one project that you're working on because even when you're not thinking about it you are constantly working on that goal. Each new idea builds on the last and rather than being a distraction, it's an enhancement to what you're working on. 

 

Once you are clear on what you want, the universe aligns to give it to you.

I decided to focus all of my energy on studying for the GRE because I knew that getting a better job would be the key to unlocking more income and greater potential for myself. I got rid of the blog and stopped working on the crafts business. I even got rid of all of my freelancing clients (except for the highest paying client). I also quit the waitressing job.

Once I knew definitively that I was taking the GRE and going to grad school, I was able to pick and choose only the activities that aligned with my goal. I started to invest my free time into studying for the GRE. My receptionist job, which started off as my source of depression became a huge opportunity because while I was sitting at a desk all day waiting for phone calls, I utilized that time to study even more. I also started to network with people that went to the schools I applied to who gave me insider's information and contacts at the school.

Drilling down to one goal, gives you the opportunity to only do things that will move the needle in pursuit of that goal. Rather than running around being busy and overwhelmed, you can be confident that you're doing what matters most. 

 

You now have time to take care of you.

Pursuing multiple goals is tough business (especially if your goals don't align very well)! The first thing that I lost when pursuing multiple goals was the time for myself. I did not have time to rest properly or have a cup of tea (I probably couldn't afford it at the time if I wanted to). I was constantly serving the executives at the company I worked for, the guests in the restaurant, my clients and my family (being busy is not excuse for not showing up for your loved ones). 

 

Following one goal, means that you can do less but it will amount to so much more - and you can finally take that much needed time to take care of you. #YouDeserveIt

This lesson was one of the first (and most important) adulting lessons I learned. Once I defined the one big hairy audacious goal to pursue, I was able to better plan out my next steps - and the same will be true for you. 

Happy Goal-Crushing!

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

  1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

  2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts

  3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

Why Vision Boards Work - And Why You Should Create One

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

 
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Let's chat about what an ordinary day of adulting really looks like, shall we?

You wake up via an annoying cell phone alarm, after ever-so-gracefully hitting the snooze button about three times. Then you stumble out of bed and commence your daily routine of making yourself look half way decent and head to work. After a long day's work, you come home, have dinner and shoot the breeze (possibly watching Netflix or Hulu) until you go to sleep and do it all over again the next day. 

Here's the deal - it's incredibly easy to live that same exact story over and over again - day in and day out. 

While doing something different, going on adventures, pursing new goals, or learning something new look amazing as you're scrolling Instagram, they all TAKE EFFORT. It takes a significant amount of your time and energy planning and executing for these things to actually become a reality. (Oh, and you also have to be consistent because if you're not careful, you could start planning and then your goals can disappear in an instant if the roller coaster of life get's in the way.)

That's where vision boards come in. 

A vision board is a visual representation of all the things you want to accomplish over a certain period. While it's common use a poster board to build your vision, you can create a vision board using any medium that fits best with your style.

I like to do create a vision board at the beginning of the year instead of setting a New Year's Resolution because I love having a huge canvas each year to set goals in every area of my life

Creating a vision board could be just what you need to break out of the every day snooze fest, here's why:

 

Vision Boards Give You A Reason To Reflect On What You Want Out of life.

In any given day, you can point out the things you don't really enjoy about your life. You can also daydream about things you'd want to accomplish if you had only the chance. Thinking about these things every day means absolutely nothing if you don't make an effort to fix them.

Creating a vision board is your opportunity to reflect on your life - the good and the bad - and redesign your story. Through your vision board you can set goals to do more of the things you enjoy about your life and less of the things you don't enjoy. Your vision board is your escuse to take a moment to think about your needs and focus entirely on your action plan to make it happen.

My favorite book for exploring your self, your desires and your destiny is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. A friend gave this book to me when she realized I was struggling with adulting and needed a serious lifeline. Now I recommend it to others. 

 

Your Vision board serves as a constant reminder of your goals.

The real power in vision boards is the daily interaction with them. If you put your vision board in a place where you'll get to see it every day, it will begin to train your mind to think about the things you want, even when you're not necessarily thinking about them or focusing on them.

While you may have had difficulty focusing on accomplishing your goals, your vision board will be your point of focus. Depending on what you put on your board, you're placing yourself in the position to solve those problems or focus on those goals even when you're not trying. 

 

Your Vision Board Is Your Reminder to live a full life

The most powerful thing about the vision board is that it's your own blank canvas and you're absolutely unlimited in what you can put on it. Your business goals can sit right next to your travel goals, next to your money goals, next to your relationship goals. When  you look at your board, you're not only thinking about the home you want to buy, but you're also thinking about how you're going to align your money habits to reach those travel goals and buy your first home. With a vision board, you begin to view your life as one full picture and it's your job to put all the pieces together in perfect harmony. 

Vision boards are powerful for many different reasons, but the biggest value you get from a vision board is the effect it has on your mindset.

The second you decide to create a vision board you are making a consious decision to put yourself and your needs first. You make the decision to take control of you life. You assert your strength over your life. When you create your vision board, you paint a picture of your future - you tell yourself and the universe that this is what you will have. And even if you don't hit the moon, you'll surely land amongst the stars. 

xoxo

 

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

  1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

  2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts

  3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.


About the author

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

5 Unique Ways To Create A Vision Board That Fits Your Style

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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No matter how many people talk about their success using vision boards (the great Oprah included), vision boards can appear to be completely non-magical right?

I mean, seriously, it's made of white poster board and some old magazine clippings, there's no gold, silver or diamonds involved. But no one can deny, that no matter how flimsy, these little boards with tiny pieces of paper glued to them have the power to change lives. 

Vision boards have a unique way of keeping your personal goals front and center - and top of mind throughout the year. (There is no way you're going to forget that you wanted a promotion when you have a poster boards that says P-R-O-M-O-T-I-O-N in huge letters sitting above your nightstand.)

Every time you look at your goals, you'll think about them - and that prompts your mind to think of new ways to solve your largest challenges. 

When you create a vision board you’re forcing yourself to take some time to think about what you really want out of life.

That time of internal reflection is the first powerful point in accomplishing your goals because you take the time to decide on those goals. You are focusing your mind on what you really want. 

You don't have to settle for the white poster board that most gurus opt for when creating their board! Nothing against the white poster board at all, but we're all about being true to you, here! 

Here are a few ways to infuse a little bit of "you" into your big vision this year:

 

If you're financially conscious, create your vision on a cork board.

I'm a huge advocate of being frugal any chance I get so a cord board is my canvas of choice when I create my vision board. I create a vision board every December so I could easily go through 50 poster boards over the course of my lifetime (hopefully many more). However, by my second year of creating a vision board, I opted for a beautiful cork board that I can use year after year.

(Pro tip: This also looks really good if you want to hang it up in your bedroom or somewhere else prominently visible in your home.)

In the first week of December, I take a look at my vision board and take account of what I've accomplished and what I haven't tackled yet. Then I remove the old quotes and images and re-use that same cord board to build my vision for the next year. 

 

For the designers, build it on canva.

Some people are designed-inclined. (Yes, I'm looking directly at all of you Pinterest pinners with your perfectly designed pins that you make look effortless.) 

For all of those fortunate enough to have some real design skills (or just enjoy creating beautiful things), you can head over to Canva to create a beautiful design.

Canva is a design tool that you can use to create pretty much anything! You can upload pictures of you and your family, your grandest relationship goals, add in your favorite vacation spots and type in your very own quotes. Then (the icing on the cake) you can order a printout of your creation right there on the site.

(Pro-tip: If you're on the computer a lot, save your vision board as your screensaver. Remember, the goal is to put your board somewhere that you'll see it daily.)

 

If you like to journal, build your vision inside your personal journal.

I try to journal at least once a week. (I used to journal daily, but hey, who's keeping track?)

I love blank journals with motivational quotes on the cover.  

If you're known to carry a journal around, like me, why not take your big vision and create mini vision board right on the inside of your journal. That way, as you write in your journal, you can reflect on your goals.

(Pro Tip: I also carry around an old school paper calendar like this one. That could also be a great place to put your vision.)

 

If you don't want to share your goals, use an envelope strategy.

Sometimes you have goals that you don't want to share with others. Maybe you have a special goal that you want to keep all to yourself until you're ready to share. How about rather than not putting the goal up on your board at all, put it in an envelope and put the envelope on your board. That way, it can still be a part of your big vision AND you still get to keep that goal all to yourself. #winwin

 

For the sentimental, stick with the paper - and keep it throughout the years.

While I've been tearing down my vision every year to replace it with a brand-spanking new one-year plan, one of my best friends was doing the exact opposite. She creates her vision board on poster board and keeps it each year. She even had a cute poster board holder that held all of her vision boards from the past to present. With about 4 vision boards under her belt, she could clearly see what goals she was pursuing and how her priorities have shifted over time. 

 

Similar to eating a Reese's (and from what I hear, skinning a cat) there's are multiple ways to do it. Just remember that creating a vision board is all about you and the goals you want to accomplish. The most important part about the vision board is that you create it to fit your needs and inspire your inner soul. 

 

Happy creating!
xoxo

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

  1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

  2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts

  3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

 

About the author

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!