Thrive Lounge

September 10, 2018

Vision Boards

How Often Should I Update My Vision Board?

Thrive Lounge

September 10, 2018

Vision Boards

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

The first time I ever created a vision board, I was dating an amazing guy that I hoped one day would become my husband. (That's not saying much for me, I'm actually a huge romantic and hope EVERYONE will be my husband :)

I created my vision board with all of my goals on it and right in the middle of my vision board, I had pictures of a beautiful wedding dress and sparkling ring. I was sure that after all my years of bad dating, I'd landed a good one and this would be my year.

So I manifested it on my vision board.

About half way through the year, I found myself super single and replacing that beautiful dress on my vision board with more "goal-getter" quotes. (Because if I couldn't get my dream man, I was surely going to create my dream life anyway.)

I knew it was time to update my vision board - my future was different now. There was no man in my life to hope for a future with.

Sometimes the need to change a vision board is not so simple to identify.

Maybe you put a large goal on your vision board, but you don’t think you’ll really be able to accomplish it so you want to take that goal off your board because of FEAR.

It’s possible that you set a goal that will take several years to achieve so you want to take the goal off your vision board due to UNCERTAINTY.

In these cases, it could be easier to set a smaller, easier to attain goal so your vision board feels do-able. However, removing your goals in these cases will push you from dreaming big and into thinking small.

So when should you think about making a change to your vision board? Here are the three ways that I’ve come up with:

Your Future is Fundamentally Different

This is when something changes in your life and there is no way that goal you envisioned is going to happen.

In my earlier story, I knew there was no way I was getting engaged that year so it was clearly time to take the wedding dress off my vision board. Maybe you set goals to grow in your community and you end up moving across the country to a new place. Maybe you planned on becoming a sommelier (a wine expert) and then found out that you’re pregnant.

These are just a few examples of life changes that happen that mean it’s really time to alter your vision for your near future.

You gain clarity

During the same year I realized my relationship wasn’t working, I also decided to go back to school.

Pursuing my education was not something I planned on. In fact, I never really knew what to do with my professional life. I was attending a conference and by chance I met the owners of a small data startup that changed my life. They taught me how to take my general marketing knowledge and apply it in different ways that would skyrocket my value in the professional world.

It was like my whole world opened up and I finally could see where I needed to take my career.

When you get a huge sign of clarity on where to take your life, it’s your job to listen to that inner voice. Don’t feel guilty about removing the things that no longer serve you from your vision.

The person you are today doesn’t owe your past an explanation. Clarity is a great reason to change your vision board.

You're Inspired to Pick up a new hobby

There are times in your life where you decide to get off the couch, stop watching Netflix and instead spend that time doing something valuable. This would be something that you didn't see coming.

Earlier this year, my daughter went to her dad's house and I experienced my first full month without my child. Before she left, I thought I would enjoy that time and be more productive than ever. Instead, I felt very unsure of myself and realized that without my daughter I didn't really know who I was.

I didn't have a value system set up to prioritize things without her. I was lost.

That summer, I decided to do the things I've always wanted to do and picked up singing as a hobby. I always wanted to sing professionally and I made the decision to start working towards it, even if it’s in small increments.

The decision to do something for you is always a good thing.

Your vision board is meant to manifest the dreams you have for your life. If your life has fundamentally changed in some way, feel confident removing the things that don't work to make space for the things you really want.

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party?

Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.
Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts.
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!

Thrive Lounge

August 29, 2018

Vision Boards

Six Common Mistakes People Make When Hosting A Vision Board Party

Thrive Lounge

August 29, 2018

Vision Boards

Vision Board parties can be a ton of fun, but often times they're hosted by us regular folks who sit around drinking and chatting with all the party guests. And have now these fun party hosts have decided to add Vision Boards into the party mix, and while the intentions are great, they don't always have the right structure to make a successful party.

As a host, it your job to make sure that attendees get what they want to achieve out of coming to the event.

Here are a few common mistakes people make that you'll want to avoid while you're planning your Vision Board party.

Filling every minute of the agenda

I know this one sounds a bit crazy! We want for every moment to be planned out and have every activity flow really well into the next one.

Here's what's wrong with that:

About 50% of attendees will show up late.
People will inevitably miss key content and want you to repeat.
A full agenda doesn't leave much time for networking and chatting with others.

Solution: Leave some "mingling" time in your agenda. It's unstructured time where people can get to know each other and chat about whatever they want. This will help them start to build relationships with others on their own.

Related Content: 8 Fun Vision Board Party Activities & Ice Breakers

Not having food/drink options for everyone

Food can be tricky. I once held an event where I forgot the non-alcoholic beverages and had to get a pitcher of water for non-wine drinkers! You want to have super yummy options and get creative to your hearts content, but you also want to be inclusive so that everyone at the event has something to eat.

Solution: Make sure you cover the basics and have gluten free, dairy free and vegetarian options for people. If you want to get fancy, add a form to the registration where people can outline exactly what kinds of food allergies they have so you can plan accordingly.

Related Content: What Kind of Food Should You Have at Your Vision Board Party?

Not having enough good magazines

Magazines are the backbone of the Vision Board! If you don't have enough good magazines to go around, people will end up fingering through the same ones over and over long after they've realized that there is no inspiration in them.

Solution: Ask attendees to bring their own extra magazines from home.

Related Content: Where to Buy Magazines for Your Vision Board Party

Not telling people what to bring

It's pretty common for people provide their own poster boards and bring their own magazines at Vision Board parties. If you don't plan on providing everything for your attendees, you'll want to make sure they know exactly what to bring. Otherwise people may show up empty handed and you run the risk of not having enough materials to go around.

Solution: Provide a list of items in the invitation that they can scan quickly.

Related Content: How to Nail Your Vision Board Party Invitation

Not curating good speakers

If you decide to bring speakers to your event, it could go really well or really bad. Speakers are meant to compliment the event or raise it to the next level with fun, inspiration, and relevant stories for your audience. A speaker who isn’t relevant may leave guests confused. And you definitely want the speaker to be uplifting and encouraging.

Solution: Make sure any speaker you invite has experience that would be relevant to the people attending the event. Perhaps it’s someone who you’ve seen speak at other events or a recommendation from a trusted source.

Related Content: 5 Ways to Become a Vision Board Party Speaker

Not Facilitating conversation among guests

Sometimes you can drop people into a room and they just click. Some people make friends easily and find common grounds to start really cool conversations quickly. Other times, it's a bit more of a struggle. Unfortunately, you have now way of knowing whether your guests will click immediately or if they'll take a little warming up.

Solution: Have a few ideas ready to get people engaged early on in the event with some ice breaker activities that can get the conversation started.

These common Vision Board party mistakes are super easy to avoid with proper planning and a little bit of flexibility. Enjoy your party planning!

Comment below with your favorite Vision Board Party Planning tips.

xoxo

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party?

Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.
Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts.
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

Thrive Lounge

August 15, 2018

Vision Boards

How Much Does It Cost To Host A Vision Board Party

Thrive Lounge

August 15, 2018

Vision Boards

I'm going to let you in on a little secret... I hate event planning!

Even though I love vision boards (and I firmly believe you get much more value by doing them with friends) the entire planning process ends up being a pain in the butt.

Luckily, I love getting friends together for events way more than I hate event planning so I have accumulated a ton of great lessons learned on my event-planning journey.

In this post, we're going to talk about the absolute worst thing in event planning: The Costs.

Planning The Event

Marketing

The goal of any event is to put people in seats. While your event has the best of intentions, your message won't reach anyone if you don't sell tickets.

Here are a couple of options you can use for your marketing:

Social media ads
Email advertising
On-site advertising (like a local website or event website)
Influencer marketing
Affiliate marketing

On occasion you can find a listings website that will allow you to post your event for free, but it's not likely you'll see many sales from there. However, you might also throw money at advertisers - and still not see a huge return on your investment.

Marketing is tricky - and it will take your time, your money or both.

Event Planner

For my last event, I reached out to an event planner to help me with the organizing, décor and making everything happen. That meant that all I needed to focus my time and energy on was making sure that people came in the door and I had butts in seats.

Someone else would worry about what type of décor was at the event, what food and drinks we had to offer and coordinating schedules. Most importantly, the only thing I would have to worry about on the day of the event was looking good.

The Event Site

Venue

Your venue will typically come with a price tag unless you're hosting it at home or you get your event location sponsored. The venues I've worked with typically charge by the hour and you typically get what you pay for. That means, if you want that beautiful rooftop overlooking the city, it's going to cost you five times as much as that co-working space that rents out their medium-sized meeting room.

Furniture

Venues will typically come with certain types of furniture already there -- if you want anything fancy (or even if you need some additional chairs) you're going to have to get that yourself from a different company.

Moving Truck

If you have to move a lot of furniture to design your space to your liking, you will have to order a moving truck for everything. (This is something we didn't consider for our first event and it definitely bit us in the butt!)

Decor

Many party hosts like to add a special touch of inspirational quotes around the room. I personally like to have a mini photo booth where people can grab a few props and take some pics.

Food and Drinks

No event is complete without food and drinks so this one really goes without explanation. Along with the food you're going to need cutlery, napkins, plates and cups.

Presentation

I'm going to be honest here, you can't go out to the store and buy a box of chicken and then leave the box out for attendees to pick out their breast or thigh. You have to put in a little more effort than that.

Get serving trays to present the food in a way that looks appetizing. You might need a water dispenser for the beverages.

Entertainment

Having speakers at an event can raise the perceived value of the event. (That means you can charge more.) Speakers will also be able to connect with the audience, share stories and inspire them to work towards their goals in the new year.

Gifts & Giveaways

Whenever you host speakers (especially if you're not paying them) it's a great idea to give them gifts as a special thank you for speaking at the event. You don't have to go crazy, but a nice $10 coffee mug that follows with the theme of the event will do.

Materials

Vision Board Materials

Unless you're hosting a party where you've told people to bring their own magazines and poster boards, you're on the hook for providing those. You'll also need about 1 glue stick and pair of scissors for every 4 attendees.

Printing any Workshop Materials

Depending on the layout of your event, you may have some handouts or worksheets. All of these will have to be printed and brought with you to the event. If they're writing things down, you'll also need enough pens for each person.

Event Agenda

If you're hosting a formal event, you'll want to make sure each attendee has an agenda. These don't have to be expensive. You can get beautiful and reasonably priced agendas from Etsy. You could also design them yourself on Canva if you want to remove the cost all together.

Vision board parties and events can be incredibly fun and super inspiring to your guests. I hope this list of costs will help you in the planning stages!

xoxo

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party?

Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.
Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts.
Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thrive Lounge

August 1, 2018

Vision Boards

Planning The Perfect Vision Board Party Agenda

Thrive Lounge

August 1, 2018

Vision Boards

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

The goal of every vision board party that was ever created is to help people get clarity on their goals and walk away with ideas of what they want out of life - and how to get there. The best vision board parties will help people make new friends, build their network and believe in their vision more than ever before.

This is all driven by the way you set the event up. As the host, you get to choose how you want your event to flow, here's some tips on how I structure the agenda for my vision board parties.

Time To Mix and Mingle

Any good event gives enough unstructured time (where there are no activities scheduled) for people to walk around, randomly lock eyes with others and spark up a conversation. This is the opportunity for random people to become acquaintances.

Food and Drinks

By setting out the food at the beginning of the event, people will naturally gravitate towards the food and entertain themselves. I'm a huge fan of making new friends in the drink line. (Hey handsome guy, do you come here often?)

Activities & Ice Breakers

Some people are more inclined to sit in the back of the room and not really talk to anyone. (Full disclosure, I used to be one of those people.) Plan to have a few engaging activities to get the entire room familiar with each other and ready to tackle a larger goal.

Speakers

Depending on how you set your event up, it could be a great idea to invite someone to speak. It's great to bring in your speaker right after networking and an ice-breaker or two.

Your speaker will bring the audience back into focus by sharing an inspirational story or message that your audience can identify with. (That's why it's super important to choose the right speaker for your audience.)

Vision Board Tutorial

Even though a vision board seems straight forward, it's always great to give a quick reminder of what a vision board is and how to create one. I will usually bring my vision board from the previous year to show it to attendees and walk through exactly how they can create a vision board that changes their own life.

The tutorial will get your attendees primed to switch gears and start creating.

Time To Build Vision Board

Your attendees will need a minimum of one hour to get started building their vision boards. This is time for people to start looking through the magazines and pulling their top quotes and images to design their life.

Side note: During my tutorial, I always tell people it's OK if they don't finish their boards at the party. It's most important that people get the idea of the vision board and feel empowered to go home and create one.

Share Your Vision Board

If you have a small group (6-8 people), you could ask each person to talk about the goals they put on their boards and why. This is a great experience for everyone that attends because they get to know more about each other - and that part may foster more long-lasting friendships.

Mix n' Mingle

If there's still time (and people aren't too tired or too drunk) give about a half hour or so for some last minute mingling. Throughout the event, you've given people several chances to learn about each other. This is their last chance to act on the things they've learned about the other people in the room. If they have similar goals, they could become accountability partners. If they have already accomplished something that someone else in the room is striving towards, they can swap tips.

The agenda you set for your vision board party will make all the difference in the experience your attendees have. Give them just enough time to engage with the people around them. Encourage them to think about their goals and how they can contribute to the goals of others.

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party?

Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.
Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts.
Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.