Setting Intentions with a Vision Board

March 4, 2019

Last year I created my first ever Vision Board, and subsequently learned about the power of manifestation. When I was invited by fellow Memphis blogger Alex Nicole (City Chic Living), to attend a Vision Board Party last month, I jumped at the chance to create one for this year as well. I’d had intentions to create one at the start of the new year, but life and busy-ness got in the way. Not only would this be an opportunity to finally get mine completed, but it was being done with other bloggers, which would make the experience even more fun.

So if you’ve never made a Vision Board before, it’s basically a VERY intentional collage. Most people include goals and dreams that they want to achieve for that particular year, but you can honestly make it about anything you want. It’s fun to create a large one with a multitude of things, but some people make even smaller ones for individual areas in their life (health, career, home, etc.). During Alex’s event, she encouraged everyone to focus on at least 4 categories that were important for us at the moment so that we’d have a bit of a guide when searching for images and words.

I decided to treat mine the same way that I did last year and visualize for my life as a whole this year. My focus is to not only continue to grow in my career (which I made huge leaps in last year), but just evolve overall as a woman. Elevate is the word that I chose for 2019, so I wanted to create a board that reflected that. Last year was all about intention, and I planted a lot of seeds for myself, but this year I want to reap and really grow from the foundation that I set for myself.

First things first: being in a beautiful setting (it was at Everbloom Design Studio, which I wrote about here) was inspiring in itself. The owner Kristin still had arrangements throughout the studio from an event she held the night before, and Alex made sure to treat us to some sweet goodies. The event was sponsored by a company called Natural Vitality, and we were able to sample Natural Calm, a magnesium supplement stress relief effervescent drink that’s designed to help with stress relief and relaxation.

After we mixed our drinks (they can be mixed with water or a natural juice) and grabbed a few cupcakes, we got down to business. It was a room filled with stylish bloggers, so we were all extra inspired while we work.

photo: Elizabeth Looney Photography

My focus this year is on growth with photography + this blog, travel, health + wellness, love, and… money (cue Cardi B.). I am lucky that I’ve been able to intertwine work and play so while I get busy, I still very much love what I do and I get to do some form of it every day. So here’s a breakdown of my focus:

photo: Elizabeth Looney Photography

Photography/Blog: I want to leverage both my blog and photography services more to help me with travel, because I absolutely loved working with hotels last year. Creating lifestyle content for a brand that I can also share on my blog is amazing, and I really want to do more of that this year. I also want to have my own natural light studio. That has been a dream for a very long time, and in order to do that I’ve had to make some changes to my business re: prices, services and clientele. I am still very much specific with who I want to work with (small businesses/brands, creatives + bloggers), but I’m no longer afraid to turn down a job and I’ve stopped with discounts. I made some updates to my blog’s layout, shifted how I handle my content and will also be offering some digital products as well. Last year I survived, and now it’s time to elevate and really thrive.

Health + Wellness: I seriously fell off with my workout routine last year and I need to get physical again. Outside of my pesky sweet tooth, I ate more goodness than junk, but I really want to clean up my diet even more. I actually love really healthy food, but I need to get better with meal prep and planning so that I can stay on track. With wellness, unplugging more is something I’m working on. While I do need my phone and laptop for work, I hate being tethered to them all the time, so creating a better schedule that will allow me to remain productive but also regularly unplug is a must this year. I also want to get into yoga or Pilates, meditation and journaling too.

Love/Relationships: I want to be even more intentional with my love life because your girl only has a few more years where having a baby won’t be super difficult to do (yes, believe it or not, I want to get married and become a mom). I’ve always been a go with the flow type person when it comes to dating, and while I will never be the person to give ultimatums or crack a whip with a man, I do know the reality of looking up and 6 months have flown by and you’re in a situationship that’s not going anywhere. This was fine in my early 20s but I know the things that I want to experience and accomplish with my mate, so I can’t waste time. Dating with intention is completely different from “going with the flow” but it’s much more fulfilling.

Money: Want to make more of it, but also get to a place where I have enough streams of income that I can then make it work for me. Smarter money management will help with elevation in all areas, so it’s all tied together.

photo: Elizabeth Looney Photography

When I looked back over my vision board from last year (you can see it here), I was pleased to see how much of it I had accomplished. Getting your thoughts and goals out, whether it be by writing them in a journal or creating a vision board with images puts them out into the universe, and I am one to tell you, manifestation is real. When you are intentional with what you do, you can achieve so much. The way that you think and move changes, so your priorities become so much more clear. You have to leave room for chance because we can’t control every single thing, BUT, we do have much more control than we realize. Keep your goals at the forefront of your mind and visualize the life that you want to live regularly because your thoughts are powerful and you will be amazed by what you can do!