It can be uplifting and a source of hope to have a dream vacation in mind. Whether is dreaming of the beach, the mountains, new places, or new experiences keeping these things in mind can add excitement to our lives. Todays prompt is all about reflecting on what a dream vacation looks like for you!
Journal Prompt
What is your dream vacation? What is it about this type of vacation that you enjoy?
Do you plan to go on this vacation? How can you work towards it?
If you went on this dream vacation what activities would you look forward to most?
I recently read this inspirational story, “She found late father’s bucket list, then spent 6 years completing it” by Sydney Page, in the Washington Post. This post is a review of the article and a free downloadable to make your bucket list! Below is a link to the article if you want to see the full story and pictures! Definitely worth checking out!
This is a really neat story. Laura Carney’s father passed away unexpectedly after being hit by a car. Laura’s father wrote a bucket list that was found by her brother in 2016, 13 years after his passing. Laura’s father wrote this bucket list of 60 items in 1978 and had completed 6 tasks. Laura committed to completing her father’s bucket list. It took her 5 years and 11 months to complete the list!! What a commitment and such a neat way to honor her father. Laura told author Page that the process of completing the list was also apart of her healing and grieving journey.
Laura completed some pretty incredible tasks including going to the super bowl, driving a corvette, running a marathon, meeting President Carter, and a trip to Europe. Laura shared with author Page that she felt her dad with her and it was a way of keeping his spirit alive. Laura encouraged others to write a bucket list and she worded it in such a beautiful way:
“I really encourage everybody to write down what they want to do,” she said. “It helps you start living more intentionally, and when you’re living intentionally, you feel more of a sense of purpose in your life.”
Laura Carney, written by Sydney Page
What Is On Your Bucket List?
What would be on your bucket list? Below is a downloadable file to get started writing down your lifetime dreams!
Have you ever had a goal that you wanted to accomplish, but it did not end up working because of lack of planning?
Have you ever had a goal that you planned for, but the plan did not work out and it was difficult to find motivation to keep working towards your goal?
I have been in both of these situations and been disappointment when working towards my goals did not go as planned. Having a plan and ongoing inspiration can help us to accomplish our goals. There is a theory that there are four steps to change. These steps are pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, and action (DiClemente & Norcross, 1992). The preparation stage is when we have accepted the change we would like to make and then taking steps to get ready for taking action. Vision boards and planning are great steps to take to prepare for action!
Making a vision board, whether it is for the new year, a special project, or a new habit, allows us to stay focused on our priorities and stay inspired even when the change is difficult. Any change, new habit, or even new year will have challenges that we did not anticipate or that may decrease our motivation. Because of this a vision board can help us to stay focused and to press forward when parts of the plan have to be tweaked or changed to accomplish our overall goals. We all grow tired and feel overwhelmed at times from making any kind of change. Because of this it can be helpful to have something to look at and to help us to visualize why it is important to keep working towards our goal.
top view image of table with open notebook and the text new mindset new results. success and personal development concept
Types of Vision Boards
There are several ways that you can make a vision board or display your goals in ways that can inspire you and keep you focused on what your priorities are.
Vision board template with space for goals, dreams list, travel plans and inspiration. Collage frames for teens, nursery poster design. Journal page for planning, new year resolutions, white sheet.
You can make a collage of your vision and goals! This can be very fun because you can use whatever stickers, pictures, phrases, and embellishments that inspire you regarding your goals. This is a great way to express your hopes, desired results, and your “why” behind working towards that goal. The inspiration from the collage can spur you forward towards your goal and be a source of comfort to press forward when barriers come up. You can see a small vision board that I made below with a frame from the Dollar Tree. This is my Amazon referral link for the stickers I purchased for the vision board.
You could choose a word to focus on that represents your “why” behind the goal, that describes your desired outcome, or that inspires you towards your goals.
If you are someone who likes to work on a variety of goals, you could write out all of the goals you have for the year. For example, if you were wanting to work on your health, career, relationships, and faith during 2022 then you could write out a reflection on all four topics and what you are hoping to achieve throughout the year.
Example of a word to focus on throughout the year!Small vision board with a frame I got from the Dollar Tree
SMART Goals
Using SMART goals as our foundation can be helpful in allowing us to make plans that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based. After we have made a vision board or other inspirational reflection, we can than break down our goals into specific and measurable steps. This supports us in making changes and allows the change we make to be sustainable.
Example goal:
Specific – I would like to eat more vegetables.
Measurable – I plan to eat 4 servings of vegetables daily.
Achievable – this is a doable goal because it is simple and will take place during my lunch and dinner meals.
Realistic – this is realistic to me because I enjoy vegetables and can fairly easily start eating 4 servings daily.
Time-based – I plan to work on this goal for the next three months.
Summary: My goal is to eat 4 servings of vegetables daily, during my lunch and dinner meals. I will work on this goal for the next three months. This is realistic and achievable due to my enjoyment of vegetables and desire to eat healthier.
Trouble Shooting Your Plan
There are times for all of us that working towards our goals does not go as well as we hoped or planned. For most of us we give up on our New Year’s resolutions by February or we might quit a diet three weeks in. If the methods that you had planned on did not work, do not allow that to dishearten you to give up on your goal! Try adjusting the plan or the methods of how you go about working towards your end goals! Your health, wellbeing, and dreams are worth pursuing!!
cycle to reach success: try, fail, try again, success
References:
DiClemente, C. & Norcross, J. (1992). In Search of How People Change: Applications to Addictive behaviors. American Psychologist, 47, 1102-1114.
Blooming Resilient 