Get It!. Jacqueline Laurita
media, link up with organizational products to help them sell their items, or start a website teaching others. Are you the friend everyone goes to for advice? Consider starting an advice column or podcast, writing a book, or volunteering to speak at a conference.
What Brings You Joy?
What are you the happiest doing? What excites you? What do you love so much that you’d do it for free?
Once you discover what brings you joy, do it! Think about how you can cultivate your passion to make it a greater part of your life—or even turn it into a career. Is being a mom what you love most, and do you wish you could share that love with others? Maybe you can start a mommy group where you facilitate activities and offer support for other moms in your area.
What Have You Always Wanted to Do, but Could Never Find the Time For?
Have you ever said to yourself or others, “I wish I had time to . . .”? That is precisely the thing you need to make time for! Whatever you’re craving, it’s calling to you, so answer it, feed your soul with it.
“Aim for a star, and keep your sights high! With a heart full of faith within, your feet on the ground, and your eyes in the sky.”
—Helen Lowrie Marshall
Creating a Clear Vision
Once you’ve discovered your passion, the next step to fulfillment and joy is to visualize a life where that passion is a part of it. Maybe your passion is something you want to share with the world. Maybe you want to live your passion quietly at home. Either of these is okay! But to reach the future you want, you first need to have a clear vision of it.
If you can’t see in your mind’s eye what you wish for your life, it’s impossible to formulate a plan to make that vision a reality.
Break down in detail what you want your life to look like. What do you spend your time doing? What organizations or online communities are you a part of? What is your job or career? Is your body healthy, strong, flexible, and fit? What does your diet consist of? What’s your style? Are you organized and productive? Are you great with time management? Are you in a loving, reciprocal relationship? Describe the details of your perfect partner. Where are you living? What does your house look like? What style of furniture do you own? What kind of car are you driving? How many kids do you have? Do you have any pets? If so, what kind? What achievements do you see yourself making?
How to Create a Vision Board
1. Buy a poster board or corkboard.
2. Create a theme. Your theme can be general—your vision for your future, or what your ideal life would look like—or a specific goal. Choose a theme that inspires you.
3. Find and collect pictures that depict your vision. You can get these from magazines, newspapers, or the internet, or you can even draw your own. Make sure the images symbolize experiences you want to have or people, places, and things that you want in your life.
4. Arrange your pictures visually. If you’re doing one big vision board, you may want to group certain images into sections—for example, one section might focus on relationships and home life, another on jobs and career.
5. Attach the pictures to your poster board. Use glue if you’re using poster board, or tacks if using a corkboard.
6. Add positive affirmations, motivational sayings, and/or quotes.
7. Get creative! You can use paint or markers or attach ribbon or fabrics, scrapbook-style. You can even place a happy picture of yourself in the center of the board. Do whatever speaks to you! It’s your vision!
Not very crafty? You can always create an e-vision board instead, either using something like Pinterest or simply by opening up a Word document on your computer or a “note” on your smartphone, and listing your specific, vision-related goals!
There are lots of different ways to make sure you’re creating a clear vision. We read a story recently about a man who, every time he had a specific goal, changed his computer password to a specific short phrase that reminded him of that goal every time he logged in. He used this technique to improve his relationship, and even to quit smoking. It’s amazing what the power of having a vision can do to manifest it in reality!
One of our favorite ways to help visualize what you want from life—and keep that vision front and center—is to create a vision board. (We’ve included instructions here for you to make your own!) You can make one vision board for all of your visualizations, or you can create separate boards for different goals or different key areas of your life.
Once you’re finished, put your vision board in a place where you can view it easily and often. Look at your vision board for at least one to five minutes daily! It’s best to see it first thing in the morning and last thing before you go to bed.
Do vision boards work? We certainly think so! Jené dreamed of meeting Oprah and showing her The Bra Book because Oprah’s numerous shows about helping women look and feel better with the right bra inspired Jené to write the book in the first place, so her vision board above her desk contained pictures of Oprah. One day, she was invited to an event Oprah would be attending. She showed up, book in hand, as many others did, hoping to get five minutes to chat with the talk-show queen. No one else was able to get near her. Just as Oprah was about to walk onstage, Jené hid behind a pole (true story!) and quickly grabbed the chance to show Oprah her book. Oprah said that she was glad Jené chose to tackle this topic because it was “very important for women.” The next day, her publicist received a call from Oprah’s producers saying that Jené must have made an impression on her. Although Oprah’s famous talk show ended shortly thereafter, Jené felt she fulfilled her goal of getting an “endorsement” from the TV queen. When opportunity meets drive and determination, there’s no telling what you can do!
Staying Motivated
Motivation is the force that drives us to work toward the things we desire. It is what pushes us into finally taking action in pursuing our goals. It is our incentive, our inspiration, and the fuel behind our success.
“What you do today will determine where you are tomorrow. Are you moving forward or standing still?”
—Tom Hopkins
The most effective kind of motivation is internal motivation: dissatisfaction with your current situation and the desire to make your life better. If you’ve identified your passion and clarified your vision of your future, you’re already halfway there! Once you know what you want your life to look like, you can start working toward it.
So it’s just that easy? Well, no. Not usually. But the main reason why achieving our goals can be so difficult is that we tend to get in our own way, sabotaging our efforts to change.
What Is Stopping Me from Staying Motivated and Pursuing the Success and Happiness I Desire?
If this is an issue for you (and it can be for all of us, sometimes), you may already know what it is that is preventing you from going after what you want—but you may not. Here are a few common things that may be holding you back, and some help on getting past them.
YOU LACK CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF OR YOUR ABILITIES, OR THINK YOU’RE UNDESERVING
Everyone deserves to be happy and successful, and we all have valuable skills and talents. You must have faith and believe in yourself, even if nobody else will. However, we know that sometimes, that’s easier said than done!
The good news is that just saying it makes a big difference. Whenever you find yourself thinking that you can’t do something or don’t deserve to have something, erase that negative self-talk by replacing it with positive affirmations like “I can do this” or “I’ve got this!”
“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key