Vision Map: Why You Should Give it a Chance

Fun fact: the cover photo for this post is a picture of me attempting to “touch” an electric wire fence in Newport, RI. That backfired BIG time because I had no sunscreen on and we were hiking in the beating sun for about 4 hours.

Referenced photo^ - take note of the strap lines

… and after! Strap lines still there even with a new top!

Short version: it’s not just a fluffy exercise. Set goals & create a sense of accountability.

Long version:

For everyone who was me probably just two months ago, a vision map can be so many different things. But, at its core, it’s supposed to help you take your goals/visions/aspirations and stick them somewhere visible so that you can actually work towards them, remind yourself of them, or simply keep the things you write top of your mind (like staying hydrated).

My vision map is very straight-forward, but what I LOVED about the pen-to-paper process was that as soon as I broke my map up into buckets, the juices started flowing and it was like I had all these ideas that needed somewhere to go. I imagine that some of you may run into writer’s block may, but my advice: don’t overthink or think about what you should put down. Focus on what you want and write it.

An attempt at the Vision Map “How-To”:

• Step 1: Obtain, in this day and age, a singular piece of real un-lined paper (recommendation: a sturdier piece vs. a flimsy piece of copy paper)

• Step 2: Take out your best pen or marker

• Step 3: Find something (ruler, book) with an edge

• Step 4: Write your version of “Vision Map” in the center of the page and draw lines (using the edge item) coming out of it. These will serve as the branches to your “buckets”

• Step 5: :Label your buckets. I used: Health, Personal Development, Life, Career, Finance & Relationships. I found these to be enough for me, but add, remove, or create your own as you see best fit

• Step 6: WRITE!

What mine looked like this year (had some fun using my new calligraphy book + markers):

I absolutely loved this exercise because 1. it was easy and 2. it helped make my goals attainable. Year after year, I keep them in my brain and by next New Year’s Eve, I’m like WTF? What did I do all year? This was a new way for me to put it all on paper, and keep it on my desk where I can glance at it daily, with monthly check-ins to see where I’m at.

Hope you enjoy!

XO,

Renee