Tag: Motivational Tips

5 Steps to Completing Your Vision Board for the New Year

Do you consider yourself a goal-getter? I am 100% a goal chaser. I love setting goals for myself to accomplish. That’s why I chose to start the New Year right by sharing my 2020 Vision Board to Doc’s Castle. Now I want to share my thought process for how I get it done so you can do it for the next year 2021.

Creating a Vision Board really isn’t hard. Since we’re now in December prepping to cleanse our 2020 sins away, many people should be aware of what they want to work towards in the new year. 

[Read: The Reason Vision Boards Work and How to Make One from Huffington Post]

Generally, I make sure I have an idea of a direction I’m headed for the coming year. I’m not a perfectionist about completing the goals I make. But I do like looking back at previous vision boards with a sense of pride that it all started from a board when I achieved them.

Here are 5 Steps for Creating a Vision Board the Doc’s Castle Media way.

Review Previous Years Goals for Setting Goals for the New Year 

Quickly jot down what you are proud of accomplishing during the current year. This is an important step in setting goals for the following year because it doesn’t give a feeling of starting from scratch. Doing this will have you walking into the new year proud of what was already done. Before you make your new list, give yourself a pick me up by listing what you’re proud of completing in 2020.

Categorize Accomplishments

This is definitely an extra step I take in creating my vision boards. It’s not necessary but it helps me build on my achievements. Some goals you may have can be combined because they can be very similar in getting to a mutual endpoint. I categorize these goals because it’s easier to find an image to represent a group of similar things rather than finding images for each listed.

For example, I am able to look at my 2019 Vision Board and see that the majority of goals were for personal development. I had goals to work on planning and organizing. I also had a goal to practice writing. I labeled these goals as self-development goals. When looking for relatable images,  I’ll group all pictures for organizing and writing as self-development. This helps me later down the line when viewing my board because any self-development image in use should bring thoughts of these aspirations.

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Choosing a Vision Board Template that works Best for You

When looking for vision board examples, you’ll find a variety of different ways people get creative making vision boards. Poster boards, Pinterest boards, and even goals and grids. My vision boards are digitally created, saved as a PDF file, and printed and posted in numerous spots. I like it best this way because I can manage the size of my vision board. I like posting my vision board as a screensaver on my phone or print it out to hang on my fridge. I make sure my goals are very visible.

I also complete my vision board using Adobe’s Photoshop each year. But there are many free apps and software, like Canva and Picmonkey, which gives the same digital flexibility. But if all else fails, you can always make one using pen, paper, and your imagination. 

Search for visual representations for Vision Board Ideas

This is where you’ll focus on grabbing vision board supplies and images. My search for inspiration is quick and done using the Google search engine. I research images and terms I created by categorizing my accomplishments. But for many people who opt out of that extra step, they choose an image that will remind them of what they want to accomplish. You can include other cool visuals on your vision board like quotes, places you’d like to visit, and people you’d like to see. The point of your board is to inspire. So you should include any material that will motivate you whenever you see it.

Hanging Your Vision Board

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When your board is complete, post it where you’ll always see it. By the computer workspace, next to the bathroom mirror, or on the refrigerator door are great places to post inspiration because these are places most people go at the start of their day. Posting your board wherever you look the most should trigger your mind towards what inspires you. But posting it wherever you start your day is an extra plus because of the anticipated motivation expected to gain from viewing it 365 days of the year. That’s even more encouragement towards your target. So I’d post it high and mighty if I were you.

Now that you have the steps, will you be making a vision board for 2021? Leave your comments below.

#Thirsty30body: Are You Motivated to Get There? Four Tips to Get Started

So you guys want some #Thirsty30Body tips, huh?

I did a poll via the Doc’s Castle Instagram and Facebook pages and found out 88% of followers would like me to share a few tips towards my #Thirsty30Body. 

Eff the 12% of haters who said no. 😂 Agreeing to share what I know about becoming more fit will help me stay motivated to stay on track, as well. So boo to you and hooray to everyone else who’s helping me stay motivated. I will be posting blogs, videos, and tips regularly to Doc’s Castle in hopes that some of you will want to join in with me.

As I am entering into the second half of Thirsty 30 Body Challenge, I want to share four starting tips that I keep in mind as I prep for these next coming months. Here they go:

  1. Get in the mind frame to get healthy, not only to look good.

When thinking of getting healthy, I frame my thoughts to focusing on what makes me feel good and what are good habits to have. I’m not the type to worry about having an hourglass figure or needing a big butt or chest because the attention it awards isn’t what I want. It’s already hard on women when we feel the pressures of wanting to feel attractive and there are thousands of images being pushed of models and celebrities half-naked in the mainstream media. Those pressures I’ve never embraced. It’s nice knowing that I look good. But I welcome compliments that uplift me and enjoy getting attention based upon my intellect for what I do. I want to keep it like that. So what makes this weight loss journey a “Thirsty” one?

“Thirsty” defined in the urban dictionary means:

  1. An adjective used in describing a person deliberately fishing for compliments, attention, etc.
  2. Too eager to get something (especially play)
  3.  Desperate

But I’m defining what “Thirsty” means for me in year 30. I’m encouraging healthy living and hopefully aspiring to be thirsty for a healthier lifestyle. So it begins with what it means to look and feel healthy. It’s not about the physique though I will reap those benefits. The #Thirsty30body is the perfect body for ME! Thirsting for wealthy health.

  1. Spend time getting to know yourself.

Knowing how much I weigh, though it’s good to start with, wasn’t enough for me to get moving and actively exercising because, as I said in the intro to the #Thirsty30Body Blog Series, I never looked at myself to be “big.” My motivation sparked after hearing results from my doctor’s visit to my primary care provider. As preventive care, it’s important that I know everything inside of my body is copacetic because I have things to accomplish, goals to achieve, and a life to live with people that I love. So I like to get bloodwork and vitals taken annually. I do this to be aware of what’s happening in my body so that I can control what happens to and within me. 

I like to live by this saying: No one should know you more than you know yourself mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. It just seems foolish to me to go an entire life doing what is told of you at all times. If you live your life questioning things, you learn new things about the world and yourself. I apply this to everything I do. It makes sense to do it while on this journey as well. So I say do more than weighing yourself on the scale. Really get to know your body past the numbers. Really get into the anatomy and understand what makes you feel good or bad.

  1. Set your Goals and tracking system for accountability.

After getting my measurements, vitals, and all that is needed to understand my body, I went into the “Taylor University” mode, which is when I spend time meditating with my journal. Healthy living is better than simply losing weight because I prefer to not hear the same disappointing results again the following year. So I use my journal to make goals writing out everything about my body in its current state, and I keep track as often as I want of my progress.

There are multiple other ways that helped with tracking that don’t necessarily require you to drag around a notebook, like joining and participating in fitness groups and clubs online where people can help encourage you, taking and saving pictures whenever weight loss milestones are met, or simply regularly recording your weight loss in a monthly calendar. All these activities helped hold me accountable and motivated me in some way to stick to #Thirsty30Body. 

  1. Be kind and patient with yourself and keep pushing through it.

This is probably the most important tip I could give because at the end of the day, you are responsible for holding yourself accountable for getting healthy. People forget how hard they can be on themselves when critiquing their own work in whatever they do. They can start off strong, then fall off so fast because they didn’t pace themselves to be realistic in their journey. After that, they give up. Be kind to yourself and don’t get lost in disappointment if you haven’t quite met your goal. Be patient and allow a realistic timeframe to meet those goals. But also know when to pick yourself up to get the work done to achieve what you’ve started.

Something my mother would say whenever we’d talk about going through hard times is “There’s Always Tomorrow.” She’d say this whenever we’d hear crazy things happen like mass shootings or awful dealings that ended in demise or turmoil. Though resulting in thinking like this might be a little extreme for pursuing losing weight, it works perfectly for me. It won’t hurt me if I haven’t met a goal to lose 2 lbs in one week. I can dust myself off for the following week, and I’m not saying that without revisiting “Taylor University” to make changes to finally meet that goal at some point. I just keep pushing through it. Eventually, I’ll lose those two pounds. So be kind to your mind and body, and also remain determined.

What are somethings that you do to help prepare to lose weight? Leave your answers in the comments below. Also, subscribe to get updates to your email for the next #Thirsty30Body post via subscription form below.