My Visions, My Goals

Last week I mentioned that I was going to make myself a vision board to help me focus my energy on achieving my goals.  I have always been good at achieving success but I have never been good with setting specific goals for myself.  So, I decided a vision board would help me focus.  So, what do I want to do with my life in the next five years?

I would like to get fall in love and start a family.  My family is so important to me and my mom is my best friend.  I want to have a child so that I can show that child the love and affection that I received growing up.  And I want a husband to share this love with. 

I want to travel.  I have never really made an effort to save up for a big trip or go on an exotic vacation.  I would love to go to Bali or Belize.  I would love to spend more time in northern Ontario as well.  Muskoka and cottage country are so beautiful.

I want to have a circle of friends that love and support me.  I do not have a lot of girlfriends and I am starting to recognize how important girlfriends are.  I want to have girls nights and dinner parties.  I want to be the hostess with the mostess. 

I also hope I can keep blogging and grow my readership.  I want to reach people who feel the same way I do, who have the same struggles I do.  I really want to make someone feel like they are not the only one struggling with themselves. 

I just started getting into photography in the past couple of years and I love it.  I have a creative side but I just do not have the talent to paint or draw.  Photography on the other hand offers me the ability to be creative and expressive in my own way.  I am hoping to invest in a DSLR so I can start taking my hobby more seriously. 

Needless to say, fitness will continue to be a big part of my life.  I want to stay healthy and strong but I want to do it for my own reasons, the right reasons.  For years I was trying to be a runner because I thought someone else needed me to be one.  But,  that didn't really work out.  I need to accept me (and my body) the way it is and love it no matter what.  If I make fitness a part of my life to keep me balanced and centered I can't go wrong.

These are my goals.  Some of them might be a little lofty but the great thing is that they are mine.  As I start my life over, MY WAY, I am learning to do what I want because it's what is best for me.  No longer will I be trying to achieve other people's goals.  Never again will I define my worth by someone elses opinion of me. 

So, come by and visit me in 5 years and we'll see how I made out on my VISION. 

Goal #1 Create My Vision

Are you good at setting goals?  Are you good at achieving the goals you have set for yourself?  I have read so many times on blogs and in various books about the importance of setting goals for motivation and for creating a vision for your future.  The process of setting goals is meant to help you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts.

So far, in my life goal setting is something I have not been good at.  That is not to say I haven't made some pretty significant achievements in my life.  But I have never been good at laying out a life plan or strategy.  I have big, lofty goals like getting married and having a family but when it comes to setting quantifiable goals and sticking to a plan to achieve them I flop.  Big time. 

I understand the theory behind goal setting but I guess my real problem lies in the fact that I don't really know what I want.  Sure, I could say I want to train for a 10km race (which I have done successfully in the past) but, I have to be honest, running 10km doesn't really seem like much of an achievement to me.  Sure it is hard, but not really goal-worthy in my mind.  I could commit to writing this blog (which I have) but how to I quantify my success?

So, here is what I am going to do.  I need to kick-start my life with a vision.  I need to plan and visualize what I want to be doing and how I am going to be living in the future.  I never really thought much about my future.  Once I was out of school and working I figured this was my future.  But it seems I got stuck. 

I have seen a lot of info about vision boards and  inspiration boards.  I am a creative and visual person so maybe this will be a good place for me to start.  My goal for this week is to create a vision board - a vision of my life in 5 years.  Who do I want to be?  Where to I want to go?  What do I want to do?

How to you set goals and stay motivated?