Do you have big plans for 2019? Hell yes, you do! Perhaps it's taking the leap and launching your own company, moving to a new city, or growing your current projects to new heights. The start of a new year is such an optimistic time, where anything feels possible (because it is).

I made a vision board for the very first time at the beginning of 2018, and holy sh*t it actually worked! I didn't just throw random magazine cut outs on a screen though, I was extremely intentional with reflection, segmenting my life, and visualizing the goals I wanted to achieve. Not only did I achieve my goals, I took my life places I'd never even expected.

Interested? Do you want to have your best 2019? The following is my recipe to making a vision board that actually works. Enjoy!

What is a vision board?

It's an effective Law of Attraction tool that can help you realize what you aim to achieve this year! The Law of Attraction is the ability to attract what we focus on. Simply put, if we focus on the negative, we attract more negative. If we focus on the positive, we attract the positive. For example, if you're a positive person, you'll attract more positive people!

The purpose is to illustrate our dreams and goals visually to remind and motivate us every day. Every time we see our vision board we visualize our goals and think on them. Our thoughts then inform our actions.

You can do this with friends (and wine) or you can do this solo. Completely up to you. However, doing this with friends allows you to share, which holds you more accountable to your goals! Plus, you get to see what's going on in their lives and perhaps have similar goals to you!

What supplies do you need?

You should be able to find most of the stuff you need to make a vision board at home. Get some old magazines, construction paper, photos, glue, and scissors. You will need a poster board, small foam board, or you can even do this on a cork board to put all of your visualizations on.

Step 1: Reflect

Take some time and dedicate it to yourself and your reflections. Turn the world off and turn on. A great way is to look through pictures on your phone chronologically from the beginning of the year. This helps us remember what happened this year and it helps us better answer the questions below. It’s most important to write your reflections down and make it REAL. The goal is to take TIME and THINK about a year of life and the life you lived. Ask yourself some of the following questions.

What experiences made you happy this year? What experiences changed you this year?

Who entered our lives? Who exited? How did we build our relationships?

Where did we go, and why? Not just physical, but where did we take our careers, relationships, mentality, our everything.

What are some things that held you back this year? Habits, people, etc.

How was your health this year? Physical health? Emotional health?

What disappointments and fears were realized this year?

What have you achieved this year in the different parts of your life?

Step 2: Envision

Now, it's time to envision the next year! We suggest listing out the different aspects of your life. For example: relationships, fitness, financial, career, experiences, mindset etc. Next, think about your goals and how you envision each of the aspects that you listed for this next year… and write them down! Think about the WHY behind each of the goals and make it sure they're driven by genuine intentions. Then see if there's words or mantras that stick out to you for this next year or images that represent your goals. You can dig deeper by asking yourself some of the following questions.

Who do we want more of in our lives in the next year, and do we want to form new relationships? If so, what kind of people (lights!) do we want in our life?

Where do we want to go? (not just physical, but where did we take our careers, our everything)

What do we fear in the upcoming year?

What are some habits or things that could prevent us from achieving our goals?

What are our intentions for the year ahead?

How do you want to feel come the end next year?

What type of wealth do you want to create for yourself?

Step 3: Create

Once you've envisioned a few words, mantras, images, patterns, etc. that flow with your goals for this next year, it's time to put it into a vision board!

Dig into your magazines and other craft supplies. Cut our letters for your mantras, words, and cut out images of things that you align with. This is the fun part! Get creative! After all, this is the piece of art that you'll be looking at every day.

There's no pressure to make it perfect! After all, we're not perfect and our lives aren't perfect. If you're doing this with a group, we encourage you to share your board with them! By being vulnerable and sharing, you'll develop tighter connections and they can support you throughout the year! Once you're done, hang it up where you can see it every single day.

Step 4: Make this vision board work for you

It's all in your head (and where you physically put the board). Hang it somewhere that you can see every morning and night. When you see it, take a moment, look at the different aspects that you've represented and visualize. When you wake up in the morning, visualize your year and let that guide your day. Before you sleep, visualize your year and let that seep into your dreams. By putting it somewhere extremely visible, you're reminded of your visions daily so you can act accordingly to achieve your goals.

If you'd like to see a list of materials that you'll need or want to download the full-length PDF version of this vision board guide, visit hugsuniverse.com and download the guide straight from the home page. There's a bonus section in there with the experience cycle showing how new experiences foster growth. I didn't have time to mention here, but definitely check it out on the full version if you're interested!

Happy New Year, BossBabes. Cheers to a killer year, and a killer you!