Putting Me First: Part 2
Vision boards.
Something that a few short months ago seemed like a bloody ridiculous thing to do. Seriously, the idea of sticking pictures onto a paper as a way of making things happen?! Sounded weird. Not for Laura 2021. It was something other people did, not busy women with 2 little kids who run their own business! Nice kaftan wearing women make vision boards… Right?!
But then comes 2022 Laura, guns blazing and raring to put herself first more… and in comes a journal my mother had bought me a while back, all about setting goals.
I like a good goal setting exercise - they are part of the courses I run, and I know that writing things down helps you process them in a different part of the brain to actually just thinking them. That’s neuroscience! So why wasn’t I applying it to things I wanted to do in life?
Probably because there was a voice telling me to focus on my family, my kids, my husband, my job, my career… Things that were just for me just didn’t make the cut. And that needed to change.
Back in my 20’s I had a bucket list - 100 things I wanted to do before I died. I added some pretty far fetched things… Number 100 was “have own radio show” which apart from the extravagant travel goals (new years eve in Brazil anyone?) seemed the most far fetched. So, I got in touch with my local community radio and within less than a month I had my own show. Radio Tircoed breakfast show Mon- Fri was all mine! Yes, it was community radio, and we had around 4 listeners, but the goal wasn’t to be bloody Sara Cox - but to have the experience of having my own show.
See, I used to be a goal setter and goal smasher. But my beautiful life (for which I am SO grateful) took over, my family grew, and with it my personal ambitions shrank.
Why?
Why does having a family and a career mean we switch off our wants and needs and put everyone else before us? Well, for that in depth answer you’re going to have to buy my courses (coming soon on the website). But after the WHY comes the HOW - how to change that.
So, I made a digital vision board. I wrote a short list of 5 - 10 things I wanted to do, things I had always said I wanted to try but never had the time to, and I jumped on Canva and made the board. It’s magic what unsplash.com images and some uploads can do!
I added yoga classes, dance classes, cold water swimming, date nights, writing a book, camper vans and a few more bits. But most importantly, I made it for things I wanted to work towards over THREE MONTHS.
Why three months? Because my brain and I live in a world of instant gratification. Any longer than three months and I KNOW I would not have the patience. And that’s okay.
Even more so, any longer than three months and something else would become more important that the things I wanted to achieve in life. I needed to make sure I took action.
I put the vision board as the backdrop of my whatsapp messages (an online space I frequent) so I would see it regularly. And I asked myself what will I do first….
I signed up for a local dance class which described itself as “Zumba’s crazy aunty” which kind of describes my dancing ability! It was a dance class I had my eye on for months, it looked fun, exciting and friendly. And it was running a Girl Power Masterclass! Erm… hello! That’s me!
So I checked with the family we weren’t busy then (even though I practically run the calendar) and I booked my ticket. Just little old me headed to a local industrial estate dance class on a Sunday afternoon….
And I have to tell you dear readers, the experience wasn’t positive. But that’s a tale for next week!
(The pic for this blog entry is my vision board from Jan - March)
