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How to Create a Digital Vision Board

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Digital Vision Board

Have you set goals for yourself?  Would you like to utilize a strategy to make those goals reality more quickly?  If so, a vision board may be just what you need.  Since most Americans are on their electronics most of the day, a digital vision board may be even more helpful.

How to Create a Digital Vision Board

Creating a digital vision board should only take an hour or two, but its impact should influence you for the rest of the year.

Determine Your Goals

The first step is to determine your goals.  What do you want to accomplish over the next 12 months?  What is working successfully in your life that you want to maintain?  What inspires you?

Make a list of seven to ten goals and items in your life that you want to maintain.

Then, it’s time for the fun—actually choosing the images for your vision board.

Choose Your Digital Vision Board Images

The next step is to find images that best visualize what you want to achieve in your life.  For instance, if you want to graduate from college, you may have an image of a woman in a cap and gown posing with her children.  If you want to cook at home more, you may have a picture of a luscious homemade meal or a woman cooking.

Pick at least one picture for each of your goals, though you can pick more if you’d like.

In addition, you may want to add in a few inspiring quotes to keep you motivated throughout the year.

Where to Find Images

When you’re looking for images, the best place to start is Pinterest.  Because there are so many pictures there, you can really find one that speaks to you and is unique to your own goals.  You can also find motivational quotes here.

While you’ll likely find all that you need on Pinterest, if you don’t, you can go to a place like Unsplash and find images there.

Digital Vision Board

Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash

Remember, you can also use your own personal photos.  If one goal is, “take a family vacation,” use a picture of the family on your last vacation as motivation.

How to Put the Digital Vision Board Together

Finally, to put the digital vision board together, go to Canva.  (It’s free!).  Once you’re in Canva, click on “Create a Design” and choose “Desktop Wallpaper.”

Next, upload all of the photos and quotes that you have chosen.

Click on “Elements” in the side bar and type in “grid.”  Then choose the grid pattern you would like and starting arranging your pictures.

Final Thoughts

For years, athletes have used visualization to help them perform better.  When you visualize something repeatedly, you’re more likely to achieve that goal.

By placing a digital vision board somewhere you will see it repeatedly throughout the day, say on your desktop, you’re subconsciously reinforcing the vision of your future and your likelihood of making that vision a reality.

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How to Save For a Large Family Purchase

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how to save for a large family purchaseHaving a family is expensive.

It doesn’t have to be as expensive as some stats would have you believe, but going from a married couple of two to a family of three plus will have added expenses.

These every day added expenses such as diapers, food, paying for kids activities and possibly private school tuition can make it seem impossibly hard to save for large upcoming expenses that affect the whole family.

Large expenses that affect the whole family may include:

  • Home repairs, everyone lives under the roof and mom and dad need to keep it safe!
  • Family vacations
  • Family vehicle

All of the above are expensive. Right now we need to start saving for an upcoming family reunion next summer and though much less critical we’d eventually like to upgrade the appliances in our kitchen. In order to do any of these things we need a plan.

Come up with a list

We created a list of everything we wanted to do and purchase, then, together as a family, prioritized each item with a number 1-5.

Once everything had a number we ranked within each set of numbers (ie we may have had three #4’s) and ranked in priority until we had a detailed prioritized list. Once the list was ranked we put an estimated cost beside the item and recheck the list. This is the order in which we will tackle things.

Come up with a plan

A list without a plan of attack is nothing. We can say we want to attend the family reunion next year but if we don’t have a means to pay for it then it will never happen.

The plan has to include a more realistic budget for the item or venture as well as a plan to come up with the money by a certain date.

Come up with the money

Coming up with the money is the hard part. If you’re able to designate a savings line in your monthly budget this is an ideal situation but if the money needs to come out of funds over and above your regular monthly budget then you’ll need to get creative.

Are you paid bi-weekly? If so, it means you have two ”extra” pay periods per year that you could use for the family purchase.

Have a tax return that you could use (if not reinvesting)?

Start small. My husband and I have big dreams of attending the 2022 Olympics with our family no matter where they are in the world. Obviously this will require substantial planning and substantial money.

I figure we would need to invest at least $100 per month for the next eight years to make this happen but since our current priority is debt we won’t be starting to save for probably four years at which point we will be able to easily double up the payment to $200/month for four years.

Save all ”extra” money. Overtime, side income, found money. Any unaccounted for income could go towards paying for your family’s larger purchases.

How do you pay for larger family purchases?