We all have a vision for our lives and sometimes our visions can feel unattainable. This is where positive thinking, goal setting, and a strategy to achieving your goals with the proper tools can take your far. A positive solutions-oriented mindset coupled with an adaptable strategy, you can achieve that vision! Your vision begins with writing it down. Write down your goals. This will take you far as it’s the first step in making your vision a reality. My entire life, I have loved making collages. It’s something I enjoyed in school for my art classes, but I have been creating collages since I was a little girl and gluing pictures into my diaries. I continue to believe in the power of having a vision and achieving it because I know it works.

People I have worked with often call me “Pollyanna” as I bring a positive mindset and outlook to most aspects of my life. I find that ironic because I had never heard of the character when I was growing up! About a year ago, I stumbled into a rare copy of the book from the 1940’s that was in a giveaway box in my neighborhood… The illustration of a woman on the cover of it has similar features to me. It was a fun reminder that a “Pollyanna” outlook can be powerful… when realistically applied. You can achieve anything you put your mind to.

Strategies For You

1. Write down your goals.
2. Create a plan on how to achieve your goals and stick to it. This can often become incremental and there will be subsets of goals – this is good! Remember to be realistic about how you can work towards your vision, while also having a holistic view of the results you want.
3. Celebrate some of your ‘baby steps’ towards your goals. Make sure to celebrate how far you have come, but remember not to get too sidetracked along the way! Recommit to your vision as often as possible to keep it relevant.
4. Adjust your sails when needed. The direction of your ship may change due unforeseen circumstances (this will happen!), so be sure that you can adapt, understanding any barriers to your vision and how willing you are to make sacrifices for your vision.

Tools To Achieve Your Vision

• Vision Board: Being visual about the images that you have associated with your goal is helpful — it’s top of mind and you can place your vision board somewhere close to where you sleep, so you can see it first thing when you wake up. The process of creating a vision board can take a few days. Write down the images that you generally want to see and start looking for them in magazines etc. You can start laying out the cut outs onto a poster board before you start gluing. I love vision boards and believe they can be powerful.

• Positive Affirmations or “Power Thoughts” as the pioneer of positive affirmations, Louise L. Hay, branded them. You can find many empowering books from Hay House Publishing or you can also reference my friend Natalie Glebova’s empowerment handbook, I Am Winning. It’s incredible what we can tell ourselves which can hold us back — i.e. along the lines of “I’m not good enough” thoughts can create barriers for yourself, when there are none! You have the power to change how you think.

• SMART Goal Structure: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely (Natalie Glebova used this methodology to reach her Miss Universe title!). You can structure all of your goals using this plan (you can download templates online) to help you along the way. I have used the SMART goal template both in my professional and personal life to achieve outcomes in a timely manner.

• Healthy lifestyle: relax and sleep well. All too often, when working to achieve our goals, people can easily neglect something so essential in helping us optimize our bodies – proper relaxation and getting good sleep each night. Perhaps a phrase made iconic from the film Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, it’s unfair to neglect our bodies for short term outcomes – our bodies need proper rest, so don’t underestimate how lack of good rest can you hold you back from performing at your best in life. This is invaluable in allowing our bodies to stay healthy. We should all commit to maintaining healthy lifestyles that prioritize good nutrition, a love of exercise (Our bodies were literally made to move! For me, taking a good walk even makes me feel brainier), and learning how to relax and maintain a good sleep schedule. This is essential in giving you the energy you need!