Embracing Change III

If you haven’t read the first two installments in Embracing Change, go do that now! -> Part I & Part II

I always face change with a well-written plan, and usually several different lists written down on whatever scrap of paper was closest to me.

Sometimes there is change beyond our control, completely unexpected, and/or that derails you. Like the coronavirus, for instance. The best way to prepare yourself for unexpected, uncontrollable change is to have a clear idea of your goals and mission. Your goals can define how you react to any situation and they can act as a guidebook for all the curve balls that 2020 life throws at you.

What has really worked for me this year and last year was to create both a vision board and a bullet journal to help shape my expectations for myself throughout the year. Both of them take a while to set up, and if you are new to them, it can be overwhelming, so here is what I do when I’m about to start a new year.

Start Early

I start thinking about the next year sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The holidays are so hectic and most everyone is busy, but as a person who cannot shut off my brain, the holiday season usually gets me thinking about what I’m thankful for, what kind of person I want to be, and what I wish I could have changed over the year. I’m not saying to get out all your craft supplies for a vision board in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner or to sketch out your bullet journal while your kids open their Christmas gifts, but I am suggesting that you take advantage of the Greater Lessons we often ponder during the holidays and let those swelling feelings help guide where you want to be next year.

Word of the Year

I can’t remember where I first heard about this concept, although honestly it was probably Pinterest. Essentially, you select a word that you want as your “theme” for the year, a word to guide you like your own personal North Star. Last year (2019), I went with “inspire,” because it was a word that came up a lot in my classes and it just struck a chord in me. This year, I went with “fearless” in an effort to continue to push myself to be bigger than my anxiety. If you want to use the Word of the Year as a tool to help guide your goals, try to find a word that means a lot to you. You can even pick more than one if you’d like, but I wouldn’t do more than three. If you’re having trouble pinpointing a word, try looking at your favorite quotes, Bible verses, songs, etc. and see if there is a word that stands out to you.

Vision Board

There is much controversy (read: arguing) about the true meaning of the term “vision board.” You may also hear terms such as “goal board” or “action board” or “dream board” or “mood board” or etc. They are all essentially the same thing. Also, who has time to make a dozen different boards? I use the term vision board to collectively define all of these concepts because I’m only making one board, and I can put whatever I want on that board. Personally, I include habits, tangible items I hope to purchase, big giant goals, small goals, concepts, quotes, and whatever else I “vibe” with.

Both years I have constructed a vision board, I have chosen to hang my Word of the Year in the center of the board, since this word is the rock that keeps my year steady. The old-school way of crafting a vision board would be to surround yourself with stacks of magazines, carefully cutting out pictures and popping bubblegum while listening to 80’s hits. Which, you can still do, but I find it much less of a headache to find the exact images I want on Pinterest or Google images and print them out. (I also don't own any magazines.) Usually I opt for a light card-stock for printing, because that paper will hold up a little better than regular printer paper. The first year, I glued everything onto a piece of poster board, but after some reflection and me realizing that I don’t actually want to keep a stack of these lying around for the rest of my life, I switched to a bulletin/cork board which I can re-use every year. (And just take pictures of my current boards, so that I can store it all on my computer instead of the garage.)

You can be as creative with this as you’d like. My boards tend to look like an anxious person opened up their brain and let it all spill out while my husband’s board is much more organized and concise. If you want the edges of your photos to overlap like a scrapbook and line them with washi tape, then do that! Or if you want them all organized so that they don’t touch and descend from smallest to largest and follow an alphabetical order, do that. It’s your board, so just do whatever feels right to you. And, using a cork board with tacks gives you the freedom to switch it up if you just aren’t feeling it the first week.

When it's done, hang it somewhere you look every day. It could be next to your dresser mirror (although I’d keep it out of the bathroom), over your desk, by the front door, propped up in front of your TV so you have to move it when your show is on, or next to your bed. Anywhere you can see it daily, so that you have a visual reminder of where you want to end up.

Bullet Journal

You could spend an entire week going through the Pinterest ideas for bullet journals. I know, because I have done exactly that. The only rule you need to follow for your bullet jounral experience is this: don’t expect them to turn out perfectly. You are, presumably, a human who makes mistakes, and despite your best efforts you will make mistakes inside your bullet journal. You’ll draw where you were supposed to leave blank, color something the wrong shade of pink, or mess up the order of your sections because you were too busy jamming out to your favorite song.

This year, I completely overhauled my journal because I learned very quickly what does and does not work for me. Here are the sections I used this year: a year-at-a-glance calendar on the first spread; a birthday spread (although I also keep track of these on my Google calendar); a period tracker; a weight loss tracker; a spread for a wishlist/gift ideas because I thought I would be carrying this with me more often than I actually do; debt payoff tracker; savings spreadsheet; a bookshelf where I color in the spines of books I’ve read this year, as well as a to-read list; an entire section dedicated to movies I want to watch, and another one for television shows; a section for my dogs, so I can write down all our vet visits and concerns in one place; a section called “Marco” where I keep anything and everything I need to remember and also keep secret from my husband; monthly spreads that include a mood tracker, habit tracker, and monthly goals; and finally a section titled “Brain Dump” which is where I can write anything that doesn’t fit in any of the other categories.

I’m still fine-tuning what works for me, and that’s okay. It is an ever-evolving tool just like we are constantly evolving into better versions of ourselves.

How to Use these Tools

In the last Embracing Change, I encouraged you to write down your goals and group them into sections. Now we are going to take those sections and create tangible tools you can use to keep yourself on track. I know bullet journals can be overwhelming, but a vision board is an incredibly useful tool and I really hope you consider creating one for yourself.

Looking through your sections, see if there’s anything that stands out to you. This could clue you in to a Word of the Year.

Go to Pinterest or Google Images and start looking for a picture that lines up with each and every one of your goals for the year. It can be a straightforward photo, or one that speaks to your soul. For instance, one of my goals is to create a vlog with my husband, so I printed out the YouTube logo to remind myself of that goal; while for my goal of “travel more,” I simply selected a photograph of two carefree individuals cruising in a convertible down a road lined with bright green trees. Do I have a convertible? Unfortunately, no, but the photo helps me crave that excitement of road trippin’ and it helps keep that goal at the front of my mind.

Once you’ve found all your pictures, print them out (on light card stock!) and pin/glue/tape them to your board. Spend as much time as you need arranging them. Enjoy the process and daydream about what your life would be like if every one of these goals came to fruition.

If you do choose to start a bullet journal, look to your goal categories as guides to help you select which sections to include. Pinterest is a great place to find all sorts of ideas, as well as creative inspirations to make it unique and fun. Set aside plenty of time to explore your options, but don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Have fun with it!

The more coloring you incorporate into your journal, the better. Many of my sections are just black lines at the beginning of the year that I get to color in every day, which is a great way to de-stress for me. I don’t love the “adult coloring books” because the millions of circles I have to color-coordinate stress me out, which is anti-productive, so my bullet journal is a great alternative. Every time I watch an episode of a show, I get to color in a box. It’s great.

Give yourself plenty of time to set up your journal. Also don’t pressure yourself to have everything completed by January 1. If you are setting up all of this at the end of the year like I do, relax! It’s the holidays; enjoy the company of your family and friends! It’s okay if you don’t have everything all perfect and ready to go by January 1. The year is still fresh, and you can always go back and color in what you “missed” when you finish. If you're setting it up now, in July, you won't have as much to stress about but you should still have fun through the process.

Next year, I may splurge on a very expensive bullet journal or create a custom one that houses my bullet journal in the front and regular journal pages in the back. Right now I just use a college ruled notebook for my regular journal, and an $8 bullet journal from Target for all the graph paper. My sister has used a graph paper composition book for hers, which you can get for ~$1. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Just spend some time researching what will best help you achieve your goals before you begin and you’ll be golden. (P.S. “buju” stands for bullet journal, you’re welcome.)

Break it Down

I highly recommend breaking down each goal into monthly “bite sized” goals. Having a vision board can remind you what you’re working towards, but at the end of the year, you can still end up looking at the same photos and dreaming of a better life without having accomplished a single thing. If you break down your goals into monthly bites, you’ll realize that your goals are not so hard to achieve as you’d think, and that the steps to get you to where you want to be are truly baby steps.

For example, I have the (probably too lofty) goal of reading 100 books in 2020. I keep track of my books mainly on Goodreads, but I also have a spread in my bullet journal for coloring. It’s easy for me to print a picture out and put it on my vision board, where I can smile at it every day and say, “That is such a romantic goal for me to have, and I would be so different if I read all the time” while I go about my day not reading those books. At time of writing, I am at least 20 books behind schedule, which means I’ll now have to cram-read for the rest of the year if I want to reach my goal. (Once again, I am the least self-disciplined person I know.)

So in my bullet journal, I created a space in every monthly spread where I can break down each of my categories into bite-sized goals. Reading 100 books a year becomes 8 books a month (with a couple months at 10 because math). That’s 2 per week, and magically my goal shrinks from 100 books to 2 books. Now everything seems easy!

Many goals can take different forms month-to-month, but when I add them all together by the end of the year (and I stay on track), then I’ll see the big picture come into focus. For July, my goal is to shed 8 pounds, read 10 books, take a trip with Marco (pending approval from Ms. Corona), start thinking about Christmas (yes I know I start early, but I’m obsessed with Christmas and I go overboard if I wait until November), and meeting specific monetary goals for our savings, debt, and emergency funds. That seems much more manageable than the big picture, and the goals are bite-sized enough that I can take it week by week, or day by day, and take specific measured steps towards what I want to accomplish this year.

It may seem like a lot of planning, because it is. Making a plan is half the battle and most of the fun.

This is the last of the Embracing Change series, at least for now, so there is no more homework. But if you are looking for a community of women (everyone else is welcome too, but there will be a lot of pink) who are all working towards bettering themselves, I will be creating a group where we can keep each other accountable and encourage each other. Shoot me a message if you want to join!

If you do want homework, I have made a profile on Patreon, and if you commit to supporting me every month, I send out a mailing as a companion to my blog called Sunshine with a Stamp. Every month, I highlight a different book, and you can read along. You can learn more about all that in the “Support Me” section.

I wish you all the best as you strive to create a better version of you. ❤