I Created a Vision Board 5 Years Ago and This is What Happened
About five years ago, I was in a dead-end job at a university. No disrespect to the people there at that point, but the job and I were going nowhere.
The manager told me that I essentially had a job for life. The benefits were good, don’t get me wrong. But the pay was low, and I was trading any upward mobility for security. I relegated myself to staying and ultimately retiring there.
That summer, while listening to a Neville Goddard audio, I remembered the power of visualization. I’m a bit of a self-help addict, and if you read anything I’ve posted here, you’d know that :).
The reminder was powerful, so I decided to make a vision board. I had not made one in over ten years before that.
I believe in taking action to achieve your dreams; you can’t meditate your way into your dream life. But visualizing is very effective, as I found out. I thought about what seven things would make my life exceptional, not what I thought was possible, but what I wanted.
I created the vision board on a computer at the university library, printed it, and laminated it at the Fed Ex near campus.
I looked at the vision board for at least 2 minutes daily, then I went about my day.
About four months after I made the vision board, the university let me go.
“The job for life.”
The department hadn’t suffered layoffs in over ten years. But all of a sudden, I and two other people were let go due to budget cuts.
I felt peace immediately after finding out; deep down, I knew it was time, and I wouldn’t have left on my own. I needed that push.
The following job, and every subsequent job, including my current one, was work from home. It was a desire I had for years, and the university didn’t allow WFH privileges for me as I did not have enough seniority.
So that one didn’t take long, about three months post layoff.
Another dream I had was to live in a warmer climate, 15 minutes or less from a warm beach, to be exact. My now-wife had always wanted to move to a warmer part of the country for health reasons. So we were on the same page. I lived in the Northeast for roughly 16 years, and I was ready for a change.
Once my current employer hired me, our lease converted to month to month, and we were not happy with where we were. The landlord was unresponsive to multiple issues, and it was time for us to move.
Since my new job was remote and I did not need to go into the office for anything, I realized that we could live anywhere. I said to my wife, “We should move to Florida.” The discussion that occurred was pre-pandemic, by the way.
I was waiting on a tax refund; I said, “We’re going if it comes before July 15”. She agreed. I waited for the refund for over two months; finally, it arrived before the 15th. We were on our way.
My desire to live comfortably near a warm beach was coming closer. We ended up in the Sarasota area and had some good and not-so-good Airbnb experiences; we found a comfortable apartment that we stayed in for two years that was (you guessed it) less than 15 minutes away from the beach. I didn’t even realize it until after we signed the lease.
Two of the 7 happened, well, 3 of the seven as my family and I enjoy ourselves here. The others are works in progress, my businesses are building and doing better, and I am getting closer to my income goal, which ultimately knocks down the other things on the list (Student Loans, Eagles Season Tickets and Sports Travel)
The Takeaways
- Visualization is Real- There is science and data behind why it works.
- Dream Big — I think some people underestimate their power to create a great life. I was miserable five years ago, and even though life isn’t perfect and we still have serious challenges, we are happier today.
- Have Fun With It — if everything doesn’t come true right away, don’t get down on yourself and think something is wrong with you. We have to grow into the life we want. Enjoy the process and little wins along the way.
If you have any kind of dream, make a vision board. It will be fun and if you continue looking at it consistently, some of those things will show up in your life.
