My Vision Board

The last few months I’ve struggled with my motivation and energy, especially in regards to my thesis. I’m in the last stretch of my academic journey and at times the writing feels like tackling a giant mountain. My counselor gave me the task of making a vision board. She wanted me to have a visualization tool to help me push through the painful rough patch I’m in now.

I worked very hard on creating a visually appealing vision board since I knew it would sit in my living room above the computer desk. This is the first time I’ve made a collage since high school, and although it was tedious at times, it was a fun challenge to piece together bits of my future from different magazines.

Here’s a closer look at the vision board, which I broke down into 9 different squares for areas of my life.

My Career

The career square of my vision board was the most important in motivating me to finish my thesis. I started my Masters because I wanted the experience necessary to land a job in biology or wildlife management. For those who don’t know, the topic of my research is carnivore management. I haven’t spoken much about it on my blog because it’s a controversial but necessary topic here in BC. As a result, it’s been a draining project to work on alone and has been delayed a few instances due to the politics.

I’d love to continue working in biology. I want to have a job where I feel like I’m making a difference to an environmental issue. My experience so far has led me to wildlife management, which combines the challenges of biology, politics, and economics. It’s truly about managing people and ensuring our species are protected into the future.

Health

My health square in a wonderful compilation of nutrition, exercise, mental health, and self-care. I wanted to focus more on being healthy inside and out, as opposed to focusing on a physical goal. I understand the importance of being in nature for my well-being and wanted to keep that reminder on my vision board, along with deeper meanings like, “Love your hair” which is something anyone with trichotillomania could probably relate to.

My Family

I wanted a square to represent my ideal future family. As you can see, there are no children in this section. To be honest, I’m still not sure I ever want kids and I’ve been fairly certain about this from a young age. Instead, I wanted to focus on what I definitely want: a loving partner and a happy family of animals. I have the most amazing cat in my life right now, but eventually, I’d like to add an adventurous dog for hiking and camping. And of course, there’s the dream of one day owning a goat (or even a small ranch of rescue animals).

My Friends

My friendships are probably the one thing in my life that are in the best shape possible right now. Because of this, it was surprisingly difficult putting this square together. I have no new goals for my friendships, I just want to continue focusing on my amazing friends and being as supportive as possible. A subscription to my alma matter magazine came in handy because I was able to cut up photos from the University of Guelph and add “Reconnect” directly to my vision board. Overall, for the next year or two, I want to focus on fun, making more memories, and having a supportive circle of women in my life.

Love

Ah yes, my love life. Since becoming single again late last year, I’m not sure what the future holds for me here. At this point, I’m not even sure where I’ll be living in a few months. I just know that I want someone who brings out the best in me, inspires me to go on adventures and who also enjoys the outdoors. I suppose I just want a partner in crime. As you can see, love of animals and future pets are also an important dynamic in this square.

Travel

My travel section is there to remind me of what is out there to explore in the world. As a graduate student, traveling hasn’t been in my budget. Eventually, I’d like to be able to explore other countries and cultures once again. Until then, I’ve left some inspiration for local adventures too, like road trips and camping under the stars.

Inspiration and Communication

This section is all about my creative outlets: photography, painting, and blogging. For this square, I simply found photos that really appealed to me, along with my goals for these pursuits. I’d love nothing more than to be an excellent storyteller and inspire people with my work.

Fashion and Beauty

It may seem a little vain to have this section, but I’ve learned to accept that I find makeup and clothing an important outlet in my self-expression. To me, it’s about telling a story with the way I look and feeling free to experiment with the way I present myself. I love bohemian, natural vibes and lipstick. I’ve also been thinking recently of dabbling in hair color (I’ve never colored my hair!). Stay tuned for the possibility of a new ‘do.

Goals

This last square was an extra space that I decided to dedicate to a more concentrated look at my goals. The whole vision board is my aspirations for the next several years, whereas I wanted this square to represent the priorities I’d like sooner rather than later. I want to graduate and feel secure about my future. Hopefully, I’ll start my career in the next year. I also added important reminders, like my desire to be a morning person, and that even if I don’t own a car, I can always rent one. I’d also really like in the next year to move to a smaller community and rent a small house instead of a small apartment (and it would probably cost close to the same anyway).

So there you have it, my first vision board! This may be a really in-depth look at my life and goals, but it’s something I felt would be worthwhile sharing. Feel free to take this as inspiration to make your own vision board, or even just for brainstorming for your own future.