Dawn Hart is passionate about the power of setting goals. When your goals are clear, she says, you know what you’re trying to achieve and you’re more likely to succeed.
About five years ago, Hart began creating a vision board to display her goals along with pictures that represent those goals. Since adding this visual component to her annual goal-setting exercise, her success rate improved, she says.
In addition to her off-farm full-time day job, the Gads Hill, Ont. woman, who is married to cash crop farmer Cameron Hart, has launched a marketing and event planning business and a lifestyle blog.
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Hart has given workshops to help others experience the benefits of this planning tool and she offers a free vision board workbook on her website at dawnchristine.ca.
Country Guide readers may be skeptical that vision boards with pictures that people cut from magazines of their dream homes, cars and vacations will make these things magically appear.
That type of vision board doesn’t make a lot of sense to Hart either. Without specific and measurable goals attached to these dreams, Hart says they will remain just that — dreams.
In Hart’s version of this tool, she creates about a dozen SMART goals that can be achieved in the next 12 months. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. Her vision board lists her goals along with images that are visual representations of the goals.
It’s not enough to say, “I want to be healthier,” explains Hart by way of example. You have to be specific about how you’ll attain your goal with specific fitness, nutrition or other wellness steps.
Hart hangs her completed vision board in her closet where she sees it every day to help keep her on track.
As with any goal-setting activity, Hart says it’s important to check on your progress regularly. She celebrates her successes and refines outdated goals as her situation changes.
Hart cautions people to be gentle with themselves if they don’t accomplish all of their goals. “I have never accomplished all of the goals on my vision board,” she says. “Any movement in the direction towards your goals should be celebrated and is more than you would have accomplished if you did nothing.”
While some people feel they aren’t worthy or don’t have the time, Hart encourages everyone to include some self-care goals in their vision board. She says this is especially important in agriculture where people work so hard.
Hart gave an online vision board workshop for members of the Ag Women’s Network early in 2021. Four of the participants were southern Ontario friends Sue Hilborn, Marilyn Sewell, Valerie Parke and Joan Craig. All four agreed that Hart’s workshop inspired them to set realistic and measurable goals for the year. Creating a visual reminder also helped them maintain their momentum.
After Hart’s presentation, the four friends met regularly via Zoom to discuss their progress. All four women had high praise for the power of this peer support. “The (vision) board, and the support team, kept me accountable and encouraged me to fulfil a number of my goals,” says Hilborn.
Craig agrees. “I am so glad we took a peer group approach to the vision board project. Being accountable to others has been very helpful for me. We’ve also supported each other by suggesting different approaches or sources for information to help with a goal.”
Sewell noted that the followup meetings served as a springboard for meaningful conversations, something that doesn’t happen often enough. “When we connect with friends, very rarely do we get the chance or make the time to speak deeply about our personal goals.”
The friends have already begun thinking about what will go on their vision boards for 2022 and hope to continue with their peer support meetings.
And it isn’t only for women, says Hart, who agrees vision boards are especially popular with women. Men, she says, will also benefit.
How to make your own personal vision board (time: 2-3 hours)
Before you get started, Hart recommends reflecting on what you have to be thankful for. It’s best to “come from a place of gratitude when you create your dreams and goals for the future,” she says. Write down 10 memorable moments or achievements from the past year to get you into the right frame of mind.
Next, spend some time reflecting on your goals for next year. Make sure the goals are about you, not your spouse or your children. (If you don’t have a vision for yourself, spend some time doing this first. See further down.) Each vision board is unique and special to the person who made it.
See Dawn Hart’s vision board workbook for more details: www.dawnchristine.ca.
To get the idea, Hart suggests a wide range of possible goals, but there’s no end to the variety of specific goals that would match your life and lifestyle.
Fitness: Complete a fitness challenge or set a goal to work out a certain number of times per week.
Nutrition: Cut out alcohol on weekdays or eat breakfast every day.
Wellness: For instance, take a yoga class or make a doctor’s appointment for a physical exam.
Environmental: Plant X number of trees, for example, or clean up a specific site.
Financial: Meet with a financial advisor to discuss your personal situation, create a personal budget, or personal investments.
Hobby: Sign up for lessons to learn a new hobby or read X number of books.
Other: Set goals around volunteering, travel, home projects or screen time.
If this is your first attempt at setting goals, Hart says six to ten goals is a good number. Flesh out the goals to make sure they are SMART goals. Break down bigger goals into multi-year steps if needed. Think about what will motivate you or make it easier for you to achieve your goals and build that into the activity. For instance, are you more likely to make a daily habit of walking if you go with a friend?
Once you have your goals, collect images and illustrations that reflect your goals for the year. You can cut pictures from magazines, draw illustrations, or print them off the internet. Hart typically finds one to three images per goal, depending on the size of the image.
Once you have your images, lay them out on your poster board (Hart uses a half-size poster board, 22″ X 14″) before gluing them on. Hart works from one corner to the other.
Write each of the goals beside the associated image(s). Fill in the blank spaces with motivational quotes or stickers.
Once it’s complete, hang the vision board in a place where you will see it often to keep your goals top of mind and remember to check in on your progress throughout the year
Most important is to make a chart that will keep your attention. Don’t get hung up on the details. Instead, keep your focus on the end result. For instance, if you prefer, the vision board could even be created using a computer program, says Hart. “It’s about whatever works for you.”
Don’t have a vision of where you want to go?
If you don’t have a vision of what you want in your life, Hart suggests spending 10 to20 minutes brainstorming before you try to set goals for the coming year.
Ask yourself, in 10 years, what are the things you see yourself doing, the relationships you see yourself having, the things you want to own or the things you want to change about your current self? Jot down all of the things that would help you get to that dream version of yourself.
From here, you can narrow down some of these items to specific goals you can achieve within the next year.
The half-year check-in
Halfway through the year, Dawn Hart does a formal analysis of her progress. She creates a chart with three columns: Accomplished, Ongoing and Not There Yet.
First, she fills in the goals she has completed, pausing for a moment to feel a sense of accomplishment. “Often we forget to recognize all the work we have completed,” she says.
Next, she fills in the goals she has started but not yet completed. She adds notes about the tasks accomplished so far.
Then she fills in the goals she hasn’t started yet and reflects on whether she needs to adjust them or drop them all together due to a change in circumstances.
