Using the Wheel of Life for Vision Boarding in the New Year
CREATE YOUR VISION
It’s January and it feels impossible NOT to think about goal setting, resolutions and renewal when the the New Year comes around. For me, it feels exciting to have this chance to reset and think about what we might want to accomplish and how we can shape ourselves into our best.
One fun way to explore ideas of what we may want to manifest in the coming year is to create a vision board. You can use various approaches to make a vision board, but one of the interesting things about them, is that it stirs up some of our maybe unconscious thought and desires about what we want. The idea is that we sift through magazines or other pictures on the internet, etc., and select what we are drawn to and it can serve as a guidepost for our goals. It is a fun and easy activity that anyone can try and you may be surprised by how much meaning can come from it.
Today, I want to share another way to create a vision board. This has a little more structure to follow or think about because it uses the “Wheel of Life” to guide you.
The Wheel of Life is a visual tool often used by life coaches and others in the field to help us get a sense of how we are focusing our energy. I am not completely sure the origin of the wheel, though it is rooted in Buddhist ideas of finding balance in our lives. According to medium.com , Paul Meyer, one of the founders of what is now called “life coaching,” created this wheel.
Looking at the wheel below, you will see that it divides our life into eight slices. By examining all eight, it is easy to see where we might place most of our attention and other areas that we might be neglecting. For this vision board task, we will give attention to all eight segments to manifest what we would like to achieve. First, let’s take a closer look at the eight categories and what they might mean to you.
HEALTH - How are you feeling inside and out? This includes how we are taking care of ourselves with exercise, nutrition, and our mental health.
FRIENDS AND FAMILY - What role do friends and family play in your life? Are you building in quality time with positive individuals who nourish you? Are you happy with the way you are showing up as a sister, a daughter, a friend? Socializing is also an important part of a healthy, balanced life - are you doing enough of it in the way that you want?
INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS - Intimate relationships include those we are dating, our spouse or partner, and how our relationship with them looks. Think about things like sex, communication, positive time together and what you would like these things to look like in your life.
LEISURE AND FUN - What hobbies would you like to pursue in your leisure time? I know that for many it’s easy to curl up and watch Netflix and that might be fine, but is there something else that you would like to actively pursue that might bring you joy like art, hiking, camping or reading? Are you building time in your life to enjoy and have fun instead of just mindlessly collapsing at the end of a busy week? Sometimes this doesn’t happen unless we consciously create time for it.
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT - our surroundings can define us and that can be anything from our room or home to the city in which we choose to live. I think of Marie Kondo and the success her idea of tidying up has had with so many of us. Does your space bring you joy? Does it make you happy? Are your things in places that bring you peace or create chaos? On a grand scale, is there somewhere else you have dreamed of living? Is this the year to make that change?
CAREER - I think that for many of us, a lot of our energy is often put into this section just because it is unavoidable, to some degree, in our culture. Reflecting on career and how we show up at work, where we set boundaries, steps we want to take to get where we want to be - all of this comes under the umbrella of “career.”
FINANCES - budgeting, planning, debt, credit, savings… how can financial planning create space for freedom?
PERSONAL GROWTH - this is sometimes labeled “Spirituality” and it can mean different things to different people but, at the crux of it, do you feel connected to yourself and the world around you? Perhaps you want to deepen your meditation practice or more actively focus on “being present” or mindful when you are talking to others or when you are alone. This can also mean something different to you: perhaps you want to push yourself creatively or start journaling to connect to yourself and your own sense of happiness. You can name this (or any category) whatever feels most “right” to you.
Now with this deeper understanding, let’s talk about how you can create a vision board that encompasses all these facets of your beautiful life.
Dive into your collection of magazines, newspapers, cards or use the internet to get inspired
For each of the eight slices of life, find two to three pictures that inspire you. You don’t have to know why but they should speak to you in some way and provide you with some light or focus.
Pick a piece of posterboard or art paper that will serve as your background. You can find fun magazine backgrounds that you can use as the background of your vision board or you can paint/color it a soothing or joyful color that you love.
When you have all 16-24 pictures, start to arrange them in a way that brings you joy. Sometimes you will be surprised how the pictures connect to each other in ways you didn’t plan. You can cut clean edges around the pictures or even interconnect them in a way that makes sense.
Journal! On another piece of paper, draw the Wheel of Life with the eight sections. In each section, write one to two sentences that are inspired by your vision board. Start each sentence with the prompt, “This year, I will manifest…” If you feel constrained by the space in the wheel, you can write this on a piece of paper in sentence form. You can even transcribe your sentences somewhere on your vision board
Now you have done the work! You have something beautiful that uniquely represents you and the things you want to accomplish. Hang this up somewhere so you will see it every day and feel the motivation that you felt while creating it. Think about the areas of your life that might need more energy in order to feel more centered, whole and balanced, and so that no important part of you remains neglected.
I hope this is a fun and creative activity that brings meaning to you! Have a great New Year !