“My 75” Boards

Did you know that statistics show you are 80% more likely to accomplish a goal if it is written down? The first step is obviously dreaming it up, and then there is significance in writing it down where you can see it…but the most important part is the ACTION that follows. Keeping it in front of you encourages you to take small (or big) consistent action steps towards that goal, because “what you focus on and measure gets done."

We have talked about this, thought on it, and prayed through these...& Jonathan and I finally completed this project together in September. It's our family's #my75 list. (And it was a blast!) This is a fun variation of a vision board. We completed one with cutouts from magazines & different stickers back in August too. Loved it!

I like that this one is so specific and several of them are tied to a time-frame. There are some short term, some long term, some individual, some family goals...but all things we are striving towards. You can't hit a target that doesn't exist, so here are some of our targets.

We have already started! We challenged several other families to do this too, and it has been SO neat to see people peeling off sticky notes as a family. (We would love to see your boards as well, so this would make a great family night or date night project.)

Here is our original board.

A few fell off during our move, and there are a few more we  realized we needed to make more specific and add a time frame. Since originally creating the board towards the end of September, we have crossed 7 off of our list and are making major progress towards a few more. Exciting!!

So FYI, this was totally not my brain child and I absolutely do not get the credit. But, I wanted to pass along some of the info for those of you who have asked about it and are considering making one for yourself or your family.

What you need:

• poster board
• sticky notes
• sharpie

(The different color sticky notes did not have any special meaning for us, although you could definitely color coordinate them if you want.)

Questions to Ponder/Brainstorm:

1. If I gave you $10,000 cash and you HAD to spend it on yourself, what would you use it for? (Don’t get tangled up in the logistics. It can be several things. They can total $10,000. They can EACH be $10,000. Just whatever! One thing we put, for example, was lasik for Jon. Another was an enclosed trailer. We’ve crossed the trailer off and I’m calling about lasik tomorrow!)

*This one was challenging for me, but don’t worry…we’ll get to “others” later! So enjoy!

2. What do you want to accomplish in the next year? Physically? Financially? Spiritually? Professionally? In your relationships?

3. What places do you want to visit? Local? Day trip? Big vacation? Overseas?

4. What do you want to do for others? (This was definitely the easiest one for me & probably is for many of us!)

5. What do you want for your kids/spouse/family?

6. What activities do you want to do within the next year? (Monthly Date nights? Run a 5K? GREAT time to start thinking about this with 2017 rapidly approaching!)

7. If you are married or have children, leave hem 5 post- its each (or more) & involve them in your board. I especially think this is cool if your kiddos are a little bit older. How cool for them to see you set goals, duplicate that, & have the sense of accomplishment of achieving them? It encourages them to think long-term, think about ways to serve others, etc.

So here’s how we did it. We started brainstorming our responses to those questions in early September and it took us a couple of weeks to come up with 75 different things. Once we had 75, we wrote each one on a sticky note and stuck it to the poster board. Simple as that!

There are no set number of responses you need for each question. There are no right/wrong answers. There is nothing too big, too small, or too far-fetched. You can do an individual board OR a family board. And you can absolutely think outside the box of these questions. These are just prompts to get you thinking! These can be a range of short-term, long-term, small, big, personal, family, etc. Be creative, just think about things you want to accomplish and are willing for work toward making a reality. I would encourage you to make some of the them very attainable and some of them stretch your thinking and belief. There is serious power in the mental victory of accomplishing a goal. A win is a WIN, no matter how big or small. When you are achieve one, you are more motivated to work towards more! (Again, you can do it however you want. Leave the sticky notes on there & check/x them off with a date as you accomplish them…or tear them off and throw them in the trash….or add new sticky notes in their place. Whatever makes you tick!

We have ours hanging in our office and look at it every day. We have posted it on social media because I like the accountability and sharing the idea with others (because we love to celebrate their family wins, see where their hearts are, etc.), but you can totally do it and keep it private as well. It’s YOUR #my75 board.

Can’t wait to see those of you who decide to create one start living out the dreams the Lord has stirred in your heart!