Every New Year we resolve to make changes. We buy the newest journal and fill it with goals that sound good, we fill our phone’s Notes app with all our resolutions, or we may even attend one of the hottest things happening right now—vision board parties. A room filled with women, wine, food, poster boards, magazines, scissors and glue, as we get ready to plaster the board with images that fit our “vision.”
For me, I actually began making my first vision board at the end of December, while attending a workshop called VisionCast2018. The workshop was awesome but that vision board is still in my office unfinished. Why? Because I really don’t have the time to cut and paste while still working to get my vision accomplished. However, this isn’t the issue with vision boards.
The real issue with vision boards is that we do not follow through.
A harsh reality but an even sadder truth. We complete the board and it turns out very cute. We have our scriptures written in the corners, pictures in their rightful place, and even add a little glitter, only to set it in the nearest closet or corner. This is not to bash anyone but some of us just do not follow through.
We know but do not fully grasp that after the vision there is work to do because whether we want to admit it or not, things will not drop in our lap and neither will our vision magically manifest itself in the real world. We have to get up and make some stuff happen.
When a farmer is planting seeds for harvest, they do not sit around watching, waiting for the seeds to grow; they work. They feed the crops, properly control the weed and grass growth, handle and take inventory of what is left from last year’s harvest, clean their equipment and ensure storage areas are sustainable. And you know what else? They are also preparing for the next year’s harvest, all while taking care of faith, family, and finances.
There is work to be done before, during, and especially after the vision. I know this is not a Christian devotional but let me share with you one scripture. It is Ecclesiastes 11:6, which states, “Sow your seed in the morning, and do not stop working until the evening; for you do not know which activity will succeed—whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally.”
In other words, while you are waiting on one thing to happen, work on something else. This way, if one falls through, you will have something else already working. Or, and this is my hope, both will pay off and you’ll have two things working in your favor.
If it were easy as sowing a seed or, in this case, creating a vision board, we would all be better off than we were last year but it isn’t. Things happen when we get up and work on them and if I can be honest, the real work doesn’t begin until after tilling the field, sowing the seed, cutting the pictures and creating the board.
It is easy to dream but hard to develop. However, it can be done because there is still time to do it, but you will have to get up and put in the work to ensure it succeeds.