A Vision Board Is More Than a Collection of Goals

This week, I created a vision board, and I want to share it with you.

I’ve made vision boards before, but sitting down to create this one reminded me that a vision board can be about so much more than setting goals or creating a collection of things you hope to achieve.

It can be about how you want your life to feel.

It can represent what you want to experience, what you want to create, who you want to become and, perhaps just as importantly, what you already have that you want to protect.

When I look at my own board, I see some big dreams. I see travel, growing my business, our future home and experiences I would love to have.

But I also see family.

I see simplicity.

I see a garden.

I see reminders to prioritise myself and my wellbeing.

I see the words, “Family always comes first.”

And I see a reminder to make choices today with my future self in mind.

That made me realise something.

Sometimes professional development asks us to think about where we need to improve, what we need to learn next, what requirement we need to meet or what box we need to tick.

But how often do we simply stop and ask:

What do I actually want?

Not just as an educator.

As a person.

Turning reflection into something practical

That question has helped inspire something new coming to The Educators Well from 1 October: Put It Into Practice.

Put It Into Practice will be a growing collection of practical, guided activities designed to help educators turn reflection, learning and conversation into meaningful action.

These aren’t activities for the children.

They’re for you.

Some will help you explore your wellbeing, strengths, values, professional identity, goals and direction.

Some will help you connect with others and think differently about your professional practice.

Some will be designed for individual educators.

Others will include versions that leaders can take straight into their next staff meeting, with discussion prompts and facilitator guidance already provided.

As the collection grows, activities will connect with The WELL Framework and, where relevant, the National Quality Framework, helping educators and services see the connection between wellbeing, professional learning, reflective practice, leadership and what happens every day.

Some resources will also be developed specifically for Service Members, supporting deeper whole-service reflection and implementation.

And this isn’t a one-off resource drop

This is the part I’m particularly excited about.

A new collection of practical activities will be released every month.

The first activities arrive on 1 October, including the very activity that inspired this post:

Create Your Educator Vision Board.

But I didn’t want to give you a blank page and tell you to make a vision board.

We’ll explore why you’re doing it.

What you want more of.

What you want less of.

How you want to feel.

What you’re working towards.

What you want to experience.

What you want to change.

And something I think we sometimes forget to ask ourselves:

What do I already have that I want to protect?

Then, once you’ve created your board, we’ll take it one step further.

You’ll identify:

One thing I can start now. One thing I can work towards. One thing I want to protect.

Because reflection is valuable, but I want these activities to help you actually put it into practice.

Professional growth doesn’t always need to feel like more work

Educators already have enough on their plates.

I don’t want to create another resource library filled with things you feel guilty about not getting around to.

I want this collection to give you permission to stop for a moment.

To think.

To create.

To have conversations you might not otherwise have.

To reconnect with yourself as a person as well as an educator.

And yes, sometimes simply to get those creative juices flowing and do something that’s actually for you.

Put It Into Practice launches for members of The Educators Well on 1 October, with new activities added every month.

And I think my vision board might have just found itself a permanent place on my wall.