19 Jan 23

New year, new inspiration!

The Great Indoors podcast returns today, and Kate and I are slipping into the new year gently by chatting all things new year. You can listen to the episode here. I love to create a vision board, while Kate takes herself up to the attic and ‘has a word with herself’, jotting it all down on some new stationary. While our methods might be different, we both agree that this is a good time of year to put some things to bed, and look to the new year for fresh inspiration, motivation and to germinate new ideas.

Thanks so much to all of you who joined the live Vision Board masterclass earlier in the month (you can catch up here if you missed it), setting new inspiration and creative clarity for the year ahead! I really suffer from January blues and struggle to feel motivated or currently very optimistic this time of year and this year feels particularly challenging.

My vision board for 2023

BIG AMBITIONS

On this year’s board you can see my overall career goal is a tad ambitious! I have had a dream to run an online interiors shop, a place I can bring together all the things I love about interiors, I think it’s a great idea! But while I was looking for images, I switched that up to Building an Empire! Far more exciting and motivating don’t you agree! So, while ambitious career moves continue to be a big focus of my new year vision board other things are a lot simpler.

CONNECTION

I want this year to be all about connections and friendships. Be that with you dear reader, listeners to the podcast and scrollers of Instagram or indeed my IRL friends old and new. I’m already plotting some exciting in person events this year, both for the podcast and my own colour workshops will be back! So many of you have been asking for a design retreat this year and so I’m looking at ways to facilitate that too!

CREATIVITY

Creativity also always finds a space on my yearly vision board and this year surprised even me to discover that gardening was coming through strong. With most of the house now looking lovely, I feel drawn to take control of the outside areas. It’s also something I can share with my Mum which I feel would be a lovely thing to do.

JOY

I wanted to encapsulate this feeling in my 2023 vision board and what resonates for me is the simplicity of finding joy. It doesn’t have to be in big adventures are big wins. It can be found in simple pleasures and a gratitude around what I’m already surrounded by. I just need to take the chance to stop and revel in it!

So that me, the New Year and how I want to feel in the year ahead. I find it a very enlightening and positive exercise and its given me such a boost of motivation.

TIPS ON CREATING A VISION BOARD

If you missed the live, it’s still available to watch over on the design school. You can watch it any time that feels right for you. Here are some tips on how to go about creating one:

Start your vision board exercise with a moment of gratitude for everything you have now. Vision boards are not for fixing you or solving problems.

Take a full morning, afternoon, or uninterrupted evening for this creative and reflective process. Cherish it.

Once you have noted down what you’d like your year to look like and how you want to FEEL, start looking for images that really resonate with you and give you that tingly feeling.

Dream big! You should feel the excitement and a tinge of fear that some of your dreams are so ambitious and not in easy reach. Hence the empire rather than a shop!

If an idea starts to feel more like a chore than something that excites and motivates you, ditch it. Add it to your to-do list instead. Vision boards are for positive vibes only!

Avoid over cluttering your vision board with to many images. A few powerful intentions will give you more clarity. Throughout the mood boarding process try and edit your ideas so only the most significant work their way onto the board.

Pop your vision board somewhere you can look at it every day. On the kitchen fridge, in your office, or on the wardrobe door. It’ll help keep you inspired, motivated, and focused every day!