Everything On My Vision Board For 2020 Has Come True…
Even though 2020 has been a rocky year so far.
For the first time I started off 2020 by creating a vision board. I was prompted to make one from the many articles and videos I have seen on the power of having something tangible and visual to look at every day. It started off from the list I had written at the end of my 2020 diary on all the things I hope to have accomplished by the end of the year. I gathered images, symbols and ideas of what I wanted this year to look like, and while the year itself looks very different to what I had imagined, I still somehow managed to tick off almost all of my goals. Some of the goals were actually rather ambitious, but even still… I did it, and it’s only June!
As you can see, the above image is my vision board for 2020. I wanted it to be something visually pleasing, but also practical in the goals I was aiming for. I set this vision board as my computer desktop which means I look at it every single day, reminding me to stick to my path of accomplishing my goals. Below I will go more in to depth on what each of my goals for this year actually are.
Reading More Books
This was a big goal of mine because I love to read but never had the time while I was studying. Thankfully this year all I’ve had is time… So far I’ve read a number of books: The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton, Breath by Tim Winton, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty , The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and my current read is The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris with my next read being The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. These reads have been incredible because they have given me the chance to relax and escape into another world, which given our current global climate, is very necessary sometimes.
Staying Fit and Healthy
I am very grateful I have respect for my body and want it to be its healthiest and I wanted to make sure I had a constant reminder on my vision board which embodies this idea. During this year I have actually completed an entire 8 week Sweat it to Shred it workout plan by Sarah Stevenson, and am currently completing the second 8 week workout plan Sweat it Reload. Something I really wanted to do in 2020 was to run the 4km HBF Run For a Reason to raise money for a foundation of my choice. While this event did get cancelled due to Covid-19, I still donated money myself and worked towards my goal of running the 4km. I completed the Couch to 5km Challenge during the self-isolation period and feel like I can actually call myself a runner now! I filmed the whole process of this challenge which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz-HUJmuoQw
Buying More Eco-Friendly Products
A big part of my life is trying to cut down my impact on the planet and one way I wanted to do that this year was by switching out to more sustainable and Eco-friendly options. For my birthday this year, which is in February, I asked for a bunch of sustainable products to help me reach this goal and have transitioned a number of every day items to something more environmentally friendly. It feels amazing and I encourage you to do the same!
Saving $10k
This was one of my more ambitious goals for this year, but I knew it was something I could do if I managed my money well. I have always been someone who has been good as saving my money and not spending frivolously, but this year I really wanted to bulk up my savings because I knew my money coming in would be rather spread out and unpredictable. I am so glad I had this ethos before the year began because boy was I right… Because of studying and not spending much last year I had already saved up a bit so reaching this $10k goal was not difficult if I put away any leftover money and tried not to spend unnecessarily. I use Money Brilliant to track my spending and am able to see where I need to reduce my spending if it’s not fitting in with my budget. I am very grateful now, looking back on this decision, because it has meant that the lack of jobs and not being able to work much during Covid-19 has been less stressful on me with this now emergency fund.
Working on NEON
NEON is a short film project I have been working on as a producer this year and it has been so amazing developing this short film to reach a level we are all extremely excited about. Part of my plan for this year was to work on this short film taking it through to production and then pushing out to film festivals towards the end of the year and into 2021. Despite Covid-19 stopping any film productions from happening, we have been able to use this time to work heavily on the script and materials for a funding application. Even if we don’t receive the funding, we have everything we need to move forward with making this project regardless and are really excited to bring this story to life.
Working With my Work-Wives Again
Last year I was lucky enough to work on a wonderful Screenwest funded series called Rain Dance, which is releasing at the end of this year. During this production I worked with the most wonderful women who inspired and taught me in so many ways. I included a photo of myself with Bec and Rosie, because I wanted to continue working with these wonderful ladies in 2020 and I am so grateful to say I have! This image reminds me of how great it was to have the trio on set, and how excited I am to be on set with them both again in the near future, fingers crossed!
Staying Relaxed
Last year was definitely not a relaxing year for my to say the least… Check out my story on how my eczema almost killed me (https://byrslf.co/my-eczema-almost-killed-me-b96480b02743), so this year I wanted to manage my stress levels and consequentially, my eczema, by trying to relax more. This is one thing from Covid-19 that I am grateful for, because it truly gave me the opportunity to slow down, relax and revisit myself in a calm state; something I haven’t felt for a long time. I have been able to use my time to wind down, do things I enjoy and not feel stressed or anxious because of deadlines or external pressure.
Traveling
While the idea of traveling has definitely been shot down for the moment in 2020, I believe I will still be able to tick off my travel goals by staying local to Australia. Not only does traveling locally help the bank account, but it also helps our local economy get back on its feet after the horrible battering it has had recently. On my vision board I specifically included images of nature, because I want my travel to really allow me to explore the beautiful world around me. Living in Western Australia, I feel very lucky to have such beauty on my doorstep, so I think I will take this opportunity of not being able to travel globally, to further explore my own state.
While vision boards certainly aren’t for everyone, I must attest to the fact that all of the things I had on mine came true… I think the combination of figuring out your goals, connecting with them, being realistic and having a visual representation to look at every day, helped to make these goals a reality. Every day I open my computer and it is the first thing I see. I have honestly loved having something I can mentally “tick” off. I would definitely recommend giving this a try, even now for the next 6 months of this year, because you never know what you might be able to achieve if you put your mind and actions to it.
