Vol. 6 | Confidence
Is your vision board making you insecure?
“At some point, you just get tired of being your biggest hater.”
As my friend Regina and I cut out pictures for our vision boards, I knew she was on to something. I listened intently, as she explained her plan for 2025. This year, she would stop being so hard on herself and focus on the things she does well. Good plan, right? Then why didn’t our collages include our accomplishments?
My board is currently hanging in my room, and though I like it, I’ve come to notice mine is missing a key factor. Me. Each image within the collage represents something I aspire to, but honestly? What I’ve got going on already isn’t all that bad. If Regina was right (she is) then making the shift from being your biggest hater, to your biggest advocate must include self-love.
And yet, we dedicated that evening to reinventing ourselves—metaphorically, that is, in hopes that eventually, life would imitate art. My board featured images of a vibrant woman: Diana Ross dancing, her head tossed back and smile glimmering on camera, plane tickets with no destination, a girl sitting in a field, kisses, and motivational sayings like, “all signs point to yes,” and “there is a past version of you that is so proud of how far you have come.” I found it all on Pinterest.
Regina’s images focused on wealth and wellness. There were pictures of women who looked like they lived at the gym, financial success, and lavish vacations. We’d both gathered images that reflected our ideal selves, but in choosing such aspirational pictures, we’d inadvertently signaled a desire to be someone else. Someone different; as if who we were already wasn’t quite good enough. And sure, it’s just a collage. The whole point is to be inspired, but can’t we be inspired by ourselves too? I’ve tried making vision boards before and have never felt like I’d done the assignment properly. I ran into the same problem this year, but when Regina declared her mission for 2025, I finally realized my mistake. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, you just have to keep spinning.
“At some point, you just get tired of being your biggest hater.”
The thing about goal setting is that you get to make the rules. And sometimes, the most obvious solution is right in front of you. In this case, I’d forgotten to celebrate who I am: a good friend, a hard worker, a person who fights for what she believes in. All of that was missing. I can’t speak for Regina, but she’s one of the most impressive people I know, and even she was itching for a reboot. Even she forgot to acknowledge how amazing she already is. If you’re in the same boat, consider this a reminder.
To shift my perspective, I picked confidence as the theme for the month (and every month hereafter). In the coming weeks I plan to make a new vision board, this time including nods to what I’ve accomplished thus far. In the meantime, I’ve made a mood-boosting playlist to match.
