When was the last time you *intentionally* drove with your eyes closed?
I hope your answer is never.
The “why” is pretty obvious.
Seeing, while driving, is on par with breathing while living.
Without it, catastrophe is basically inevitable.
As moms, we’d never endanger those in tow by being so reckless.
If vision is so important, why do Mom’s live large portions of life without it?
We’d never think of driving without vision, so why live life without it?
Maybe we do that because the consequences aren’t as dramatic. You probably won’t crash and die without a meal plan. But your relationships might be strained. You may feel emotionally drained and frustrated because cooking doesn’t bring you joy and here come those hungry (cranky) little people, for the 50th time today, asking for food.
If you’re like me, lack of vision creates decision fatigue like it’s a job. Seriously. If I don’t have vision, or at least a target of where I want to be, “every” option seems like a good one and then I have to sort through all the “good” options to find the best one… every… single...time.
Decision fatigue has a way of wasting my time, usually costing me money, and straining my relationships. In essence, it can derail the mom I want to be… just because I allowed lack of vision in my life.
Let’s just be honest. Moms make a Loooooot of decisions every day and we can literally MANUFACTURE decision fatigue by allowing clouded vision. If we do this, we’re quite literally shooting ourselves in the foot!
What does this have to do with vision boards? *Basically* everything.
Let me explain.
If you’ve been around here long, you know we’re building a Tiny-House in the top of the silo for a vacation rental. (more on this later!) If you’ve talked to me in the last 30 days, you probably know that we’re trying to do this project in the next 30 days.
Why? Partly because we’re crazy, and partly because farming gets B-U-S-Y in the Spring/Summer.
In the past, when I’ve worked on house projects, I don’t really have a plan. Sure I have some ideas floating around my head, but I don’t usually put anything concrete down on paper. This translates into LOTS of browsing Menards and the Restore and the Internet… and anywhere else I go for things that might peek my interest. Not that browsing is bad, but it sure isn’t efficient. After weeks and weeks of deal hunting, I usually settle on something, but it isn’t a strategic hunt in the least.
With the Tiny-House project, I wanted (and needed!) it to be different.
After talking to my sister-in-law about all the details, she suggested that I create an image board.
Initially, I thought it wasn’t necessary, but boy was I wrong!
She instructed me to start with the things I already had, or the things I already knew.. And then add to it from there.
The concept is very simple. I used the Canva app and just looked up pictures of things online that I thought might fit my space. Then I screenshotted the pictures and uploaded them to Canva and placed them on my board.
Not only was it fun, but it has helped me tremendously with everything from decisions to shopping to the relationships in my life!
“Ok Blog Lady, …...Really……?”
You’re telling me that a vision board for a tiny house helped your marriage?
Yep. That’s exactly what I’m saying.
“Ok….Prove it”
I will.
With a Question
Name one marriage that is benefited by stress... I’ll wait.
I don’t mean “good” stress that motivates you to do things, I mean the bad stress that makes you cranky and short fused.
The answer is none. No marriage is helped by stress.
And guess what the vision board has helped me to have? - Yep. Less Stress.
And another question:
Name one marriage that is benefited by miscommunication.... I’ll wait again.
I don’t mean the funny kind of silly miscommunication. The kind that makes guys frustrated and girls cry. The kind that makes you feel misunderstood.
The answer is none. No marriage is benefited by miscommunication.
And guess what the vision board helped me to have? - Clear communication.
I can literally pull up my phone and SHOW my husband what I am thinking.
Can you imagine SHOWING your husband what you are thinking? The poor guy is probably tired of the guessing game anyway… Maybe we should make vision boards for our moods and feelings…. Talk about helpful!
Don’t believe me? Last week I literally walked into the Restore where there are 100 used light fixtures and pulled up my phone to compare the things I saw to the things I previously decided that I wanted. Guess what? Doing this kept me from spending the money on something that I didn’t actually want AND it made me more efficient. Before I had a vision board, I would have done a whole lot more hemming and hawing and not sure-ing. Having the vision board eliminated most of that! It was wonderful!
This exercise has got me thinking...
What if this could be true for more of life?
What if this could be true of our mom lives?
What would your ideal mom vision board look like?
And the opposite: What things are you living right now that you would NOT put on your vision board?
What can we do to change those things?
We’ve already discussed that driving with your eyes closed is a terrible idea, so let’s not live life that way. Let’s live intentionally. Maybe that’s a vision board for you, and maybe it’s a journal entry for the next mom. Whatever it is, let’s keep our eyes open!
Do you have experience with vision/mood boards? I want to know! Tell me in what areas of life you use them! I’d love to get more ideas!
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