How to Stop Daydreaming and Actually Achieve Your Goals

Start by Ditching Your Vision Board

Everyone was excited. They sat at their stations gathering scissors, glue, and stacks of magazine pages bearing images of fancy cars, fancier houses, and celebrity heartthrobs.

The instructions were pretty simple. The vision board party host encouraged us to choose images that “represented the life we envisioned for ourselves.” No goal was too outrageous. The images, she said, were meant to inspire.

“You have to see yourself there.”

Nevermind if the guy I envisioned myself with was happily married with kids or the house that I wanted cost seven figures; nothing was off limits.

In between praising attendees’ creative choices, the host bragged about how the vision board had led to her becoming a first-time homeowner.

“You can do it too!” she assured her gullible guests.

At the end of the party, everyone gathered to take photos of themselves with their boards. And then, they were off; likely headed back to empty beds in tiny apartments, via public transportation. We’d spent $25 of our hard-earned money to be “inspired.” By the end of the party, we hadn’t received a single piece of practical advice about how to reach our goals. But at least…