3 Steps I Take To Create My Vision for 2023
Useful tips for anyone wanting to take back the reins of their life
“You are essentially who you create yourself to be and all that occurs in your life is the result of your own making.”
‒ Stephen Richards
2022 has been a challenging year for me to say the least. During the first few months nothing much happened, but starting June my life pretty much changed 180. The changes were unexpected yet necessary in some ways.
I feel like in the past 6 months I didn’t give myself as much time to just be and reflect on the things that had happened and how these sudden shifts had both affected and benefited me in the greater scheme of things.
For the past ten years, I have been on a constant journey of self-developing and bringing more self-awareness into my life- from studying psychology and psychotherapy to being in therapy myself to reading books, attending seminars on well-being, immersing myself in multicultural backgrounds, going on retreats, and practicing yoga and meditation to simply allowing myself to be. Without feeling the need to prove my worth anymore. That was a very liberating feeling, indeed!
Taking responsibility for my thoughts and actions has improved my overall outlook on life and relationships. Becoming more aware of my inner mental processes has helped me tremendously recalibrate myself faster and to have a clearer vision of the version of myself I want to embody in 2023 and what I want to achieve on a spiritual, personal, and professional level.
I wanted to share with you the 3 steps I took at the end of 2022 to create my vision of myself for next year in the hope you can find some inspiration you can use to embark on your wonderful journey in the year to come.
1st step: take some time off and prioritize yourself
First of all, I took some time off from work and prioritized myself. This year I had 9 days left from my vacation so I decided to keep them for the last week of the year.
As much as I love my work, for me, it is very important for me to take some time when I can disconnect from the outer world and bring the focus within. Even though I might not necessarily go to some other place and I would just stay at home, I feel like I am on a retreat where I get to recalibrate and refocus on the things that truly matter to me.
During this time, I usually do things that bring me joy and put me on a higher vibration. I make my home as cozy as possible after a thorough cleaning and then immerse myself in a few activities that put me in a wonderful state of flow such as writing, painting, doing yoga, meditating, listening to positive affirmations, watching inspirational videos, spending time with friends and family members who lift me up.
2nd step: revisit your core values and readjust if necessary, then set your intentions
After 2 or 3 days when I start feeling more relaxed and in tune with myself and my Higher Self’s guidance, I revisit my core values, see if anything has changed there, and based on them, I then create a list where I set the intentions for the new year to come.
I have recently read a quote saying that if you don’t create a vision for yourself in the new year, someone else will. And that resonated with me really deeply. If we don’t set intentions and goals and create a vision of what we would like our life to be like, it is very easy to get swayed away by other people’s expectations of us and to feel like we live based on others’ decisions for us.
Also, I have discovered that having a clear vision also helps me bounce back from life’s challenges easier and faster because knowing where I am going makes me maintain my focus and not get detoured from my destination.
3rd step: create a vision board in accordance with your values
The 3rd thing I do is create a vision board with the experiences I would like to achieve during the next year. I usually build my vision board on four pillars: career, health, spirituality, and relationships.
I make sure I find pictures that are in accordance with the values I have previously established and that bring me joy and a feeling of being inspired when I see them. I like using it as a desktop background to make sure I see it daily and stay true to my vision.
Over the years I have found that these 3 steps have brought me great mental peace as well as a sense of empowerment and clarity.
Final thoughts
The purpose of this article is to spur you to go toward your dreams whilst giving you a clearer picture of the actions you have to take to bring them to fruition.
If you haven’t yet found the motivation to do so, may this article be the spark to kindle it!
You can apply these tips throughout the year as well. If at sny time you find yourself wanting to take some time off to disconnect and get more in tune with yourself or want to make some changes, these steps can be really helpful!
I’ll leave you with one my my favorite quotes:
If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.
Jim Rohn
I would love to know what steps you take to create your 2023 vision of yourself, please do share!
Thank you for reading, I appreciate you! 😀
