Vision Board - Act

I've never done a vision board. I've known about the concept but never actually sat down and completed one. I was reading my friend Randi's blog and she put one together, I thought it was pretty cool. One of my athletes, Kelly put a virtual one together that I thought was pretty awesome as well. You can see it here.

So what's the point? I don't know. I just got a bunch of magazines and just ripped through them and found things that spoke to me. I know where I'm headed, all those decisions were made several weeks ago, but this is an interesting process in seeing where my desires lie. I probably have a little too much time on my hands right now while Dirk realizes that I am the triathlon equivalent to this or this or maybe more of this.

Looking at the completed board, I can tell that my family and PIC are like constant fixtures in my life. I want to continue to do a good job within those relationships this coming year, they have really become my day to day foundation of love and support. Food was a big trigger for me. I felt the need to rip out lots of pictures of veggies.

But the vast majority was triathlon related. It was odd that I kept cutting out 9s. I clearly had nine on the brain. And there is a funny little section with a scale and I put all these numbers on it and then the word peace underneath it. That's because I seek peace with my weight.

There are THREE big purchases I want this year and shockingly I found all of them in my magazines (not as immune to marketing as I hoped)

- The Freak of Nature

-A Zipp 808 Firecrest carbon clincher rear wheel with a Power Tap, and a 404 front to accompany it.

-A new Gamin 910

And of course in the middle there is a hot girl, coming across the line at Kona with a big fat 9 number on the clock. She has abs, and she looks hot...hey, it's MY vision board!

Some people think if you put all this stuff in front of you, that it helps make it come true. I think it was a concept made popular after "The Secret" came out. Your destiny is in your hand, the power lies with you, yada yada yada. I believe it all, I mean heck why not? I call it "putting it out there in the universe." I hope I didn't get that phrase from when I watched the secret like 7 or 8 years ago, that would be tragic.

I just have always been a firm believer of ACTION. I think all this stuff is good, it's good to display your dreams and hopes and reminders of how you want to act and who you want to be. But it's scratching the surface. The real secret lies in our actions on a day to day and week to week basis. I can tape on my vision board "Follow the Good" which reminds me of Troy. But if I don't act in accordance, then it's all moot. Actions are where it's at.

Not long ago I was listening to NPR, I think they were discussing 2012 resolutions and someone was saying that they pick a word each year to focus on. A guide for their actions. This struck me, because in 2010 my word was DILIGENT. I didn't have a word last year, but I wish I had. This year, it's ACT. I just know it.

So, do you all use these sort of tactics at the beginning of a new year? Do you find them helpful or are they like every other New Year type of thing, forgotten by February? Do you do anything else that helps to focus your efforts?