How to Use a Vision Board for a Career Change
Maybe you’re between jobs right now, or waiting for your company to call you back into the office. Maybe this time at home has made you question whether or not you really enjoy what you do for work. Using a vision board for your career change can give you clarity on what you really want and set into motion the action steps needed to get there.
Start with Reflection Questions
Most of us don’t know what we really want in our career life. The following questions can help you tap into what really makes your heart sing.
What Makes You Happy?
List out all the things/people/activities that make you happy. Look at your list and notice any patterns that appear. Are you happiest alone or with others? Creating or dreaming? Physically active or not? Do you have particular hobbies or interests that make you feel joyful?
In Your Current Job (or past jobs), Where Do you Feel Fulfilled?
Is there a particular part of your job or a certain task that you look forward to each day? What skills are required of you in these areas?
Compare the Two Lists
Do you see similarities in these lists? Do you love being with people and, it just so happens that your favorite part of work is when you’re collaborating with a team? Or maybe you like creating things on your own which also shows up at your job when you get to do individual assignments from start to finish. This is great news! You can look at ways to incorporate more of these types of projects into your current position.
However, you may see polarities within these lists. This may be a key to understanding why you feel it’s time to change careers, or at least change something in your current position.
If You Could Do Anything, What is Your Dream Job?
Maybe you secretively want to be an artist or a writer. Maybe you long to be a science teacher. Write down whatever jobs/careers come to mind. There is something about this desire that resonates with your heart. Your analytical mind can give all the reasons why that dream job won’t happen; but it’s important to embrace what calls out to you so it can be integrated into your present.
Start Your Vision Board
It’s time to collect images that match the things that make you happy as well as the ideal job you want. If you’re using the Veraki Personal Growth App, save images you find online into your photo album. Then upload them on to your vision board. If you’re using the cut/paste method, find images from magazines and photo albums.
Use Your Vision Board Daily
Once the board is created, look at it daily. Do the images bring a smile to your face? Are you excited to dive further into this? Notice if any resistance shows up when you look at your images. When you mind comes up with reasons not to pursue more of what you love, check in with the following:
- do you need more schooling or training?
- do you need more money to start?
- what ways can you incorporate small amounts of this newness into what you already do?
- do you need more information or research about this career?
These resistant points are the beginnings of your action list. Now is the time to do more research, find support groups, try some smaller projects from home, get some online training or certification going….small steps every day make a big impact. By the time this shelter-in-place time is finished, you can be well on your way to making that change in your career that you’ve desired all along.
Remember, this isn’t an “all or nothing” activity. You don’t have to have it all figured out in one sitting. Return to your board daily. Incorporate small changes into your current work load. Explore, test, study, ask, and learn a little bit more each day. Use the Goal Setting Kits in the Veraki app.