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Goal Setting & Vision Boards · Luxe & Legacy Podcast

Welcome to the Lux and Legacy Podcast.
I'm Marie from Marie Elizabeth Photography.
And I am Amber from Light Live in Photography.
We created this show for photographers who are ready to run a luxury business with clarity, intention, and elevated artistry.
Each week we uncover the strategies behind high level brands from shooting and styling to client communication, to marketing, to designing heirloom products that increase your value.
If you want to attract aligned clients, produce, work with a recognizable aesthetic and build a business that supports the life you want, this podcast will guide you there.
Let's dive in.
Welcome back you guys.
Today.
We are diving into vision boarding and goal setting for 2026, and how to intentionally train your subconscious with emotion and imagery that can completely shift the way you create, attract, and step into your next level this year.
And I am so excited for this podcast today.
I'm excited too because Amber is really going to dive into vision boarding something.
I really don't know much about, so I'm super pumped to learn and listen about that exercise.
But before we go into vision boards, I wanna start by talking about goal setting.
This is the beginning of the year, that fresh, clean slate, and this really sets the foundation for everything else we're going to talk about today.
So I'm the type of person that gets stressed when I have a ton of things on my to-do list.
And I also know about myself that I, I like to exceed expectations, so I want to cross everything off that to-do list and do extra essentially, like that's how I get dopamine hits, crossing things off my to-do list.
So I would feel overwhelmed if I had a huge to-do list.
So every winter I pick one, maybe two things to focus on in my business.
I don't wanna enter the new year feeling overwhelmed.
I wanna experience success early on, so my attitude stays positive and I can continue growing and achieving and snowballing off of any success.
This approach has been really helpful for me, not just in my business, but.
Life in general.
I think so many people have amazing dreams and goals, but they simply get distracted by shiny things.
For example, it's easy to fall down the rabbit hole of spending a couple of hours making one Instagram reel, and at the end of the day you have to ask yourself, is that real getting you new clients? Is it creating a sale? Maybe it's, and if so, it's worth it.
But I find that a lot of people get distracted by what others are doing or by trends in the industry, and they stop staying focused on what actually moves the needle in their business.
What's going to get them new clients, what's going to get them sales? One of my strengths as a business owner and as a person is seeing the big picture.
I actually struggle with fine tuning small details because of this.
But overall, this strength, it helps me stay on a clear path because I always know what I'm working towards.
If you've ever watched the show, the Bear, it's incredibly ridden and performed and there is so much business advice in that show.
I've shared about it in my newsletter before, but there's an episode where Abraham hires a business mentor to help grow the takeout side of the restaurant.
The takeout window is already very successful, but Abraham wants to do all these additional things to grow it.
He basically wants to build on it and snowball, and he's telling the mentor all of this, and the mentor basically says.
Do less.
Keep it simple.
At first, that sounds like bad advice, but what he's really saying is you don't need to do all of these things.
You're getting distracted.
Focus on what's already working and get really good at it.
So they end up deciding to keep the takeout window exactly as it is and franchise it instead.
So they don't change anything about the takeout window.
It's working.
It's successful.
They end up just.
Creating more locations, and that reminds me so much of photographers.
It's really easy to get distracted by all the sparkly things, but the truth is you need to focus on a few core goals and stick with them.
Maybe this is the year you master SEO.
Don't worry about what everyone else is doing.
You don't need to add 10 new dresses to your client wardrobe right now.
That's not going to give you a return on investment and move the needle.
But if you master SEO, you'll have clients knocking on your door, which creates more revenue, and then you can add to your wardrobe down the road.
So that was a long way of saying keep your goals simple but focused.
Stick to one or two goals that will actually move the needle in your business.
So with that in mind, let's hand it off to Amber who is going to talk about vision boards and how they support this process.
Yes.
And I love that because I think a lot of us entrepreneurs we're in this business because we love the excitement and the the variety.
And I can be definitely a little a DDI will be honest.
So I love that you said like supporting.
Focusing on one thing at a time, and it could be per quarter, per year, what, however you wanna set it up.
But having more focus this year is definitely something that, I think that's a great takeaway from what you were talking about from goal setting.
But now I really wanna talk about how do you get started with this goal setting? Like, let's take it back, let's peel it back and let's make this your most impactful year yet where you create a lot more than you ever expected.
And one of the ways that I've found to be very powerful at the beginning of the year.
For me, because I'm such a visual person, is creating vision boards.
I truly love these because when I create them, that's when I actually execute really big things in my life.
Like a K launches on a course, and creating new coaching programs that were amazing and building a house from scratch in another state.
These were all things that I never dreamed possible, but.
I just put 'em on my vision board, followed these steps in this process and made them a reality, which is still looking back pretty shocking sometimes when I think about it.
So let's dive in.
Let's talk about translating material desires into a feeling.
Vision boards, they're not a wishlist, and that's where a lot of people go wrong.
They think of it as what they did as a high school project, and they just threw everything they ever thought was luxurious and amazing.
there, stuck it from a magazine and, and called it a day.
Never thought about it again, never really achieved those goals.
for me and from a lot of the manifestation books and programs that I have, have done, I've realized that manifestation and creating a vision board is more about.
Creating a feeling.
most of the things we want are actually symbols for how we want to feel a bigger house, more money, more freedom, more time.
Those desires are real and valid, but they are rarely about the object themselves.
The universe responds to energy and belief, especially our subconscious beliefs about what we are worthy of receiving.
So if you do not feel subconsciously safe or worthy of that life, yet the image can stay external instead of happening.
That is why I always encourage people to build vision boards around how they want to feel, not just a wishlist of things they wish that they had.
So here's a really simple example.
If on your wishlist you want a big, beautiful house, ask yourself what that house represents emotionally.
Is it calm? Is it stability? Is it space to breathe? Is it connection or safety with your family? Very often it's not about the square footage, it's about how you want to.
Feel there.
When you wake up, when you have your coffee, what are you wearing? What are you feeling as you read a book on the couch and you're looking out over out the big windows and, and seeing nature, if that's what brings you peace, or maybe you're, for you, you're a city person and you want to feel alive with the hustle and bustle of this city, those images.
So instead basically, instead of filling your board with images of mansions, you might choose images of.
Soft, natural light, filling a room, open windows, quiet mornings, open spaces.
Here's another example.
If the house to you represents expansion and freedom, you might want to use images of wide open spaces.
High ceilings, long hallways or staircases or large windows overlooking nature.
And that's, that's what it is for me.
So that's what I include on my vision board.
Yours might be different.
Maybe yours is about family and connection.
That is something you really wanna prioritize this year and having your life.
So maybe your vision board has.
For your table, your house wishlist instead of just the house.
It has a large table for connection, family around it, warm gathering spaces, that type of thing.
Or if you're looking for abundance this year, and that's what the house represents, maybe use materials with timeless architecture or stone and wood that's really has a really beautiful design, images that feel really rooted and really luxurious.
That's so interesting and it makes sense because it's about.
The why and the feeling, and I feel like everything comes back to the emotion, right? When we're marketing to our clients, it's about how they're going to feel after working with us.
And so that's so fascinating about a vision board where you're not focused on the things, you're focused on how you're gonna feel with the things.
Exactly.
And the reason this works is when you look at an image of a mansion, but subconsciously you feel intimidated or.
Oh, those people, they rich people, X, y, z, you have a negative emotion actually associated with, actually achieving that goal.
Or you feel maybe undeserving somehow or disconnected.
actually impedes on your ability to create that goal.
when you look at an image that makes you exhale, breathe in deeply, you feel relaxed, you feel grounded, and you feel safe, and you feel deserving, then that's how your body and your nervous system can.
Help you get there faster in achieving that goal.
So you're not telling yourself necessarily, I deserve a big house.
No, but you're, you're teaching your body what it feels like to feel freedom, ease, expansion, whatever that feeling is that you want to create.
Once that feeling becomes familiar and your body recognizes it as the norm, then we can change naturally.
Quickly achieve our goals faster.
So another example would be you want more money.
So instead of just putting images of dollar bills or whatever it is, you can actually focus on images that represent whatever more money is to you.
Like what? do you want more money? Do you want more freedom with your, to have time with your kids? Do you wanna have relaxed mornings where you're able to sleep in or meditate in the morning or have a workout? So instead of money, images, you can focus on.
Images of you relaxing on the couch in the morning with a good book or a schedule that has blank spaces in it instead of a fully packed schedule.
Ease in daily decisions.
And you can even use chat.
GPTI just found out for this type of thing, and I got the idea from recently, there was a trend going on where you could make.
Your Christmas family photo into a painting.
And I was like, oh, what else can we do? So I took a picture of me and a picture of a house where I, there's a big windows and lots of nature and a cozy couch and a cozy fireplace.
I had chate create an image of me on that couch, and it's.
Wow.
something that I wanna create this year.
I want to we're going to sell the two houses that we have and create this new space that re represents these new feelings that I want to create more of this year.
Like more energy, more connection, more abundance.
I love those type of things.
And you, you can actually use Chat Chi bt to have images of you in them as though they are memories of what happened.
Like what's.
Already happening instead of a lofty goal of just something on Pinterest.
Does that make sense? Yeah, that's wild.
But I can totally see how that.
Can establish like new brain patterns, you know, by visually seeing yourself in a space you dream of.
I, yeah, that's amazing.
Yeah.
I.
imagining something as though it's.
This already happened is, is an important part of it too.
Not something you wish for, but say you really want a new van so you can have all the kids in the car and pick up their friends and have like this connection with other families and take them to soccer games.
So you could create an image of yourself in that van and envision it easy, more easily that that's, oh, that's a picture of me in my van that I already have.
Okay, Yeah.
so one of my favorite ways to create a vision board in Canva, and now adding in some of these really cool AI images, which is crazy that we have that added layer in this year.
But I love Canva because you can start with a simple layout with plenty of space, and you can, it's, it's not about clutter.
It's about.
Creating spots for, okay, this is how I want to feel in my home life.
This is how I want to feel in my work life.
This is how I want to feel X, y, z work.
Like health is a big one too.
And then we're going to work around how we want to feel in, in those areas of our life.
So before adding the images, we're gonna journal a little bit.
We're gonna write down.
five feelings, and then we can narrow them down from there.
But maybe start with five, and these are feelings you want to experience daily this year, and you're gonna wanna amplify this year.
Then search for images that represent those feelings rather than objects.
Light space, texture, movement, environments.
an image looks beautiful but doesn't create a feeling in your body, then it doesn't belong.
Next we're gonna bring it into a physical realm by printing it and I love Canva.
You can actually order it directly from there.
You could either do one big poster or what I'm gonna do this year is, have some of the separate elements, so like work, health, family, and print three, eight by 10 vision boards for those that I can then.
Frame and put on my desk, and that way we can work with the subconscious and have repeated exposure to it.
Because think one of the biggest mistakes people make with a vision board or goal setting is you.
Write down those goals, or you create that vision board once, and then you may be never gonna look at it again the rest of the year, and it's sort of in the back of your mind.
And you may accomplish a little bit more from the fact that you made those goals, but you would've really amplified that if you had it.
Accessible to your subconscious on a daily basis.
So whether that's a screensaver on your phone or a printed thing on your desk or in your bathroom, whatever it is, bring it into the 3D space and another way you can do this, and it's an extra layer of making new neural connections.
Record yourself saying.
These, these things that I feel such and such in this space, or I feel strong and energetic and.
Whatever is maybe your health goal, whatever your work goal is, maybe you wanna open a new studio and you are like, I feel so excited and, and just energetic to be shooting all these CL clients in this new studio space and envisioning that like.
Saying, this is how I feel though it's already happened, or it's already been in the past six months, that you have already achieved this goal and it's happening now and this is how I feel.
So record yourself saying some of these, these goals as though they've already happened, as though you already feel the things that you wrote down you wanted to feel this year as like a voice note on your phone.
Before bed as you're falling asleep, listen to it on your headphones.
You could even put some meditation music in the background if you wanted to get fancy with it, or just listening to it in your own voice.
It actually creates new neural pathways, especially while you're resting, or overnight.
When the conscious mind relaxes, the subconscious becomes more receptive.
Yeah.
And you know that.
Ties back in we did an episode on manifestation and it really is scientific in nature and so like neural pathways are a change, and it's crazy how powerful the subconscious is.
So it makes sense that listening to those kinds of affirmations would help make that subconscious like more malleable.
So interesting.
And the vision board is going to be the beginning, you guys.
It's gonna give you clarity on what you actually want to feel, what you actually want to create this year.
But it does not create the results on its own.
actually just opens up your mind to more possibilities and allows ideas to come through.
make sure that when you have these ideas for your business, for your new, whatever it is, studio or whatever it is, that's going to be bringing in opportunities for you to achieve these goals.
Act on them, write them down.
Create a step-by-step plan a month by month plan.
Like Marie said, focus on one thing at a time, write it down.
Make sure you're checking in on that goal monthly instead of just forgetting about it.
So the vision board is just the beginning and it's the bridge between the vision and the reality and becoming the version of who.
Lives that life through your choices, your boundaries that you create this year and your habits.
So monthly, check-ins matter.
Revisit your board as much as you can daily if possible.
Notice what still fits and allowing your vision to evolve is okay too.
This is where the practical side really supports the process.
So energy without action can stay stagnant.
Before we end, we wanna give you a couple of action steps that you can take right after this episode ends.
Don't wait until later.
Just get them done.
Now, while this is fresh in your mind, so number one, we talked about as soon as you finish this episode.
Don't put it off.
Just grab a notebook, grab a journal, and pause and ask yourself, what do I want to feel this year that I want to experience daily? Write down three to five words that represent these feelings.
Then select images represent those feelings rather than specific outcomes.
If an image makes your body soften or slow down or feel expansive, then it belongs on the board.
If it creates pressure or distance, let it go.
It's not the right one for you.
Write freely about where you still feel hesitation, or resistance around your desires.
Then write one sentence describing how you want to feel living that life now in your body before it arrives.
Vision boards are not about wishing for a life you're not actually ready for.
They're about helping your nervous system and beliefs feel safe living it.
They're about beginning the process and believing in it.
I love that I am going to start a vision board after this episode.
Amber, I've never done one before, but I am also a visual person.
I'm a visual learner.
I can totally.
See how.
Literally visualizing the feelings that you want can lead to changing your subconscious to lead to action in achieving those goals.
So when you pair that vision board with simple focus goals, that is where real progress happens.
And this isn't about doing more, it's about doing.
The right thing.
Staying focused, staying consistent, and letting everything else support that.
So happy New Year everyone.
Thank you for listening, and we'll see you next time.
Thank you so much for spending time with us today on the Luxe and Legacy Podcast.
We love being part of your journey as you build a luxury photography business that feels aligned and elevated.
Be sure to follow us at Light underscore Live in underscore photography and.
At Marie Elizabeth and if you enjoyed today's episode, we would be so grateful if you left a review.
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Like you discover the show and join this community.
Make sure to join us next week.
We have another conversation that's going to inspire and give you even more tools to grow your brand with confidence.
We can't wait to see you then.
Bye.