Latest / Talking FACS / MoneyWi$e Vision Boards for Financial Freedom

Transcript

MoneyWi$e Vision Boards for Financial Freedom · Talking FACS

• 0:01
  Welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
• 0:04
  food, finance, and fitness.
• 0:08
  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
• 0:12
  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
• 0:15
  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
• 0:20
  and communities to improve quality of life.
• 0:23
  Hello, and welcome to MoneyWi$e on Talking FACS.
• 0:27
  You've probably heard of vision boards. used for lots of different things,
• 0:33
  whether you are planning a big event or thinking about future goals.
• 0:36
  I am Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist for Instructional Support, and I am your host today.
• 0:43
  My guest is Kelly May, our Senior Extension Associate for Family Resource Management. Welcome, Kelly.
• 0:52
  Thanks for having me. So, let's just start at the very baseline.
• 0:57
  What exactly is a vision board?
• 1:01
  So a vision board is a collage of images and words that depicts your goals.
• 1:06
  So it's usually positive images and goals that represent the desired outcome you wish to have.
• 1:13
  So I think of it like how a scrapbook is time capital of the past.
• 1:18
  A vision board is like a scrapbook of the future you wish you had.
• 1:23
  Ah, I like that. So why do we want to create a vision board?
• 1:28
  Because it inspires and motivates you to achieve those goals.
• 1:31
  Goals are hard, right? They can be a little bit challenging.
• 1:35
  And a good goal is a little bit challenging. And it's worth working toward and overcoming.
• 1:40
  So you want to reach your dreams. And a vision board can help by putting that
• 1:47
  goal at the top of your mind.
• 1:49
  So it's the thing you think of even when you're not thinking about it.
• 1:53
  So kind of subconsciously, you think of that thing that you're trying to work toward.
• 1:57
  And of course, research says writing down your goals makes you more likely to succeed.
• 2:01
  And so this is similar to that, but it puts it in a visual format.
• 2:06
  So, you know, some people learn by seeing, some people learn by doing,
• 2:10
  and this will help the people who learn by seeing because it's so visual.
• 2:15
  So, you know, today we're going to talk about a vision board for your finances,
• 2:19
  but you can do a vision board for lots of different things, just like you said.
• 2:23
  So any part of your life you want to improve, you can set a goal and make a vision board.
• 2:28
  I saw some research today that said about 80% of people make a purchase based
• 2:38
  on advertisements that they don't ever remember seeing.
• 2:43
  And this is kind of like that. So you put together this vision board and then
• 2:48
  it becomes part of your subconscious.
• 2:50
  And it's just part of who you are.
• 2:54
  And you are going to develop those goals based on this vision board,
• 3:00
  but it might not even be something that you consciously remember.
• 3:06
  That is so true. Those ads take up real estate in our minds, don't they?
• 3:12
  And we didn't even ask for them to be put there. They're just there.
• 3:15
  And it does. It helps us recall and it helps us drive us toward business.
• 3:21
  That's why they make the ads in the first place. So this could be kind of like
• 3:24
  making an ad for the future you want.
• 3:26
  Yeah. It automates the process of reaching your goals without having to think
• 3:32
  about it every single minute of every single day. So, that leads me to goals,
• 3:38
  you know, what sort of goals do we want to have?
• 3:42
  Well, you know, in extension, we always talk about SMART goals,
• 3:45
  and that stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
• 3:52
  So whatever goal you choose, whatever thing you're working toward,
• 3:56
  it needs to be something tangible.
• 3:58
  So, you know, I can say I want to work toward financial security,
• 4:02
  but that's sort of ambiguous.
• 4:04
  Like, what does that look like? If I'm going to cut a picture out of a magazine,
• 4:08
  how am I going to visualize what that means? So it might be easier to say,
• 4:14
  I want to make a vision board for my retirement years.
• 4:19
  I've still got plenty of time left to work, but I want to think about putting
• 4:23
  that money away now while I have time. So let's think about my retirement.
• 4:27
  What do I want to do in retirement? So let's be specific about it and say,
• 4:32
  I would like to travel. You know, I like to travel.
• 4:36
  Not all the time, but I want to travel some. I want to be able to go places.
• 4:40
  So I'm going to need money to be able to travel a little bit,
• 4:42
  and I want to be with my family.
• 4:45
  And so that's measurable. So let's say I want to go two places every year and
• 4:50
  spend some fair amount of time there, at least a week.
• 4:54
  So if I want to travel two weeks out of the year, that's measurable,
• 4:57
  right? I can count how many days.
• 4:59
  I can count how many hotel rooms or how many condos or how many,
• 5:03
  you know, Airbnbs or whatever it is I'm doing. I can kind of start to quantify
• 5:09
  and see how much that's going to cost.
• 5:12
  It needs to be achievable. I think two weeks is fairly reasonable.
• 5:16
  I think I could probably handle that, hopefully, if I budget well.
• 5:20
  It needs to be relevant. So it needs to be part of what's important to me,
• 5:27
  and it should complement the other priorities in my life.
• 5:30
  So two weeks of travel still allows me lots of family time. I said family time
• 5:33
  is the other thing I needed, right?
• 5:35
  Sure. So that makes it relevant for me, and it needs to be time-bound.
• 5:40
  So when am I going to retire?
• 5:43
  Can I put an age on it? Can I put a date on it? Those two weeks out of the year,
• 5:47
  can I pick a season that it's going to fall in? And that helps me frame it.
• 5:51
  Every question I answer helps me narrow it down to what that actually might look like.
• 5:58
  And so then as you are putting together your vision board, you think about the
• 6:03
  answers that you gave to your questions as you were framing your SMART goals.
• 6:08
  And that's how you put together that vision board, right?
• 6:11
  Right, right. So every item you place on your vision board could help you go
• 6:15
  from that goal to that reality.
• 6:17
  So it's like visual items that have intention.
• 6:21
  And you can do this in many different ways. So some people like to do it digitally.
• 6:26
  They want to use something like Canva or Photoshop or even PowerPoint or Word
• 6:33
  and collect your pictures and things online and maybe paste in quotes.
• 6:37
  And you can put it all together digitally without ever touching paper if you like.
• 6:41
  You can do it on a corkboard. If your goal is something you think you might
• 6:46
  work on for half a year and maybe you think you'll change it a little bit,
• 6:49
  then maybe you want to be able to move those pins so that you can rearrange
• 6:54
  items or add items as they come to you.
• 6:57
  Or you can do it with paper and glue. That would be my favorite.
• 7:01
  I'm a scrapbooker, so I am drawn to paper and glue.
• 7:05
  And that could be anything from photos to magazine pictures to things online
• 7:11
  that you print out like inspirational quotes, maybe even a poem, stickers,
• 7:15
  you can draw your own images, and you can include that goal statement that you just thought of.
• 7:21
  So it could be pretty, it could be fun, and hopefully it's inspiring.
• 7:26
  I'm even more old school than you because I would take that quote or that inspiring
• 7:32
  goal statement that I have,
• 7:34
  and I'm probably going to pull words from different sources of media,
• 7:39
  and I'm going to put it all together in one random-looking quote so that it's
• 7:46
  not going to be all one piece. That would be fun.
• 7:49
  Part of the fun of it being inspiring is it could look like anything.
• 7:53
  Whatever drives you and motivates you, that's what you should have on there.
• 7:57
  So however it looks, there's no wrong answer.
• 8:00
  So now what am I going to do with it? Now that I've created my vision board,
• 8:05
  what am I going to do with it?
• 8:06
  Oh now you have to display it you
• 8:10
  need to hang it up look at it often so
• 8:13
  that can help drive you towards that change you want so it plants it
• 8:16
  in your mind so if it's digital make it your wallpaper on your laptop or your
• 8:21
  tablet or your phone if it's paper you want to hang it up somewhere you know
• 8:26
  when when we were little or when our kids were little we would hang their things
• 8:29
  on the fridge right we want to celebrate their success so let's celebrate our
• 8:33
  success Let's hang it on the fridge or hang it.
• 8:36
  I heard somebody say they hang theirs by their bathroom mirror because they look in it every day.
• 8:41
  Wherever you know you're going to look every day, that's where you should put it.
• 8:46
  And then follow what it says. Let it guide you and welcome that change in your life.
• 8:51
  Well, and I love it. So you talked about a vision board that's going to guide your retirement.
• 8:57
  My thought is, you know, put that above your bed. Frame it and stick it above your bed.
• 9:02
  And then not only are you thinking about it or not thinking about it,
• 9:07
  but letting it seep into your mind through osmosis while you're awake,
• 9:12
  but also while you're asleep.
• 9:14
  So dream about that day when you're going to retire.
• 9:20
  But before we started recording, I told you that my niece is getting married later in the month.
• 9:26
  And I've been looking at her vision board for her wedding for the last year.
• 9:31
  And it has helped guide the way that I have selected gifts for her and the way
• 9:36
  that I planned a shower for her.
• 9:39
  And so having that vision board that she shared with me has helped me to know
• 9:45
  what to do for her wedding.
• 9:48
  So it doesn't have to be something that's really, really long term.
• 9:52
  It could be something that's a year down the road. Right. Yeah.
• 9:56
  It could be a home remodel or it could be something about your personality that you want to work on.
• 10:04
  Like, we're going to use it for Leadership Academy for Homemakers.
• 10:08
  So you could work on being a stronger leader and being more confident.
• 10:12
  You can use it for lots of different things and it could just be lots of fun.
• 10:16
  Yes, the opportunities are endless and this is a great way.
• 10:23
  We're here at the end of the year. So build your vision board and make it be whatever works for you.
• 10:31
  Your vision for the new year. Yes, I love it.
• 10:36
  Kelly, thank you so much for taking the time to share with me today.
• 10:40
  And I know that this is a fun topic that I hope will inspire others to think
• 10:46
  about what goals that they might like to set and how they can picture those
• 10:51
  and think about them for the future.
• 10:54
  If you are just tuning in, you're listening to MoneyWi$e on Talking FACS,
• 10:58
  and you can find us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.
• 11:04
  Thank you for listening to Talking FACS. We deliver programs focusing on nutrition,
• 11:09
  health, resource management, family development, and civic engagement.
• 11:13
  If you enjoyed today's podcast, have a question or a show topic idea,
• 11:18
  leave a like and a comment on Facebook at UKFCSEXT or send us an email at UKFCSEXT@uky.edu
• 11:30
  visit us online at fcs.uky.edu to learn more about the University of Kentucky
• 11:37
  Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program or contact your local extension
• 11:42
  agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.
• 11:44
  We build strong families. We build Kentucky. It starts with us.