It has been a while since we did any work at the ARLOboard (okay, it’s a Miro board, but branding), and I thought this week would be a good one to look back at 2021. I looked up standard prompts (to follow) and decided to do something pretty cool.
I pulled up their goals/dreams from a workshop I did a year ago with them. YA GIRL GOT RECEIPTS!
The reason why I love vision boards, particularly retroactive ones, is because it gives us pause to look at where we’ve been. I am purposely putting off setting goals for 2022 off until later to give 2021 a proper send off. I started off gliding through the ARLOboard from last year to show them how far they have come, the goals they set for themselves, but also allowing folks space to see the things they didn’t do. The reality is that not everything happens, and that’s okay.
The problem with much of the goal work is that a lot of it is verbal - and not everyone thinks in words, so for this exercise I wanted to allow folks to use photos on their comps and I pointed them to some websites they could grab photos from. When you’re streaming, it feels a little odd to let the people loose for about 25 minutes to work on their things, but I worked on my board as well and talked folks through it. I am super proud of them for working on their boards, and they were amazing!
This is, btw, a great exercise to do with friends/besties/kids in person for a new year’s gathering, you name it, as we get into the new year. I recommend this as a great way to get rid of magazines. Encourage folks to bring their old magazines, newspapers, and other printed matter. As host, provide paper (my preference is for heavy matte board) for them to put their work on, gluesticks, and scissors. Encourage folks to break out their markers/pens. No glitter. Too messy.
A naked ARLOboard grab of the Vision Board exercise.
Here are your prompts:
Who are you? Allow folks to answer this however they wish.
I Liked: What did they like? What was delightful for them?
I Learned: What did they learn? What sparked interest that they pursued?
I Lacked: What did they need?
I Longed For: Going deeper, what did they long for? What was something they desired?
I Loathed: What was something they disliked?
My Biggest Win: What was their biggest success?
Before going onto the next part, be sure to read the temperature of the room. As the host you have a responsiblity to make sure that your participants feel safe, are engaged with each other, are in a good mindspace to share and give feedback. I cannot stress this more, as if any of these areas are lacking you can cause great harm. Seriously. Do not proceed if folks are not in a good space.
After giving them time to complete their task, we did a gallery walk (if you’re udoing this in person, allow folks to volunteer to share their board without comment from the audience). I encouraged attendees to leave comments or leave emojis where things resonated with them. In a live group, I would give folks space to share but also to receive feedback in a very clear format. They are to use the following prompts: I Like, I Wish, and I Wonder. Again, check for safety with your group to move forward.
Lastly encourage folks to take pictures of their work and save them. Yes you bet this will be back a year from now ;-) I keep my receipts ;-)
Cheers,
Arlo
Here is a version of the completed vision board.