Coronavirus, you weren’t on my vision board!

I cannot be the only one who is in total disbelief about how 2020 has unfolded. I can recall at the start of the year wanting to keep the 2019 momentum going, so I took time out to craft my DIY vision board, complete with magazine clippings of Michelle Obama and Oprah, my future husband ‘Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome’, a ‘slim & trim’ looking lady exercising (who is supposed to be me by the end of 2020), house, car and land, and lastly, positive affirmations. My vision board was designed to help me visualise my best life in 2020 — this year was supposed to be my year!

Six months into 2020 however, the coronavirus has halted my momentum. Now, I am beginning to wonder if vision boards actually work. With travel restrictions and social distancing the new norm, will I still be able to manifest my desires in 2020? The ebb and flow pattern of the coronavirus crisis makes it difficult to plan with any degree of certainty. As such 2020 has made many lose sight of their dreams/desires, thereby making their vision boards null and void. But alas, there is no need for you to glue over the images on your 2020 vision board or worse, throw it away altogether!

If you were on the fence before COVID about the power of a vision board, I’m pretty sure you’re now like, ha! I knew they didn’t work! Whilst corona has been out here doing the most, I must admit I have had to adjust my beliefs about vision boards. Rather than the possibility of a relaxing vacation on the north coast, I am now on a mini-coronacation drinking a quarantinis. And it looks like the dry spell will continue as the quest to find ‘quarantine bae’ just got harder especially with six feet of separation to contend with. My inbox is now saturated with online invitations to Zoom virtual parties *I meant webinars*, typo. With all these developments, I am now forced to adjust my expectations. My hastily designed new COVID-19 vision board is starting to look like: germ-free hands, a state-of-the-art N95 mask, my family and friends COVID-free.

COVID might be our new reality, but our dreams are still valid. Here are three solid reasons why the dreams on your vision board are still valid and why you shouldn’t listen to the naysayers. Your vision board will still help you have a positive outlook for the rest of the year and beyond. Here’s how:

1.Vision boards will help you to pivot during the pandemic

Corona has definitely caused a definitive shift in energy for vision boarders the world over. Now your hopes of starting a new business or finding the perfect life partner just got ten times harder. But does it have to really? Perhaps what you need to do is a pivot in the pandemic. What do I mean by this? Instead of thinking in a static way about possible new business ventures that you could do, why not change with the times and try and adjust your vision board? Let’s look at a practical way of doing this. Let’s say you wanted to launch a business before corona came. If you should launch now, your business idea may not do as well. So you may have to launch a COVID-conducive small business/home business idea like sewing and selling face masks or offer online entertainment/tutorials by launching your own YouTube channel. There are plenty of ways that you can get creative around corona — you just have to let your imagination stretch that far. The purpose of a vision board is not so you can have lofty goals about what you want your life to be, it is so that you can take focused action towards your goals and dreams. By executing on your coronavirus-inspired business idea, you will be achieving one of your vision board targets.

2. Vision boards will help you to override COVID’s energy by maintaining the ‘Power of Intention’

Vision boards are designed to empower you to maintain your focus using your energy to manifest your ideal life. But how can you move forward when you are stuck in a ‘COVID rut’, wherein the global crisis becoming an energy vampire in your life, draining your hope about your future? You see, it’s easy to become coronavirus-wary with the skyrocketing infection rates worldwide and economic fallout. But now is not the time to lose your vision.

Vision boards help you to define your goals with clarity. Your goals are a reflection of your intentions, which then fuel your actions. So rather than going against the energy of COVID-19, why not co-create with it. Let’s say if your intention is to lose 20lbs in 2020, you may have wanted to go to the gym regularly to achieve this. Since frequent gym attendance is no longer a possibility, you may have to do your lunges on your verandah by signing up for a home online fitness bootcamp challenge. You see, the action that you needed to manifest your desired intention may have changed, but your intention remained the same.

3.Vision boards will help you to keep going

You might be toying with the idea of pausing your dreams until after COVID, but I say don’t. ‘Miss Rona’ might be needing more time to sort herself out. It could be months if not years or until a vaccine is developed before we finally get rid of corona. Even then, what will the world be like after the coronavirus? Your guess is as good as mine. So because of this uncertainty, I figure we might as well get on with the business of life. Mind you, there are some goals that you definitely have to put on pause, like travelling to somewhere exotic or making a major purchase. But for those dreams which you can pursue amidst the crisis, I say go for it. If you were thinking to upskill by starting a new degree programme, I say go for it. Classes will likely be kept online, hence more convenient and possibly at a fraction of the cost, thereby saving you money. I want to encourage you to continue to take small steps towards your goals in 2020, corona or no corona. Your vision board will keep you on track — it will help you to continue making progress towards the future you desire.

Dr Nicole Nation is a physician, published author and certified personal development life coach.