Since mid-December, it's that time of year again: blogs, social media, coaches and academics are offering all kinds of (more or less useful) tools, questions and products to help you plan for the upcoming new year. The focus is very much on defining goals. I loved it until a few years ago. I kept lists of goals that were plausible for me, and up until March/April I still kept to them to some extent, after which they all slowly but surely disappeared from my radar. And when I did my annual review in December (which is also great in terms of offers!), I often realized that many of these goals had not been achieved. But others had. Some that I hadn't expected 12 months earlier or that hadn't even been on my goal plan.
Why do people find it so difficult to stick to new changes?
Our brain is fundamentally wired to resist change. Habits are an “energy-saving mode” for the brain. 95 percent of brain activity takes place unconsciously, and the brain likes that!
Our brain prioritises quick rewards, which explains why many resolutions fail.
Since I have been studying neuroscience more closely, I have discovered a new tool that accompanies me throughout the year and surprises me time and again: the Vision Board.
Vision boards are an effective tool for achieving goals by transforming abstract dreams into tangible images. They work through visualization, a psychological process in which imagining success activates important regions of the brain. The prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for planning and decision making, is activated when you focus on future goals. At the same time, the limbic system, including the amygdala, is activated, creating an emotional connection to these goals and increasing motivation.
Neuroscience shows that visualizing success stimulates the reward centers in the brain, particularly the nucleus accumbens, which releases dopamine, reinforcing positive feelings and encouraging goal-oriented behavior. When you regularly engage with a vision board, you strengthen these neural pathways, keep your goals in sight and align your actions with your desires.
So, to summarize and simplify: we intuitively select certain images that appeal to us, we place our collage in a place where we can see it again and again (e.g. screen background, a place in the living room or bedroom, in a cupboard from which we repeatedly retrieve things, etc.). The brain stores these images and influences our behavior and decisions that “realize” the image. It sounds a bit magical... I'm always surprised to see where and when certain pasted images have manifested.
If you feel more comfortable with a traditional list of goals, here are a few tips:
Less is more! Write down a maximum of 5 goals and try to break them down into quick wins, quickly achievable actions. Ask yourself the following question: how can I tell that the goal has been achieved? What will be different in my life?
Visualize your life when the goal has been achieved. What kind of person are you? How do you feel? How do you behave? It will be exciting to observe whether your vision really (only) depends on this one goal.
Be sustainable and coherent and, above all, be patient. We usually need up to 12 weeks to establish new routines.
Whichever tool you use, or even freestyle: have a good year, be confident and relaxed, focus on the good things in life and be grateful. Mostly this is when things happen by themselves!
*See, among others, Friederike Fabritius, The brain friendly workplace, 2022
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