Creating A Goals Board: A Step by Step Tutorial

This time of year people are hard at work on their New Year Resolutions. Did you know that 42.4% of people fail at following through with their New Year resolution each year. Also, only 37.8% of people in their twenties achieve their resolution each year. (You can check out more of these statistics at Statistic Brain.) Those statistics kind of scare me. I don’t want to be part of that 42.4% at all. So I don’t make resolutions. Instead I set goals. The goals don’t necessary have to be for the year. They could be a 5 year goal or even a goal for the month. In the past I would write down my goals in a notebook and check it every so often but I am such a visual person so I had to find a way that would make me face these goals each and every day. I need to visually see what goals I am still working to achieve and which goals I already achieved. I found a way to make my goals list visual. I still get to “check them off” by moving them to the achieved section while still being able to add to the list. It’s ever evolving and can be easily changed as my focus and goals change. Plus, I had a lot of fun making my goals board!

I know that I am not the only person who is goal driven and who is visual so I made sure to take pictures as I completed each step so that I could provide you with a step by step tutorial on how to complete your very own goals board.

Step 1: Get a canvas. Mine is 31 1/4 inches by 23 3/4 inches but yours may have to differ a little in size because European system is a bit different than American. I also picked up some chalkboard paint and paint brushes. I decided to use chalkboard paint in case I wanted to write on the canvas but you can choose whatever color you would like.

Step 2: Paint your canvas. I painted mine during the Christmas holiday so I sat in front of the TV (used my kids little table) and watched a good Hallmark Channel movie. It was extremely relaxing to me.

Step 3: This step could be done two different ways. I utilized a gold colored poster board and stencils then cut them out to get the words “Goals” and “Achieved” for the board. You could also utilize vinyl letters to make the process quicker. I couldn’t find gold ones I liked over here in Europe and I already had the poster board and stencils so this only made sense for me. If you have Hobby Lobby or Michael’s near you (sadly I don’t) then you could probably find exactly what you would like to use.

Step 4: Once the canvas was dry I grabbed some jute rope I had on hand and the letters then using a measuring tape I made sure to line up everything before gluing the letters down.

Step 5: I glued the letters down with some hobby glue I had on hand then I actually stapled the rope. I have a staple gun and I lined the rope up then stapled it on the back of the canvas. I also tied a knot on the rope in the back to ensure it didn’t slip through the staple. I chose to use three ropes for my goals section and one for the achieved section. I wanted my goals easily read while I could double up on the achieved section.

Step 6: You can skip this part if you want (if so then head down to step 7). I wanted to add the year to the board but I also wanted it to be easily changed so I picked up some cardboard numbers and painted them in gold then I hot glued them to the top of the canvas. They only sell one size here that I could find so mine actually stick out in front but I know that Hobby Lobby and Michael’s sell different sizes so you can find ones that fit the width of the canvas if you want. The pictures don’t show much of a difference since it’s cardboard painted gold but you get the idea.

Step 7: Next I created my goals cards. I created a template for my cards so that they all looked uniform. You are welcome to use mine or create your own. In order to create mine I utilized PicMonkey and created the border then saved it as a picture. I then opened a blank Microsoft Word document and inserted the picture. Then I utilized text boxes to type my goals out. If you want to utilize the ones I made then you can find them here. You will need to download the file and then open it in Microsoft Word in order to input your goals and print. Also, I printed mine on white card stock and then cut them out. I utilized small gold paperclips which can be picked up at any arts & craft store.  Here is the final product.

I love the way the board turned out too. I hung it up in my home office where I can see it daily and be reminded of what my long days (and nights) are helping me work towards. Plus, I love that I get to see what I have achieved. Seeing progress on reaching your goals can help keep you motivated to achieving all the other goals you are shooting for. Having this visual has also helped keep my mind reaching and since hanging it up I have already come up with more goals to add to it. Remember, y0u can change up your colors or even go bigger (or smaller but I recommend you shoot for the moon)! I hung the canvas up with the Command Strip picture hanging velcro strips so it can move with us on each PCS and since the numbers are hot glued on I can easily take the numbers off and replace them with the next year. I don’t think I have ever been so motivated to reach my goals and move them to the achieved section! 🙂

I would love to see your finished product! Make sure you come back and share it with me in the comments section below. Happy New Year! May your 2017 be blessed with achievement, love, passion, good health and a whole lot of FUN! <3

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