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008: Visionary Icons - The power of Vision Boards and the Obama Effect
55 Plays1 year ago
In this groundbreaking episode of Career Slay Talks, I explore the remarkable influence of vision boards and the profound imagery that the Obama's success had on black professionals worldwide. Join me as we reveal the secrets behind why vision boards are essential tools for achieving your career goals and how they can transform your life. We delve into compelling research by Dr. Gail Matthews and other experts, uncovering the undeniable benefits of visualizing your aspirations. From enhancing motivation and activating your brain's filtering system to increasing positive emotions and self-efficacy, vision boards are the key to unlocking your full potential. Discover how creating visual representations of your goals improves clarity and focus, and how visualization and mental rehearsal can elevate your performance. Don't miss this thought-provoking episode that combines the power of vision boards with the iconic impact of the Obama's, inspiring you to carve your own path to success and shatter every glass ceiling in your way.
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Transcript
The Symbolic Impact of the Obama Presidency
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If you think about the eight years during which President Obama was in the White House,
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It really said to young Black children around the world, regardless, that yes, we can, that we can do and be and achieve all that we put our minds to, not just because we think we can, but because we actually have that visual representation. And for me as a Black woman, as a professional Black woman, Michelle Obama,
00:00:33
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Right? Like just her presence, her being, her slaying, right? Was just so powerful.
Introducing Korea Slay Talks and Vision Boards
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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Korea Slay Talks podcast. I'm Brenda Dogbay, also known as the Korea Slay Mama. And on this podcast, we talk about all things about
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I'm taking your career to the next level. I center the voices of black professionals in Canada and in the diaspora. But of course, this podcast is welcome for anybody and everybody to listen to and to gain from. So today I wanted to talk about vision boards and the power of vision boards to really help you in your goal setting. If you know me or if you follow me on social media, you will know that I am really big on vision boards, goal setting,
00:01:22
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goal getting, goal visualization. And I wanted to share a series where I'm going to talk about the different ways in which we can really leverage vision boards and visual goal setting as well as writing goals
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in order to take your goals to the next level.
The Psychological Effects of Representation and Advocacy
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And one of the things I really want to underscore about the importance of vision boards, especially for folks who've been traditionally marginalized, who've not been included or haven't been at the table, what the lack of representation does for us is that it limits our ability to really think big and aim big.
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And the main challenge with this is that then we have a limiting mindset or limiting belief. And it's more than just our own individual motivation.
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Everywhere we go, we are bombarded by images, by words, on social media, in advertising, on television, and the exclusion of Black people and marginalized folks in those spheres.
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It does something to us psychologically and I really think that this is the tool of white supremacy is to erase and negate and minimize our representation with a goal of disempowerment.
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And if you think about the fact that, again, it's only recently, especially post George Floyd's murder and post the pandemic that there's been a whole
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movement around Black Lives Matter, better representation, and a lot of advocacy even within our context here in Canada. And beyond just advocacy, the lack of representation is really what shapes the future generations
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mindset of what it is that they can or cannot achieve.
Vision Boards: Combating Negative Narratives and Goal Visualization
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And if you think about what preceded, and I don't want to get too political here, but if you think about the eight years during which President Obama was in the White House, it really said to young Black children around the world, regardless,
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that yes we can, that we can do and be and achieve
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all that we put our minds to, not just because we think we can, but because we actually had that visual representation. And for me as a Black woman, as a professional Black woman, Michelle Obama, right, like just her presence, her being, her slaying, right, was just so powerful. And I want to give that as a bit of a backdrop as to why it is so important
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for you to have a vision board because my reminder to you is that you are being bombarded with messages left, right, and center. Whether you create a vision board for yourself or not, one is being created for you and one of the ways to counter that is to really frame the narrative and create a vision board for yourself. So I wanted to share five ways in which
00:05:01
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vision boards can help you with your goal planning from a research basis. As you know, I have a PhD in population health and I really like to use evidence base to really strengthen the arguments in terms of what it is that we're doing, what it is that we're trying to achieve. And so I wanted to share this with you from that evidence perspective.
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So number one way in which a vision board can help you with your goal planning is that visualizing goals enhances your motivation. And there's a research study that was conducted by Dr. Gail Matthews at the Dominican University of California, and she found that individuals who wrote down their goals and created visual representations of them
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they were significantly more likely to achieve those goals compared to those who
Enhancing Goal Achievement: Accountability and Brain Engagement
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did not. And she did a study. I'm going to go, but I have another episode where I speak more specifically about the research elements of the nerds like me out there who want that evidence-based. But one big takeaway from this, it's called a goal-setting study. And in this study, her main finding was that
00:06:11
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If you wrote down your goals, you're much more likely to achieve them than if you didn't write them down. And then the added layer was that if you wrote them down and shared them with somebody, if you had some level of accountability, that would be a key factor in you achieving your goals. And that's really important for us to keep in mind.
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I personally, I've kept a journal since I was 12 and I've always written down some level of goals. They're not so much resolutions like New Year's resolutions, but I've always written down the goals and I found that that always helps me be focused, but also have a very concrete, tangible thing that I'm working towards. And so the motivation that comes from just writing your goals and not just writing them down, but visualizing really helps you to achieve them. So number two,
00:07:01
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The number two way in which a vision board can help you achieve your goals is that by creating a vision board, you have a clear image of your goals and this helps a particular part of your brain to
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actually believe that you've already achieved this. So what it does is that it activates the reticular activating system or the RAS and this is a part of our brain that's responsible for filtering information and bringing important details to our attention. And so
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What this does when you have a vision board is that it helps prime your RAS, so your reticular activating system in your brain, to be much more attentive to opportunities and resources that align with your aspirations.
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it literally works on your subconscious and this is supported by a journal that was published in the European Journal for Social Psychology and I find that so fascinating because what it's basically saying is that you kind of prep your mind to seek out opportunities and so that you will be better aligned to actually
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dive into opportunities that will help you achieve that goal, which is really, really exciting for
Vision Boards: Boosting Creativity and Performance
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me. So that's the number two way in which vision boards can really help you. Number three, vision boards can help you in that they can elicit
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positive emotions such as excitement and optimism when envisioning your desired outcomes. According to a study that was published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, positive emotions broaden our thinking and enhance our creativity and they increase our belief in our ability to achieve our goals.
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By regularly viewing your vision board, you can reinforce these positive emotions and that helps you build self-efficacy, which is basically your ability to achieve your goals. And so I think that's really neat. And I found personally that I have my vision board in our master bedroom. It's one of the first things I see when I wake up. And one of the big quotes that I have right in the middle of the vision board is that
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I am attracting good things to me. And so you can imagine that when I wake up, rather than think, oh boy, it's another day, it's frustrating, having those positive emotions.
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being the first things that you elicit when you wake up increases our ability to believe that we can actually do it. I have other things in there like financial freedom, debt freedom, you can do all you want to do and it just helps you reinforce the emotions and tying this back to the previous point
00:09:59
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it works both consciously and subconsciously so in this case we're talking about how it affects your emotions while in the previous example we're talking about how it affects your mind and your thinking but bottom line is it just really gives you that oomph that you need to achieve your goals so the number
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four ways in which vision boards help you achieve your goals is that they're going to help you improve your goal clarity as well as your focus. I can attest to this personally that having both
00:10:33
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visualized and written goals really help you narrow down on what it is exactly that you're focusing on. And a study that was published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that creating visual representations of goals enhances that clarity so that you know exactly what you're working towards. You're clear. It's not a fuzzy goal. For example, if your goal was lose weight,
00:11:00
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but you have on your vision board, I weigh 140 pounds, for example. Maybe you weigh that already, but for some of us, that's a goal. So that you're clear on what it is exactly you're working towards. And the other piece was that it found that it helps you with your commitment. So vision boards, they allow you to clarify your goals, which makes them more tangible and more concrete. Again, a lot of us have very, we have a feeling that we're working towards, but we're not
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always able to quantify that into, I want to have a business revenue of 30,000 for this year, for example. And having that really be concrete, not just in a notebook somewhere, but in a visual representation is really, really powerful. When you have visual representations in front of you,
00:11:53
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And that's the thing about the vision board is about it being regularly in front of you, it helps you get clear, and it helps you to stay focused and aligned so that you're not going to be swaying one way or another.
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five ways in which vision boards can really help you. It can help enhance your visualization and your mental rehearsal. So vision boards facilitate the practice of visualization, which have been really shown to enhance performance. And if you think about
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athletes. There's a lot of research that has been done in the sports psychology where athletes kind of practice their win and they practice seeing themselves going through, mentally going through that finishing line, winning the gold. And it has shown that it's consistently demonstrated that mentally rehearsing successful performance can improve your actual performance. So the act of practicing like I own my home or
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I live in my dream home or my business is successful. It's almost like you're exercising your mental muscle that's convincing you that, you know what, I've actually done this. And by regularly visualizing your goals through your vision board, you engage in mental imagery that can strengthen your belief that you are achieving your goals and that's going to improve your chances of success.
Practical Steps and Community Engagement in Goal Setting
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So I don't know about you, but here are five really solid ways
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in which you can leverage vision boards to really help you get concrete on what it is that your goals are and then have that constant reminder that I have done it, not just that I will work towards it, but rather than focusing on the mountains between you and achieving your goal, you now have that oomph to actually say that I actually have it and maybe even convince your mind
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that you've already achieved it. So you're going to hear a lot about vision boards from me. And part of that is because I've seen the power. And I think for somebody who's starting out, where should you begin? I would say step one is writing your goals down. I think a lot of us, you'd be amazed at the fact that people can actually write the goals. Like you have the thoughts in your mind, even if that goal is to go to grad school or if it is to go back to school, get a PhD, this and that.
00:14:22
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or write the job title. I think the very first step that you need to do is write your goals down. Even if it's two of them, three, one, write your goals down. It's really, really key. And then the second thing is really taking it to that next level and creating a vision board. So if you go onto my website, careerslaymama.com, that's www.careerslaymama.com.
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I have a number of resources tagged vision boards. So I encourage you to check them out. I also host a vision board workshop regularly. So I usually have one in the middle of the year around July. And I host another one towards the end of the year in preparation for the new year or just early in the new year. And I really encourage you to be a part of these workshops because it will help you go to your next level
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take your goal planning to a whole new level. If you enjoyed this episode, please share your feedback with me. You can do that on Spotify. You can send me a DM. If you're not following me yet, please follow the podcast at KoreaSlayTalks on Instagram, or you can follow me, KoreaSlayMama, at KoreaSlayMama on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, threads, and let's slay together.
00:15:43
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and it's going to help you slay your goals and just