Tory Johnson spent time over a holiday weekend creating a career vision dish for her desk. It took several hours to find all of the right words and put them all together, but the exercise allowed her to reflect on what she most wanted professionally in the New Year.

No, it’s not going to make her work any easier or solve the challenges any faster. But starting out in the right frame of mind – with a daily reminder of the attitude and values that matter most – is a key to short and long term success.

You’ll see some of her hopes below: from an end to feeling guilty when she occasionally has to leave her family to travel for work – especially since she knows she’s a great mom – to a promise to keep the joys (not the hardships) of work at the top of her mind. Tory hopes you’ll spend time this week to create your own career vision board – and send us a copy to post on WomenForHire.com to serve as a public reminder to you and an inspiration to everyone else.

Will an art project get you hired? No. But will the positive frame of mind each and every day get you one step closer to achieving your goals? Absolutely!

Get started now.

1) Write down 3 career goals, along with the adjectives that describe the attitudes and attributes you value.
2) Select an object to decorate. It should be something you can look at daily. I used a large glass dish. For less than a dollar you can buy a wooden door hanger or box at a craft store. You can also use poster board. The larger the object, the more time you’ll invest in creating the perfect finished product and the more your career vision board will reinforce your objectives for the year thereby helping you achieve your goals.
3) Buy Modge Podge craft glue or use watered-down Elmer’s glue. (Optional: Mix in a small amount of glitter for a fairy dust effect.) Grab a paintbrush too.
4) Cut out words, photos, sentences, quotes, designs and more from magazines, newspapers or other documents that speak to the points you listed in #1 above. You can also print similar stuff from the Internet. There’s no wrong word or wrong source for collecting materials.
5) Start gluing it all together. Since I used a glass dish, I attached the paper to the bottom side, which meant putting glue on the front of each image. If you’re using a box or poster board, you’ll put glue on the bottom of each image. Be patient as you fill in all blanks.
6) Put the finished object in a very prominent place where you’ll see it daily. Ideally it’ll go in a place where you’ll see it for a large chunk of your day such as on your desk or on your kitchen counter – you get the idea.
7) Invest just two minutes a day – come on, even the busiest among us can spare two minutes – holding your project and reflecting on one or two of its messages.