They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, it can also be worth a thousand dollars, or two hundred credit hours, or a hundred pounds, and on and on.

The power of a visual goal⏤a goal put into picture form⏤is perfectly illustrated by the giant fundraising thermometer with its painted red “mercury” rising week after week, inching towards the top. What a stunningly simple way to communicate a goal (how much money you are trying to raise), and how close you are to that goal (halfway there!). It’s a great reminder that if you can visually see progress towards a goal, you have a much higher chance of understanding and achieving that goal. Consider using this powerful tool to achieve goals, both big and small. 

The trick is to draw the goal in a way that breaks it into smaller pieces, so that you can color in those small pieces as you progress towards your goal. The chosen image can be directly related to the goal (for example, a picture of a house when saving for a downpayment), or completely unrelated (for example, a geometric design when trying to visit every baseball stadium in the country). As an example, imagine that you are saving for trip across Europe and want to save $10,000. You select or draw an image with 100 unique shapes in it, each representing $100 saved. Every time you set aside $100 towards your goal, you color in a shape. As you see the image fill in, the reality of approaching your goal becomes visually apparent and quite motivating. Below are some additional examples of how you can use this general principle:

Saving for a Large Purchase

Every $100 dollars saved towards a large financial goal could be represented by the bricks in a long, winding path. 

Working Towards a Credential

Each course, credit hour, license, or certification towards a credential could be represented by the component parts of a geometric design.

A Personal Health Goal

Whether the goal is to lose weight or cook healthy meals five times a week, each successful step in that direction could be represented by one face of a multifaceted diamond or other gem.

If you like this general concept, check out my book on Amazon called The $500 Savings Coloring Book, a coloring book to help kids (or adults) save money.

Copyright 2023 Kesel Wilson (entirely, 100% human-created)

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