01/07/2026
Pretty much every year, I make a vision board and hang it somewhere I’ll see it every day.
And I think these photos are a pretty good example of why.
At the end of 2023, with zero savings and absolutely no business doing so, I added this architectural rendering to my vision board.
It wasn’t some generic “dream house” image. I had been looking at actual house plans, and this was the one. I wanted a house on a river (not a lake… specifically a river). I loved the cottage-y vertical siding. I wanted a porch where I could sit and watch the water roll by while I slowly and methodically indoctrinated the local waterfowl into my army of domesticated, emotional-support geese and ducks.
To be fair, I had to add my own fowl to the image. It did not come with them.
I also added a very obviously doctored photo of me holding a sloth. I love sloths. No further explanation needed.
About six months later, on a bit of an impulse, I applied for a mortgage.
Denied.
We had filed bankruptcy a couple of years earlier, and there’s a waiting period. They told me to try again after a specific date in the fall.
In the meantime, we unexpectedly got the opportunity to travel with some of our county partners to Seattle for a law-enforcement-related conference. (This was not on my vision board or my bingo card, but life is funny like that.)
We extended our stay a few days to sightsee and visited an animal sanctuary where I got to hang out with a sloth (along with otters, porcupines, armadillos, a bobcat, and more) up close and personal. While I didn’t actually get to hold the sloth, I did feed it grapes by hand, which is honestly almost as good.
Before we left for the trip, though, I applied for a mortgage again and this time, we were pre-approved.
So when we got back from Seattle, we went full-tilt into house-hunting mode.
On one of the very last days of 2024, we found our home (which is a whole other eerily coincidental story for another time). Less than 60 days later, we were handed the keys.
I don’t think any of this points to magic - at least not in the movie sense.
In fact, I’d kind of resent that idea.
Because while there were plenty of surreal, uncanny moments along the way, I worked my goddamn ass off.
We made real sacrifices.
It wasn’t easy.
Not even close.
In the end, the vision board didn’t make it happen - I did.
But the vision board helped me get crystal clear about what I was working so hard for. It gave me something to come back to when life made the path forward hard to see.
Did the universe (or whatever you want to call it) give me an assist or two along the way?
Sure.
But none of this would have happened on its own.
The real magic is in vision, focus, and intention.
And vision boards are just one of many tools that can help make the big (and little) things happen.
I’ve got a whole bunch of experiences like this (along with actual studies and data to back it up) that I’ll be sharing at our upcoming online digital vision board event, where you can create yours from the comfort of your own home.
No mess, no scissors, and no glue required.
👉 🎟️ check the comments!
PS: I’m still working on the waterfowl army. I’m starting to suspect it might be a long game. 🤷♀️ I’ll keep you posted.
