Event Reflections: New Year Visioning with Afiya Shani

“Who do you want to be this year?”

This is the question that BlackFemaleProject communications program consultant and founder of WildFiya, Afiya Shani, posed to attendees of our New Year Visioning Workshop. On January 25, 2023, BlackFemaleProject members came together to answer this central question in service of manifesting their dreams. 

Workshop sponsor and BlackFemaleProject Interim Director of Operations, Marthea Alley-Caliz, introduced the workshop by grounding the group in gratitude, and then handed it off to Afiya, who got started by explaining what a personalized vision board is and how to create one. A vision board is a space to put into words and pictures the dreams and goals you want to realize. You can make a physical board using paper, poster board, and/or construction paper, or you can create a digital one using an app like Google Slides or Canva. 

Creating a vision board can be a joyful activity, but making it is just the beginning. Putting your vision board in a place that catches your eye often can help keep you accountable to yourself and remind you to stay on track. Set yourself up for success by keeping your board in your literal line of vision; hang a physical board near a chair you sit in often or make your digital vision board the background to your phone or computer so that you see it every time you turn it on. Repetition is powerful, and looking at your vision board daily can help you consistently call in what you want.

Before you start creating, it’s important to tap into who you are in this moment and what goals make sense for you at this time. For example, Afiya started by sharing the three-minute story she sharpened in Olivia Christian’s Own Your Story workshop that we recently hosted. With this, she gave us a sense of where she was—geographically and but also figuratively—when she set her sights on an ambitious goal: moving from her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, to study at New York University. 

The vision board process starts with dreaming BIG. Make a list of all the experiences and things you want, including anything you’ve always wanted but have been hesitant, fearful, or doubtful about. 

Be specific. How much more money will you make? By when will you make a big move? Visioning is about charting a path from here to where you want to be, so the details matter. 

Next, layer on your values. What’s important to you? Maybe you want to prioritize health or community building or professional success, for example. Your time and attention are precious resources; defining what you want to focus on is important.

Then, think about your current state. What’s true for you right now? Consider things like health, spirituality, romance, or work. What areas of life are you satisfied with? What parts of your life are inviting more spaciousness in order for you to pour into yourself? Try not to get weighed down by what’s not going the way you want it to right now and instead focus on what you want and what’s possible. The goal of posing yourself these questions is to learn more about yourself so that you can grow.

Once you’re clear about what you want, start searching for images, symbols, and words to put your future life on paper. Afiya shared several vision board examples. The first one she made—while she was planning her move from Atlanta to New York—included images of health, wellness, big city dreams, and the money she needed to make it happen. Afiya explained, “I could feel the magic of that board once the pieces started to fall into place. So I made it a regular practice.”

Once everyone was inspired and excited to get into the process, Afiya advised the group to “think with your joy center,” and forget about perfection. For Black women especially, mental capacity tends to be expended thinking about what we have to do or what we should do. But creating a vision board is our time to imagine without limits and call in the abundant lives that we’re capable of creating for ourselves.

And because sharing is such a powerful way to begin manifesting, Afiya opened the space for participants to share what they put on their vision boards. Several women mentioned financial security, with goals like homeownership or becoming debt-free, and having the time and resources to travel more. Overlapping experiences and desires left everyone feeling affirmed, hopeful, and grateful. We look forward to updates on how attendees move from visioning to actualizing in 2023.