Working with a team that let me use my creativity to be productive, has helped me grow as a business person, and as a general human. Vision boarding has made that obvious.

Last year was my first year working with the MINT/Celebrate Difference team. The first time I vision-boarded I had been here about 4 months. Long enough to be comfortable, but not long enough for me to be confident, and ready to grow in my role.

Here is my vision board from last year.  You can see all the colours, so bright and cartoony. I expressed that I wanted to be more confident, I was ready for some big changes and I wanted to be able to take care of myself to a better degree, a point where I wasn’t “fine” but “doing great”.

I would first like to explore what came true for me in 2022

On the top left, I have the Stand comedy club photo, an image of someone having a dance, the moon and a note that said “carve some time for yourself”. This represented how I wanted to get out more and experience nightlife. I was 18 when the pandemic hit, it was not something I had been able to explore properly.

By the end of 2022, I had managed to see seven different bands play, formed opinions on the best bars in multiple cities and even managed to get to some outside of England!

I next moved on to how I wanted to help people in the bottom left. The phrase “young minds” is placed next to “How you can help” alongside images such as a young woman, depicted in a different era with a mask on, “being a person” and

TikTok. This represented my urge to help my community: Young people who are Neurodivergent and are seeking help.

This felt unachievable, but it’s something I wanted to do, so screw it, on it went!  Months went by and I could do little bits that never seemed to go far until December! I’m currently working to gather research on the best ways to deliver workshops to that community, MY community.

There is lot’s on there about the Home that I wanted to move into. I was looking to move in with friends, I covered the board with home and garden inspiration. I moved in with a friend and built myself a happy little vintage collection where I have lived relatively successfully (only two trips to the ER!)

Finally a quote in blue that says “dear Kat”. My sister, called Kat, is someone I wanted to build a stronger relationship. I didn’t know where to start so I didn’t. I don’t know what those words did but we are in a much better spot.

This year’s vision board turned out… different.

I have accomplished and changed so much in the last year.

In 2021 when I left McDonald’s to work for MINT I felt like an 18-year-old still. I had missed so much from the pandemic, I had just come from a job where nothing but the final product matters. Now I feel strong, confident and able to succeed. I feel more confident in my Neurodivergence and have weaved strong and reasonable boundaries throughout my life. An “adult”.

From the lighter more muted tones to its leaning more word based the entire thing could be made by a different person. Right slap bang in the centre there is an image that says “love is anything but ordinary” which rings so true for me.

I have always felt love differently. Never in the way, glittery pink tween magazines said I should. The way I’ve felt passion towards people, hobbies and projects always felt “off”, either putting in too much or too little. A big part of learning to love myself has been learning how I love, despite my love not being typical it’s still love.

A few hearty-looking meals in the corners and a few things for my house scattered across. Last year was all about getting my house, now it’s making it nice and mine. It’s a much less dominating feature.

There is a packet of pills. I want to try ADHD medication this year and look how that can make me stronger for next year. Seeing if that’s the right move for me and my brain.

Work obviously had its place: I am fighting for a good cause, I have always had a strong sense of justice and wanted to fight, and I am ready for new battles this year. I have respect there because remembering to respect others and enforcing boundaries to respect me is a big thing in my life right now. Themes of wanting to inspire, finish my apprenticeship, challenge people’s thoughts and get 1000% better at planning.

Overall the creation of a vision board is something surprisingly emotional and difficult. The multiple breaks I took throughout and the frustration from trying to express what was in my head got to me at a few points but looking back, and knowing next year will be able to look back again has been something truly noticeable.

Growth isn’t always visible in the moment, and you need to step back, reflect and look at the bigger picture.