About a year ago, my life coach asked me if I had ever made a vision board.  At the time, I had only heard of them along with the benefit of putting your goals, dreams and vision out there into the universe. Albeit I’m a firm believer in divine timing and the power of God, the universe and the moon and stars aligning. However,  I did not put much stock into creating a vision board. Hearing this again from my life coach, I knew, I had to sit down and make this happen. Little did I know that this small piece of creativity and honesty, would begin my journey to something much greater and essentially be a subconscious guide to help me accomplish a goal that I have had since graduating grad school in 2014.

Rewind to about a year and half ago,  I was struggling with my work situation at the time. There were things I enjoyed but sadly, more that I disliked. I was torn with what my next move should be, as I knew, my talents, skills and brain were being under utilized where I was. However, being hired again 7 years ago with an organization I had worked with off and on since I was 15 years old, posed a serious internal struggle for quite sometime. I began to see a life coach to help me navigate my work situation, it got to a point where I was gravely dispirited.  Communicating with her and witnessing other situations (at work) that presented themselves in ways that were blasphemous, it became clear that I had to make a move for myself, my family and my overall well being.  So, I began networking,  and took advantage of opportunities I knew would benefit me in the long run.

I meet with a fellow colleague, and I expressed that, my ultimate goal was to combine my undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice and my Master’s in library science degree. It was during this conversation, I learned about the National Institute of Corrections.  My colleague stated that she had a friend who worked there as a contractor,  and loved her job. She offered to introduce us over e-mail, after speaking with my new connection, I was intrigued by the organization,  I set-up an information interview (since I was unable to volunteer). During the interview I was able to ask questions, learn about what they do, get a feel for the work environment and what it means to be a contractor with the government. In that moment, I imagined myself working at this library. However, they had just hired someone, so I knew I had to be patient and hope that a position would come open. In the meantime, I pursued other learning opportunities, tried to remain as positive as I could in a negative situation and hoping that my vision I had for myself would eventually manifest into something significant.

Fast-forward, to a year later. I’m sitting at my desk contemplating applying for a position that would be a demotion, just to remove myself from an unhealthy environment. When I look back, I’m perplexed that I would even consider taking a step backward (always forward). But I believe when your back is against the wall,  you will consider crazy options. Right in that moment,  I received a message over LinkedIn from the Program Manager at the National Institute of Corrections.  Truth, my heart skipped beat,  he stated, that an Information Specialist would be opening up soon and he would send me the link once the job posted. I applied before the week ended and received a call from him the day after I had applied to set-up an interview, for that following Tuesday.  Walking into the interview, I felt anxiety and a sense of calm. The fact that I had met with most of the staff previously, allowed me to be fierce, but humble. Needless to say, I was offered the job that Thursday and excepted the offer within a couple of hours.

In the end, it all finally made sense that I had been placing the puzzle pieces where they needed to go, to accomplish this goal I had set for myself. I believe that this manifestation all started with creating a vision board, and putting out into the universe what I wanted for myself. Looking at my vision board now, what I wanted came full circle.  Putting your goals out there is a powerful thing and you just never know what the outcome will be.  As we start a New Year, I recommend putting your goals and dreams out into the universe and see what happens. With that said,  putting it out there is only the first step, you must have, ambition, believe in yourself and be willing to take risks that others will shy away from.

*Below I have added some photos of my current work situation and a photo of my vision board. My apologies for the poor quality, but I deleted the original.*

The vision board that started it all! (Sorry for the poor quality)

My office @ NIC