A few years ago, Iyanla Vanzant asked me a question that I’ve come back to over and over again: What’s your vision? 

I was interviewing her for JET, and I snuck in a few questions for myself. Back then I was fairly new to freelancing and wanted to know how I could continue reaching my (many, many) goals. And her advice was clear.

Keep your vision in front of you.

“A goal is an intellectual concept,” she told me. “Can you see it? ‘Cuz if you can’t see it within you then you’re never going to accomplish it.”

Then she bottomlined it for me: “What’s your vision? The vision will pull you forward. The goal will keep you busy.”

Keeping your eye on your vision sounds easy enough, but often times it can be hard. Money gets funny, work gets more stressful, obligations mount, family pulls you in another direction, and before you know it, you’ve lost sight of exactly what you want.

In 2014,  I certainly felt it visionless. I set goals–write more books, get more bylines, travel–and I’ve reached them, but something was missing. No matter what I accomplished, I felt as though it didn’t put me closer to the life I desired. No matter what I did, and no matter how awesome it was, it just wasn’t quite right.

Then it hit me. My vision wasn’t clear. I’ve been floating around without a clear vision and purpose for my life. The old vision I had–be a writer–felt outdated and small. I’ve BEEN a writer even before I had the books and bylines to prove it.

But what else ? No matter how much I worked, I felt there had to be something deeper and more meaningful for my life than just stacking words and work (and bills).

So I’m going to investigate it. I’ve got a milestone birthday coming up, which tends to make me reflective as hell. This year I’m going to explore my purpose, find it, dig it out, and put it on full display.

In my heart I know the woman I want to be, it’s a vision I’ve kept to myself because, scary. But fear is a lie, and I’m kicking it to the curb…again.

Like every new year I’ll be creating a vision board to help me SEE what I want to show up in my life. In years past this has been a powerful tool in my life, and I expect 2015 to be no different.

A while ago I made a video about how to create a vision board (it’s super easy) and how it can be a wonderful addition to your life.

Take a look:

What’s the vision for your life? How do you keep it in front of you? Drop a comment and let me know what keeps you moving forward!