Every year I make a vision board and I hand-write out a vision of where I see myself the next year. I include all of the things I would like to accomplish, both personally and professionally.

It’s a giant collage that I hang somewhere I know I will have to pass every day Mine is on my home office wall, where I’m forced to face it every day. I create a no excuses rule of why I can’t do something that I had said I wanted and would do. And just do it!

I can 100% guarantee that visioning works. 2018 was a huge year because I publicly stated what I wanted to achieve, and then I came up with a step-by-step plan, including asking for help.

Last year, I made the decision to open a new Souper Jenny. We open in Roswell next month. I dreamed of doing a TED talk. Done. I got the chance to do a one-woman show where I had to learn 55 pages of dialogue and cook an entire meal on stage at the same time. Check! I headed to Utah for a physical challenge of climbing a MOUNTAIN as many times as I could in 36 hours! I travelled…a lot. I worked a lot.

I’m not telling you all of this to toot my own horn. I’m just a regular girl with big time dreams. I tend to be on the lazy side unless I have a lot of structure and accountability. I’m sharing an idea that few seem to believe in, but becomes increasingly hard to deny. The power of believing in yourself. The power of believing you can achieve the impossible. The power of visioning.

The theme of the TED talk I did in November was “showing up.” It pretty much sums up how I feel about life in general and how I have lived my life up to this moment. My story is long so, I’ll just give you the highlights. My career did not begin as a restaurateur. I was an actor. After four years at a prestigious drama school, a short stint in the soap opera world and performing in a ton of plays, that never seemed to cover the bills, I decided I needed a Plan B.

I started to dream and dream big. I dreamed of learning to cook by traveling around the world for almost two years. I didn’t have the knowledge or the finances to support my grand idea, but I put in on my giant vision board and little by little, I found a way to make it happen.

Twenty years later, I can honestly say that I’m living the life I always imagined for myself and I’ve done it without any traditional experience or no how. And I still find time to act!

This is where you come in. I’m giving YOU a challenge for the new year. I want you to give yourself the gift of taking 45 minutes and writing a vision of how you would like to see your life ONE YEAR from today. Write it as if it was December 2019. Think of the different areas of your life - physical, travel, personal, business, wellness. Go big.

Once you do this, share it with someone you trust and respect. A friend, a family member, a colleague and make it real. I often do this with my former Chef and friend, Jessica. We both have some crazy big dreams and have come to know that failing and falling on our faces comes with the package. We devise a plan to hold each other accountable and do regular check-ins. That goal of eating no sugar for 30 days? I'm pretty sure we started over three times, but eventually, we got there.

The next step is for you to make a vision board filled with images of what you envision for your year to come. .I use a giant piece of poster board, tons of images from magazines I have saved or my favorite Pinterest images, glitter, glue on gems. Whatever makes me feel joyful! Then I encourage you to hang it where you’ll see it and be inspired on a DAILY basis.

Do it. I dare you. Add your desires to the comment section below. Send me a picture of your vision board! Or better yet, join me at:

Jenny's Big Vision Board party
Sunday, December 30th
11:00AM at Souper Jenny Westside

This is a free event, but you must reserve a spot.

I also ask everyone to bring a food item to share.

Here’s to a wonderful end of 2018, and a delicious beginning to 2019!

—Jenny