Make Anything Happen: A Creative Guide to Vision Boards, Goal Setting, and Achieving the Life of Your Dreams

by Carrie Lindsey

What if you took it a step further and set specific goals for living your best life? What if that process could be creative, exciting, and lead to actual change?

Everyone wants to accomplish their goals and live the life of which they dream. But in today's busy age, how do we make that happen?

This interactive book helps readers live an intentional life by determining their priorities and tapping into their creativity to create beautiful and functional vision boards and manageable action plans to achieve their goals.

Through guided worksheets, vision board templates and samples, and planning pages, author Carrie Lindsey inspires readers to get clear on what they really want and then make it happen. Getting your life in order has never been so much fun! What would happen if you set aside a little time to write down what makes you excited and what drags you down?

Change is hard, but it's worth it. And with this book, it's also a heck of a lot of fun. Readers also have access to a private Facebook group full of members who are working towards living their dreams.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Art, Crafts, How To, Personal Development, Memoir

160 pages, Paperback

Published June 12, 2018

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s like those blog posts that share recipes but first you have to read a whole story about how when the blogger was little she would go apple picking with her grandmother, and then glorifies how busy she is so the recipe is perfect for her. Then you get to the very short and simple recipe.
The point of it was good and fairly helpful I just wish she’d have spent more time with the how-to and less on stories about her life, business and blog. Which she links to a lot.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

I am guessing that the author has built up her admirably large group of followers on her blog due to people being interested in her life. From what she feeds her family, to her vacations, to how she plans things out. Because that's what we have here with this book - it really is all about her using her life as an inspiration to help you create a set of short term and long term goals. It's all very nebulous, of course, because she doesn't know your personal goals. But I was somehow expecting more images of the planning/vision boards rather than lots of text about herself and then some photographs of forms, quotes, and art and crafts items. I felt like I bought this book only to get a bunch of QR codes to go to her blog where I would print out a form and then fill it out or get nicely formatted inspirational quotes. Somehow, I expected the book to be both more personal (to me) and less personal (of her).

The book is broken down into four sections: Introduction, Define Your Dreams, Visualize Your End Game, Implement Planning Strategies.

The Introduction section is about understanding priorities, defining your best life, finding time, and setting you up for success. This section has a copious amount of neatly formatted "motivational quotes", scrapbook style.

Define Your Dreams includes goals, manifesting your destiny, what is a vision board?, and encouragements at the end to do things like buying magazines and cutting out pictures that resonate with you and downloading quotes that make you smile. The author has even more nicely formatted 'non cheesy' quotes you can download from a QR code. Journaling and vision boards are heavily discussed here and, once again, you go to her website to see more examples (seeing a trend here?).

The next section is about implementing the goals. Set them, make a due date, create action items, track progress, checking in. There are examples in the book or again, you can download by going to the website for blank templates.

So here are the problems: most of the photos seem to be random - e.g., pictures of color pens, pom poms, and random inspiration quotes. There is a rainbow here of art items and motivational items but less on things like actual vision board examples. All examples are the author's - so we see the same things over and over again. And then a lot of them look to be filler. A good example is a full page photo of a blank page, 6 color pens, two inspirational quote squares, and a random succulent plant. Just before that is a photograph of white space, 7 coloring pens, 5 colorful shredded paper, and three wooden cubes (stamps?) with quotes on them like "dream big" and "with love". Later, there is a framed print of "Today is going to be amazing" next to two succulents, some stamps, and random objects only barely showing. You're to use these to create vision boards - but I'm not sure what the succulent or the shredded paper is going to do? And who leaves a framed inspirational quote on a table? Everything felt random and lacking cohesion. And it felt like the same photograph over and over again, just changing a few variables. There was little variety.

Finally, most of the book felt like its purpose was to give some information and then to drive traffic to her blog. On the one hand, she doesn't have an upsell there to the consumer, which is nice. On the other hand, she does depend on blog traffic for income so it felt a bit disingenuous to put so much of the book into going there. I appreciate additional resources and yes, it is definitely nice to have a quick one stop to download. I couldn't test the download pages since they were unavailable at the time of this review, in advance of publishing. But for me, I wanted less of her and more of other examples - I wanted to see how others had used vision boards, how they looked, and what they were able to do with them. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Jes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book that is good for the beginner "I want to do stuff with my life" go-getter. It has a lot of good advice and some really cute ideas for vision boarding and getting your goals thought out and in line. The author probably used "y'all" more than any self respecting Texan actually would, but that's just coming from a native....y'all.

I recommend this book to anyone trying to get a project or life goal off the ground and is afraid of taking it seriously. She has a lot of good advice to promote your own confidence.

[Lydia · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Thanks, Public Speaking 4-H project!” Yes! Love the nod to 4-H (proud alum here.) What I didn’t love was the “book.” Easy to flip through, colorful pictures... essentially some blog posts with a TON of fluff and filler. Basic instructions on crafting a vision board, reminding the reader to use a to do list, and to break their goals into smaller, action steps (so SMART goals??) In short, just eh.

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about how the author wanted to write a book. Technically this is a book… technically.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eye catching, colorful pages, some good anecdotes. Not anything earth shattering, but fun to flip through nonetheless.

[Stephanie Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for young adult

Simple but fun read. Nothing that’s much different than other self help / visionary reads, but it was fun none the less to read.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars I liked the idea of this book. I'm really into planning and journaling. Add the creative aspect and it speaks to me even more. There was just a lack of creativity for me.

I really liked her ideas and I will definitely use some of them in my own life. I love the vision board idea. I'm not sure why I haven't thought of doing that before.

My only issue with this was there was A LOT of her personal life in this book. I started to feel like it was more about her than the tasks at hand. I get she wanted to use real life experiences to make it more relate-able. It just was a little bit too much, at times. I wish there was more creativity in the book- maybe more photos? I mean, it says it's a "Creative Guide." I was reading this on my kindle, so it makes it hard to see all the images and example pages. I love when those are included in a book, which they are. Just hard to guage when you have an ebook version.

Overall, she has a lot of great tips. I love how she emphasizes that things take a lot of work and change is hard. It doesn't happen over night!

Thank you to Edelweiss for providing me an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own :)

Review is published here: https://booksarethenewblackblog.wordp...

[Deborah Hightower · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was helpful about setting goals and organizing your life. I was expecting more from the book. There was too much personal information/stories and a lack of examples of completed vision boards along with ideas and resources for decorating them. Info found in the book can also be found on the authors web site and blog.

[Trena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on organizing yourself to reach your goals! Easy to read, and the author is real and personal. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has goals they want to achieve!

[Dominique Egbers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing new or earth shattering, but pretty visually and easy to read.

[Teddy Troyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know how people complain that classic literature is too difficult to read because paying by the word results in overly wordy books? That’s how I feel about blogging and books from bloggers.

[Laurene Klassen · Rating 2 out of 5]

good

Good. I hoped for a little more in depth, but still worth reading. There are a lot of qr codes for access to her templates.

[Katrina Winchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I wanted to like this book more than I did. It was less about how to do vision boards than I expected it to be, and more about goal setting and planning. The ideas are really helpful and easy to follow. Even better was that there were pages included to get you started on goal setting and vision boarding. She even includes QR codes to link you to more resources and printables.
The the things that annoyed me about this book were: 1. The copious amounts of typos. Did anyone even edit this book? Almost every page had some kind of very blatant typo. Words missing in a sentence, doubled words, etc. I can ignore a word heavy book with a typo or 2, but this book wasn't that long and had double spaced type, so the typos were just too obvious. 2. Even though the author is a year older than me, she kept *trying* to use slang and colloquialisms, presumedly to keep a younger reader interested. However, it felt forced and put me off as I read. She used "y'all" more than most people (Even ones living in Texas!) say it and nobody should be saying "thang" in the context of a book outside of a character's dialogue. No one. 3. The entire book feels like an ad to sell her products, since she talks about her planner business on just about every page. I realize it's her book, so of course she wants to tie it into her business, but it got very repetitive and started to feel like a late night infommercial. Some people might enjoy all that, but it made it hard for me to finish the book. Which was a GOAL of mine. ;)

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm pretty sensitive to Hyperprivileged White Woman Telling Me What to Do and was fully expected to want to set this book on fire...or at least dump it in my "abandoned" section.
Well, I did finish it. The author is annoying at points, and is clueless about her privilege at points, but there was just something that made her not punchable, in my opinion, unlike the Gretchen Rubins and Laura Van Der Kams of the world.
I don't think this book is a necessary read for very many people, as I didn't get much out of it that I didn't already know and hadn't already come across on the internet a billion times. But it's also okay to have another voice out there providing encouragement; maybe Lindsey's would be the one that really spoke to you and helped you get on with accomplishing the things you want to accomplish.
So, three stars for "liked it." I'm feeling mildly inspired and will be giving some more thought to my own goals and dreams. But mostly, it's the fact that I don't consider the author punchable that's probably one of the highest compliments I can give this type of book.

[Cynthia Leinbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting Read, a Restart

If you’ve read books on goal-setting, you won’t find much “new” in this book, but the author provides an updated view of planning, setting goals and being creative. Attractive photos are disbursed throughout, I’m glad I read this on my iPad so I could see the colors and follow the exercises. Carrie believes in creating dream boards and other forms of visualization. Her experience with the manifestation of money arriving at a time when it was greatly needed was positive and upbeat. I expected, perhaps hoped, there’d be a reference to prayer or faith when seeking such manifestations.

Overall, I found this to be a quick read, contemporary and informative.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall 2.5/5

Not much new info here compared to other self-help/motivation books and at times felt more like she was trying to sell her notebooks and planners than actually give advice.

Her colloquial uses of “you guys” and “y’all” were likely meant to be folksy, friendly and endearing, but just came off a little unprofessional in this context. I guess maybe because she started as a blogger, she transferred that same type of writing vibe to her book because it worked there, but I just came off reading You Are a Badass - which, though also colloquial at times - was more impactful in its advice and Jen Sincero’s writing style for me.

By the end I was just skimming and she was spending too much time on her own life stories.

[JerryLovesBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an absolute breeze to read. The author presents fantastic ideas on goal tracking and vision board creation. I especially loved the section on vision boards. It’s the most comprehensive and insightful take I’ve come across. The methods for tracking progress are equally impressive, offering practical and effective ways to stay on course. If you're looking for a structured, actionable system to achieve your goals and turn your vision into reality, this book is a must-read. The book could have a bit more shorter and some areas had grammar mistakes, not a biggie though. Found the book quite helpful.

[Ashley Rothberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a good introduction to vision boards. It’s nothing too groundbreaking but i liked the layout and the flow of information. I really enjoyed the space to write things down in the margins, the space to sketch items out. I found it good to get the creative juices flowing and get me started on the new year in a positive fashion. I would recommend it for newbies to vision boards or those wanting to have an idea where or how to start working on goals.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book on vision boards, planners & productivity. The author uses plenty of her real life examples to help you draw comparisons in your own life to help you move one step closer to your dreams. There are pages to jot notes, planning pages, and QR codes for her free printables. A great creative resource for my library.

[Sarah White · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not for me. It felt like it should have been a couple of blog posts about vision boards and bucket journaling. She also calls what she does, which is basically bullet journaling made pretty, an “art journal,” which is actually such a different thing in my mind the use of the term annoyed me.

[Shari Suarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been interested in vision boards for a while but haven't found a book on the topic. This book wasn't completely about vision boards, it also included planners and goal setting. I found the information interesting and the extras that are included for free (on the author's website) are nice.

[Marcy Graybill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of the book more than the actual book. I'm struggling with some goal setting and coming up with new goals. Due to some health changes, I'm having to scale back some goals and that's hard. I felt the book was aimed at busy Mom's rather than the single person.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Cute Reminder

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It’s certainly secular (though somewhere half way through the author alludes to a higher power from another universe) but it is straightforward and the reader can tell, this author has grit!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in kindle. Took lots of notes as I try to build a vision board for 2021. It’s a very easy read.

Lost a star bc it harps on donkeys and writing a book, being an author, procrastination (the HS story grated on me terribly).

[PATRICIA A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book sparked some great ideas

I really liked the author’s writing style and I took notes as I read. I got some great insights as to how I can make some of my goals happen before the end of this year. Read this book and be inspired! :)

[Renata Shura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good ideas. She sounds just like me, Horse crazy and all. Her informal voice, like she’s talking to a friend, was refreshing and funny but some parts were a bit like an infomercial and others a bit repetitive. All in all and inspiring quick read.

[D · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you can handle reading a book that's written like a blog post, and criminal overuse of "ya'll," there are some nuggets of wisdom and some good creative ideas to be found in this book.

[Lael Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt like a bullet journal version of visual goal setting (note that it’s clear her own planner pages aren’t bullet journals tho). Just what I needed at this time actually

[Morpheyy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, light breezy read. A nice touch to include links to free printable designed planners/other templates together with the purchase of the book.