Planners Use Visioning to Start Off 2025

Skift Take
We’ve all seen it — or done it — before. People start the new year by creating a ‘vision board’ with words and images that illustrate their hopes and plans.
“But then they basically hang it up somewhere and it collects dust for the whole year until the next year, when they do a new one,” said Tyra Dyson, chief events strategist at TDC Events & Hospitality, who has created a visioning experience for planners called The Fierce and Focused Visionaire Experience.
The half-day workshop on January 25 at the Hotel Zena in Washington, D.C., is part visioning and part strategic planning, with a sprinkle of coaching mixed in. Dyson and her daughter and partner, Jasmine, also co-founded Boss Up Girl, whose mission is to empower women and girls to live up to their full potential.
Skift Meetings asked Dyson to share her strategies for turning visions into reality.
You talk about the power of intention. What does that mean?
“We start off by asking people to set their intentions. You have to believe that you can accomplish what you envision. That's the biggest part.”
Can you explain what visioning boards are?
“We use piles of magazines for inspiration, and real art canvas, not posterboard. So people can easily put them on a dresser, or hang them in a living room or bathroom where they will see them every day.”

How do you turn these vision boards into action?
“Anyone can say, ‘I want a promotion,’ or ‘I want to change careers and get into this arena.’ That’s great, but you need to ask what you have to do to accomplish that.
“We ask what tools they already have that will contribute to getting this done. Then we start helping them outline what the obstacles are (most of the time, especially for women, it's about finding time) and how to get them out of the way.”
How do you hold people accountable?
Dyson: “Our participants are required to add a start time and an end time to every element of their vision. One of the reasons people don’t follow their resolutions is because they’re not realistic. They choose something that they know is probably too hard to accomplish with their lifestyle.
“The vision boards hold them accountable as well. If they see things they haven't done yet, they shouldn’t get discouraged because that's why they have that plan. Hopefully they say, ‘OK, I have a plan, let me get started.’”
Can you share the thinking behind ‘chunking down’ goals?
“The key is to break things down and prioritize them. We ask people: ‘Out of what you want, what is the priority? What do you need? What hinders you from getting things done?’ Then we help them build out their strategies so they can get those things accomplished in bite-sized pieces.
“It’s just like when I'm trying to lose weight. If I can lose 3 pounds by the end of the week, then I'm motivated to keep going. Progress is the biggest motivator.
“We like to do this in 3’s, so we work in 90-day time frames. We ask, ‘What can you get done in the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter or fourth quarter?’”
As a serial entrepreneur, do you think you’re well-positioned to lead these workshops?
“The majority of my life I’ve held 9-to-5 jobs, but I've always had businesses on the side and gone to various conferences for entrepreneurs. At a lot of those, they've talked about manifesting your dreams and your goals. And when you do hone in, think about it, and manifest it, it does absolutely come true.
“But the biggest thing is believing it because you’ve got to go into it without an ounce of doubt.”