Do vision boards seem overrated to you? Do you believe they work? Perhaps you simply find them a wonderful creative outlet to put something pretty together - a scrapbooker’s dream!
But what if I told you there’s one easy step that will actually make your vision board work?
Before I reveal this hidden secret, let’s talk more about what a vision board is.
A vision board is a collage of images, words, and other visual elements representing your goals, aspirations, and dreams. It’s typically created as a physical board or digital document and can include pictures of things you’d like to own, places you want to visit, or qualities you want to embody. The idea behind a vision board is that by regularly looking at it and engaging with the images and words, you can focus your thoughts and energy on manifesting those things in your life.
Sounds simple enough, right?
While it might be a fun exercise to create an aesthetically-pleasing vision board to decorate your office or nightstand, let’s ensure you’re not wasting your time.
The key to ensuring your vision board will work is visually capturing the “feelings” you will get by reaching your goals.
The reason why “visually capturing the feelings of accomplishing your goals” is so important is because it does two critical things. Let’s break it down:
1. VISUALS
Photos, magazine clippings, images off the internet are more real than a list of words because they are relatable, and we can form a deeper connection to them.
Think about it this way. You have two pieces of paper in front of you, one has the word “smile” written on it, and the other has a photo of a woman smiling. Which piece of paper would give you more of an emotional reaction? Yup, it’s the one with the woman smiling because you can sense her emotion immediately.
If you look at the word “smile, you have to dig deeper to create the visual in your mind of someone smiling. Therein lies the problem because no one wants to work that hard for the outcome. As a result, your mind wanders, and you get less benefit from the text.
2. FEELINGS
Feelings tell our subconscious mind what it’s like to have already achieved those goals. So, the key to capturing the visuals for your vision board is to make sure you show feelings wherever possible.
If you want a new car, show a picture of the car but with a person standing nearby smiling. If you wish to travel, show a picture of the location with people enjoying themselves at that specific place.
Always try to show people enjoying the happiness they get from having reached their goals. The pictures don’t have to be of you, but find photos of people you can relate to or that resonate with you.
You see, your subconscious mind can’t distinguish between what you already have in life and what’s yet to come. So the trick is to keep feeding your subconscious snippets so it knows what you want. Then your subconscious mind can make decisions without you needing to actively think about them. Think about that! It’s like hiring a personal assistant to help you work on your goals without having to pay them!
Now that we understand the key ingredients that will make our vision board work for us let’s put all of this into action.
How To Create Your Vision Board
1. Identify Your Goals And Aspirations:
Before you start creating your vision board, take some time to think about what you truly want to achieve in your life. It can be helpful to write down your goals and aspirations in specific, measurable, and achievable terms. You can focus on a specific part of your life – such as your career – or include many areas, like health and wellness, finances, relationships, travel, and personal development.
2. Find Images And Words Representing Your Goals:
Start flipping through magazines, brochures, and online images to find pictures and words that describe your goals and aspirations. You can search Google, or I even used a free app called Canva. Make sure to also capture any images that show feelings around those goals. Not every image has to have a person in it, but be sure to include enough happy people that you can “feel” their joy.
3. Gather Materials:
Take a large piece of poster or foam board, some glue or tape, and all your images and words. I printed my vision board out on letter-size cardstock paper, but feel free to make yours any size you’d like.
4. Arrange And Glue The Images:
Once you have a good selection of images, start arranging them on your poster or foam board. Alternatively, set up your vision board on your computer. Think about the overall composition and how the images relate to one another. Feel free to look at Pinterest for inspiration (search “vision board aesthetic”). Finally, use glue or tape to attach the images to the board.
5. Display Your Vision Board:
Once complete, find a place where you will see it daily, such as your bedroom or office. I keep my vision board on my nightstand next to my bed. Spend about one minute looking over it each day. It doesn’t matter if it’s day or night. Allow yourself to embrace the extreme joy of what it feels like to have all of your dreams come true. Don’t hold back!
Creating a vision board from start to finish could take up to 5-6 hours. Feel free to spend as much time as you want, but be intentional finding photos of people that match your desired happiness level – which should be an 11! Lol!
The way I look at it, if you spend six hours creating your vision board and then one minute a day looking it over, that’s a grand total of 12:08 hours in one year – like half a day. Is that too much to ask to help make those dreams come true? You know the answer.
Remember, your subconscious mind is like a personal assistant who works for free behind the scenes. How nice to have a built-in assistant who will do whatever you ask, whenever you want, who will always be there for you and never leave you.
So, what are you waiting for?