How to use a Vision Board

May 17, 2020

As I write this we find ourselves in a strange reality, two months into a lockdown in which our opportunities and movement are severely restricted. For many of us it has given us time to reflect, and to look forward to what we will do once life gets back to normal. If you've been thinking about what you'd like to achieve, and especially if you have the extra time on your hands, you might like the opportunity to create yourself a vision board.

At the start of the year we created a Free Vision Board download to look ahead to 2020. Now in line with the launch of our Mid Year Planners, we thought we'd write a blog to help people to create their own vision board for the future. Below are some tips on how to create one effectively and how to use it all year long as an additional tool to help you to achieve your goals.

So what is a Vision Board?

It’s a visualisation of your goals. It’s a collection of images, words or symbols which represent who you want to be and what you want to achieve in the future. It’s sometimes called a dream board, and people use them as a daily visualisation tool to remind themselves of what they want and as a tool to push them towards them.

A lot pf people will create them physically and put them somewhere they can see them regularly. Other people will create them digitally, like on Pinterest so they can see them on their computer or phone.

Do they work? And if so, how?

Obviously there are countless factors involved in whether you actually achieve your goals or not, but visualisation has been used for decades as a means for enhancing performance - especially in sports. Googling famous people who practice visualisation shows you just how many people swear by it. An interesting article in Psychology Today discusses the science behind it and I’ve listed to countless podcasts and talks with unbelievable stories of people’s vision boards becoming reality. 

“Creating a sacred space that displays what you want actually does bring it to life. What we focus on expands. When you create a vision board and place it in a space where you see it often, you essentially end up doing short visualization exercises throughout the day.” Elizabeth Rider, Huff Post

Getting Started

So how do we actually go about building one and using it? Jack Canfield, award winning creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, gives some great tips.

What do you want to achieve?

Create a list of goals you’d like to achieve. This can be a bigger goal than fits in a single year, but think about where you want to be by the end of the year on the way to that goal. Think big!! You can create vision board for a specific area of your life or create a single, general one.

If you have a Hello Day planner, do this in line with your yearly goal planning pages at the start of the planner. Brainstorm your goals, decide on them, write them in your planner and then you’re ready to start on your vision board.

What to include on your vision board?

Find images that represent your goals or symbolise the future you wish to create. Use photographs, magazine cutouts, images from the web - anything you want to use. Maybe find a quote that inspires you, or include some affirmations or positive words that represent how you want to feel - empowered, courage etc.

If you’re using images from the web, we recommend using a program like Word or Pages in Landscape view, to arrange your images at the right size. Then you can print them, cut them out and stick them on to your Hello Day vision board.

If you’re a crafty, hands-on person, you’ll probably enjoy the creativity of cutting, arranging and sticking the images to your board. Others might prefer just creating the whole thing on the computer and printing it out.

Tips for building an effective vision board.

Don’t overcrowd it or make it too messy. Choose the images carefully and keep it neat, in order to avoid creating a cluttered or chaotic board - you don’t want to attract chaos into your life. If you include a photo of yourself, use one in which you were happy and evokes fond memories.

If you have specific numbers in mind, like a salary target or bank balance, include them on your board. The more specific you can get, the better.

How to use your vision board.

Spend time each day looking at your vision board - visualising, affirming and believing in the vision. Get really detailed in your imaginations and visualisations - as detailed as you can. Eliminate doubts that may creep in to your mind.

“Engage as many of the five senses as you can in your visualization. Who are you with? Which emotions are you feeling right now? What are you wearing? Is there a smell in the air? What do you hear? What is your environment?”  Angie Levann

The best times are in the morning and last thing at night before bed. In the morning because you are more likely to carry those images around with you through the day, and before going to bed as you are more likely to hold those thoughts in your subconscious mind and dream about them whilst you sleep. You might want to keep it at home, but as we’re encouraging you to keep it in your planner, why not take time even now and again throughout the day just to flip to that page and look at your vision board.

As you move closer to those goals, continue to visualise the goals, acknowledge that it’s working and feel gratitude that it’s working. 

Below is an example of a vision board that someone might create in line with their yearly goals, namely:

• Decorate and put house on the market. Sell for at least £320,000.

• Move to a house in with a garden, in a friendly town with local shops.

• Run a half marathon.

• Get a promotion to manager or find a new job in management.

 

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