What is a Vision Board?
A vision board is somewhere you can create a visual display of the things that you would like to bring into your life. They often include a mixture of short-term and long-term aspirations and your board should be a place that you feel free to dream big, without worrying about the practicalities of how you will achieve anything on there.
Your vision board should be something that motivates and inspires you to keep focused on your dreams.
"Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs."
- Farrah Gray
What Should I Create my Vision Board on?
You can create a vision board anywhere that feels right for you. Many people choose to use a large pin board and hang it over their desk. My personal preference is to complete my vision board in my journal. It's something I look at every day and it forms part of my life story that is documented amongst my pages.
I enjoy the process of creating mine on paper, but you could consider setting up a Pinterest board or using an app if this would suit you better.
What Should I Include in my Vision Board?
As I mentioned previously, this should be a place to dream big. The vision board can be a collection of images and words; anything that makes you feel good.
One really important thing is to make sure that you only include things you actually want. This may sound obvious, but it's very easy to fall into the trap of including things that you think you "should" be aiming for, rather than dreams that have real meaning to you and would bring value to your life.
I like to include images that represent the lifestyle I am working towards, along with more tangible goals that I can focus on. This isn't the time to question your abilities and whether your goals are achievable - that is only going to encourage you to dream small.
I use images that I find online (often Pinterest) and from magazines that really resonate with me. They instantly help me to see and feel my dream life.
How Do I Use the Vision Board?
You should make sure that you look at your vision board regularly. I include this as part of my morning and evening journaling routine. However, just looking at the board isn't enough. You should take the time to imagine how achieving each of these images or words will feel.
For example, I take time to visualise myself receiving the email that offers me a regular contributor spot for one of my favourites magazines. I can see the words on the email and feel the excitement and pride that come with it. I apply this same process to each of the images on my vision board. It puts me in a great mood and full of energy to work on the things that matter.
Without taking the time to experience the positive feelings associated with your dreams, you are just looking at a board containing things you don't yet have. That can be a pretty gloomy experience! The aim is to feel happy, positive and motivated to work towards your dream life. It also helps you to manifest the things you desire, rather than continuing to attract the things that no longer serve you.
Reflect Often
As part of my evening journaling routine I always like to reflect on my day. I take time to consider whether the actions I have taken have been aligned with the dreams set out on my vision board. When I feel that I have had a "bad day", it nearly always turns out that I have been doing things that don't support my life goals.
Sometimes this is caused by unavoidable distractions and tasks, but other times I realise that I simply made the wrong choice about how to spend my time that day. Those reflections are extremely helpful as it enables me to reset and plan things much more effectively moving forwards.
How Often should I Create a Vision Board?
I would recommend creating or updating your vision board at least once a year. The approach of a new year always feels like a good opportunity, but now is always the best time to start, whenever that happens to be.
“The way to get ahead is to start now. If you start now, you will know a lot next year that you don’t know now and that you would not have known next year if you had waited.”
— William Feather
I tend to update my vision board several times each year. The most important thing is to check that your board still motivates you and that it still aligns with the life you are seeking. Life has a wonderful way of taking you in unexpected directions and you might find that your aspirations start to take a different form. That's great, you can simply start the process again. Each year I find that my dreams become a little bolder as my confidence grows.
Do Vision Boards Work?
Yes, in my opinion they absolutely do. Having a vision board has helped me in so many ways. I find decision making much easier as I can quickly determine whether something takes me closer to my dream life or further away. These decisions could be relating to my actions and behaviour, projects I choose to take on or the simple act of making sure I always add valuable tasks to my plans for each day.
My vision board makes me much more attuned to the opportunities around me and receptive to new experiences that I might otherwise have turned down. It has encouraged me to learn new skills, focus on my personal development and reach out to people that I find inspiring. It has brought all manner of positive experiences into my life that I couldn't have imagined possible a few years ago.
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
What if I Don't Know what I Want out of Life?
Firstly, don't panic. I don't think anyone ever has it all perfectly worked out and I don't believe that matters at all. Start with a few areas that you know you would like to work on and build from there. The new experiences and confidence that you will gain from gradually improving individual areas of your life will help you to see your path more clearly.
If you would like more guidance with figuring out what you want from life, setting clear intentions and putting plans for success in place, then check out the guide in my shop.
I really hope this blog post has inspired you to dream big and start working towards the wonderful life you deserve.