A vision board is simply a collective name for a wide variety of inspirational collages created from pictures. It is a pictorial representation of your vision – and a powerful way to make your dreams more tangible and attainable. That is because the very act of creating the vision board tells your mind what is important. You are teaching your mind what you want to focus on in your life. A vision board is used to set goals for the year ahead. It could also focus on a specific area like career, business, home life, spiritual growth, well-being or relationships.
How a vision board works
Your brain works best when it has a clear destination so it is a good idea to be specific about what your personal goals are. When driving with a GPS or Sat Nav system you need to programme it first in order to reach your destination. Once you have programmed your inner Sat Nav, a powerful brain filter starts to operate, it is known at the Reticular Activating System or RAS for short.
Think about the colour red and look around you. All of a sudden, you seem to be surrounded by red things. However, they were there already. You had just not thought of them as significant before, so did not notice them. It is like being at a party with lots of people around and talking to one person in particular – the rest of the conversations become a bit of a blur. However, if someone were to say your name, you would hear it and turn to see who spoke. This is because RAS has tagged your name as important and allowed the information in.
The truth is you can hear every word of every conversation within earshot but if the brain were to process all of this it would become overloaded. It is the same with life. Create a clear idea of the life you want to live and RAS will allow information in which it had previously ignored. This is useful in moving towards your goal.
Making a Vision Board
You will need a large piece of card, old magazines, glue and felt tip pens. Sometimes people have no idea where to start- this is a good thing! Simply start by flicking through the magazines and look for words, phrases and/or pictures that inspire or grab you. Although a vision board can be put together on a computer, the very act of hunting down the pictures of your hopes and dreams can help imbed them in your brain as ‘important information’.
Consider using some of the following statements:
- With a vision board, how you feel is more important that what you think.
- While you look for pictures, really feel into your goals. Allow your mind to run free.
- Make your board vibrant: Cut out things that inspire a positive or curious response from you. Do not analyse – grab it.
- Include pictures, symbols, words and quotes – anything that resonates with you or appeals or speaks to you. It does not need to make sense or be obvious why you like it.
- It can also be powerful, actively looking for the unfamiliar, thinking ‘outside your box.
- Remember, this is not about creating an artistic masterpiece but creating something personal and inspiring.
- So you have finished. Now what? Well, put your vision board somewhere you will see it every day to remind, inspire and focus you. Take a photo as a phone screensaver too.
- Sometimes when we see something regularly, after a while we stop seeing it. Therefore, I recommend that occasionally, you sit down and look deeply at it.
- Review the board add to it if you wish and allow yourself to feel it and get excited by it.
- View the board just before you go to sleep as it allows your mind to ponder and absorb it overnight.
Thank you!!1