How to use Vision Boards: 7 Top Tips

The end of a year - or early in a new one - is a great time for people to get focused on what they want from the year ahead and their lives.

A Vision Board is a way of teaching our mind to focus on the things that are important to us. Vision Boards can also be a great way to connect with our subconscious wants, desires and needs - and make them conscious!

Why Create a Vision Board?

A Vision Board you:

• Clarify who you are, what you want or where you're going
• Get your new year off to a flying start
• Tap into your inner wisdom and inner knowing
• Create some focus or refocus yourself
• Simply get to know yourself better!

What is a Vision Board?

A Vision Board is simply a collective name for a wide variety of inspirational maps (a collage) that we create from pictures.

The map can be WHO we want to be or HOW we want our lives to be but it’s a visual representation of our goals and dreams - a powerful way to make our aspirations more tangible and attainable.

How I believe Vision Boards work

Our minds can only hold about 7 pieces of information at any one time. And yet there are millions of pieces of information available to us at every moment (think about everything you can see/hear/feel for starters).

So, to ensure we don't get overwhelmed, our mind learns to filter information and to only show you pieces of information it thinks is RELEVANT. That's why when we get a new car we suddenly notice little red cars everywhere - just like ours.

THIS is one of the key ways that Vision Boards work. The very act of CREATING the vision board tells our mind what's important to us. So it may just draw your attention to something you might not otherwise have noticed in your life.

How to create a Vision Board

Simply cut out and collect pictures, words, quotes that inspire you or that catch your eye. DON'T ANALYSE! If it grabs you, tear it out!

Then paste and organize these images, words, quotes etc onto a big piece of paper, giving it a title and date.

How much time should we allow to create a Vision Board?

This will depend on the individual however:

• If someone is doing a vision board by themselves - I would say to allow around 1 1/2 hours.
• When I run a Vision Boarding Workshop I allow around 2 1/2 hours in total. This allows for introductions, getting settled in and a little reflection/closing at the end.
• Finally, it can also be fun for you to get a group of friends together and make an evening of it - then you should probably allow 2-3 hours to include chatting and sharing etc.

What supplies do you need to create a Vision Board?

• A piece of bristol board or cardboard
• Scissors
• Glue
• A supply of inspirational magazines to cut out pictures from. Some great magazines to use include Oprah magazine, home magazines, travel magazines, personal development magazines and National Geographic.
• Coloured pens (optional) - helpful to add or highlight any personal phrases and notes to the board.

7 Top Tips for Creating a Powerful Vision Board

1. The Vision Board MUST HAVE PICTURES – even if they are just line drawings and stick men/women.
2. While you look for pictures, you should allow your minds to run free and dream. INCLUDE ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING that appeals or speaks to you!
3. When creating a Vision Board, HOW YOU FEEL is more important that what you think!
4. Include PERSONAL AFFIRMATIONS or inspiring quotes to nurture and cherish yourself.
5. Use COLOUR! Coloured felt-tip pens, colour post-it notes, colour pictures, make it VIBRANT and exciting.
6. Look for the UNFAMILIAR – to get outside your 'normal' box…
7. Finally, this is not about creating an artistic masterpiece but creating something that visually INSPIRES and EXCITES you!

What happens after creating a Vision Board?

You've finished? Well, there are two main schools of thought out there as to what to do next and I have had clients who have had great success with both methods.

1) FORGET about the Vision Board

Just put the Vision Board in a closet. You'll find it in 5 years and things will magically have happened.

The idea here is that we remove any attachment to the vision and don't FORCE things or try too hard. After all, when we put something somewhere obvious, we tend to stop seeing it after a while anyway...

2) Put the Vision Board somewhere you'll SEE IT EVERY DAY

This way our Vision Board will remind, inspire and focus us. This is my preferred option!

If we do this, it's important that every once in a while, we sit down and REALLY LOOK AT IT: review it, allow yourself to feel it and get excited by it. Just before we go to sleep is a great time to do this as it allows our mind to work on and absorb the contents overnight.

Wrap-up

Vision boards are a great pre-cursor to goal-setting, and help frame the mind in possibility. They are inspiring and fun to create - and help us connect to our sub-conscious desires!