The miracle of creating a Why Board (and why it works)

I’m not a goal setter, I’m a dreamer. Some might think that is a bad thing, but I disagree. Ever since I was very young, I created what I call WHY Boards. A WHY Board is a visualization of my hopes and dreams, a simple way to help me collect my thoughts and remind myself of what I want to achieve and why. I enjoy collecting my intentions and dreams on a board because doing this makes me feel like I have declared my intentions to the universe. Magically (or almost so) most of my dreams really do come true.

Does that mean that I always get what I want? Of course not! Sometimes, maybe I didn’t really want it as much as I thought. Or my dreams were too big and unrealistic. Other times, I realize what I wanted had been within reach, but I wasn’t ready to receive it at that point in my life. Looking back, 80 to 90 % of what I have put on my vision board came to life, and that’s a pretty good success rate!

WHY Boards – up close & personal

In my mid-thirties, I became a single mother of three. I can still recall a close (male) friend telling me “It’s going to be hard to find a new husband with 3 kids hanging in your skirts.” But I knew that if I was meant to be with another person, we would meet one day. And we did. I got married three years later, and my dream house, my job, and the master plan I had envisioned all came true too. In good times and bad, WHY Boards keep me on track, pursuing the experiences and things that are most important to me.

WHY Boards – on the job

In my professional life as an educator, I introduced WHY Boards as a valuable tool in my leadership and development programs. Over and over again, I witnessed this simple and inexpensive tool have a profound impact in people’s lives...it blew my mind!

In December 2015 I added a picture of my dream townhouse to my WHY Board. At the time, it was just a dream, as I did not have the funding then. In May 2016, I became the happy owner.

Steps to create your WHY Board!

There are no rules on how to do it. Be your own master as you capture your dreams then take action to bring them to life.

Here are a few tips that have worked in my experience:

1. Get Ready

You can choose any kind of board and size you prefer. Bristol or craft board, cardboard, or a bulletin board all work well. Personally, I always use a pin board, tape, pins, scissors, glue, etc. Find images from personal photos, inspirational quotes you find online or in books, images of your dream house, boat, job, vacations or places you dream about visiting. The sky is the limit. This is your WHY Board – anything that inspires you belongs on your board.

2. Take some Time out

While we would all love to find a shortcut, the world doesn’t work that way. You will need to set time aside to think about your dreams and capture them as you create your WHY Board. If you are socially oriented you can create an event and invite people to join you. I do this each year, inviting some close friends and my children to an annual WHY Board event. We bring last year’s WHY Board and talk about what came true in the past year. Whether you are working alone or with a group of people, make sure you do it at your own pace. Don’t rush!

Tip: Start with a plan! Before you start gluing images, prepare a “dummy” by laying everything on the table.

3. Know your WHY and Start Believing.

Your WHY Board should focus on how you want to feel and not just on things that you want. The more your WHY Board focuses on how you want to feel, the more it will come to life. If you can dream it, you can do it.

·     Start to believe that dream has already come true.

·     Look at your WHY Board every day, keeping it in a place where you can see it often. I always keep mine in my bedroom.

·     Take a picture of your board and keep it on your phone, computer and other places.

·     Set goals for your WHY Board. I create a fresh board every year, but each WHY Board has a one, two and five-year goal. These will be adjusted as I accomplish one at a time, or as my WHY changes.

I truly believe that visualization is one of the most powerful mind exercises we can do. In the article Seeing is Believing, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/flourish/200912/seeing-is-believing-the-power-visualization it is reported that the brain patterns activated when a weightlifter lifts heavyweights are also similarly activated when the lifter just imagined (visualized) lifting weights.

Your mind is your strongest friend. Using your WHY Board for visualization is one way to help that friend bring your dreams to life.

I wish you all the best as you create your WHY Board.

Blissful greetings from Florida

Susan

About Susan Binau

Motivational speaker, businesswoman, philanthropist, author and cancer survivor.

The past 10 years I have traveled extensively to share my personal and professional experiences and successes with patients, patient families, healthcare professionals, and other audiences around the globe.

I continue my mission through the Serenity Gate Foundation https://serenitygatefoundation.org It is our vision is to donate tools to every grieving child in the United States through awareness and education, to reduce the unspoken burden of childhood grief. 

I have made it my mission to empower others and to disseminate a message of hope and strength by offering a wealth of true stories from people around the world. www.globalvoicesofcourage.com

More information please visit Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Binau