5 Useful Steps to Creating a Vision Board
I’ve been creating vision boards before I even knew what a vision board was. Back in school I would start with a blank word document and write down the list of things I would want to achieve in the next few months or semester for school. I would print out my word document and stick it to my dresser’s mirror where I would look at it every day.
My vision board at the time was made up of things I wanted to achieve in my school year or buy. I would list everything down into bullet points and next to each point I would use an image or when there was no internet connection, I would go to Microsoft Word’s clipart (before they were called icons or illustrations).
I continued to do this through my last year in high school and I remember following the same method into my college years. In each of those print outs, I found myself marking off my list as the school year would go by.
As I learned more about how visualization can help goals and aspirations come to life, I decided to build my vision board with more meaningful images and quotes that inspired me. What made my vision board different then when I was in school, I started to follow a structure I came up with to help me organize my goals by following a few steps that I hope you find helpful:
1. Creating an outline by defining your Goals and categorizing them into Themes
2. Reflect your estimated Timeline
3. Position and Location of your board is key
4. Quotes, words, and mantras are essential
5. Always be colorful with the Photos & Images you use
Read along if you’re interested to learn a little more details on each of the above points.
Goals and Themes:
This is the hardest and most time-consuming part of the process.
Let’s face it, many times we don’t have only one particular thing that we want to achieve. Many times, it can be a list of all kinds of different goals that we want to do and of course all at the same time, whether it’s developing a certain type of content, personal fitness and health goals, educational goals, starting a business and even purchasing something big. Whatever it is, your vision board can have it all.
The only thing that I do different with my vision board is that I compartmentalize my vision board into themes. Before I even begin to tape and glue images onto my board, I would initially list down the things under each theme that I would like to include in my board.
My vision board includes 6 themes, all of which have specific goals:
· Fitness & Health
· Personal Development & Growth
· Hobbies
· Traveling
· Business Ideas
· Purchases
Here’s a short example of the themes along with their goals.
Bonus thought #1:
Don’t shy away from aspirations related to personal finances and abundance. Even companionship and relationships. Your vision board shouldn’t be limited.
Your own Vision Board can have all six themes or even just one. The goal throughout this process is to make it personal to you and inspiring. The reason I use this method is that it helps me organize my thoughts and plans. It also helps me create a framework and outline to build on.
Timeline
Let’s be honest a vision board is a creative piece to use to capture your aspirations and dreams, but there should always be some kind of time-bound element to it. Doesn’t have to have the exact deadline, after all this isn’t your project plan, however reflecting seasons and years into the board can help you visualize your goals even more. For example, in the travel theme I would mention the years I plan on visiting the cities or countries I would like to see (of course external forces such as Covid had put me behind track for a little, but I do intend on picking it up again). It doesn’t have to be the whole feature of your goal, but if you do plan on making it happen by a certain time, then reflect it.
Location
Your Vision Board should be visible to you daily. Make sure to place it somewhere that you know you won’t miss. Could be placed on your vanity mirror, desk, door, wall, wherever.
Some people keep their visuals on their phone and screen savers and if that works for you then keep doing it. I would recommend using a really cool tool called Widgetsmith that’s available on Android and IOs. The app allows you to customize your phone’s home screen with different widgets such as quotes, images, step counting and much more.
Quotes and words that mean something
For a lot of us we always gravitate towards words and quotes that speak our feelings and beliefs. Having bold visual words and quotes on our vision board are important as it allows us to read it out loud whether literally our in our heads. The main idea is that it can be a sense of external support mechanism to you.
Photos & Images
The most fun part about a vision board is bringing it to life with colors and images that represent your goals and you!
There are two ways to get your photos that work for your vision board. You got good old Google images and if this was written 7 years ago, I would reference magazines and newspapers laying around the house, but its 2022, so let’s just say Google images will do.
Bonus thought #2:
One more thing here, if you haven’t used the printer at your office to help with your printouts, then I would recommend you give it a try. For some strange reason they never run out of ink and the papers flow out smoothly. Remember only do this if your office allows personal use of their printers!!
Last but not least have fun doing it. Your vision board shouldn’t feel like a tedious task or chore, so enjoy the process and visualization.
If you haven’t yet spent some time to work on a vision board then, I hope you’re inspired to learn how to get started and consider starting one yourself.
If you have tried vision boards and they’ve worked out for you, then please stick around, and share your experiences with us in the comment section below.
Mona