Creating a Vision Board: More than cut + paste

A Vision Board is a visual, pictorial representation of your desired goal. It is a finished product of an intuitive process: sifting through multiple images and bold phrases in various media, either paper magazines or digitally, grabbing the pictures that resonate with you, and pasting them down in a collage that gives you strength and positive thinking as you meditate on those goals.

Making a vision board work for you, however, is more than the simple exercise of cutting and pasting pretty pictures and encouraging words. Once you have realized your goal by this process of creative visualization, you will also need to imagine the steps involved in reaching those goals. Creating a focused image of your aspirations is a great place to start, but it is not enough to concoct a fantasy and believe that you can attain it by positive energy and faith alone. You also need to prepare yourself for the hard work and the possible forces working against you.

For example, if you were trying to lose weight and get in great physical shape, you would start by visualizing yourself at a healthy weight, looking trim and toned, similar to a model on your vision board. Then you would make a reasonable plan of diet and exercise, setting reachable goals and ways to reward yourself along the way. You would also need to devise a plan to ward off the inevitable temptations, to put in place mental pictures and helpful hints to refer to in times of discouragement.

Then, with your confidence raised and your goals clearly in place, you are ready to negotiate those obstacles while still keeping your eyes on the prize.

Consider this quote by Joel Barker, author and lecturer:

“Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.”

So go ahead, pull out the scissors and glue, the magazines or computer for either your paper or digital Vision Board. But be sure to follow it up with visions of the steps you will take to achieve your goals.

“Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it.”

-Jules Renard, French author