What is a Vision Board?

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What is a Vision Board? A vision board is a collage of images, pictures, words, and affirmations of one’s dreams and desires, designed to serve as a source of inspiration and motivation.

The Purpose of a Vision Board

A vision board, also known as a dream board, is a visual board that is designed to help you manifest your goals and dream life. This board can be a digital or physical representation of these goals in different areas of your life, such as:

• Career / Professional
• Health / Wellness
• Home/ Family
• Finances
• Lifestyle

Your vision board is a powerful tool when used appropriately and keeping your board visible throughout your day can keep you focused and motivated. Your vision board should bring about feelings of opportunity, passion, and inspiration.

My Vision Board

• Live near water
• Travel – Ireland, Italy, Hawaii
• Photograph the perfect sunset
• Make more money – to pay for all of these goals
• Create the perfect studio kitchen for Cooking with Curls

As you can see, my virtual board is my computer background. I see it first thing in the morning when I log in, and it is the last thing I see at night when I shut down my computer.

If an image or quote no longer serves a purpose, then remove it or replace it with another item. Your vision board should always be in alignment with what you want for your life. The board shown above is different than the one I created at the end of last year. It is now more important that I live near water, than live in a specific city. Dreaming about wanting to own a beach tiki bar, yes that was an image on there, isn’t appealing anymore and doesn’t make financial sense.

Keep in mind that some of your goals may need a timeline to help you move forward with action otherwise you may never fully reach that goal.

“A dream without a plan is just a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Your vision board will work if you take the time to create SMART goals. SMART goals stand for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Be sure that your dreams are given boundaries and a timeline that include SMART goals so you can see your dreams come to fruition. Keep in mind that your dreams can change over time, and this is normal. More about SMART goals in a future post.

Why should you make a vision board?

1. Understanding -Vision Boards can help you understand what you really want in your life because they require you to focus on your dreams. It can be any shape or size. It can also be physical or digital, as well as private or public. Keep in mind that your vision board is personal and does not require the opinion of others. If you are struggling in any area of your vision board, then seek the help of a friend or professional who can help you gain clarification.
2. Motivation – The purpose of a vision board is to help motivate you to accomplish your life’s goals and see your dreams come true. You may be more motivated to accomplish your goals when they are visually appealing to you. Vision boards are meant to be posted on a wall or in an area that you frequent daily. Consider posting several copies of your vision board in your home and even at work.
3. Expectation – It prompts you to analyze what you want for your life by focusing on your dreams. Then you will need to create small action steps that will get you closer to achieving your goals and dreams. This will require you to completely honesty with yourself and maintain realistic expectations.
4. Reminders – If you post your vision board in a common area it will serve as a daily reminder of what actions you should take. Daily reminders can give you the inspiration to move forward during difficult times. If you are feeling down or burnt out, stare at your board and remember what it is that is truly important to you.
5. Inspiration – Creating your vision board can be a fun and creative outlet that can reduce stress. There is no need to organize or map out your vision board, no one is grading it. You can include images, magazine clippings, poems, scripture, quotes, and even stickers. Use whatever supplies or elements you feel fit within the size and shape of your board.

How to create a vision board

First and foremost, this should be a fun process. Give yourself space to dream about what you want and plan out your goals and intentions. You need to know what your goals are in order to know what images you will need.

To create a physical board

• Decide what type of board you are going to create. Are you going to use a whiteboard or cork board to hang on the wall? Or a magnet board to stick on your refrigerator.
• Gather your inspiration materials. Old magazines and catalogs, postcards and old images, or print out images from the internet.
• How will you attach your items? You will need scissor to cut out images, and pins, tape, or glue to secure them to the board.
• Add a personal touch with pens, markers, stickers, or paint pens.

To create a digital board

• Decide where you are going to store your board. I knew that I was going to download mine to my computer so it would always be in front of me. Pinterest is another good option. You can create a secret board where you store your favorite pins.
• Both Canva and Pinterest will allow you up upload your own images for a more personal touch.
• I picked a template in Canva to create my board, and then chose from their images to fit my vision. The best part of a digital board is that you can make changes. I was able to change out the images from my original board without having to start over from scratch.

There are many different templates that can fit any vision. Add elements and text to be more specific about your goals. The example above is called: “Photo Collage Vision Board New Year Resolution Desktop Organizer Wallpaper”. Some templates look like scrapbook pages. Just pick the one that feels right to you and start visualizing your future!

Final thoughts

Vision boards are all about intentions, and they are a great way to remind yourself of what your intentions are. They are highly versatile. You can use them to manifest your personal goals or outline professional goals. They’re perfect for helping you envision your dream life.

They are not set in stone and will change as you change. Sometimes the “goal” is actually a “dream” created out of emotions, like owning a tiki bar because I hate the desert! Dream, but try to stay focused on the actual goals and intentions and adjust as needed.

Your vision board should be inspiring. Use it to meditate on your goals by shaping your thoughts and reinforcing your priorities. Speak affirmations out loud to reinforce the self-talk in your head to show yourself that you can and will achieve your goals. Then take action to make them a reality.