For many people who are into productivity, vision boards are either a love-it or hate-it proposition. Many people believe they are nothing more than poster boards, while others believe they can truly help you achieve your goals. Creating a vision board will help bring to life everything you hope or want to achieve this week, this month and this year. Visualization is powerful, and while it’s true that it won’t work for everyone, vision boards can and do work for many others.
Also read:Goals vs. Objectives: Is There a Difference?
What Is a Vision Board?
A vision board can go by a bunch of names, but they all circle back to the same thing. To help simplify things, consider a vision board to be a group of pictures or visuals that is a representation of all of the goals you want to accomplish.
There’s plenty of science to support the idea that visualization can help you achieve your goals. A 2016 study by TD Bank showed that people who visualize their goals about budgeting felt more accomplished and happy. The creation of vision boards during this study showed two times as much confidence in budget goals as those who did not create one. Similarly, athletes use visualization as mental training to help gain an edge over the competition. There’s no question vision boards aren’t for everyone, but for those that look to create one, the science is there to support its success.
Why Create a Vision Board?
Creating a vision board will help you focus on what it is you truly want. There’s likely a lot of goals swirling through your mind every day that you want to achieve. Everything from financial, professional and personal goals are there for you to think about. A vision board will help you focus on the goals which are easily identifiable and can be visualized.
On top of that, you can further an emotional connection that will motivate you. Goals on a vision board go beyond just the initial visual as you start identifying other associated goals. If one goal is to save a certain amount of money, that visual of a bank account, bank or dollar bill can easily be associated with a home, travel, car, etc., that you want to save for. It helps further your emotional connection.
Finally, a vision board can help you figure out what you may not have already discovered. It’s completely possible that you don’t have a dream or a goal that you want to work toward. Introducing a vision board can help you learn something about yourself that may not have been awake inside of you.
How to Create a Vision Board
Before you get started, it’s important to note that the perfect vision board doesn’t exist. There is no “right” way to make one. It’s whatever and however you want it to be. There are some solid foundations, such as finding a heavy piece of cardboard, corkboard or construction paper that you can add pictures to. Other materials like glue, tape, scissors or stickers are also necessary, but beyond these essentials, the rest is entirely up to you.
To create a vision board:
1. Create a list of goals you want to achieve in the next year. Start by listing everything important to you right now. This can be anything from hobbies, family, finances, work, etc. The key is not to spend too long on this or get bogged down in the goals. Focus on the goals that come to mind first.
2. Locate images and words that align with those goals. Magazines are a great solution, but you can also print images you find online, use old wrapping paper, ribbon, etc. Make sure you don’t get caught up in finding the perfect photo. As long as you know what each image represents, it can be literally anything.
3. Start laying everything out. Be cautious in your approach, and lay each image out before you glue or tape everything down. Make sure you create the board as a template before you commit to any particular flow or design. Some people just go with their gut, and others have a specific idea of how it should look. Once again, there is no right answer here for how a vision board should come together.
4. Start gluing the images down and solidifying each item as a goal for the next year. Think of it as a large collage, but instead of something you will post on social media, this collage is everything you want to achieve in the next 12 months. Beyond the images, you can also now add affirmation words around the images like “healthy, strong, free,” etc.
That’s it. You’ve done it. Your vision board is officially “live” and ready for you to hang up in a bedroom, home office or anywhere you will notice it regularly. The key is to ensure the vision board is something you can visualize daily, so don’t stick it in a closet and forget about it.
Final Thoughts
A vision board is far from the perfect way of ensuring you will achieve your goals. Only you can be responsible for taking the necessary steps and actions to start checking off your personal to-do list. What a vision board can do is serve as a visual reminder that you have goals that will help you find more happiness, financial freedom, and hopefully, better overall health.