Are your dreams or goals coming true? If not, maybe it’s time to create a vision board. A vision board is a visual of your goals, aspirations, and desires through the use of pictures and words. It can be personal dreams, career ambitions, a family wish list, monetary goals, physical health targets, relationship intentions, travel destinations, spiritual pursuits, or anything you want to create in your life.

You can make sections on your board for different areas in your life: relationships, career, finance, personal development, health, travel, hobbies, etc. Or have theme boards, such as personal or professional goals. I like just one board because more than that gets overwhelming.

A vision board is a daily reminder and inspiration for you to focus on what you want to attract in your life. Attraction doesn’t happen just because you think about it. You need to take action for something to appear. Plus, a vision board can help you stay on track.

It also gets the subconscious working on it too, so your brain is helping you even when you aren’t conscious of it. Then you will notice things you didn’t see before, like a book or article that will provide information. And people will give you valuable insight. Once you take some action and the wheels will start to turn. And the more you focus on it (with action steps) the wheels really get moving and new opportunities will present themselves. Action puts the law of attraction into motion. So let’s get started!

Mind Prep Work: Thoughts to Ponder Before Your Start Your Vision Board

First, think about the direction you want your life to go. Where do you want to be in one, three, five, or ten years? The timeline on your board is totally up to you.

Second, reflect on your life. What do you want to create or change?

Third, what are your goals, dreams, desires, intentions? What do they look like? How would you feel once you achieved them? These should be in harmony with your true self. You don’t want a goal that doesn’t align with your values. 

Fourth, ask yourself why on the above. A clear why helps give you clarity to manifest your intentions. Emotions are powerful motivators, so include words that describe feelings when clarifying your why. Maybe you’re after happiness, peace, love, excitement, pride, satisfaction, contentment, or the feeling of freedom. Identifying your why also helps to find out if these goals are really yours or someone else’s. 

Fifth, create an intention or positive affirmation statement for your vision board. Mindset is key. Here are some examples:

• I am happy with my life.
• I love my life.
• I am a compassionate partner.
• I am thankful for my family and friends.
• My career gives me much pride and satisfaction.
• I have all the money I need and this gives me the freedom to do many things.
• I am grateful that I have money to take vacations.
• I am content with what is.
• My mind, body, and soul are at peace.

Time to put your board together.

Vision Board Materials

Poster board or cork board

Glue or tape

Markers

Pictures – including yourself

Empowering words, statements, quotes

Find pictures, words, or quotes of your dream or goal in magazines or online. Make sure that you resonate with what you are putting on the board. If you only have a so-so feeling about it, then it will be harder to manifest. The item should make it very clear what you want to achieve, so that when you see it, you know exactly what it is. And insert a photo of yourself, one of excitement or happiness, to include you in these dreams. It’s helping you feel like all of this is reachable.

These items should also express the feelings you want to achieve. If you want to be happy in your career, have a picture of someone smiling at their job. Or if you want a meaningful relationship, show a picture of a couple in love or a family getting along. I’ve seen boards with just pictures, ones with just words and quotes, and others that are a mix. If you can, try to keep the words and quotes short so they are easy to digest. But if a long quote really inspires you, add it. 

I am a big believer in using positive affirmations. For me, I AMis the most powerful affirmation because whatever follows I AM states “I AM that.” I AM is the divine being in us, and what comes next is this expression in physical form. And embracing affirmations invites in our desires.

Create Your Board

One of my favorite apps to use for designing and creating wonderful images and quotes is https://www.canva.com/. It’s very easy to use and they have a boatload of images and inspirational statements. You can also create an online vision board in Canva, Pinterest, or even a Word document.

There are so many places to get pictures online. One is https://unsplash.com/. To adjust the size of the picture, you can copy and paste pictures in a photo editing app. Or use Canva or a Word document to alter the picture so you don’t waste so much ink. The more colorful and vivid the picture, the more it will catch your attention.

Next, place these items into a collage on your poster board. Don’t glue them down until you have positioned everything on the board first, because you may want to change something. Leave room if you want to write in inspiring words or quotes using your markers. Remember to include emotional words that will entice you to take action or a feeling you want to achieve. I like to leave white space around my pictures so they pop out more. Too much stuff makes it hard for me to focus.

Or you can use a corkboard and just pin the items. If you are making a short-term board, a corkboard allows you to change the items easily. When things aren’t relevant anymore, just switch them. Maybe you achieved your goal or realized that you don’t want it anymore. Another suggestion is to use PowerPoint or some other slide presentation software to create a moving vision board.

Placement, Plan, Visualize

Now that you have finished your board, where are you going to place it? Put it in a location where you will see it daily, hopefully several times a day. That could be a bedroom, home office, or living area. The more you see it, the more focus you will give to your goals.

Make a plan, then take the steps to get there. They don’t need to be big steps. Small steps will do. Remember, you need to perform some action. It won’t just come to you.

Take time to visualize these dreams coming true. See yourself achieving your desires and the feelings of accomplishing them. Feel what it’s like to be the future you. And say your goals aloud using words that they have already come true. There is something about verbally speaking your goals in the present tense that is more motivating.

Last, be open to change. Just because you make a board doesn’t mean that those things are static. Be open to new things that come to you. Maybe something happens that is more exciting than what’s on your board. Or once you get started, you may want to change your goals. Life happens and new experiences may bring up different dreams and desires. So you may need to change or create a new board and that’s okay. There may be something better that you haven’t thought of yet! 

As Walt Disney said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

What are you waiting for? 🙂

For more information on affirmations, see /https://lynnlokpayne.com/affirmations-intentions-and-mantras/