Create a Powerful Vision Board to Align Life and Business
Co-Authored by M.J. James and Melissa Bloom author of, The Path to Joy, and creator of Joy School.
I sat on my office floor, my favorite comfy carpet beneath my bare feet. A large cork board sat next to me, an empty canvas waiting for me to unfold my vision onto. Stickers, magazines, prayer cards, motivational sayings were in piles between my markers, tape and push pins. "Now to actually create my vision board," I thought.
Almost an hour later, I found myself staring at the same empty corkboard, though the magazines and stickers had been moved about. I had made zero progress. I had accomplished nothing. I felt frustrated that I hadn't found such a simple exercise easy. I was disappointed in myself for having wasted time; the inefficiency of it all felt super heavy. I was an organizer, so why couldn't I organize this?
This is one of my earliest recounts of creating a vision board. After that abysmal attempt, I stopped trying to get on the vision board train for many years. It kind of stuck in my craw, though... The idea of a vision board seemed right up my alley. It was a creative way to create clarity visually, and I wanted to add that to my flow so badly.
My good friend, fellow author, and co-writer of today's post, Melissa Bloom, shared, "Vision boards can be scary. Creating a vision can be scary. There’s this feeling of hope and possibility, but often, it’s combined with feelings of doubt, regret, and unworthiness. It can feel tricky, like playing Jenga."
The more I listened to people discussing vision boards, the more I realized I needed a mindset overhaul where vision boards were concerned. My brain wanted to put everything- like every single thing I wanted to accomplish ever- down on that board. It refused to break things down. It refused to allow me to focus on one thing or even a tiny part of the whole. Enter in overwhelm.
Vision board mindset
A vision board's job is to be a visual representation of your goals. It can be an extremely powerful tool. Life goals, new goals, dream life, business goals, even certain characteristics and emotions you want to experience more of can all be brought to life on a physical vision board. (Can you see how I got overwhelmed the first time? So many big things.)
Here's an apparent thought but one that I didn't see initially...you can have more than one vision board. You can easily create a personal vision board, and a business vision board. If there is a specific area in your life you want to put some extra attention into, you can create a vision board specifically for that key piece, too.
Remember, the concept of a vision board is to be a visual representation of your goals. It's to help you clearly see what you want to create/ move toward/ strengthen/ grow in/ accomplish. There is no need to put all of the things onto one board. There is also no need to make just one or make more than one.
The mindset I want you to embrace for this project is that you get to create the visual board (or vision book if you'd like) that is customized to help you take the necessary steps toward clarity, personal growth, and dare I say it, a little more peace.
Why create a vision board?
According to neuroscience and this Forbes article, people who clearly write their goals down "are 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to accomplish them." This article goes deep into the science behind this connection with a process called encoding. Encoding is a process where things that we see travel into our brain and get analyzed to determine what makes it into our long-term memory. The longer we program our brain for something, the more often we see it, the great chance we have of taking action toward that thing and achieving it.
I think most humans actually want some of the same things: to feel safe, at peace, excited and joyful about life, like we have freedom and a choice. What that looks like for all of us may be quite different when laid out visually, and certainly in our actions.
Creating your own vision board can help you figure out what is or what you would like in your oasis.
Choose your focus
Personally, I've found I have greater success when I choose not only a theme but I limit the goals/focus on my board. Sometimes, more is just more. Sometimes, more can be overwhelming. I avoid doing this to myself. I pick a theme and three goals to focus on.
This year, my theme is Discipline, and my three goals are:
1. physical fitness
2. digital assets
3. Daily writing
I chose these areas because they are the ones that I need the most growth in.
You might want to focus on more positive emotions, personal goals, goal setting in general, maybe some positive thinking is your focus...The beauty (and sometimes part of the overwhelm when attempting this) is that the concept of vision boards is broad and widely customizable. There is no right or wrong way. You should, however, chose a focus for your board to help you visually create the big picture of what you would like to cultivate within your life/business. Focus, I think, is the starting point.
Take some time and think about it. Do you need to strengthen your personal values? Your balance? Want to achieve some specific things in your personal life or business? Want to land some dream clients this year? Have a dream vacation you want to see come to fruition?
Many people use these boards to visually show a specific goal, a smart goal, long-term goals, and some even go so far as to put their goals for family lifestyle changes.
Pick a clear direction for your vision board work. (Sure, you can create more than one board.)
Hunt and Gather supplies
After you've thought about your focus, you'll next want to gather your supplies. Will you be creating this vision on poster board? In a book (like a scrap book)? Maybe you want a digital vision board? Which seems the most "you?"
Next, begin your hunt and gather! Pictures you love, motivational quotes or bible verses, colors, shapes. You can even collect words that elicit feelings of hope, calm, excitement, possibility, joy, and peace. (My personal favorite - old magazines.)
If you start gathering materials and there’s a picture that feels too aspirational, and you feel that niggling feeling of doubt, don’t include it. Your vision board or book should make you feel good.
Now it's time to grab that glue (or tape...or your keyboard if you are going digital). Attach these words and pictures in any way you want. Just like a journal, this vision board is not for public consumption – you are not submitting it to an art competition. It’s for only YOU.
Let’s say one of your visions is to travel more. Maybe add some photos of travel. But tune in to how you feel. If you haven’t been traveling much and feel regret or resentment because maybe you’ve not had enough time, money, or a friend to travel with, honor those feelings. Then, use a picture that feels exciting without stirring up all negative side of your thoughts. Inspire yourself.
The inspirational quotes, words, and photos that you include on your book or board should not be ‘yelling’ at you. No tough love, OK?
How you feel while creating this bigger picture of what you hope to move toward matters. How you feel at it each time you glance at it matters. This is a constant reminder to yourself of what you hope to achieve/move toward/ strengthen/ accomplish. You want to feel the positive and inspiring power of vision boards on a daily basis.
Finally, once you've created this vision board (or book), how do you use it? The best way I've learned is to use it gently.
Have your morning cup of coffee and take a look at it. You could hang it on an office wall. Maybe you peek at it after meditation and simply enjoy the vision.
The thing is many of us get stuck on the plan. I'm a planner. I love the action steps. You know what I'm not good at? Letting myself just be. I'm not good at just allowing things to come or allowing things to happen.
It is for that very reason that I wanted a creative project like this. For me an effective vision board is one that gets me so excited to look at it that I sit still. I take some deep breaths. I allow the moment to wash over me as I look at the visual creation of my aspirations. I let myself just be in the moment.
Chances are you're already a pretty awesome human being. Chances are you've had some awesome accomplishments, and likely, some really rough bumps along the way. Chances are you know most of what you need to do in terms of action steps and check lists and learning resources... Chances are also pretty high, that allowing things to happen isn't a strong suit. It isn't for most this day and age.
So here's the challenge- create your vision board (book). Allow it to unfold. Don’t try to force it. Remove the action steps and instead embrace the magic of a vision board. Allow. See it. Sit with it. Smile. And then, see what happens.
