Let's all envision a great New Year!
noun
: a visual representation of your goals, dreams, and ideal life.
: see also-“dream board” or “inspiration board”
How to create a vision board:
1. Identify your goals and desires.
Each of our lives has a unique purpose. When we align our goals with this purpose, we have fun manifesting our desires and more easily achieve success.
The key to making a vision board filled with goals and desires that reflect your unique life purpose is to take some time to figure out what in the heck your life purpose is.
Don’t overthink this.
Many people spend their entire lives trying to answer this question. But, it is really quite simple. (For me, I believe my life purpose is to be creative and helpful to others.)
Ask yourself these questions to zero in on YOUR purpose:
-What have I always enjoyed doing? (From childhood to adulthood)
What did you play as a child?
When you first started considering a career, what was your initial thought?
What are my interests?
If you had nothing else to do, what would you love to spend your time doing?
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi discovered that people find genuine satisfaction during a state of consciousness called “Flow”. In this state they are completely absorbed in an activity. During this “optimal experience” they feel “strong, alert, in effortless control.Think about a time when he you were in the “flow” state. What were you doing?
What resources do I have available to me?
I believe that the universe aligns us with the resources that we need to fulfill our purpose.
Do you have resources that are unique from others and align with your interests? This could be a clue to what your life purpose is!
2. It’s time to get crafty
Get out your magazines, photo albums, glue and markers.
Find pictures or words that represent the experiences, items, and feelings you wish to attract into your life and paste them onto a piece of paper or poster board. It does not matter what size you choose. It could be an 8 1/2? x 11? sheet of copy paper or a large stretched canvas. Just make sure that it is big enough to hold all of your desires.
The images don’t have to be of YOU doing the activity. However, I have had the most success when I get crafty and past pictures of my face into experiences that I desire.
One year, I pasted a picture of my face with my forthcoming book listed on Amazon.com and sitting on the shelf at my bookstore and library. Months later, I was offered representation from a literary agent!
You can choose words and pictures that depict the goals in one specific area of your life or your vision board can be all encompassing. You could make one vision board for personal goals and one for career goals. It is completely up to you.
The most important thing is to choose words and pictures that touch you on an emotional level. You want your vision board to be filled with images and sayings that inspire positive feelings, get you excited, and make you smile.
3. Post your vision board in a place where you will see it frequently.
It is especially important to place your vision board in a spot where you will see it right before you go to bed.
The images you see in the 45-minutes before you go to sleep are the ones that replay in your subconscious mind during the night as you sleep.
I keep my vision board in my bathroom above my sink where I can see it every morning and every night while I brush my teeth.
4. Feel gratitude.
As time passes, you will begin to see the desires on your vision board manifested. Make sure to take time and feel gratitude for these things.
Every morning, before I get out of bed, I routinely go through and think about all of the things I am grateful for, including those desires that have manifested themselves in my life.
Also, some believe that to truly manifest your desires while you daily think about having them you FEEL that you already do.
5. It is a work-in-progress.
Your vision board does not have to be a “one and done”. You can always add new desires to your board as your dreams evolve and expand.
I like to make a new vision board every year. I have started a tradition in my family of making vision boards at the beginning of each year. It is a wonderful opportunity to bond with your family as you share the successes and achievements over the past year and look forward into the future together.
I always keep my vision board from previous years. It is like a visual journal of my dreams and personal growth.
6. Take action!
Your vision board is a wonderful place to start in realizing your ideal life. However, let’s be realistic. Your desires are not just going to magically appear while you sit on the couch watching Netflix.
You have to get out there and take advantage of the resources and opportunities that the universe gives you.
This is when you release your fears and trust that, “the universe has your back”. When your desires are truly aligned with your life purpose, then you will discover that it is very easy to attract the things you wish for.
But, YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! This is the part where you email your favorite literary agent the query and proposal you have been working on for years.
You have to believe that the answer is already “yes” and that the things and experiences you desire are already on their way.
Now, You Try! Ready, set... go get crafty and let your vision board be a catalyst for creating the life you were born to live!
BONUS IDEA: Make a PRIVATE Instagram board that you can post your images. Screenshots are so easy, this works too. Happy, Healthy New Year.