Creating a Vision Board

With the end of the year fast approaching it’s a natural time to reflect on the past 12 months and start thinking about what we would like to enter our lives in the coming year. Where do we see our lives heading? And are we happy with this destination?

A vision board works on several levels. It is a visual aid which you can keep pinned up somewhere you will see it on a daily basis… on the wall behind your desk, on the fridge, for me its next to my bedroom mirror, so every morning as I’m getting ready my eye scans over it and it reinforces my goals, my dreams, my plans and where I see my life heading. It acts as an amazing motivator!

Having this visual aid around reinforces on a daily basis where your heading, so when you’re feeling run down, overwhelmed, out of sync or just damn right cranky it’s there, reminding you why you’re doing what you’re doing and where your heading.

There is a school of thought that supports the idea of positive thinking, you are what you think, you literally create your own reality with the thoughts you think. I read that we think around 60,000 thoughts a day, of which around 90% are repeated thoughts from the day before, we really are creatures of habit! These thoughts are like a blueprint for our lives, the more you think it the more you attract it, the more likely it’s what you are going to get. You literally cannot afford to have a negative thought!

Obviously no one can walk around with a constant smile on their face (well not a genuine one anyway!) thinking happy happy thoughts all the time, but the trick is to tip the balance, start slowly slowly adjusting your thought patterns to the positive. The first step in the right directions is noticing that you are having a negative thought, becoming aware of it, then you have the power to stop it, to make the choice, stop that negative thought in its tracks, don’t wollow there, instead switch to something which makes you feel good, that lets off a positive vibration.

A vision board can be a great help with this, every time you look at it you see all those awesome things your calling into your life, not just with your actions, but with the thoughts you’re putting out there.

So how to create one? Now that’s the fun bit!

My first suggestion would be to get clear on what it is you want. For this I like to do a little meditation beforehand…. I know, I know that’s a scary concept for many people, but really you can do this! Get yourself in a comfy position, I suggest sitting up as laying down meditating often turns into a cosy little afternoon nap! So stick on your favourite slouchy clothes, plonk yourself down in a comfy chair, take three deep breaths, then slowly, slowly, close your eyes… now just focus on your breathing for a little while, an abundance of thoughts will flood your mind, ‘I haven’t got time for this’, ‘this is pointless’, ‘I need to do the washing up’, ‘what time am I meeting Jan tomorrow?’ - that’s all totally fine and normal, just go with it, try not to get caught up too much in anyone thought, instead let them float away, if it helps literally visualise them floating away on a cloud. Once you start feeling relaxed start thinking about what would be your dream year, where do you see yourself going? Where do you see yourself working? What do you want to achieve or change? Once you start getting some ideas roll with them, let your imagination run wild and feel that positivity and excitement build, take slow deep breaths and breathe it into every part of you.

“What you think you become, what you feel you attract, what you imagine you create” – Buddha

So now you have the ideas, it’s time to get creative, for this you can scan magazines or (my fav option) get onto Pinterest and start printing out things that inspire you and align with your goals, drag out old holiday photos, your fav pic of yourself, a pic of that wedding dress you just have to have, a pic of someone doing your dream job, anything that helps reinforce your goals in your mind.

Once you have all this you can start sticking it all onto a piece of card, pinning it to a cork board or buy a large frame, remove the glass and use that! All the time visualising and thinking about how you’re going to get this, what it’s going to be like achieving these goals, really get those positive vibes bubbling and overflowing inside you, feel the excitement, build up that momentum!

You may like to add inspiring words that come to you or a picture of someone you admire and who inspires you.

And there you have it! Your vision board for the coming year!

Now pin that bad boy up somewhere you can gaze upon it and get ready for the magic to happen….