Tips For Crafting The Ultimate Vision Board To Bring Your Dreams To Life
Setting resolutions is a fun task that many of us do at the start of every new year. We work to craft lists that will help us achieve a healthier and happier way of life. If you're like most people, that list can get forgotten faster than it took to make it, frustrating you because you let yourself down by not sticking with your goals again. However, there may be a new way to set healthy intentions for our short and long-term goals that we can place in our line of sight every day. This twist on an old practice may be what you've been needing to refresh your focus on your goals. It may be time for you to consider a vision board.
You may have created some sort of vision board in your past. Putting your goal house on your refrigerator or printing out pictures of your dream vacation destination are all mini vision boards we design to inspire ourselves to reach our dreams. But this year, creating your ultimate vision board may be the key to bringing the future you envision to life.
What is a vision board?
A vision board is a collage of quotes, pictures, and sayings that represent your desires and goals that you'd like to manifest in your life. You might have made one when you were younger by cutting out pictures from a magazine and gluing them on construction paper. The vision boards of 2023 are a new and improved way to make your dreams real possibilities that leave the resolutions list far behind. As The Every Girl explains, resolutions are usually focused on the negative; they list the things you don't want to keep doing. A vision board is focused on dreams and positive desires.
With resolution lists, we tend to focus on what we aren't, and this might be why we don't stick with them. However, by creating a vision board with images and quotes that add visions of happiness, goals for success, and relationship depth to your life, you have a motivator that doesn't dwell on what you don't have. Instead, it focuses on what you can imagine for yourself. By taking your goals and putting them in a visual you can see each day, you are allowing yourself to picture these things happening just the way you've planned. Rather than focusing on shame, it is focused on inspiring you and how you live your life.
Embrace board genres
To begin, take some time to brainstorm some of the goals that you desire. Once you have a good list going, determine genres or categories for the areas of your life where you want to focus your energy. Think of what you'd like to achieve in your career, how do you plan to take better care of your mental health this year, whether there are any travel plans in your future, and how you plan to invest in your family. These are just a few of the categories that are popular areas of focus for vision boards. After setting up your categories, you can specify your vision even further by defining subcategories. The number of genres depends on each person, and sometimes getting specific can help you take the steps needed to achieve your vision.
Identify your particular goals and put them on a timeline so they are measurable. Don't be afraid to get specific down to the month you'd like to achieve each goal. The more personalized you can make your board, the easier it will be to picture yourself achieving it all.
Consider online options
Since a vision board is ultimately only for you, seek out the different places on the internet where you might find inspiration. Sites like Pinterest and apps like Visuapp are great places turn to when completing an inspiring board. When you scroll, look for images that evoke emotion and mean something to you. On many of these sites, you can source your images and make your board right there, without needing to leave the app or website.
Digital boards can give you more options than the boards from the days when we used to cut and paste. Once you've made your board digitally, download it as your desktop background, or print it out and post it up somewhere you'll be sure to see it each day. By finding attractive photographs that inspire you to meet your goals, you'll be motivated to take steps each day to get there.
Include positive mantras
In order to manifest the life you desire, you've got to speak it into existence; how you talk to yourself is so important. Treat yourself like a good friend and say the things a friend would say to you about your dreams. Start small with compliments about yourself. You are strong. You are worthy. You are enough. Once you've gotten these mantras down, consider adding specific parts of your categories to your affirmations. State out loud when you are making strides toward your goals and that who you are now is due to your strength. Finally, focus on a mindset of gratitude, add words of thanks throughout your board, and you'll start enjoying a life living in abundance.
Focusing on what you have instead of what you don't is an incredibly effective way to give yourself the gift of a forward-thinking mindset. By adding the types of affirmations you would love to experience each day, you can refocus your attention on the goals you have set, and steer your thoughts toward gratitude and peace.
Include your goals in meditation
We know meditation is good for many different parts of our lives. Our minds, bodies, and souls thrive when given the gift of silence and breath. This quiet time may be the perfect opportunity to envision some of the components of your vision board. Meditation experts stress the importance of having a mantra to help set your intention for each practice (via Healthline). This is the perfect use for your vision board. There are so many meditation apps that you can access to help you start this practice. Each time you meditate, choose something from your board to focus on like a mantra. Picture yourself achieving the goal or experiencing success in the activity to breathe life into this intention.
Your meditation practice is also a great place for your words of affirmation to become your area of focus. Repeat your words of gratitude or positive comments about yourself and others like a mantra for the duration of your meditation practice to really embed this personal work into your life.
Don't be afraid to change
The beauty of a vision board is that it can change with you. As you mature and navigate your way through this life, your priorities and goals may shift. Allowing your goals to manifest organically is a wonderful way to journey through your year. As you achieve some of your goals or decide to forgo others, alter your board to fit your most current situation. Having a digital board saved to your computer makes this quite easy. Editing your board will allow for a more emergent and meaningful process to achieving your goals.
Knowing that you are allowed to change your goals gives you a kind of freedom that is lacking in lists that focus on what you don't have. This mindset will also allow you to keep your eyes on your vision board more consistently, which will help you keep the promises you've made to yourself. If you are looking for a fresh way to achieve your goals, a new and improved form of a vision board may be the most rewarding avenue to take.