If you set a goal for the new year—that’s fantastic! That means you are one step closer to achieving it. But determining exactly what you want to accomplish is just part of the work. Abstract ideas of what we want don’t light our fire—it’s all in the details. Next step is deciding HOW you plan to reach your newly set resolution. A great way to kickstart your game plan is by creating a vision board. Since vision boards operate on the simple principle that what we can envision we can create, crafting one will truly make a difference.
Did you know?
Olympic athletes use highly specific visualizations to help achieve their goals. If we can’t imagine something in glorious detail and if we can’t see it with some degree of specificity in our mind’s eye, more likely than not, we don’t have the clarity of purpose to bring it to life.
Similarly, our dreams require specifics to launch. A vision board helps you dare greatly. Through play—and purpose—use your board to bring your passions to life. Think of it as a blueprint of your heart. Hang it in a place where you can see it every day, and it can serve as a powerful reminder to keep pointing yourself to your deepest truth.
Winter’s inward call provides the perfect ambiance for crafting your vision. Here’s the materials you’ll need followed by three steps to get you started:
Materials
Board of some sort (Ex: unused corkboard, upcycled cardboard box, etc.)
Scissors
Pins
Tape
Glue
1. Gather images
For this project, you’ll need pictures, meaningful quotes and other visual materials that will support your vision. Start by gathering all the magazines you’ve collected over the year and pile them up. If you don’t have any, ask friends or family members if you can use theirs. (A positive side effect of making a vision board is that it helps to declutter.)
Flip through the magazines for images, words and headlines. Clip or rip out whatever resonates with you—even if it doesn’t make sense. Expand your focus beyond THINGS you want and include images of how you want to FEEL. Try to find images that represent all areas of your life, such as relationships, career, finances, home travel, personal growth and spirituality, and health. Don’t judge or censor what you want. If you want more money, for example, but feel like dollar signs are too crass for a vision board, find an image of financial strength that speaks to you of wealth and abundance.
You can also use images from cards, trinkets, ticket stubs, or any bits and bobs that you have somehow held onto throughout the year. If your paper scraps trigger pleasure in you in any way, either through memory or sheer beauty, and you want to inoculate more of that in the coming year, pin it to win it. Once you become addicted to vision boards, as I am, you may even keep a folder to stash your raw material in all year long.
2. Edit
If you are a fan of abundance, you will have a big swath of images when you are done. Here’s where the discrimination comes in: Deciding which images or words really nail the potential in you that wants to emerge. Position the finalists on your poster or corkboard. Remember that you will be looking at this almost every day, so make it to be something that you enjoy contemplating. See if you like to fill the board, overlap the images or give them space. Before you start to glue, decide if you want to get a bigger or smaller board. Some people like to leave space in their vision board for things they want to add during the year.
3. Cut and paste
While the whole process of vision boarding feels sacred to me, the act of committing to my top picks and gluing them down is a profound declaration of intention. So set aside a time without interruptions, light a candle, and play calming music as you dabble. If you are social, invite friends to vision board with you, but hold the space that allows each of you to inquire within.
If you’ve never made a vision board, it can be a surprising way to get in touch with the quiet voice inside that all too often gets drowned out by the din of our lives. Once you’ve made one, don’t jump to being “done.” Your vision board is a living document, one that you revisit it and revise whenever you feel the urge to dream big.
For more tips on how to reset & restart your year, visit our 2017 Resolution Center.