Each year we get together with our girls. We gather cocktails, Bluetooth speakers, chips and dips, magazines, scissors, glue, our goals, and dreams all in an effort to paste together our vision board for the year. In essence, we are visually aligning our goals with this fun arts and crafts activity. I question, however, what happens when the vision board party is over? Do you toss the poster board you spent hours creating? What if I told you, you could make your vision board in such a way that maximizes the potential for manifestation? On this blog post, I am going to share 7 tips to make a vision board for maximum effectiveness. By the time you finish reading this post, you’ll be a vision board manifesting machine. Keep reading for more.
effective- adj |successful in producing a desired or intended result.
Google Definitions
but first, let’s keep in touch.
Sign up for the email list, so you can be the first to learn about all things new on Being Classic Britney blog. Receive updates, promotions, and devotionals sent directly to your inbox.
my story.
I’ve been on this vision board journey for a minute. I made my first vision board entering college. I want to say it was very minimal, unguided, and lifeless. Featured on that first vision board were a few life goals I had, but there was nothing helping me map out my first year of college. To say the least it was very broad. My second time creating a vision board followed three years later. This time, I’m a senior in college, and I created a vision board that, while fuller, was also broad. There was no time map. Instead, it served as a vision for my adult life, but useless otherwise. Two years after I would try again. Once again, not having a real clue as to what I was doing, or the potential of a truly intentional vision board.
It wasn’t until last year, after I had done a little research and after my friends got me together that I finally cracked the code to making vision board that proved to be useful, inspirational, and effective. Read about the construction of my 2020 vision board here. This time, I would see the images featured on my 2020 vision board actually come to life. Using the intentional and faith based strategies I used last year, I actually saw my visions for the year come into fruition. I was completely proud and excited. It seemed I was tapping into the art of vision boarding. Then, I was invited to a vision board party back home, and for a moment was stunned into confusion.
To be fair, I was on a high that day. I got to ride all the way to North Carolina with my boo and baby. I got to get dolled up to attend my bridal shower. It was a good day. The mimosas were flowing and so was the merriment. That night, I sat and found in front of me another blank poster board and selected magazines. I felt unsure initially, but that would soon change because I applied my 7 Tips to make a vision board for maximum effectiveness.
break it down, B:
When I say I make a vision board for maximum effectiveness, I refer to the process of being able to use your vision board more than once or twice a year. I mean the potential to see the images you paste on the board come into real life, so you won’t have to add them to your board again next year. Instead you can see your goals and desires manifest soon after you initially cut and paste them.
We usually,
- Post pictures of materials that would please us to have
- Cut many images we like without real steps
- Go on with life forgetting the things we said we wanted to achieve on our boards
- Use so many pictures, it’s almost impossible to achieve them all in one year
- Are unrealistic about the time constraints of a year leading us to only see one or two things on the board manifest
Vision boards are fun, but they can be used beyond a fun night. They can be used to guide your focus for the duration of time you choose. In fact, I elected to use my vision board less as a visual representation of my goals, and more as a guiding road map for the year. With that shift in intention, I for the first time out of many, was able to see the images glued to my board happen in real life.
Vision boards can be used as a visual tool to promote personal growth and self-improvement. Instead of pasting the outcome we want to see, we can instead dial back and post images that reflect the personal changes we need to make in order to see our desired outcome. For example, we all put “work out and live healthy,” but we never put the habits needed to achieve the outcome such as making better choices, discipline and consistency. As a result by February we drop the goal, only to add it to our boards next year. Hope is not lost. In fact, with a smidge of self-reflection and intentionality, a vision board can be transformed from DIY project, to you own self- help guide.
Ultimately, your vision board could be a visual and personal contract with which you make personal wagers. The bet is, “If I focus on this, then I will achieve this”, or however you pep yourself.
In doing so, your vision board can provide:
- Documented growth and life improvement
- Optimal manifestations of goals and dreams
- Daily reminders of who or what you want to be
- Grounded productivity
- Unbridled clarity in the midst of confusion or doubt
That said, I charge you to approach your vision board with practicality. Ask the questions:
- What would like to focus on this year?
- Which images best reflect those focuses?
- Which images would please me to see as daily reminders?
Let’s keep moving right into the 7 tips to make a vision board for maximum effectiveness.
7 Tips to Make a Vision Board for Maximum Effectiveness
- Start with a small board. Cut the bottom, cut the edges, buy small boards, or begin with the cardboard of a picture frame. Whatever you do, begin with a small board. When we start with large boards, we often feel the need to cover as much space as possible. In doing so, we pollute our boards with too many images and ideas we are realistically unable to manifest in one year. Instead, begin with a smaller board, so you are more inclined to choose only the most valuable images.
- Think of a word that summarizes your focus for the year. Picture the top of your board saying, “Love”, “Health”, “Growth”, “Financial Freedom”. I don’t know what you would put, but the point of this exercise is to have a constant reminder of what you said you wanted to focus on. From the word, you can find images that thematically agree with your focus word. For example, my focus word for the year was “grow”. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the word “grow”, so I used “bloom” instead. I ended up liking “bloom” better because it suggests fruition, but I digress. In doing this, I was able to find images that represented that energy. Now, when I look back at my board, I remember I’m blooming. Although it’s not easy to open up the buds, the outcome is going to be beautiful.
- Approach your Vision Board with your Goals in mind. It’s also a good practice to approach your vision board with your short or long term goals for the year in mind. By doing this, you aren’t looking for images aimlessly. Instead, your visuals are intentional and align with your ultimate goals and plans.
- Consider planning your vision board based on the categories that mean the most to you. In the past, I’ve have a “Relationship section” “Family Section” “Professional Section” “Business Section” and “Personal Section”. Using these categories helped me to arrange my vision board in a way that my priorities were clear and the images were easier to gather. When I look back at my vision board for guidance, I can refer specifically to the section I need to recall the most.
- Only add key images that reflect the energy and purpose of your focus words/goals. We have a tendency to post all of the images we like in the moment. Often, there is no practical use for those images. The result is that our boards become a collage of pretty pictures instead uplifting improvement landmarks. Use the focus word to guide your board for optimal alignment and clarity.
- Add images and texts that look like you, so you can see yourself when you look at your board. I borrowed this hack from my instructional practices. We want students to see themselves in the texts we read, so they are more likely to buy-in to the learning. The same concept applies to your own vision board. Choose the images that look like you, so your vision board can become a mirror for the future instead of a frame for the seemingly unattainable.
- Frame and intentionally place your vision board, so you can visit it periodically. Of all the tips, this one might be the most useful. Last year, I used a picture frame to house my vision board, and I hung it near my writing desk. I saw my vision board daily because I used my writing desk daily. Sometimes I would start my day by praying and follow my prayer with a review of my vision board. In this way, my long term goals were in mind as I led my day. The outcome was surely manifestation.
sum it up.
By the end of the year last year, I could have replaced the images I borrowed from magazines with pictures in my phone. The manifestation was so real, my real life looked like my vision board life. I attribute it to my approach.Furthermore, I did not let up on goals, and the vision board served as a daily coach/motivator. My vision board ended up being the reason I kept going, the reason I could not doubt, and the reason I could not get lost in distractions.
That said, sis, I know you can make your vision board come to life. Put a little faith, a little focus, and a little reflection on it, and surely you can see it happen in front of your eyes.
I hope these 7 tips to make a vision board for maximum effectiveness help in some way.
Nonetheless,
facts.
- A vision board can serve as a road map.
- Vision boards do work.
- A woman with vision is unstoppable.
quotes to carry.
“A woman of vision knows where she has been, and has a better understanding of where she is going.”
― Gift Gugu Mona, Woman of Virtue: Power-Filled Quotes for a Powerful Woman
journal prompt.
What about three short term goals for this year.
comment below.
Tell us what’s on your vision board for this year!
do you like it here?
Well then, come on in the room and sign up for the email list, so you can be the first to learn about all things new on Being Classic Britney blog! Receive updates, promotions, and devotionals sent directly to your inbox.Join my email list