How to create a Vision Board

It can be exciting to have a positive vision for your future. It can also be scary. “What if I don’t get what I want?” is the fear that plays on some people’s minds. “What if I do get what I want?” is the fear that can play on others.

Most people are great at having a dream for the future or setting goals but they aren’t necessarily good at taking the steps to achieving them. That leads to a pattern of not connecting to the vision of the future, and not setting down goals and desires to achieve.

That’s why creating a vision board is so effective. It enables everyone, no matter what their challenge is, to connect with a positive future and make steps towards that goal.

What is a vision board?

A vision board is an image of your future. Take a poster sheet (bigger is better) and imagine yourself in seven years time. In the middle of the board put the year that it will be. Imagine your life in that year. What will you be doing, where will you live, how will you live, who will you be with, how do you feel? Create images of that future and fix them to the board. You can use magazine images, photos, drawings, anything you like to represent the year that you imagine.

Be positive and in the moment
Everything you have on your board needs to be stated in present time in the year you have written. So for example, if I imagined my board for 7 years time from today that would be 2024. I might say I go sailing every Sunday, (even though I currently don’t own a yacht…it’s a long story). I deliver world class presentations from the stage, inspire the masses, and I enjoy my boxing classes three times a week. I say it as though it is already happening. As if I am already there. Your goals also need to be stated in the positive. So instead of saying ‘I do not eat junk food’, you would say, ‘I love eating a healthy well-balanced variety of foods that are clean and lean’.

Get specific
The key to making a vision board work is the details. The details will naturally and automatically fit into the I’M SMART goal format. Around your images write what they mean to you. Use numbers whenever possible (the subconscious mind loves numbers and figures.)

Write how much you will weigh (not how much you will lose), write how much money you have in savings, that you own your own home – whatever you like but be sure to add as many details as you can. Locations, days of the week, anniversaries are all positive anchors and measures you can use to actually make these visions reality.

Once you add in the details, your goal becomes specific, measurable, achievable, risky and tangible, (otherwise, all you have is pictures on a page). To connect they need to link all the way back to you today. Now you should be really excited and drawn to it.

Get connected
The reason that the images and words are so effective is that you are able to get completely connected to the future. That fear of achieving it or not achieving it is outweighed by love, enthusiasm and passion. What we instantly realise when we look at the vision board is that this is something real and desirable.

The rewards immediately outweigh the risk (which was only imagined) and you are able to get motivated, take action and start to fill in the gaps in your income, knowledge, ability or surrounding influences and get to your goal.

To REALLY get connected use your own face in the image. Cut out a photo of yourself, or print a photo of someone you admire and put your face over the top of the images so it’s actually yourself you see on the board with the killer abs or on that boat or running that cafe.

Flexible boards work best.
Your vision board is never set in stone. A flexible board works best. You will find you achieve some of your goals very quickly. At the same time, as your filters switch on to move towards these goals your life will change, you will expand your knowledge and interact in new circles in order to achieve your goals.

You may find you need to move, change or rearrange the items on your board to better reflect your new capacity and capabilities. That’s perfectly okay. At Live It Now we encourage you to use blu-tac to secure your images to your board so that you can be flexible and keep interacting with your board if you wish.

Focused
Have a positive focus on your future is essential for achieving goals. You now have something to measure against if conflicting opportunities come up. For example, you might have a goal to save $500,000. You see a car you really want. Instead of grappling with the shoulds and musts, ask yourself, ‘will buying this car get me closer to me seven-year vision’?

Decision making becomes so much simpler and less emotional. You have focus on where you are going and what path to take. If something comes up that is too good to refuse…well, that’s why we have blu-tac.

Why we go for a 7-year vision
We like a seven-year vision. Anything more than ten years is just too far out. So much will happen, move, and change in that span it’s probably going to be irrelevant by the time you get there. Seven years gives you enough time to do some incredible things that will stay relevant and be current in your future.

Be careful what you wish for
Don’t just attach anything to your board, you might find that you get it. Be sure that everything that goes on there you love. I have had Live It Now participants pull out their visions boards years later and find they purchased that car, in that colour, the house is identical (even the camera angles the front of the house is shown on are the same) and they had the exact dog. Fall in love with what you create and be prepared to actually get it.

Move forward
Now that your vision board is completed you will be able to create milestones that give you bite sized pieces to achieve your dreams and make them a reality. Moving forward is easy when you know what you are looking to achieve. Your filters will now be open to new opportunities and you will find yourself talking about a positive future that will deepen your desire to keep moving forward.

I love seeing people’s vision boards at Live It Now. There are people out there who have incredible futures about to be realised. The care, creativity and passion on the pages really lets me know that running these free weekends is worth my time and money.

The part where people get really excited is when they tell someone else about it. It’s that moment when someone else goes, ‘wow, you have an amazing life’, that it really hits home. What you do and what you have is special, unique and will have a lasting impact on other people.

If you would like some help with your vision board, come to Live it Now. Get the details checked with my crew, and share your future with like minded people who will hold you accountable for reaching it. It also is a chance to see what other people are planning and get excited for them, and maybe even pinch a few ideas for your own vision board.

If you have vision board questions let me know, I’d love to help.

Matt Catling