Some people have asked me what a vision board is, and others have asked how to make one. I am no expert, having made only one in my adulthood. But I will share what I know.
Below is a vision board with a focus on health that I made a while back. If I made one today it would probably look a little different, actually quite a bit different if I knew a bunch of people were going to look at it.
Writing a blog can be quite a self-exposure to the world. Good thing I trust you all with my deepest thoughts.
The Why of Vision Boards
Vision Boards are creative ways to express goals and dreams, to motivate and inspire, and to be reminders of things that are important and that you want to accomplish. The thought behind them is that your brain will be at work trying to make things happen, kind of like issuing an assignment for your brain to work on subconsciously.
The Amazing Brain
Long ago I realized that the brain was working on things when I was not even aware of it. This aspect of the brain is so amazing and has such huge ramifications for us. One example of the ever-processing brain is that I would start a crossword puzzle during my morning coffee. I would get to the point where I couldn’t come up with any more answers. Then I would pick it up again at lunch, and instantly, I would know quite a few more answers. My brain had been working on it while I was folding laundry and doing dishes.
Another example is working on a jigsaw puzzle; working on it then coming back later and knowing exactly where certain pieces go. And when I start writing a blog post, often it is very blah and sterile. Then later when I go back to it words are just present in my head that breathe life and color and sometimes humor into the posts.
A final example is whenever I have something daunting, a project, a speech to prepare, a paper to write, a party to plan, I just sit down and start it. I think about it some, maybe make a few notes, do a little research, then walk away and do something else, and sure enough when I go back to whatever it is, I have ideas that were not there before. Some time after discovering this about my brain, I read an article by Jim Quik, a guy who specializes in the brains “super powers” talk about this very thing, and really confirmed what I had already surmised. This helped me be more intentional about enlisting my brains help.
How To Create a Vision Board
One way to enlist your brains help in attaining goals is to create a vision board. To start off you need a blank surface. I used one of those thick, rigid poster boards. A piece of cardboard or a cork board would work well too. (I think it is important to use something stiff; a regular poster board would cave in and be all annoying.)
Actually, before you start making the vision board you really need to dream and scheme, and brainstorm what you want to focus on, what you want to accomplish, what your dream is, and what will inspire you.
Then you need to collect photographs and words and pictures, which you can clip from magazines, old calendars, print off the internet, or wherever else you can find things that fit with what you want to stimulate your ever-processing brain to take on.
Attach what inspires you the most and what represents your dreams and goals from what you have collected to your blank surface with some sort of adhesive. Voila!
One thing I would do differently is make my vision board less busy, more minimal. Less-is-more type of mentality. But it is what it is, and I like my vision board.
So that said, I hope that this stimulates your creative juices to create something that will inspire your brain to work on ways to accomplish your wildest dreams.
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You might also like to read this article that I wrote for other ideas on living LARGE:
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