Vision Board Ideas – What is a Vision Board and How to Make One

We’ve always been proud to promote the bucket list mindset, with a focus on personal growth and achievement of goals, as well as enjoying meaningful experiences. Our belief is that bucket lists should be something to enjoy throughout your life and not just when you reach retirement age or become ill (which as we all know is where the bucket list philosophy came from i.e. ‘kick the bucket’).

Obviously, the best way to begin this journey is by starting your own bucket list, and we have our ‘how to’ guide here. We feel that the perfect bucket list mindset is where you pursue future goals, whilst also appreciating living in the moment. Having a bucket list shouldn’t be seen as a burden or another task to complete, but more of a way to live intentionally.

What is a Vision Board

Interestingly there’s another option to help you focus on your aspirations, which is something we have used in the past. Vision boards help you channel your dreams and goals, but they’re also a great way to get clarity on what you want to achieve.

An actual vision board is a collection of images, words, quotes, symbols or anything else which represent what you aspire to achieve. How you display that board is completely up to you, it could be an actual board such as a poster board or cork board, with images pinned to it like photos, notes or magazine cut outs. Or you could opt for a digital version using an app, presentation software or AI, with a selection of images which you can see on your mobile or computer every day.

What Items Might be Included on Your Vision Board

• Pictures of your dream travel destination,
• Photos of your fitness and health goals,
• Pictures of your dream home or desired lifestyle,
• Images representing your career goals or a business you aspire to start or grow,
• Qualifications you wish to fulfil or courses you want to complete,
• Financial goals,
• Images of your relationship and family aspirations,
• Mental health and personal growth goals through affirmations and quotes,
• Hobbies or talents you want to try and develop.

How do Vision Boards Work

We’ve been big fans of vision boards for years, especially after hearing about a friend’s experience. They created a physical vision board, which means they pinned up pictures of their dream life. After a few years, they had started an online business, moved house and had a family. Their vision board ended up in the attic due to house moves, but they still focused on their goals.

During a clean out of the attic they found their vision board and had a startling realisation. Everything they ever dreamt of or wished for, they had, in fact they had achieved more than their original goals. Their house was bigger, business more successful and they’d travelled further than they ever dreamt. The fact they had achieved so much wasn’t because they added pictures to a board. Nor was it simply because they believed in it hard enough, or used the pictures as some type of law of attraction. Don’t get us wrong, we do believe in positive thinking having an impact on your life, but to achieve in the long term you also need action.

With all of that in mind, why create a vision board? By having a visual representation and regularly seeing your dreams and goals, it should keep them focused in your mind. This will increase your motivation and commitment, which helps lead to centring your thoughts and efforts in the pursuit of your main objective or vision. Because the journey can sometimes be slow and arduous, it helps to visualise what you consider success to be, which in the long term will keep you motivated.

Although the vision board itself doesn’t make your dreams come true, it’s a wonderful tool for realising what you want and ensuring that you maintain your focus.

We like to make it as simplistic as possible for you, so here are a couple of examples of what could be on your vision board;

Goal                                Vision Board Imagery

Run a Marathon              Photo of a runner at the finish line, a logo of your chosen marathon

Visit Australia                   Photos of places such as Sydney or Australian landmarks and animals.

Dream home                    Picture of a house online that you would like to live in

Get Married                     Photo of your dream wedding

 

Don’t put pressure on yourself that the images have to be perfect. Just find something that ties closely to your goals and helps you envisage what it is you want.

What to do After You’ve Created Your Vision Board

You’ve chosen your goals, you’ve created your board and it’s up somewhere in your home or on a digital device. But what next? How do you achieve those goals?

This is a tough one to answer, because there’s no clear path to any particular goal. The best advice we can give you is to focus on small steps, rather than large de-motivating ones. To give you a particular vision board example; if your target was to be healthier, then firstly determine what that is i.e. to lose weight or to heal from a health condition. Then get down to specifics which could be to walk 10,000 steps a day, lose a stone, eat 30 types of plants a week, join a gym, start using a calorie counting app or run a 5k. Each small step will help you reach your main goal of being healthier, but the key to success will always be consistency. The more you maintain goal focused habits, the better the outcome. This is why it’s important to keep things as simple as possible, whether it’s keeping your running gear out in the morning or meal prepping healthy options, so you’re not enticed to cheat.

Put your Vision Board Where You Can See it!

The key is to put your vision board where you can see it! It’s important to have that constant reminder of what it is you are striving for, especially if you’re struggling. But remember growth isn’t always a straight line and sometimes reaching our goals can take a little longer than we envisaged or change direction a little. It may be that over the years, the things that you strive for will change.

What matters most is that you take action, ask yourself the question ‘What’s the one thing I can do this week to move towards my goal?’. Vision boards work best when you have some form of a plan and momentum.

Summary of How to Make a Vision Board

Hopefully with the information we have given you and the examples provided, you’ll be eager to get started. Vision boards are the perfect way to drill down on what it is you want in your life, so that you can focus on goals to achieve it.

Once you have chosen a preferred format of vision board and picked your goals and aspirations, then it’s time to,

• Clarify what you want – choose a goal and work out how to do it.
• Keep your board visible – life is stressful and we can all get distracted, but seeing your board regularly means you will be reminded of what you’re working for. By looking at your goals often you can reset your priorities, notice opportunities to adapt or grow and make decisions which align with your goals.
• Stay motivated – Easier said than done but remember that images can trigger emotions and if it’s something you really want, then it will reset your focus and remind you why your goal is worth pursuing.
• Use your board to support mental rehearsal – This method of visualisation or cognitive practice is where you vividly imagine yourself executing a future task, without actually doing anything. It is said to build muscle memory, reduce stress and increase confidence, because you’re engaging the neural pathways that would be triggered when you fulfil the event in real life. This should increase your motivation to pursue your goal and get rid of any uncertainty.
• Activate selective attention – As you can imagine, your brain is constantly filtering information and deciding what is important. When you focus on your goals regularly, then you start to notice opportunities more.

It’s important to remember that as well as striving for something, a vision board and by connection your bucket list, is something to enjoy. The process of creating your board is supposed to be fun, and looking at it should inspire you, not make you feel guilty. Those big goals take time, so take the pressure off and reevaluate every few months and reconsider your next steps. You could even gather like minded friends and family to create their own boards, then meet every 6 months to see how everyone is getting on and celebrate people’s successes.

If you decide to create your own vision board and you add pictures on socials, then please tag our Instagram. We love to see our followers reach for their goals and lead aspiring lives.