What do you want for your future? What do you see not for your friends, family, or community, but for yourself? If you don’t answer that question on your own, someone else will answer it for you, and you probably won’t like their answer. Vision boards are useful tools in imagining, manifesting, and committing to your personal goals, big and small.
If you’ve tried setting goals for yourself only to lose sight of them a few weeks later, or you’re unsure of what your future goals even are, or if you just want to know more about the process of making your own vision board, here are some tips.
In December 2020, TEDxMileHigh hosted a collective vision board workshop as a part of our Vision virtual conference.
Run by goal coach and motivational speaker Jackie Carr and past TEDxMileHigh speaker David Baron, this creative event helped each participant envision their goals for their future and bring them to life on their own vision board. If you were unable to attend, or you’re trying to sort out your 2021 vision, here is a guide to creating your own vision board.
Create Your Own Vision Board
The most important thing to note for this entire process is there is no right or wrong way to create a vision board. There is also no such thing as a bad vision or goal. This process is entirely personal. Envisioning your future and your goals allows you to answer the question “What do I want?” Let yourself listen to what you want, not what they want.
Start With A Meditation
During the TEDxMH event, Carr began the vision boarding process with a centering meditation. Carr’s meditation was created specifically for this event, however, any mediation will do. The important thing is that you center your thoughts on yourself. It doesn’t even need to be a strict meditation. Perhaps you’re more comfortable centering your thoughts with journaling prompts. Some suggestions are:
I am on my way to becoming…
In three years I will be…
I show up with … every time
The point of this step is to center your thoughts and envision your goals. Picture your future self in as much detail as possible, and make note of the most important of those details.
Connect Your Goals to Reality
This is the fun part. It’s the creation step and takes up the bulk of the vision boarding process. You can use old magazines or newspapers, or have a scroll through Pinterest. Turn on your favorite playlist, grab a pair of scissors (or prepare your copy/paste buttons if you’re doing this electronically), and get cutting!
Find any photo, graphic, or word that speaks to you. Whether it fulfills the goals you have just envisioned for yourself or not, cut it out. As we mentioned, there is no right or wrong way to go about creating your board, so cut out as many things as you want. You can save the cutouts you don’t use for another board.
Commit
Consider your gluestick your magic wand and the glue a promise to yourself. When you commit to gluing any cutout to your board, you are committing yourself to your goals. However, glue is not a binding contract. You are not a failure if you don’t achieve every goal you included on your vision board.
One of the best parts about creating a vision board and bringing reality to your goals is that your creation will serve as a reminder. So, whether you fulfill every single goal on your board or none of them, you will always have a way to remember what you want for yourself, and it’s never too late to fulfill a dream.
Don’t Be Afraid of Blank Space
So, you have your cutouts, and you’re becoming the self-dedicated queen/king you’ve always wanted to be. But then, you realize you still have blank spaces on your board. You’ve glued down all of your cutouts and you feel it accurately depicts your vision, but there are still open spots. That is okay. Leave room for yourself to grow and for your goals to grow with you.
Hang Your Creation Somewhere You’ll See It Every Day
When you’ve finished your vision board, take a step back, and admire your work. Appreciate each detail you put into it, but more importantly, appreciate the work you just did for yourself. Now, hang it somewhere you will see it every day — on your mirror, your refrigerator, or the ceiling of your bedroom. If you created a board electronically, save it as your desktop photo. Wherever you hang it, be sure it will serve as a daily reminder of what you want for yourself and the vision you have for you.
Start The New Year With a Clearer Vision
As we ring in 2021, after a year of unimaginable circumstances that forced us to slow down, listen, reflect, and accept a new normal, do you have a vision for your new year? Are you excited to leave 2020 behind and step into the possibility of new beginnings? Or, are you nervous because the events of this year have settled like a cloud over your plans for your future, and you’ve lost sight of your goals?
Creating a vision board can be your first step in answering those questions. Be selfish for one hour, and commit to yourself and your goals. Once you’ve completed your board, check out our journaling guide to help you keep going towards your goals. Your future self will thank you.
