I started a regular vision board practise about 4 years ago and not only do I love the whole experience of creating it, I have definitely found it works!
For example: in 2018 I was living in a beautiful, character-filled Victorian terrace in which, over the course of 6 years, we'd created a lovely family home but I was desperately craving more light! Because we'd spent so much time and energy making this house into our home, I was in no rush to move but when creating my vision board for that year I was drawn to images of dining tables in front of big windows, and being able to work at a desk that looked out onto a big garden, all in a room flooded with light and so images like these featured on my board.
Here’s a couple of images taken from my 2018 vision board
Fast forward to later in 2018 and my husband wants us to view a house. I still have no desire to move home but unwillingly go along, the. house doesn't have the light but I do like it and before I know it we've offered and are looking to move, but then our mortgage company refuse to agree on the valuation and refuse us the mortgage. Bye bye house. We'd already agreed a sale on our house by this point so our agent was desperate to find us something else so as not to lose our sale as well. He found us a house that hadn't even been put on the market and got us a viewing. I was uninspired by the couple of images he sent in advance so when driving to the house I asked for a sign, a sign from the universe to tell me whether this was the right house or not.
My favourtie place in the entire world is St Ives in Cornwall and as we walked around this house we saw picture after picture of St Ives hung on the walls, and little mementoes from Cornwall all around us. We also saw a picture of the current owners dog, a Hungarian Vizsla, exactly like our own dog. We were surrounded by so many things we ourselves would have in our home, it felt like we already lived there. I had got my sign. By December 2018 we'd moved in and one day when unpacking boxes I found my vision board, and as I looked up I realised I was stood in front of a big wooden dining table, and not one but TWO sets of huge big windows in front of it, just like those on the board.
I swear it's like magic, and that's why I love vision boards!
Our new house, complete with the box my vision board was packed in!
My dream come true, a desk looking out onto the garden
So, with the promise of magic afoot, would you like to create one too?
Here's what you need:
Some magazines. Try for a good selection of lifestyle, fashion, interiors, travel etc My favourites are Red, Living Etc, Breathe, Simple Things and Happinez
A cork pin board or large sheet of thick paper/cardboard
Scissors, few pens and felt tips if you have them, plus pins if you’re using pin board and glue if cardboard
Drink of choice (make it something nice so you feel like you’re spoiling yourself, doesn’t matter if its alcohol or alcohol free, I love a big warm mug of Oat Mill & honey)
Candles, crystals…but only if that’s your vibe 😉
And some beautiful music. I’ve created a nice chilled playlist which you're welcome to use. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/73SeUgSbZPBFVbQD7KTW90?si=4tgESdjXQCqqOJDqEK8ZGw
Before you start, take a few minutes to arrive in your space. Close your eyes and take a few deep breathes and silently ask yourself ‘What do I really want in 2021?’ It might be a word, it might be a list of things. Allow yourself a couple of minutes to think on this. Then open your eyes and jot down whatever came up.
DO NOT PUT LIMITS ON YOURSELF! Sometimes in doing this we start to overthink, we see an image of a beautiful house, a dream house, you start to imagine living there and then your negative mind kicks in with all the reasons why it’s a pipe dream. How you don’t earn enough etc. STOP. This is about creating big dreams that make us excited and light a fire in our bellies so don’t set yourself any limits, dream big!
Now you’re ready to start.
There are two ways to approach creating your vision board:
1 - Actively seek images that align with your dreams for 2021 (or beyond) So if you want a house in the country, find a picture of a house in the country.
2 - Alternatively, you can be intuitively led. Flick through the magazines and see what speaks to you. Some images may jump out and be quite obvious to you, some might be more subtle and it might not be clear why an image speaks to you but something about it makes you want to pick it so trust your gut and go with it.
Here’s mine from early 2020 which was very much intuitively led. I definitely wasn’t dreaming of owning a fox that’s for sure but then there are these in there!
So first:
Go through the magazines you have and tear or cut out words or images that resonate with you, either because they’re directly related to dreams and goals you have, or because there’s something pulling you towards the image. No need to edit yourself at this stage, rip out as many as you want
Next, spread out all the images in front of you and remove any that don’t ‘speak’ to you. Looking at the images and words that remain should make you feel excited or inspired, remove any that don’t make you feel like this. Also remember not to worry about the ‘how’ of any of these images, remember this is about dreaming big
Once you have your chosen images/words, lay them out on your board (no sticking for now). You can group them…career, health, relationships…or just make it look pretty, whatever you prefer.
When you’re happy get gluing or pinning! Don’t be afraid of leaving some space on your board. You don’t have to fill every bit of it and actually it might be a nice way of letting the universe surprise you :-)
Also a note re digital boards. It’s perfectly possible to create your board digitally, using something like CANVA or POWERPOINT. In the same way as above, think about the things you want to attract and search online for images. You could even create words or statements related to how you want to feel in the year ahead. When you’re done you could have it as a screensaver on your computer, and on your phone. Likewise, you can always take a photograph of your finished pinboard or card board and save the image to your phone or computer so it’s always with you.
When you’ve finished your board, be sure to place it somewhere you’ll see it often. I have mine by my desk but you could have it in the kitchen or near your dressing table so you see it every day. And when you do look at it, try and lock into the feelings behind the images. So if you have a picture of Cornwall, representing a dream of going there, try and lean into how it would feel to be there, the sand under your feet, the sound of seagulls, the smells of ice cream or fish & chips. It’s the feelings that will help attract these ‘things’ to you.
Although creating a vision board is a great exercise for the start of a new year, it’s perfectly acceptable to do them whenever you feel in the need of new or fresh inspiration. It could become a seasonal thing, or a quarterly thing, it’s entirely up to you, the important thing is to dream big and be thoughtful to yourself in what features on your board, they should be your dreams, not the dreams you THINK you should have.
I’d love to see the boards you create, feel free to share an image on Instagram and tag me in @withpassionandpurpose