Creating a vision board can help you frame and reach your goals, from what you want to do today to who you want to be tomorrow.
WHAT IS A VISION BOARD?
A collage of inspiring pictures, words and quotes that represents you, your hopes and dreams. It’s a great way to map out and see more clearly your short- and long-term goals – whether it’s your dream career, a personal challenge you’ve set yourself, or even just your overall aspirations.
HOW WILL A VISION BOARD HELP?
It can be easy to lose sight of your goals on a day-today basis. You may write them down one day and then forget all about them until you find the sheet of paper in a drawer months later. Creating a board allows you to display them somewhere that’s permanently in view, where it can serve as a reminder and an inspiration. Deciding what to include on your vision board can also be a good mindfulness exercise. If you feel like you’re being pulled in different directions, are under pressure at school or have some difficult decisions to make, then creating a board can help you to take a step back and see the things that are important to you more clearly. The great thing about making this board is that there are no rules when it comes to gathering your images, wording and quotes.
YOU WILL NEED
A base for your vision board, which could be a piece of A3 cardboard, a cork board or even some cardboard from an old cereal box.
A happy photograph of yourself.
Scissors and a glue stick, or get crafty with washi tape and colourful pins.
A variety of magazines and pictures that you don’t mind cutting up. You can always go online and find images that your magazines don’t include, as well as photos of friends, family and pets
STEPS TO CREATE YOUR BOARD
Set the scene for the next couple of hours by finding a quiet, comfortable spot. Turn your phone off and put your favourite music on.
Ask yourself what you would choose to do if fear didn’t exist and you knew you would succeed in everything you tried. How would your life look? This is an important question to ask because you don’t want to limit any of your goals – nothing is out of reach when you’re putting together your vision board.
Cut out any pictures, words or quotes that inspire you and make you feel good. There are no rules when it comes to what you want to express. A picture could include a school sports team you want to join, a favourite flower you think is beautiful, a role in a play you hope to be chosen for, a new skill or hobby you’d love to take up, a country you’d like to visit, influential figures you look up to, people you love and things for which you’re grateful – anything goes.
Focus on personal goals and dreams, relationships in your life, the relationship you have with yourself, your hopes, and aspirations. Keep in mind the bigger picture – fundamentals like health, love, and happiness rather than the newest phone, beauty fad or that celebrity whose wardrobe you’d like to own.
Try to organise your collage before you stick it down. As you place the pictures on the board, you’ll get an intuitive sense of how the board should be laid out. For example, you might want to place the picture of yourself in the centre and assign a theme to each corner of the board. Maybe short-term school goals could go in one corner, while long-term career goals in the opposite corner. Everyone is different when it comes to their personal board, so just go with what feels right and have fun.
Leave space on your board so that there’s always a place for accepting new things into your life. Take time to refresh the board when images have served their purpose and goals have been reached.
