Create a Vision Board That Works

More Than Woo-Woo

Some of the world’s most influential thought leaders —Oprah, Jack Canfield, John Assaraf, Gabby Bernstein and Deepak Chopra, to name a few, all teach on the power of turning our dreams into reality through harnessing the power of manifestation. Vision boards, also known as dream boards, are just one of the tools in the toolbox that can help you get started on the journey of manifesting your dream life.

It’s not woo-woo or magic and it certainly doesn’t happen overnight but, if used properly, you can start to manifest changes in your life in a relatively short period of time.

Ouch! Right?! The good news is, and this is where I geek out a little, it’s all based in brain science. And, yes, there is a bit of woo-woo involved (we will get into that in a bit).

Brain Science (The nerdy stuff)

Disclaimer, I’m not a scientist, in fact, I barely passed my high school science classes. However, as a ‘self help’ junkie I really wanted to understand why my friend was over here manifesting her ass off while my “dream board” felt more like a cheap piece of bad art? Sound at all familiar? I really wanted to how she was making all this good shit happen!

So even though I love me some woo-woo my over-rational reasoning mind had to have something solid to grasp onto and woo-woo was not graspable for me!

The “Cliff Note” version of brain science according to Mindy:

As humans we possess the amazing ability to rewire our brains! Cool s*** right?! The ability to do this is known as neuroplasticity.

Britannica says that neuroplasticity is the capacity of neurons and neural networks in the brain to change their connections and behavior in response to new information, sensory stimulation, development, damage or dysfunction.

So what does that mean? Basically our brains are made up of a series of neurons that “fire and wire” together. It’s like a series of roads or pathways that control our thoughts, our emotions and our behaviors. These pathways are reenforced though repetition or any type of emotional impact. Most of these neural pathways were created with absolutely no conscious thought and, as the amazing humans that we are, we possess the unique ability to re-route or re-wire the pathway!

A Tool in the Toolbox to Rewire Your Brain! 

 This is where brain science meets woo-woo! Think of your Vision Board as one of the many tools (yes I said many) in your toolbox that can help you create those new “improved” neural pathways, a processes known as  neural plasticity.

 When you intentionally re-wire your brain with positive thoughts, emotions and feelings you are creating new pathways. These new pathways allow you to see and experience the world newly. In other words, your perspective of the world will shift and you will create new experiences that align with those things that you set your focus on!

 So what does this have to do with making a vision board? Everything! It is literally the “secret sauce” when it comes to using your vision board to manifest your dream life!

What Exactly is a Vision Board?

 I’m sure this isn’t the first time you have heard of a vision board and you may have even made a board or two in the past. But for those of you who are new to this, a vision board, is simply a visual representation of your dreams, goals, experiences and the emotions that you want to manifest and attract into your life.

 There are many types of vision boards to choose from. Before the age of technology vision boards were, for the most part, pictures, words and phrases cut out from magazines and artfully (and sometimes not so artfully) glued to a poster board. Many people today still prefer this type of board because they can hang it up or keep it close at hand.

 You can also create a vision journal. A vision journal is a journal with pictures, words and phrases glued or taped into the journal. The great thing about a journal is that, if you enjoy writing, you can use it to write your affirmations or use it to create the story of your ideal life.

 As an avid traveler and someone who spends a lot of time on my laptop, tablet and phone, I have personally come to love digital vision boards. I set my vision boards as the wallpaper for all of my devices keeping it front and center in my mind pretty much all day every day.

Getting in the Vibe

 The idea behind a vision board, whether digital or tangible, is to raise your vibrational energy level by keeping those things that make you feel positive emotions top of mind in your day to day life.

 With this in mind, if you truly desire the life you have created on your vision board it’s important to follow a few simple rules. I say simple but, in realty, they are simple to do and equally as simple no to do.

 This is where the realist in me has to speak up. I was introduced to vision boarding by a friend and it was a few of us ladies with a pile of magazines, pasteboards, scissors and glue. We drank some wine and created our lives. Fun but maybe not the best or most effective vision board experience (although I did manifest from that board!).

 Where I believe we were led astray in those early days was in the belief that we could fill our boards with mansions, yachts and money falling from the sky then sit back and wait for it to happen. Now, I’m not here to squash your dreams, in fact, I am going to encourage you to dream big…maybe bigger than you have ever dreamed before! But if you want your vision board to work for you you have to put in a little more work than a night with girlfriends cutting and pasting and drinking wine!

Again, this is where a little woo-woo along with the “other” tools in the toolbox come into play. Manifesting anything into your life, good or bad, has to do with becoming a vibrational match for those things that you want to attract into your life. It’s all about getting into the “feeling” of those things that you want in your life.

 I cannot stress this point enough! You have to be a vibrational match.That means that your beliefs, your feelings and your emotions have to be a match for that which you are seeking!

Point being, if you are anything like I was when I made my first board (at that time a struggling single mom trying to makes ends meet every month) I was not in alignment with yachts and mansions! I was, however, in alignment with the cross-country camping trip that I took my girls on when they were 14!

 Bottom line; if you have a picture of a big assed yacht on your board but you’re stressed out about making rent, you might not be a vibrational match for the yacht (yet)! LOL…anymore than I was in vibrational alignment with the big assed 5th Wheel Camper that I had on my board for that cross country trip! But I was a vibrational match for the great little pop up camper that we found on Craigslist!

 Only you can determine where your current vibrational set point is and if that is or isn’t too much. For me, it was too much and it had the opposite effect and lowered my vibration.

 With that said, there is nothing wrong with you wanting these things and they may be awesome “someday goals” for you to move toward. And, if you are one of those amazing manifesters and you can totally get in the vibe of the mansions and yachts…go for it!

 What I have found is that most people simply want to improve their lives in a few key areas. We really just want to spend more time with our kids, our family and our friends. We want to have the money to do the things we love to do with the people we love and not have to worry about whether or not we have vacation time left. We want to create amazing memories with the people we love and we don’t want to have anxiety attacks every time we go to the grocery store!  We just want to do more of what we love, less of the things we don’t love, and we want to do it with the people we love.

 Here is the balancing act, you still want to create a board that pushes you a little (or maybe a lot) out of your comfort zone. For some that may look like a raise or a promotion at work while others may want to attract in new career opportunities that allow them to to travel and maybe be their own boss. It may look like a bigger apartment in a better part of the city or a new home. Maybe a new car or traveling the world. Whatever it is for you, it’s important to stretch your imagination and allow yourself to dream big! This opens up new neural pathways by tapping into your potential.

Vibrational Check In

 Time to assess the situation!

 What are you currently a vibrational match with? Now go one or two steps beyond that thing! Are you a match for a raise, a promotion or a new career opportunity? Are you a vibrational match for a new home, apartment or a new car? Are you a match for some amazing world travel or a Disney Cruise with the fam?

 Think about raising your vibration like the thermostat in your home. Little by little your are turning the temperature up! If it’s 32 degrees in your home when you come home and you want to get the temperature to 72 you turn the dial and little by little the heat moves up to your desired temperature.

 This is exactly how you’re vibrational energy works. In order to build the manifesting muscle you must get into the feeling of those things that are going to go on your board and little by little turn the heat up on your desire!

Let’s Get On With Creating!

 Now that you’ve taken a raw and honest assessment of where you are on a vibrational scale (see scale) it’s time to dive into the fun stuff!

 Step 1 Prepare Your Space

 I highly recommend creating a sacred space and a ritual around creating your board. This is your life! Do you really want to dive in haphazardly? You can do this with friends or take some time by yourself. It’s really a matter of preference.

•  create an intimate comfortable space whether alone or in a group.
•  have all your supplies ready: poster board, magazines, scissors, pictures, glue and anything else you can think of ready
•  put on some relaxing music and grab your favorite drink

 Step 2 Prepare Your Mind

•  I recommend using a guided meditation on visualization to help you get in creation mode. Or, if you can’t find a meditation you like take a couple of deep breaths to calm your mind and spend a few minutes connecting with the things, experiences, feelings and emotions you want to attract into your life.
•  How do you want to feel? Who are you spending time with? What do you want to experience for yourself and the people you are with?
•  Who do you want to be as a person? Are you more confident, healthier, do you laugh more? Are you more adventurous? Take the time to really consider who you want to become. 
•  Now take some time to really sink into the feeling of those things, experiences and events that you want to attract into your life in the next 6, 12 or 24 months (or longer). I typically have one “big” item on my board that is more of a long term goal. Again, this is a matter of personal preference.
•  Some people like to journal to get into the mode. One really helpful technique that I’ve used is to ask a question such as “what do I want my life to look like in the next 12 months?” and start writing free hand until the pen stops. Don’t overthink this. In fact, don’t think about it at all! Literally write everything and anything that comes to mind until the pen stops. It’s amazing the the answers you will get when you take the reasoning mind out of the equation.
•  Now allow yourself to dream big! Allowing yourself to dream big opens allows you to get out of the thinking/reasoning mind and tap into your intuition.

Step 3 Creating Your Board

•  Now that you’ve relaxed and thought this though, set your intention for your board. Some people like to have separate boards for life and career, I personally like one board. If you go to an office every day you may want your career board in your office space and your personal board at home.
•  Do you want a board around family, health, career or one board that covers many areas?
•  Are there colors, words, phrases or images that are uplifting or empowering for you?
•  Are there any phrases that empower you?
•  It’s also important to decide if your vision board is going to represent short-term or long-term change. Most people find that setting yearly benchmarks for their goals is most digestible and easier to envision and believe.

 Now get on with creating you board!

The Secret Sauce (Additional Tools)

To make your vision board work, you must work your vision! This isn’t a one and done process. Creating new neural pathways is, as I mentioned earlier, done through repetition and emotional impact.

This is what I consider the most important step of the process. It’s what you do day in and day out over the next 6, 12 or 24 months that will help you truly make the changes you desire. So here are a few helpful rules to follow:

• Set your intention around your board and create affirmations that support your goals and vision. An example of this might be setting an intention of taking your kids on amazing vacations and not have to worry about time or money. Now create affirmations that support your vision and intention. This is a BIG one! Take 5 minutes morning and evening to get into the feeling of your board and the new life you are creating. You might do this by looking at each picture and creating an affirmation around each image such as “I am so happy and grateful now that I am _____”. Spend at least 30 – 60 seconds on each image and feel yourself living in the energy of that image.
• At least one day a week take 5-10 minutes (or more) to brainstorm ideas as to how you can take some action towards your goals. Example: If you want more money in your life take 5 minuets every week (or every day) to brainstorm on ways to bring in more money. If your goals is to lose weight brainstorm around ways to up your knowledge on losing weight and getting healthy.

• Lastly, try to take some positive step every day to keep your mindset positive and forward thinking. Practice reducing stress, anxiety and overwhelm in your life. 

Helpful Hints From Jack Canfield

• Create a list of goals you would like to achieve
• Keep it neat. Avoid creating a cluttered or chaotic board – you don’t want to attract clutter and chaos into your life.
• Choose images, words, symbols and phrases that you want to attract into your life. Choose colors, & themes that bring out positive emotions.
• Be selective about what you put on your board.
• Keep your vision board somewhere where you will see it every day.
• Take time every morning and evening visualizing, affirming, believing and internalizing your goals. Involve all of your senses while you visualize and hold a space of being grateful for all of it coming to you.
• Create affirmations around your vision board