There was a season where my dreams felt almost like a different lifetime. I had high expectations of myself, but I left them wedged between heaps of snow that settled from routine and blankets of unmovable responsibilities. Days felt like weeks, and somewhere down deep, I assumed this is what life would always feel like.
One day someone mentioned making a vision board. You take a collage of pictures that represent your future dreams and manifest what you want. I was skeptical because it sounded too easy. Nonetheless, something intrigued me. That weekend I took out magazines and cut out whatever sparked joy. Images, words, and colors that represented my ideal life sprawled across my bedroom floor.
Hang them up where you can see them daily!
I didn’t wake up transformed, but little by little my thoughts, judgments, and decisions began to shift. Months passed and I noticed myself becoming closer and closer to the life I envisioned out. My vision board didn’t spark magic overnight like a genie with three wishes; it showed me daily where I was headed and allowed me to align my energy with my manifestations. Today, I make one yearly, and each one tells the story of who I’m becoming.
5 Vision Board Manifestations to Create Your Dream Life
1. Choose Images That Spark Joy
Don’t create a vision board that you think looks nice. Sure, it’s for your eyes only, so it doesn’t need to match or be perfectly placed, but you should get excited when you look at it. Every picture should spark joy and pull some sort of emotion from you. This is important because the mind can’t argue with how you feel.
Choose images that make your heart race or fill you with peace, joy, freedom, and confidence. In doing this, you’re planting seeds of belief.
Fact: Your emotions play a role in helping you remember and consolidate memories, which is supported by research on emotional memory from the National Institutes of Health. You envision your future dreams, so let your vision board help you feel the life you desire. Take time finding what sparks joy when you think about the life you are dreaming about. Feeling good around your vision board will train your mind to believe you already are living that life.
Read also: 6 Visualization Exercises for Manifestation
2. Hang It Up Where You’ll See It Every Day
Vision boards work great with repetition. Don’t shove yours in a drawer and forget about it. Put your vision board where you’ll see it daily. I have mine hanging above my bed so I see it when I wake up and right before I go to sleep.
Looking at the same images every day trains your brain to focus on aligned goals and opportunities through something called the reticular activating system (RAS), a concept often discussed in psychology research on attention and perception. Your RAS is responsible for tuning lots of information out throughout the day. When you show it something repeatedly, it becomes more aware of that particular thing. Want your brain to pay attention to goals that support your vision board? Hang it up where you’ll see it.
Read also: 9 Clear Signs You Are a Wise Woman
3. Fill It With Affirmations
We all know the power of words. While images will spark joy and help you feel your goals, place some affirmations on there that you can read daily too. They can be short, or you can just write words like Courage or Prosperity. Pick words that inspire you and make you feel good when you say them out loud.
Placebos—even the words you say to yourself—have been shown to help rewire our brains and create self-belief. Imagine what images and words can do together. Use them to your advantage.
Read also: 101 Daily Affirmations for Self-Esteem
4. Practice Daily Visualization With It
Vision boards aren’t sticky notes on your bathroom mirror you look at once a month. Take two minutes out of your day to look over each picture and visualize yourself stepping into that life. What are you hearing? Smelling? What does your body feel like? What are you holding in your heart?
Visualization isn’t pretending your dreams will happen someday. When done correctly, you are training your mind to believe what you are describing is possible. Visualization has been used for years by athletes to improve sports performance, and research shows that visualization can create neural pathways similar to physical practice, as discussed in neuroscience findings from the National Institutes of Health.
Read also: 105 Affirmations to Overcome Your Fear
5. Change Things Up
I’ll admit, when I first started my vision board, I used the same one for over a year. But as you grow and improve, your board will look different. You may not even want certain things you once wanted. Trust me when I say your board should change as you evolve into the person you are destined to be.
Your brain can become used to staring at the same images over and over. When you change things up, you’ll feel rejuvenated by your board.
Remember…
Your vision board is a reflection of what you want to become. Have fun with it.
Your vision board isn’t going to magically download what you want into your life. But when used with aligned practices, it can guide you to show up with more belief, energy, and purpose. It allows you to keep your eyes on the prize and your goals top of mind. When you give your mind clear instructions, it starts to make decisions that align with your goals. Before you know it, your dreams become stepping stones, and your stepping stones become the life you always imagined.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do vision boards actually work?
Vision boards work by helping you stay focused, emotionally connected, and intentional about your goals, which can influence daily decisions and actions.
How often should I look at my vision board?
Ideally, you should see it daily so repetition reinforces your goals and keeps them top of mind.
Should I update my vision board regularly?
Yes. As you grow and your desires change, updating your vision board helps it stay aligned with who you are becoming.
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