Nothing Happens Lest First You Dream

 

                               Vision Boards

                                                  by

                                        Gloria Reichert

 

Recently, I attended a webinar about Vision Boards presented by Merrill Rainey, Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI: Ohio North. A vision board is a physical, tactile representation of the goals which someone wishes to achieve. This collection of pictures, words, and phrases is designed to help a person visualize his dreams and goals.

The idea behind vision boards is simple. By placing your vision board in a prominent place where your goals and intentions are highly visible, your mind is constantly reminded of these focus areas, and your subconscious works away at them. Vision boards are connected to the Law of Attraction, which is about attracting into your life those things upon which you are focusing. The idea is that our experiences are created by our thoughts and feelings. Whatever we focus our attention on will be brought into our lives. Vision boards keep the goals we set foremost in our minds and create positive feelings when we look at them.  

Do vision boards work? A body of research says they do. They rely on visualization, which is a powerful tool. A report in Psychology Today states that athletes who visualized their training exercises received almost the same benefit as those who undertook the physical exercises. Oprah Winfrey has discussed the use of vision boards to help her meet her goals.

Merrill suggested four steps for creating a vision board.

Step 1 - Brain Dump: Set a timer for 20 minutes. During that time, write down everything you want to accomplish in 2022, three years, five years – whatever you decide. Focus on your writing goals or whatever you choose. Then categorize the ideas into different columns.

Step 2 - Reflect and Refine. Decide which ideas are the most important. What do you want most to change or improve? These can be either short or long term goals.

Step 3 - Create your vision board. Use white or colored poster board, foam board, cork board, white board, or felt board as the background. Using magazines, newspapers, and computer printings, cut out images, words, and phrases which reflect your goals. Arrange them on your background. Glue or tape them into place. Add glitter or stickers. Draw with markers - whatever you wish. You might play music while you create your board.

Step 4 – Display your vision board. Put your vision board somewhere you can see it every day so that your subconscious can get to work.

Vision boards can also be made digitally. Online templates and directions are available. Once printed, these can be displayed or kept in a planner or journal where they will be easily seen.

Many suggestions for both kinds of vision boards can be found on Pinterest.

You must believe that what you are putting on your vision board will come true, and you must give the work and effort that’s necessary. 

Once I complete my vision board, I think I might make one for some of my characters to see how that could inform my writing. No telling where vision boards might lead.

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For more information on Merrill, follow him on Instagram (@littlerainey) or visit his website at www.littlerainey.com.