How to Move from Vision Bored to Vision Board

Moving from vision “bored” to vision “board” requires a little reflection and creativity. In this post I describe how I captured a concrete, mental picture of my vision during a time when I was trying to accomplish a lot of big dreams. It worked for me, but maybe not why you might think, and perhaps we should move from vision board to action board.

What Is a Vision Board?

A vision board is simply a visual image that captures the hopes and dreams of your ideal vision. Typically this includes some kind of collage with picture cutouts and includes phrases or words that inspire you. You want to pick meaningful images and words. Jack Canfield has a post that describes the elements and process to create a vision board. In summary he suggests the following steps:

1. Create a list of goals you want to achieve this year
2. Collect magazines with pictures (or if digital, search for images online).
3. Decide which images most reflect the dreams and goals you have articulate.
4. Assemble your images together and be as creative as you want.
5. Add inspirational words and phrases important to you.
6. Every day look at your image board and be reminded about what you’re prioritizing in your life.

Should You Create a Vision Board or Not?

My wife and I like the saying, which I’ve since forgotten who originated, that “vision leaks.” In other words, you might find yourself bored with your vision. Perhaps it just doesn’t buzz with the energy it once had for you. Or maybe in the craziness of life you’ve forgotten what you’re even about; what priorities matter to you. We all get to that point.

A vision board is personal to you. Your words. Your choice of images. Your dreams and aspirations. Visions require updating from time to time. Not only that, visions are literally mental pictures in your mind of what is really important. So the more you can animate your dreams, the more they take shape in your mind, the more likely you are to make them happen.

However, a big caution is that you might think that creating a vision board and having idealized fantasies of your preferred future will automatically be helpful. In fact, there are some who see evidence that it won’t. Sometimes fantasizing about an ideal (for example by looking at extreme, touched-up pictures of gorgeous people or unrealistic images of insanely rich endeavors) can actually be detrimental. The gap might seem so unreachable that we quit before we even get started. So I’m skeptical of the popularized vision board method hailed in books like The Secret.

What Really Matters Is for You to Take Action on Your Vision

I’m not against a vision board, however. Let me show you what I did, and why it worked for me. I have not created one of these in awhile, but instead have focused on writing my vision, which I recommend as the first priority.

I’m an auditory learner so I should probably speak out my vision and use the science of learning style to enhance my goals. My wife is definitely visual and probably needs to get some images going, but in a concrete way. What about you?

Back in 2014 I was struggling to get serious traction on my dissertation. My wife and I felt like we lacked focus in our financial goals. I knew at that point as well that my eating needed a change (that one wouldn’t dramatically change until this year). I kept giving up on my exercise goals. I read a book by Rory Vaden called Take the Stairs and it inspired me to grab images. Now, mind you, I’m not the collage guy. I’m not crafty. My “vision collage” as I called it was literally a series of images that I dropped into Evernote.

Every day I would open up the note and just scroll through the images sequentially, not as a collage. I did have specific goals that I would review as well. I even got coaching on my dissertation and that made all the difference in getting traction there. Below is a single collage version that I just put together so you can see what those images were.

Build An Action Board Instead

If I were to do this today, I would bias action over vision. I would use an appropriate image, not something unrealistic or photo-shopped and consumeristic. I think the images I chose in 2014 actually fit that criteria well. Just something visual that reminds me of my dream. Then I would include my goal statements which are specific and measurable. So let’s revise those steps:

1. Decide on your vision and prioritized goal.
2. Find an image that inspires you.
3. Write underneath the image your specific goal and actions that you are taking.
4. Include an inspirational word like a core value or a quote to go with your image and your goal statement.
5. Review daily, weekly, quarterly and annually and revise as necessary.

I’m going to produce another version of this when I take time out in December to renew my annual goals. I don’t want to be bored with my vision, but I want to have a bias toward action and really close the gap between my real and my ideal. What about you?

Question: Can you find some inspiring images this week that remind you to take specific, daily action on your most important goals?

Leave a comment or drop me a note to let me know what you think. The path is out there before us, friends, ready for us to get after what is most important!

With joy in the journey,

Jeff