When I was a junior in high school, my Personal Finance teacher had our class create vision boards. As a naive 16-year-old,I didn’t see how something as simple as a vision board could influence or help me reach my goals. Rather, I saw it as just another assignment.
But now as I look back, I can see how my dreams have changed as well as what I’ve achieved and what wasn’t meant to be on my path to success.
A vision board, sometimes known as a dream board, is a visual representation of one’s goals and desires. It often consists of images, affirmations, and quotes that are intended to inspire a person to achieve those goals, and it also serves as a reminder.
Vision boards use the law of attraction to help a person reach their aspirations. The law of attraction is the belief that positive and negative thoughts impact one’s life, which include positive or negative experiences.
Even if you don’t believe in the law of attraction, a vision board can be a helpful reminder of what you want to achieve.
1. Get to know yourself.
While it may be tempting to jump right into cutting out pictures and your favorite quotes, it’s necessary to completely understand yourself and what you want to achieve.
To know what your true aspirations are, you’ll want to know yourself as much as possible. Of course, we’re constantly learning and growing and many of your goals will likely change, but it’s important to know exactly where and who you want to be.
Practicing meditation or mindfulness can be a powerful way to understand yourself and your desires. You can spend as much time on this step that you believe is necessary and you may find in searching yourself different goals you aspire to achieve.
2. Keep track of what is and isn’t working in your life.
You’ll want to write down what you enjoy in your life and what you would like to change.
Begin by making a list of pros and cons about any aspect of your life such as your university, your job, or your group of friends. Ask yourself which people or obligations you feel are fostering your growth and which ones are hindering it.
This can also be another way to help you get to know yourself and will help you to remember what to focus on each day.
3. List your long-term and short-term goals.
Make a list of what you want to achieve within the next year, five years, and 10 years.
Don’t be afraid to list ambitious goals. It’s important to include both goals that you believe is attainable, but also what may considered an ambitious goal. The first step in reaching your goals is to have a dream. Anything is attainable if you continue to work hard each day.
Be specific when writing these down because you notice that while you explore these goals, they may not be exactly what you imagined and you may have to alter them along the way.
4. Create a vision board that best represents your goals.
Now for the fun part! Compile images, affirmations, quotes, and any other visual symbols that are accurately represents your goals. Find relevant images, affirmations, quotes, that currently and will continue to inspire you.
You can create a physical or electronic vision board, whichever you feel works best for you. Creating a physical vision board can allow you to truly visual your goals. Making an electronic vision board can also be a quick and effective way to create this daily reminder.
Hang your vision board somewhere you’ll see it each day. Whether it be on your bathroom mirror or bedroom door, ensure that it is somewhere so it can serve as a daily reminder to push through the trials and keep your focus on where you want to be. If it is a digital vision board, you can set it as your lock screen so you see it each time you turn on your phone.
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Vision boards serve as a powerful way to keep one focused on their hopes and dreams and a reminder to keep your eyes set on your aspirations. While we all come from different backgrounds and have different experiences, we can achieve many things and be content with what isn’t meant for us, with a positive outlook.
Reflect & Refresh 