Vision Boards: Decorative Ransom Notes for Your Dreams
Resolutions: An Annual Tradition of Lying
With the start of every new year, comes the influx of infuriating New Year’s resolution posts on Facebook. There is something incredibly symbolic about the start of a new year that inspires many of us to take a closer look at what held us back personally, professionally and spiritually in the one before.
We resolve to lose weight. We vow start going to the gym every morning before work or run a 5K. We give our resolutions cute names like “One Year No Beer” and “Lose 20 in 2020,” or simply flock to social media to declare to the world that we will no longer be using social media.
Unfortunately, most New Year’s resolutions tend to fizzle out just as quickly as they were conceived. What seemed like an incredible epiphany of self-awareness after a few glasses of champagne, suddenly feels like a huge miscalculation. This has a lot to do with our bad habit of trying to take the biggest steps in self-improvement first. And who can blame us?! Making BIG changes yields faster gratification! Duh.
Arts & Crafts or Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?
If you’re like me, the mere suggestion of making a vision board evokes memories of summer camp, or that special “program” your parents sent you too when you got a little too into Morrissey freshman year.
The mere suggestion that a simple arts & crafts project could possibly be what’s been preventing us from achieving our dreams is almost insulting, isn’t it? No one wants to hear that the solution to their persistent crippling problem is as easy as purchasing a piece of poster board!
But there is no denying the influence that imagery has on our thoughts. It’s the same strategy car commercials use to inspire us to buy a new truck, and how having pictures of wine bottles all over the walls at Italian restaurants turns people into drunks. There is power in imagery. What we see every day becomes what we think about every day. And what we think about every day, becomes our primary focus. And when we have a primary focus, what we have is a target: a direct path from us to the thing we want. It only makes sense that this would increase our chances of actually getting it.
And I know what you’re thinking, “If what you’re saying is true, wouldn’t Claudia Schiffer have appeared in every teenage boy’s bedroom during the 80’s?! How is a collage of Tuscan villas and BMW’s going to change my life? And am I going to have to use a glue stick?”
Just like back in rehab!
Relax. Here’s the good news: Gluing pictures of cars and exotic vacations to a piece of cardboard, much like therapy only FEELS stupid to the person doing it. But it’s actually a pretty clever method of self-care. Making a vision board taps into our innate need for creativity and it can be a great way to practice mindfulness and self-exploration. Not to mention, it’s also backed by science! But most importantly, for those willing to put the effort into it, vision boards can actually work!
There is a difference between wanting something to happen and intending for something to happen. The fact that we are using a poster board, or bulletin board and pictures from magazines to express this intention is irrelevant. The vision board is simply a vessel. But, the practice of putting one together is therapeutic in a variety of ways. The initial act of selecting specific images for a vision board helps us to better define what our goals actually are. I don’t know about you but, I have never had much luck hitting an invisible target. There is also a lot to be said for engaging in intentional self-improvement. The key word here is intentional. Anyone can mindlessly eat a salad, or completely zone out while they peruse an article about gluten on the toilet. Mindfulness activities like creating a vision board are how we connect with our body. They are also linked to stress reduction and increased brain function!
Is it Still Stupid if it Works?: How to Make a Vision Board
1. Know exactly what it is you want to have or achieve. This is a LOT harder than it sounds.
2. Find pictures of the things you’ve identified in Step 1, arranging and sticking them intentionally (There’s that word again!) and perhaps even decoratively to a bulletin board or poster-board-equivalent of your choosing. (Picture selection is key here. Think “Dodge Ram” as opposed to “big truck” or “Honolulu, Hawaii” as opposed to “vacation”. You can also include any affirmations that you find particularly inspirational (like “Just Do It” or “Eat or Pray, Love” or something equally as likely to appear on a rustic chalkboard-paint sign in your sister-in-law’s mud room.)
3. Hang your masterpiece somewhere prominent where you will see it often and secretly fear others are judging you. (I’m kidding. But seriously, somewhere you can’t miss it. Like your bathroom or directly over your television screen.)
4. Now, just keep your eyes on the prize. Don’t just think about how bad you want what’s in the pictures. Imaging you already HAVE those things! If you’ve included a mantra, SAY IT OUT LOUD! OFTEN! Make those images just as much a part of your life as they would be had you already acquired them for real!
5. Now here’s the catch. In order for your vision board to work, and to turn your wants into haves, you have to believe that it is going to work. This is what’s called manifestation.
And if you don’t believe it? Fake it! Studies show that our brain can’t really tell the difference anyway! (It’s true!)
6. Still not convinced? Well, it might inspire you to know that a number of big-name celebrities actually swear by vision boards! Perhaps you’ve heard of Oprah? Ellen Degeneres? Steve Harvey?!…(which you have to admit is pretty compelling, and especially great news for anybody who is already a successful daytime talk-show host!)
The Importance of Being Able to Visualize What You Want:
The bottom line is this. The point of creating a vision board isn’t to make a collage. The point is to get all of those “wouldn’t it be nices” and “only ifs” out of your already-cluttered head and ON to something tangible. The point is to stop fantasizing and to start manifesting the things that you’ve been telling yourself up until now were unattainable. You don’t have to be a psychologist to know that actually seeing something feels more real than just thinking about the concept of it. And any of you who have ever thought you were in love when you really weren’t, can attest to the fact that “feels real” is pretty dang close to real real. And if I’m not mistaken “pretty dang close” to something that previously only existed in your mind, is a heck of a lot closer than you were when you started. And isn’t the whole idea to get closer to what it is you truly want?! So, stop aiming for a target that doesn’t yet exist! Stop convincing yourself that you are impervious to proven therapy techniques! And for the love of GAHD stop pretending you didn’t kind of want to make a collage anyway.
Your best health isn’t going to be achieved overnight. But it can, and absolutely will be achieved by making small changes that can accumulate over time. So, in the year ahead, start thinking about what small changes you can make to get you closer to your personal goals, and take the time to reevaluate, rebuild, and redefine.
With Love,
Mel
