Organize Your Dreams With A Vision Board

Dr. Martin Luther King had a dream, and his immortal words of peace and equality are being played today in honor of his birthday.

In the past week, talk of peace, hope, sacrifice and dreams have been in the forefront in the wake of the tragic Tucson shooting, the Haiti earthquake anniversary and the dreadful flooding in Australia. Yes, that has been all in one week. While the world may feel a bit out of control, we do have power to change things – even if it’s just our corner of it.

Okay, so your dream doesn’t have to be about creating world peace or anything else so huge. It could be as simple as changing ourselves to be better human beings, one of the things we really do have control over.

How to know what we want

One way to figure out your dream is to create a vision board. A collage of your own making, this fun tool lets you see your ideas and goals on paper through pictures and words.

It clarifies your desires, basically organizing your dreams. After all, once you know what you want and allow yourself to accept that you want it, you’re more likely to get it.

So, how do you create a vision board? In high school, my friends and I made several collages out of magazine pictures and words. Although our collages usually centered on our teen-age heartthrobs, a vision board uses the same “technology” i.e. magazines and glue.

Vision board ingredients

First step, buy a piece of foam board or poster board. Second, gather up magazines, newspapers, catalogs, photos, scrapbook stickers and anything else you can find. You never know where inspiration will come from.

Third, cut out pictures, words and symbols that capture, motivate and inspire you. In my own vision board, I have pictures and words symbolizing my desire to get to a healthy body weight. That’s why I made sure I found a picture of someone who wasn’t super skinny but someone who was at a healthy weight for me.

I used scrapbooking stickers of hearts to show my goal of dating more. Pictures of money are reminders of lessening debt.

I also selected words and pictures that made me happy and inspired. For example, I have a picture of a Gerber daisy and words such as “vibrant” and “goddess.”

For you techies, create a vision board using Evernote or OneNote to make yourself a digital notebook. Capture links, pictures and ideas on your digital notebooks.

Embrace what you find

When you finish your vision board, step back and see what it tells you. Any surprises come up? The subconscious is very good at reminding you of something that you really want.

Hang up your vision board so you can see it and remind yourself of your vision.  Figure out the action steps you need to take to reach your vision. Suddenly, you have a vision and the goals to go with it. (See how a vision board can organize your dreams!)

This is about the moment in January when our New Year resolutions or intentions have either gained momentum or fallen flat.  By creating your vision board, you will have a clearer purpose and vision, and your dreams are more likely to come true.