Clear Visions

I've been thinking about Vision boards a lot lately. I know, I know. I'm late to the party. Vision Boards became marketable with the smash success of The Secret. Even before that the concept was explored with the popularity of the Law of Attraction and Abundance Mindsets. In fact, the 2002 book by Shakti Gawain, Creative Visualizations explored the ways you can use imagination and creativity to manifest the life you want. But why do Vision Boards work? What is the psychological reasons behind the metaphysics and the "woo."

Vision Boards are based upon the Law of Attraction. LOA states that whatever you focus on and put your energy and intent towards you will manifest. This is very similar to the dictums of Nuero Linguistic Programming. NLP was co-developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, both of whom have a Bachelors Degree in Psychology. NLP was a extension of Gestalt Therapy. One of the main dictums of NLP says that whatever we think about becomes our reality.

A Vision Board has no magical or mystical powers. All it does is focus your energy and intent. It focuses your thoughts on what you truly want by filling your brain with the images of what you truly want. Meditating, or at the very least studying, your vision board every day is an important part of the manifestation and creation process.

There are some tools and strategies you can use to get the most out of your Vision Board experience.

• Gain Clarity. Be very clear and specific on what pictures you post on your Vision Board. If you want a sports car don't just paste pictures of every car you find in Car and Driver. Choose a specific car. Cut pictures of a BMW, or a Lexus, or a Mercedes, or Cadillac. If you want a house clip pictures of the specific style of house you want. If you want to live at the beach clip pictures of Hawaii or California. Clip pictures that are specific and that will get you hyped and excited.
• Reduce Clutter. Now that you have the specific images of the car you want and of your dream house don't paste all of them on your board. Too much clutter will cloud your mind. Your brain will not be able to focus on the specific item because you have too many pictures of the one thing. Limit yourself to one or two images. Also do not over populate your board with pictures of everything. A Vision Board is supposed to be a Dream Collage but your still need to be able to differentiate between images. If you find your Board is becoming too cluttered and crowded simply create another Vision Board.
• Associate to your Vision Board. You must see yourself in everything you post and pin on your Vision Board. You must see yourself being successful. If you are looking at your Vision Board as a pipe dream or things you should achieve instead of things you must achieve and things that will come to pass you are not focusing your energies on your Personal Power. You need to be a participant and not an observer. What's the difference? Let's try a little experiment. Close you eyes and picture yourself sitting on a bench in an amusement park. The bench has a view of a large roller coaster and you are watching the coaster run on it's tracks. How does that feel to you? Now, close your eyes once again and this time picture yourself sitting in the first car of the coaster. See the first drop. Feel the car hit that first turn. How does that feel? I bet it was quite different. I'm guessing your heart rate jumped a little the second time. That is the difference between observing (sitting on the bench) and participating (sitting in the roller coaster's first car).
• Placement of your Vision Board. Creating a Vision Board is focusing your energy, thoughts and intention into something tangible and physical. You must focus on your board every day. If it is tucked behind the door leading to the spare bedroom or hidden in your office closet you can not do that. Consistent action is one of the keys to creation and manifestation. Place the board somewhere you will see it every day. Place it on a wall in your bedroom or office. Tack it up on the refrigerator.
• Commit yourself. Tell someone about your Vision Board. Share it with your support system. Make a promise to someone you can not lose face with that you will give them updates on your progress. Sharing your Vision Board with other like minded people will include their energy and creativity in the process.
• Take action. Remember when I said there are no magical or metaphysical properties to a Vision Board? That means it's up to you. A Vision Board is a tool. In some cases it is a very powerful tool. But is only a tool. It is there to remind you of your vision and your greatness. It's purpose is to help you focus your energy, thoughts, and intention so you can harness your creativity, take action to achieve your vision and create your dreams. You must participate in the creation of your future not just be am observer.

Vision Boards are still a very popular to focus and get clear about your life. It is especially powerful if you are a visually oriented person. Most Vision Boards are still created physically but you can create a digital board by subscribing to Pinterest or using a Vision Board software package.

Here are some Vision Board examples on Pinterest. And please follow me if you have a Pinterest account.