Vision boards are one of the most powerful success tools that can do wonders to inspire and motivate you, and put you in the right frame of mind. Whether you use them for your business or personal life, creating and using a vision board also adds a bit of fun to your routine, while activating the Law of Attraction and drawing your wants and desires into your life!

If you’re ready to get started, here are 7 tips that you’ll find helpful in creating an inspiring vision board.

1. Be Clear About Its Use

Your vision board is going to be a visualization tool, carrying images and words that will drive you to achieve your goals and fulfill your dreams. As such, don’t move forward with your vision board thinking of it as a wish list or a to-do list.

Note that there are different types of vision boards. If you’re very clear about what you want or you want something specific to happen in your business, you can create an ‘I know exactly what I want’ board. An ‘Allowing’ vision board is for visions and goals that you’re not quite sure about, or if you know that circumstantial changes are to be expected. If you’re working on a particular aspect of your life or are focusing on a specific business goal, a ‘Theme’ vision board will be right for you.

2. Get the Pre-Work Going

Yes, there’s pre-work to be done before you begin creating your vision board! Start with assessing what you’ve desired for your business and personal life over the past 6-12 months. Think of areas like branding, sales, or public speaking, and list goals and intentions in each category that you want to bring change or grow in over time.

Remember to set aside ample amount of time for this activity. You can’t list desires or goals while you’re rushing your lunch or in-between meetings! Sit where you can get some peace and quiet, meditate for a while, and ask yourself what it is that you truly want.

Let visuals and emotions flow freely through your mind, and let this process make for a deeper, meaningful experience. You might want to play some soft, soothing music as you dwell on what’s important to you!

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

3. Narrow Down

Business goals, and quite a few personal goals, can be long-term, requiring you to put in time and effort. By having too many such goals on your mind, you might get overwhelmed easily. Instead, think in terms of baby steps and break down your goals into simpler, manageable steps.

An easy way to do this is to create action plans outlining individual tasks. Make sure you have clearly defined actions so it’s easier to make progress. You can also consider creating time-based milestones.

As an example, if your goals include making more money or expanding your business, don’t just add ‘Make More Money’ or ‘Expand Business’ to your list. Perhaps you need to focus on sales or new product releases to increase revenue that you can further use to support business expansion!

4. Gather Representational Images

Flip through your favorite magazines and see if the images catch your eye. You can also browse images online and download and print the ones you like. A word of advice: Don’t let your perfectionism get in the way and compel you to continue your quest for ideal images! This way, you’ll never find what you’re looking for and you could end up not completing the exercise.

Most importantly, don’t think when choosing images, but feel. This will keep you from perceiving images in a conventional way! In addition to this, don’t stop yourself from picking images that aren’t connected to each other rationally; it’s fine to put up whatever resonates with you on your vision board. Do pick a handful of motivational affirmation words too.

5. Arrange Right

Have a theme and format in mind for your vision board. You can look for inspiration online, but follow your heart if you want to do something original! You might want to accessorize your board with colorful paper, stickers, and more. Keep in mind that all colors impact us differently, so if you’re looking to create a board that gives off calm, pleasing vibes, a red-themed board won’t serve the purpose.

Another thing to be mindful of is that having too many pictures on a single vision board can prevent you from focusing on your goals. To avoid clutter, only choose pictures that inspire you the most. Alternatively, consider creating two vision boards.

6. Put It to Use

No matter how inspiring your vision board is, it will fail to inspire you if you put it up in an obscure place like behind a door or in the cupboard. So put your board up where you can see it every day. This doesn’t mean it’s okay to put it up near a toilet though! Think of a place where you can stand or sit for a while each day and get positive vibes as you view your vision board.

The way you view your vision board also matters! Simply glancing at it won’t produce the results you want, so commit to studying the contents of your vision board for at least 5 minutes, once a day. Read quotes and affirmations that you’ve put up aloud and with conviction. Be careful of resorting to daydreaming; you want to visualize how you’ll work to attain your goals, not just envision your life after you achieve all that you want.

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell

7. Redo the Board as Needed

You don’t have to stick with the same vision board arrangement for the whole year! There are bound to be changes in your life, so feel free to re-arrange images and affirmation words to reflect the same. Do leave some blank space so you can add new goals as they come along.

Bear in mind that you shouldn’t feel pressurized to have a new arrangement for every month of the year. A vision board only needs to be redone in the event of major changes that affect your outlook and focus.

Don’t let doubts creep in. Every time you look at your vision board, take a deep breath, smile, and tell yourself that you’re closer to achieving your dreams.So get started on creating your inspiring vision board, and let it fire you up to turn your dreams into reality!

How has your vision board helped you? Comment below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com