The vision board is a very powerful tool for seeing your goals come true: it allows you to visually represent the aspirations and goals you have for your life, mainly using images.
It has been “in” for a few years and you will find plenty of inspiration on the web. But be careful, you don’t want to copy too much from your friends, because this picture should really vibrate with who you are. In this new article, I explain how to make an effective visualization board and, as you can imagine, with a touch of Feng Shui!
Visualisation and neuroscience
Visualisation is not magic. It is very serious! This process has been studied in many fields such as high level sports, exam preparation, treatment of phobias or addictions…
Visualisation is not only related to the mind, to thoughts. It is about using a larger part of the brain: when we visualise, we use more of the part of the brain that handles the creative, intuitive and holistic aspects. Then we integrate them with the rational, analytical and verbal parts. In other words, we use more of ourselves and our potential when we visualise.
Neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart explains that “looking at the images in a vision board allows the brain to seize opportunities that would otherwise go unnoticed. This is because the brain has a process called ‘value tagging’ that imprints the important stuff in your subconscious and filters out the unnecessary information.”
We know that the brain doesn’t really differentiate between what we imagine and reality. Man has this fantastic and magical tool: the power of his imagination. The aim is to generate an emotion through imagination and visualisation. This emotion will create a vibration and it is this vibration that will give us the motivation and energy to take action and achieve our goals.
Specific goals to get into action
So you just look at the vision board and you’re good? As you can see from the previous paragraph, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but no, standing in front of your vision board for hours on end is not enough… That’s why there are some articles that slam vision boards!
Tara Swart prefers the term “action board”: yes, visualizing is good, but only if it allows you to take action!
The principle is to help our brain to register our intentions. To do this, our objectives must be precise. For example, rather than simply putting a picture of a large house, specify its surface area, the number of bedrooms, the region or neighbourhood, etc. This aligns thoughts and intentions, actions and desires. This is what ultimately gives you the means to succeed. The vision board is just a lever, a tool that, by placing us in a context of positive thoughts, will bring us something positive.
If you haven’t read about it yet, I suggest you read my article on the law of attraction. The more emotion you bring, like a kid on Christmas morning, the more joy and happiness you will bring to your visualisation. Never focus on what you miss or what you don’t want to do anymore.
For example, if you want to stop smoking, don’t choose a sign with a cigarette through it! Why do you want to stop smoking? To be healthier? To run the New York marathon, one of your old dreams? Then choose an image of a marathon runner crossing the finish line (from behind is better, so it can be you!).
Visualise and then let go
One of the biggest difficulties with this type of exercise, whether it’s a vision board or a creative attraction workshop, is to do and then let go.
We’re not talking to the mind, we’re talking to the subconscious. So it’s not for us to worry about the how.
When you order a meal in a restaurant, you don’t go to the kitchen every 10 minutes to find out how the meal is prepared. You don’t call the waiter back every 5 minutes to change your mind either.
With visualisation, the law of attraction, the law of manifestation… all we are asked to do is to “vibrate”, to feel the pleasure as if the gift was already there.
We define our objectives, we choose the medium to create our painting (jumble board, cork board, cardboard, a simple A3 sheet, digital medium…), we look at it every day, and we let the Universe do its work. Our subconscious mind prints the information, digests it and thus allows us to be more attentive to opportunities and synchronicities.
It is therefore super important not to “borrow” other people’s aspirations, the neighbour’s goals, the great board already found on Pinterest.
Buying inspirational boards or postcards like “be yourself the others are already taken”, “life is beautiful” “do what you love, love what you do”… is not enough. You put them on the wall and then you don’t see them anymore, they become decorative objects like any other, the brain doesn’t pay attention to them anymore since the messages are not really from us, they are impersonal.
Making a Feng Shui vision board
As we have seen, we need images to visualise. They inspire us in a more powerful way than words. Don’t they say “a picture is worth a thousand words”. As far as I am concerned, I find that the combination of word and image is even more powerful than images alone. For example, you can either combine a list of objectives with a visualization chart or you can integrate short sentences under each image of the chart. Be careful in this case, how you write these sentences (no negative form).
To make a Feng Shui vision board, we are going to organise it around the 8 aspirations: career, personal knowledge/dev, health/family, abundance, reputation/social image, relationships, projects, opportunities/travel. On our chart, we will place the objectives in such a way that the bagua is respected: everything related to professional activity will go to the North, so in the top middle (western compass), all money objectives will go to the South-East, etc. Be specific in your images: if you want to go on a trip, choose a destination and illustrate it, if your project is to buy a car, choose a specific model.
Since a picture will speak to you better than words (haha), here is an example of a visualization chart that shows you where to place different images according to your objectives. You should use less generic images and complete them with sentences or a list of clear and precise objectives.
You put a picture of yourself in the centre and connect each image related to the life goals to yourself. This centre represents life, the life force. It is what gives the vision board its strength. You attract it all to you like a magnet. Add a yang energy (for the action) by choosing a fire colour background (red, pink, purple).
I prefer the non-digital versions, in A3 format, which allow you to place images, inspirational words, and a specific sentence per objective.
If this Bagua-style organisation doesn’t suit you, you can put everything in a loose, even-mixed format. But frankly, that would be to deprive yourself of the power of Feng Shui combined with that of the vision board.
A vision board fits naturally with feng shui. Feng Shui focuses on what is visible and invisible – the energy that is both intangible and tangible. At any given moment, what surrounds us influences us. So choose carefully the images and symbols that will adorn your board.
The next step
Now you have all the tools you need to make an effective visualization chart. And then what do you do with it? Well, you don’t put it away in a drawer or in a file at the bottom of your browser… You display it! You have to be able to look at it for a few minutes each day. If it contains intimate elements, unassumed objectives, unacknowledged aspirations, you don’t have to put it in the middle of the living room. You can put it behind the bedroom door, in the dressing room… If it’s in digital form, then put it in the background of your computer or laptop screen. You won’t get very far if you can’t see where you are going, will you?
Take the time to make this picture, in consciousness. This is a gentle moment for you. You will then realise that as you look at it each day, you will instantly connect to the childlike joy you had in making it, the same as when you cut out the pictures in the toy catalogues to make the letter to Santa.
Making a vision board means clarifying your ideas, asking yourself what you really want, clarifying your desires and goals. Dreams are within reach as soon as they are on a support: since we can see them, they are achievable! And that helps to put them into action. And to achievements. And to the achievement of goals. CQFD. 😉
So, once the goal is achieved (and it will be, trust me!), replace the image with a new one! If you start with the idea that it’s rubbish and doesn’t work, the process will take much longer. Start with the “small steps” method: choose goals that are achievable within a few weeks, preliminary steps, and then replace the image with a new goal as soon as the first one is achieved. You will gain confidence and this will act as a virtuous circle: the more you see the results coming, the easier it will be for you to demonstrate because the brakes will be lifted as you go along.
