Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. – Carl Jung
I made a vision board last week.
When a friend suggested it I had the same gut response I have when the dentist calls to remind me it’s time for a cleaning: Ugh. I spent far too much energy avoiding the Laws of Anything associated with The Secret craze of 2007 to bother with that…I believe I called it…. hoodoo voodoo, t.y.v.m. Goals are like hand knit socks. You won’t get the final product unless you break out the skills.
Yada yada yada she twisted my arm. Until this exercise my only real goal or mark of success was 40 billable hours per week, yet it took me about .03 milliseconds to know exactly what should go onto such a board.
First, a scene from the movie Sliding Doors (which is the visual picture I have in my head of life as a successful contractor).
I wanted to represent yoga, somehow. I searched high and low for a picture of a happy team, representing the team I want to build to run my business. I added the words “leader” “motivation” “enthusiastic” to remind me of the qualities my business will represent.
At the last second I added a picture of my friend’s drawer of hand-knit socks (It was sort of a joke to myself. I love hand-knit socks but have rarely succeeded in knitting a PAIR of two).
This is what my vision board looks like:
Do they work? My friend who twisted my arm into this exercise swears they do, and the first year of her business all the concepts represented on her board were achieved or exceeded.
The concept behind vision boards is best explained in a 2007 Newsweek article “Decoding the Secret”
“Even a serious academic like Harvard psychologist Carol Kauffman is willing to credit the idea that you can change your life by consciously directing your thoughts in a positive direction. “Basically, it’s chaos theory,” she says. “I don’t think you can actually attract things to you. But if you’re profoundly open to opportunity, then when ambiguous events occur, you notice them. I think what positive thinking does is raise your consciousness to possibilities so they can snag your attention. We’re starting to see some empirical studies on that now.”
Here’s what I know, living one week with my vision board:
I love it. It’s nice to look at. I feel like it’s an extension of me, a snapshot of my future. It’s made me excited to reach my goals. Last week was my best & most productive week yet. Also, I quite independently (or so I thought) on Monday I had a bright idea: I cast on a new sock started knitting a new pair of socks in a pattern I’ve felt intimidated by for some time. (this one)
A more spiritual approach to making your vision happen check out Alberto Villolo.
Here’s a link to a good, basic how-to on making your vision board.
I’d love to know what images you use for yours, or if you’ve made one, did you reach the vision you wanted?
[...] out Jocelyn’s post on vision boards for another great way to build up your success [...]
Jocelyn,
I love the vision board! I do not have one of my own, instead I have my vision “mind map”. Same purpose, different media. Maybe I will add some pictures to my mind map for 2010 and see if that improves the support I get from it.
Do you have a daily, weekly, monthly plan for looking at your vision board? Or do you just look at it randomly when you have a chance?
Jeremie
Actually I hung it up in my bedroom. I put it above 3 magnetic boards, because it seemed like a natural place where I’d see it every day. Since I made it, the magnetic boards have become home to “other” images I see in my vision.
[...] Need some assistance with setting your goals for 2010? Check out Jocelyn’s post on creating a vision board. [...]