One trick to making your goals actually happen... and faster
Have you ever been flicking through the pages or a magazine or browsing online and your eye has been drawn to a gorgeous image? Attention grabbed, you’re practically drooling over what looks like your dream home, or an exotic location you want to visit, or the studio of someone running your dream business. Does this sound familiar?
Next time that happens, when an image you see of someone else’s reality that evokes a yearning for your own dream, take a moment. Think about what it is about that particular image that speaks to you and sparks a desire in you. What does it tell you about what you dream of for your own life?
Go a step further and clip the page out of the magazine or print a copy if it’s online. It’s one for your vision board.
Image: Glitter Guide
I’m a big fan of vision boards. I started creating my own vision boards when I wanted to bring my new year goals to life. Instead of just writing my goals down, I wanted to have a constant reminder of the things I wanted to create in my life and my first vision board was born. I’ve been making them each year since.
It’s not just me. Vision boards are proven to be effective in giving your brain auto-suggestions of what you want to achieve. And here’s why. There’s truth in the saying “a picture speaks a thousand words”. As you’ll have experienced when that glossy magazine image gave you a pang of desire or ambition or, maybe, jealousy, we attach an emotional meaning to an image. It’s not just an image of a beautiful living kitchen – it’s a suggestion of a calmer and more ‘together’ lifestyle. It’s not just an image of a poolside cocktail – it’s a suggestion of wealth and success and living the high life. And when you give your brain the suggestion of what you want, it obediently begins to work towards creating it.
Imagine you had a collection of images that stirred up some feeling of excitement and desire and hope and determination. And imagine looking at those images as you begin your day – don’t you think you’d approach your day with a different mindset? Would you act differently? How likely will you be to make your goals happen if you had a tantalising visual reminder everyday?
It's not too late to create your vision for 2017!
Bring your big goal to mind. Let your mind wander and imagine yourself living it now. And take note of how you feel in this scenario and what you see around. If you could ‘bottle’ it, how would you describe what life is like in your dream life? That is the feeling you want to capture on your vision board.
Start gathering images, words or quotes that represents that desire and captures the feeling, experiences and things that you yearn for. At first, gather anything that speaks to you.
There is beauty in simplicity so, once you have your collection of words and images, be selective in choosing which ones you want to represent the ideal future you want to create. Then get creative: paste your curation onto a foam board or pin board or large sheet of paper.
Here’s the last but most important step. Place it somewhere you’ll see it daily and take time to look at it so that you connect with the feeling that your vision board represents.
Now I’d love to hear from you. What’s the goal you would like to represent on your vision board? Share the ‘story’ of your dream life with your goal achieved.
