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Does anyone else remember when Oprah got in to the Law of Attraction? I have this memory of being a teenager and watching Oprah interview the women who wrote The Secret and having this totally skeptical reaction. Like “What the heck is she talking about???”
Fast forward a few years and I found myself creating a Vision Board to help me focus on my goals. I had to laugh at my earlier disbelief because even if you don’t believe in the Law of Attraction if you are a visual learner Vision Boards are awesome.
I have made two Vision Boards in the last few months. One of them was a bit spiritual, mostly of pictures I liked and feelings I wanted to capture in my life. The second one was more about what I wanted from my business and my family life.
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What is the Law of Attraction
The Law of Attraction says that you will attract what you focus your attention on. When you focus on the negative things around you, that is the kind of energy you will have in your life. When you focus on positive things you will pull more positive energy in to your life.
I don’t know how much of that I believe…but I do think that when you focus on negative or positive it effects how your brain sees your life. Kind of a glass half empty or half full concept, life is what you expect to see.
Many Olympic athletes use visualization as part of their training, a form of the Law of Attraction. There is also scientific evidence that visualization can help patients heal from surgery faster and many doctors encourage their patients to meditate before under going procedures.
So if doctors and athletes are seeing results, imagine what your small business can achieve!
Small Business Goal Setting
When you are a visual person it can be hard to set down your goals and keep them in the forefront of your mind. I really love to be able to see what it is I am working towards.
You can use a combination of words and pictures to represent what you are trying to achieve. Sometimes they will be literal pictures of things, like a new car or a book published. It can also be a more ethereal goal such as to help other people get fit or learn a new crochet technique.
I also love to pull pictures and words that evoke a feeling. It can be hard to figure out how to represent find a new relationship, but you can represent love with a simple heart.
If you haven’t taken the time to set out some long term goals and then break them down in to bite size steps do it before you create your Vision Board. Write your goals out by hand and then use that list as a guide when you start choosing pictures.
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Vision Board Supplies
- scissors
- glue stick or tape
- markers, crayons, colored pencils
- washi tape or stickers
- old magazines or catalogs
- large poster board or pin/cork board
You don’t need to have all sorts of art supplies or special equipment to make a vision board. I love to add decoration to mine and make it beautiful as well as functional so I use washi tape and markers in my process.
If you can find a foam core poster board they work great. Easy to prop up to work on and then display. A regular poster board will work, or even just a cork or pin board. I like to have a black or dark background but white is just fine too.
See if you can collect magazine or catalogs from friends or your local library. Get a big stack of all sorts of different themes. Our local transfer station will often have a box of old magazine to pick through.
Vision Board Process
Set aside a few hours and gather your supplies. Lay your board out flat so that you can lay your pictures on it as you go. Don’t glue anything down yet, just lay it out.
Now start going through your magazines and ripping or cutting out pictures you love. Look for things that you love, things that make you feel positive thoughts, and words that are impactful.
You can see that I have ripped all of my pictures out. I encourage you to rip your pictures too. It can feel weird at first but really connects you to the creation aspect of your Vision Board. Let go of some of your perfectionism (yeah, I know how hard that is) and rip those edges!
Lay out all your chosen images and words on your board and move them around until you are pleased with the arrangement. Now you can start to glue of tape them down. This is when I also add washi tape, stickers, written words and sometimes personal pictures too.
Want to know the secret to an effective Vision Board?
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The secret to Vision Boards
You want to know the secret to really getting the most of your Vision Board?
Put it where you will see it every single day.
Don’t stick it in a closet or behind the couch. Find a prominent place to display it where you can really soak it in every day. Maybe it can be hung above your desk or put it on your bedroom bureau, somewhere you can’t ignore it!
Looking at those pictures and words everyday will really sear them in to your brain. You want to find yourself thinking about those positive affirmations and long term goals daily. That focus will help you to reach those goals!
A Vision Board can grow as you grow. Add more pictures or words as your year progresses or if you reach the goals you set for yourself, make a whole new board!
Vision Boards are all about the maker, do what feels right, what you will enjoy both process wise and goal wise. These are guidelines for getting started but make your own rules as you go along.
Have you made a Vision Board? What were your results?
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