Picture your goal. Is it a nice house? A Ferrari? A successful business? Backpacking through Nepal? Picturing it in your head is nice, sure, but let’s take the next step so you can see these images with your own two eyes. To do that right, you want a vision board.
Why a vision board?
Sometimes, visualizing your goals can feel kind of abstract and nebulous. When you activate the visual centers of the brain, you’re also activating the manifestation capabilities of your subconscious mind. A large portion of your neocortex is actually dedicated to seeing and to making images, so today we’re going to harness that capability to turn visions into reality. A vision board, a place to put these images so they’re always in your face and aspiring you to reach for them, will do that.
But where do you start?
#1: Define your space
If it’s too small, your vision board won’t have the room for your mind to explore. Too big, and you may get lost in the space. I prefer a 3’ x 2’ corkboard you can pick up at Staples or Office Depot (along with a couple dozen pushpins). That’s the ideal size for focusing on just the images that need your attention, and pushing everything else to the peripherals of your vision.
#2: Limit your images
Don’t overload your brain. Three images on your board are enough if you want to actually get what’s on your vision board (five images is stretching it). If you overdo it, you’ll get overwhelmed, which is the opposite of why you put up the board to begin with: You want it to inspire.
Picture your goal. Is it a nice house? A Ferrari? A successful business? Backpacking through Nepal? Picturing it in your head is nice, sure, but let’s take the next step so you can see these images with your own two eyes. To do that right, you want a vision board.
#3: Put it someplace visible
If it’s not in your range of vision, it’s not much of a vision board, is it? Mine is hanging on my bedroom wall. A client once put his in the back of his closet. Guess which one is probably more effective?
#4: Take a picture
The real thing may be 3’ x 2’, but you can fit it in your pocket by taking a snapshot with your phone. Bring it with you everywhere you go, and take it out and gaze at it sometimes when you’re away, stuck in traffic, or waiting in line at the supermarket. Whether you’re at home, at work, or just out and about, it’s never more than an arm’s length away.
#5: 3-5 minutes
You need to look at it long enough for your mind to relax. Give time for the negative voices in your brain to dissipate, so that all that’s left are the good vibes that your vision board brings. Stare at the images on your vision board until the negative mind chatter relaxes for at least one minute.
#6: Meditate
First, what meditation is not: You do not need to sit in an uncomfortable position on top of a mountain contemplating the sound of one hand clapping. I mean, you can; you just don’t need to.
What meditation is: Take the time to prepare yourself for the creative act. Learn a technique to help calm your mind. The technique can vary, so find one that works for you. Once your mind is quiet and completely still, it is fertile ground for powerful creation. I like to meditate for a few minutes to clear my mind before I look at my vision board.
#7: Capture your negative thoughts
When you begin looking at the vision board, you want to clear negative thoughts from your head. But identify them as you’re kicking them to the curb so you know what those thoughts are. This is how you learn to keep these squatters from taking up residency in your mind to begin with.
Negative thoughts are the most common struggle people deal with regarding their vision boards. These feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt and general pessimism can stand in the way of your goals if you let them. That’s why I’ve prepared a 55-minute training session just for you, based on training that I’ve delivered to hundreds of entrepreneurs on how to change their thoughts to create the results they want in their businesses. I invite you to click HERE to access this valuable tool to show you how to harness the power of your mind, your mouth and your heart to reach that goal.
Video Transcription
Hi, my name is William Wood and today I’m going to be sharing with you a seven vision board ideas that I used to get more than forty goals in a single calendar year.
So let’s get real: why would you want to set up a vision board in the first place. One of the reasons why most of my clients want to set up a vision board is to activate the visual centers of the brain. A large portion of your neocortex is actually dedicated to seeing and to making images. That means that you can activate the manifestation capabilities of your subconscious mind by visualizing.
Idea number one. So the first thing you want to do is define your space. Defining your space means that there is a border around the area that you’re going to be actively visualizing. You can think of that as a way of telling the brain ‘this is what I want to create’. What I do is go down to office depot, I buy a cork board that’s about three feet wide and two feet tall, it’s exactly what I have on my bedroom wall right now today, and I use pushpin’s. This is a way for me to easily place images in front of my eyes and my subconscious mind that allow me to focus and create exactly what I want to create. You don’t want to make your vision board so bag that you can’t see it all at once. But, don’t do that. The way I think about it, while I’m staring at one image, I want to be able to see every other image out of my peripheral vision, a way of telling my brain this is my kingdom.
Idea number two. You only really want about three images on your vision board. If your new vision to vision boards, especially, the brain does not do well, if you give it too many options, if you want to actually get what’s on your vision board, you should probably limit it to no more than three images.
Almost everyone who teaches vision boards teaches that you put everything that your heart’s ever desired on that vision board. While that may work for someone, most people actually start generating feelings of overwhelm when they look at their vision board. And the feeling that you create is absolutely key in getting what you want. So if you want to overwhelm, put lots of images on your vision board. But if you want to get what’s on your vision board, if you want to manifest it in your own life, three images, no more than five.
Number three. So the whole point of a vision board is to be able to see it. If you can’t see it what’s the point? So one time I had a client who put his vision board in the back of his closet, behind all of his business suits. So that if you ever actually want to see is a vision board he would have to go into the closet, scooch the clothes over to either side and spend a few minutes staring. I wonder if that worked.
Number four. So one of my ninja hacks is to take a cell phone picture and carry it with you so that if you want to stare at your vision board throughout the day you don’t have to wait until you’re at home or at the office or wherever your vision board happens to be.
Number five. Vision boards works because you spend dedicated time, focusing in your mind and your emotions on what you want. I found that in general, the best amount of time to focus on the vision board is somewhere between three and five minutes. Some of you are wondering how I come up with that number of three to five minutes. You want to look at the vision board long enough that your mind relax. It’s not an uncommon thing for you to get a little stressed out if you’re looking at something that’s real bad. So to solve that one of the things that you do is you stare at the images on your vision board until the negative mind chatter relaxes for at least one minute. That means that if you’re looking at a vision board only long enough that your brain is delivering negative self talk, how do you think you are, you may not be manifesting what you want, you may actually be manifesting the very thing that that negative dialogue is sending to you.
Number six. Meditation doesn’t mean sitting in some uncomfortable position on the top of a mountain, meditation means taking the time to prepare your mind for the creative act. So what that means is learning a technique to help you quiet and still in mind. I have other videos about meditation, if you’re interested in learning a little bit more. But what I do is, I meditate for a few minutes and then when my mind is completely still, I look at my vision board. When the mind is quiet, it is fertile ground for powerful creation.
Number 7. One of the benefits of having a vision board is actually that the vision board reveals to you your stinking thinking. Oh, now you might wonder why is that a benefit. I mean isn’t this about positive thinking. Isn’t this about manifesting your greatest desires. This is one of the least talked about uses of a vision board. Vision boards will literally tell you what thoughts, what emotions and what beliefs you need to change, if you’re paying attention. So for the first few seconds to minutes that you’re looking at the vision board before your mind chatter calms down, if negative thoughts arise, and they get a feelings arise, your vision board is literally teaching you what beliefs you need to change. When you change those beliefs, nothing stands in your way and creation is just around the corner.
What most people struggle with, with their vision board, as they struggle with their own negative thinking. You can visualize with negative thoughts and feelings and what you visualize will never come true. If you want proven strategies to change your thoughts and emotions I’ve prepared a special fifty five minute training just for you. This is a training that I delivered in front of several hundred entrepreneurs teaching them how to change their thoughts, so they can create the results that they wanted in business. So if your looking for a powerful way to get results in your life, I’d like to invite you to go down into the description of this video and to click the link. Once the new web page opens up make sure you enter in your e-mail and press the button and I will be e-mailing you, a powerful fifty five minute training that will teach you exactly how to harness the power of your mind, your mouth and your heart to manifest exactly what it is that you want. So, click the link below and I’ll see you in your inbox.