You’ve settled in to January, the festive season has come to a close and the first school run morning has successfully been ticked off. Are you ready to feel energised and motivated for the year ahead?
A few weeks ago, we spoke about closing last year with an End-of-Year Review and setting goals for the year ahead. Now you’ve sat with the goals you set for a little while, how are you feeling about them? Remember, it’s your plan and you have the control and flexibility to make alternations.
To keep the focus on a positive year ahead, in this edition I’ll talk you through the next phase of my new year process which I use in both my personal life and for my small business which is to get crystal clear on my goals, aspirations and vison. Without a clear vision, it’s hard to direct your efforts in ways that serve your goals and it can prove hard to attract the support you’ll need in order to attain them. This is where a Vision Board comes in to play.
With the clarity, focus, energy and motivation you will discover in this Vision Board Masterclass, you can channel your vision into reaching your fullest potential. Follow my 6 Golden Rules and Step-by-Step Guide and I’ll show you how to plan for a year of success.
We’ve all heard the talk about manifesting the life of your dreams but in reality, realising your potential takes hard work, focus and dedication. Vision boards are an incredible tool to help you create a focused vision and energise you into reaching your potential.
I have long been an advocate for the power of vision boarding, I first discovered the concept two decades ago and enhanced the skill whilst studying for my Life Coaching qualification and have used then regularly for both my personal and professional life.
The science behind vision boards
Scientific researches tells us that images influence our mind and affect our ability to manifest. Our brains process images 60,000 times faster than written text and looking at a vision board primes our brain to grasp opportunities that may otherwise have gone unnoticed. People have been using the powerful process of vision boards with incredible results for decades. The process of visioning can give you a huge boost of motivational energy and inspiration to focus on the areas you wish to bring change to in the upcoming year.
By looking at your personalised vision board every day and immersing yourself in the success you wish to create the brain cannot tell the difference between a real and an imagined experience. New neural pathways are created which in turn create new behaviours that will actively help you achieve the goals on your vision board.
Vision boards are effective because when created with a positive intention for the life we want to create, they become a visual reminder of our intentions. By regularly looking at our vision board we reaffirm these intentions and strengthen our commitment to what our priorities in life are.
I’ve written for you my Step-by-Step tutorial for how you can successfully manifest your desires for 2024 staring with my 6 Golden Rules for Vision Board Success.
Step 1. Build Your Foundation:
Before you jump into the creative process you first need to be crystal clear on your goals for the year ahead. I talked about goal setting in my previous blog edition How to Do: End-Of-Year- Business Review & Bespoke Business Plan which can be adapted for use within your small business or personal life. You can read that at https://www.kindercookhouse.co.uk/post/how-to-do-end-of-year-business-review.
Below are my 6 Golden Rules for Vision Board Success.
Don’t skip this stage as if forms the foundation of your entire board. When it comes to successful goal setting, in order for them to be efficient you need to follow a few basic principles:
1. CATEGORISE YOUR GOALS:
Separate your goals into categories depending on the areas you wish to work on. The categories you choose can be completely personalised to you, although I recommend setting goals in all areas of your life to bring balance. Focusing on just one or two areas is unlikely to inspire you to reach your full potential. Categories you might like to include could be:
Family/Home Life, Business/Career, Financial, Health, Wellbeing & Fitness, Personal Development/Education Spiritual, Social Connections/Romance, Lifestyle, Travel/Adventure Creativity/Hobbies, Purpose/Passion.
2. PIN POINT YOUR GOAL:
Underneath each category you have created bullet point the goals you wish to achieve.
3. BE SPECIFIC:
Fine tuning your goal to be clear and very specific will enable you to focus your efforts on exactly what you need to do in order to achieve the desired result plus you’ll know exactly when you’ve achieved it. Examples of being specific is putting down the exact number of orders you will receive per month in your small business goal, the exact amount of money you’re going to save each month towards your travel adventure goal, the time you’re going to set your alarm for each morning to get up and meditate or workout in order to achieve your health and wellbeing goals.
4. PRESENT TENSE:
Writing your goals in the present tense shifts your subconscious mind to the idea that you’ve already obtained your goal which works with your conscious mind to drive actions that will ultimately make them a reality. Switching from “I will…” to “I have…” gives your subconscious a clear picture of the end result as though it is already accomplished.
5. POSITIVE & EMOTIVE:
When defining your goal, write what you do want not what you don’t want for example instead of saying “I want to stop over spending” write “On September1st I have £5,000 in my savings account”.
When writing your in-depth descriptions use emotive words: Words have been known to hold immense power, energy and vibrations. The more positive emotion you feel when picturing your accomplished goal, the faster your affirmation will work for you. Emotive words you can include are:
6. PLACE A TIMELIMIT:
Whilst encouraged to dream big when it comes to creating your vision, I suggest you keep to a specific timeframe. Having a board filled with pictures of your dream house by the beach you’d love to retire to when you’re still years off retirement will overwhelm your mind and cloud your clarity when it comes to what is important for you to achieve in this current chapter of your life.
In the past I have made boards with a five-year time frame, when looking for a house I had a six-month vision board but mostly I find a one-year vison board the ideal timeframe nowadays.
With a one-year vision board you can narrow down your focus and plan out your year in advance, you can sub-categorise your goals into the months or seasons they are most likely to be attainable for example planning your dream winter holiday in December allows you nearly an entire year in advance to save towards it.
Step 2. Build Your Board.
Now you have the foundation for your board in place it’s time to unleash your creativity.
Your vision board is to become a visual reflection of your intentions and goals. You can create your board in a number of formats from a physical board on cardboard using images, drawings and photos cut from magazines or printed out. To a digital version where you can build up your board from images online. Great platforms for inspirational images include Pinterest or copying your saved photos from your Instagram account.
In the past I used to make physical vision boards, saving images I'd cut from magazines throughout the year. Whilst I loved the physical process of placing everything together, I found it somewhat restrictive only being able to use the images available. These days I tend to prefer creating a digital board using one of the free templates available from Canva, and typing into Google the exact image I’m after.
Gather one to two images you feel best align with each of the goals you have set; be sure they evoke a strong emotional response and are specific to the details you have set so your board becomes a powerhouse of motivation. Start arranging your images in a way that feels inspiring to you.
A note about words and quotes: try not to have too much text on your vision board. As we discussed earlier your brain cannot process words as quickly as images and your board can quickly appear cluttered. A streamlined way of using text could be to use a single quote you find inspiring or simply having just your “Word of the year” – a single word you choose to guide you through your year and be your North Star to come back to when you need to feel empowered.
7 Tips for creating your vision board:
Allow yourself the time and space to fully immerse yourself in the creative process. Don’t rush or feel pressured.
Create an inspiring environment to evoke your creativity, light a candle or get cosy by the fire. play your favourite music, make yourself a cocktail.
Let go of the restriction to make your board aesthetically perfect.
Group together your images into the categories you have created specific to your goals.
You may like to place an image which best represents your main focus for the year right in the centre of your board.
Personalise your board as much as possible, if your goal is to write a book place your book title, photo and name as the author over the image of a book. If you’re looking to increase your income, write your name over the top of an image of a cheque with the amount you’d like to manifest. Seeing yourself in your vision board allows you to visualise yourself having attained your goals.
I prefer not to include images of other people’s faces in my boards as looking at images of other people living out your dreams will cause a disconnection with the emotional element of your board. Instead, I choose ‘What I’m Seeing” images, what would I see if I was the one taking the picture, for example instead of an image of a woman sat on an airplane I'd choose an image looking out an aircraft window to represent taking my family on holiday.
Once you’ve created your vision board and you feel a spark of motivation simply by stepping back and looking at it you can stick everything down in place or print it out and laminate it. Have it in a place you will see daily, I keep mine above my desk in my studio and also set it as my laptop wallpaper and phone background as a constant reminder of my intentions for the year.
Step 3. Manage your Mindset:
Your work is not done yet, whilst vision boards are a great resource it’s important to take inspired action towards your goals daily, this comes back to the Personal Commitments you set for yourself in your Bespoke Business Plan. Your thoughts create your reality so maintaining a positive mindset is crucial for high vibrational energy, surround yourself with positive people who support you and your success. Talk to yourself with kindness and grace, practice gratitude daily for all that you have right now and look after your mind and body by prioritising your health, nutrition and fitness.
There you have it, my complete guide to creating a year with intentional success.
I would love to see your vision boards you have created, post a picture on Instagram and tag me at @kindercoookhouse or drop me a DM.
Like what you’ve read? Subscribe to my mailing list to be the first to hear when a new blog edition is live.
Comments