Vision boards are more than just a fun activity to engage in at the start of a new year or season. While vision boards are often designed to be aesthetically pleasing and can be a relaxing activity, they actually can be more helpful to your writing dreams than you imagine.
If you want to learn about a fun way to help you pursue your goals, articulate what exactly those goals are, and communicate your plans in an effective way, this article is for you. I cover exactly what a vision board is (hint: it’s not a mood board), how they can help writers, give examples, and share how vision boards can be part of lifestyle practices.
Vision Boards: Defined
Vision boards differ from person to person, but at their most basic level, they are a way to visually and tactilely portray your goals to yourself. Oprah Daily defines vision boards as “Typically poster-sized visuals, contain all kinds of images and text that represent something you’re trying to accomplish.”
If you have a far-off goal and want it to feel a little more within reach, a vision board is the way to go. An important differentiation is that, unlike mood boards, your vision board is an aid to help you in the direction you choose to take with your goals.
A mood board is more typically associated with aesthetics. Think of your Pinterest board filled with all your favorite living room styles. This is more of a mood board. When brainstorming a vision board, consider your private board of inspirational quotes.
How Vision Boards Can Help Writers
If people create mood boards to help set a mood, we create vision boards to act as a compass pointing us in the direction of our goals. These types of boards can work wonders for creatives, and writers in particular. Let’s dive into how writers can make use of their benefits.
#1 – Visualization
The power of visualization is often associated with future success. While hard work, healthy habits, and the right kind of practice are necessary ingredients to succeed, visualizing (either internally or externally) what you want to accomplish can play a major role in your end result.
You may have heard of basketball players imagining themselves landing that perfect dunk, a musician envisioning themselves playing their piece flawlessly, or a public speaker imagining themselves calmly walking onto the stage.
A vision board is an extension of this practice. In fact, vision boards allow you to not only see what is is you want to accomplish, but use your sense of touch as you create your board. And bonus, boards created with intention can be highly creative.
#2 – Map To Success
Vision boards can also act as a map to success. It’s one thing to say you want to become a bestelling author, it’s another thing entirely to know what you need to do to become one.
Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan identify the importance of knowing your steps in their book, The One Thing. When it comes time to work your dream into a reality, identifying the one, top priority you need to focus on is a must.
Vision boards act as a map, pointing you to the first step you need to take, then the next, and so forth, until you reach your goal.
Journeys can feel overwhelming when the goal is “become a bestelling author.” However, when you design your board, you break down your one goal into many, singular steps. For instance, you could include sections dedicated to:
- Increase writing skills by taking a class
- Interact with other writers once a week in person
- Read ten books in my genre in three months
- Ask for a beta reader to look at my work
Plus, when you have a gorgeous looking map, your much more likely to take action!
#3 – Motivate Yourself
The key to action is taking the first step, and when that first step is as fun as can feel like arts and crafts, your motivation can help empower you to get started.
Remember your unbridled creativity as a child? Take that mindset and focus it on creating your board. The more you enjoy the final product, the more you will want to refer to it as the map it is. This will hlep motivate you as you seek success.
Examples Of How To Make One
If you’re reading this article, chances are high you’re a creative, but you may not feel qualified in the art world. Not to worry, because below are a few examples of how to make your vision board.
First, template. There are various templates to work from, and here are a few:
- Daily vision board
- Week by week
- Monthly
- Annual (overview)
Once you decide how you want to focus on your goal, be it on daily routines or an annual overview, it’s time to create your template. Take a trip to Target or log back onto Amazon, purchase a large piece of postboard (don’t forget to choose a color you love), and create your template with markers.
Second, your priorities. Do you want to focus on health and wellness, fitness, creative goals? Your options are limitless. Tip: Resist the urge to combine priorities. Try to stick with just one.
Third, time to get creative! This part is subjective, so feel free to browse Pinterest for inspiration. Arm yourself with colored pens or markers, scrapbooking paper, colored tape, or whatever else you find helpful to create a masterpiece of a vision board.
How Vision Boards Can Be Part Of Practices
If you find you enjoy the process of creating your board and that it helps you follow through on your goals, you may want to consider making it a regular practice.
Hal Elrond’s book, The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life Before 8AM, identifies the importance of we spend mornings. You may want to create a smaller, less detailed vision board for daily goals. If daily feels like too much, consider creating a small vision board every weekend to prepare for the coming Monday.
Of course, if you want to go all out on your board you likely won’t have time to make a new one every week. Instead, add your vision board to your evening ritual. Before going to bed each night, spend some time looking over our board, note areas where you’re doing well as well as areas for improvement.
The importance of vision boards are to help keep your vision in site. If you want to become a bestelling author, it’s vital to take the steps to get there. Rather than create a board and then put it away in your closet, refer to it regularly.
Once you create your board, we’d love to hear how it helps you take the next step to your dreams.
Let us know in the comments what you’re working on, what template you use, and where you’re at in the process. Vision boards may feel like a simple craft, but they can hold much more power, as you’ve seen! Stick with it, and you’ll likely be surprised at your results.
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