Demystifying the Vision Board

Ok, so there are a lot of articles out there singing the praises of vision boards and championing the law of attraction complete with anecdotal evidence of their success. And in response to these, there are many scientific articles with studies that show that vision boards do not work and perhaps are even unhelpful in achieving ones goals and ambitions. So case closed?

I was searching for an article about realistic vision boarding that I could post on twitter, but after struggling to find a suitable one I thought I’d write one myself. I really believe that with a bit of common sense, logic and the all important “action” ingredient, vision boards can be a great help. Especially if you are anything like me who is prone to procrastination and laziness…

For those who don’t know what a vision board is, I shall describe mine. My vision board is a flimsy cork board where I have pinned a number of drawings that represent important things or goals I would like to achieve in life. The idea is that you spend some time each day looking at it and visualising yourself having achieved these goals. And if you’ve read ‘The Secret’, somehow the universe will marshal the forces of creation and make it so. This is where the scientific studies take issue and so do I. So I would like to offer my thoughts on vision boards and how I use mine.

You know those rare moments of clarity that occur when you are sitting on a bus, or when you are trying your hardest to fall asleep? Where you have a sudden flash of inspiration or a realisation about what is important in your life? Well a vision board should be a collection of these moments in picture form, to serve as a reminder of what your life is about. These moments of clarity are often fleeting and easily forgotten when one is absorbed in the hustle and bustle of daily life. Looking at your vision board when you wake up is great way to remind yourself of what you want to achieve, what is important and to start your day off on the right foot. To illustrate what I am saying I will describe one of the pictures on my board.

On a scrap of paper I have drawn a picture of earth with a musical note on it. For me this represents what I think my life is about – helping people through music. When I gaze upon this picture, the thoughts and feelings come flooding back from the initial moment of clarity. This then inspires me to take that all important action I mentioned earlier. More often than not, something will happen in my day that reminds me of this picture and in turn, inspires me to make a choice that is inline with what the picture represents. This particular picture is deliberately vague as there are many ways one could help people through music. This Inner Pieces project I hope is one of them and it directly came to fruition because of this picture. Not because of the magical law of attraction but because of being inspired, taking action and making things happen.

I think it is important to note that the big things on your vision board should not be too specific. We are riding these turbulent and unpredictable seas and our power lies in direction and not in controlling the sea of life itself.

That is not to say that being specific is useless. There are a number of specific goals on my vision board such as getting my grade 8 piano or learning Italian. (I’m still rubbish at Italian.)

So that about wraps things up. If you find it sometimes hard to motivate yourself, perhaps a vision board can help. But remember, you need a healthy dose of action.

Written by Andrew Ford 10/08/13