Vision board: 6 steps to building a motivating visualization board

Creating a vision board involves representing a goal to be achieved using images and inspirational quotes. According to the Miracle Morning method of personal development, an effective vision board will help you to think positively and change your personal or professional life. Visualising your dreams every day will give you all the motivation and confidence you need to take action and make your plans a reality.

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The vision board: a motivational tool

Building your vision board means building a new life, or almost a new life. More precisely, it means choosing to change. Here's how.

What is a vision board ?

Definition of vision board: this is the French translation of vision board.

A vision board is a personal development tool that helps you transform negative thoughts into positive ones through daily positive visualisation.

The board can be made of cork or wood, or it can be virtual, on the internet or in your smartphone.

A vision board is a creative board that anyone can create using :

• photos taken from magazines
• visuals or personal photos
• graphic images taken from the Internet
• text from a book, figures,
• extracts or headlines from press articles,
• quotations, proverbs, maxims,
• famous sayings,
• images of famous people,
• small objects to add depth to your painting.

According to the Miracle Morning method of personal development, failures, fears, difficulties and sometimes false excuses are all negative factors that prevent us from moving forward and keeping our good resolutions.

If we change nothing, nothing will change.

Soaking up positive images every day boosts our confidence in achieving our goal.

Positive visualisation is one of the 6 Miracle Morning exercises to be practised daily, as is repeating positive affirmations out loud.

A visualisation table can give previously unsuspected wings to those who wish to move mountains...

Why create a visualization board?

There are many benefits to be gained from using a vision board:

• find motivation on a daily basis
• visualise a positive environment
• being clear with yourself,
• define an achievable goal,
• giving yourself the means to achieve it,
• staying focused on your objective,
• be aware of the obstacles to be overcome,
• stay focused on the effort required,
• give yourself confidence,
• making obstacles surmountable,
• make time for yourself,
• feel proud of ourselves by visualising the road we've travelled.

All the studies show the importance of visual representation in our Western society:

90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual

The average person retains :

• 80% of what they see,
• 20% of what they read.

Image: © lkconseil

Interests for your personal life

Examples of goals to achieve in order to change your personal life:

• Lose weight,
• take up sport
• find love,
• stop smoking,
• becoming a vegetarian,
• save money,
• travel around the world,
• get married,
• overcome shyness,
• etc.

Interests for your professional life

Examples of goals to achieve to improve your professional life:

• pass a competition or training course
• get a promotion
• earn a higher salary,
• master software,
• working abroad,
• write a book about your expertise,
• keep a professional blog,
• improve your English,
• change direction,
• etc.

6 steps to creating an effective vision board

It's all about creating a positive environment, establishing a habit and staying on course towards your goal.

Here are the 6 steps to creating your own vision board.

Step 1: Choose your goal

There can only be one, as Christophe Lambert says in the film Highlander.

Prioritise! You can only have one goal per vision board.

Otherwise you'll get lost. You need to concentrate on what you really want.

Think about it and ask yourself these questions to define the objective of your vision board:

• what is most important to you?
• What are your values?
• What needs to change?
• Why are you making this choice?
• What are the difficulties in achieving it?
• What assets do you have to succeed?
• Who can help you?
• What should you look like once you've achieved your goal?

Put all your good resolutions down on paper to sort them out and see things more clearly.

Step 2: find your personal theme

The theme you choose to illustrate your vision board should inspire you to take action.

You can also mix and match if that motivates you. You're entitled to enjoy eating sauerkraut while listening to Zen music. Nothing is incompatible if you feel it stimulates you.

Here are a few examples of visual themes that you can associate with your goal:

• sport: football, tennis, swimming, chess, etc.
• love: couples, candlelit dinners, nature walks, etc.
• health/well-being: massage, treatments, fresh air, etc.
• cocooning/indoors: under the duvet, log fire, deckchair in the garden, etc.
• friends: aperitifs at home, dinner, concerts, outings, etc.
• family: birth, wedding, birthday, etc.
• work: handshake, team, summit, etc.

You could, for example, define a theme around work by illustrating it with sports images.

Step 3: Use a practical medium for consultation

The idea is also to have fun creating your vision board. Choose the solution that seems easiest for you to implement.

Also think about how you prefer to see your board.

Some people like to see their board at any time of day and consult it on their smartphone or digital tablet.

On the other hand, others prefer a large-format picture to display in their living room.

Here are some examples of materials you can use to create your vision board:

• a cork board,
• a large sheet of paper
• a folded poster in your bag
• a wallpaper on your computer,
• an online board on the social network Pinterest,
• a digital file,
• etc.

Image: © artfulparent

Step 4: Write down the obstacles to overcome

To ensure that your plan runs smoothly, you need to be prepared for the obstacles in your path.

Everyone sets limits for no real good reason, or is held back by certain psychological barriers.

You're going to have to learn to break through these barriers. This is called getting out of your comfort zone.

The best way to achieve your goal is to divide your project into stages and mention all the difficulties to be overcome, as well as the means to be used to get there.

By visualising each stage and each obstacle, you lower the bar from the outset.

You also put less pressure on yourself, just enough to cope with each difficulty.

Rome wasn't built in a day: this way you can overcome your obstacles one by one, step by step.

You can, for example, divide your vision board into stages, like a game of goose... you'll visualise each phase.

And you'll associate each stage with a success, which will motivate you even more!

Step 5: Find your images and quotes

What content should you use to build your visualisation chart? The choice is yours!

Anything that inspires you to succeed will help you evolve on a daily basis.

Listen to your desires: creating your vision board is a purely creative moment during which you should enjoy yourself. That's an order! 😉

Here are a few examples of inspirational content to build your vision board:

• a photo of your favourite music band,
• inspirational quotes
• positive symbols,
• images from magazines,
• a visual of your favourite food,
• a handwritten phrase,
• the title of a newspaper article,
• inspirational images on the internet,
• something silly from Facebook or a blog,
• etc.

Step 6: Look at your vision board and modify it

Congratulations on the existence of your vision board! Now you need to look at it every day to motivate yourself.

Your vision board is a daily source of motivation, like a friendly little voice whispering in your ear.

This voice repeats to you every day that you are capable of going beyond your limits, overcoming obstacles and giving you confidence.

Here are a few tips on how to use your vision edge:

• display it proudly in your living room, office or bedroom,
• set up a daily ritual to contemplate it for a few minutes,
• take a photo of your board with your smartphone,
• look at it on your mobile at any time,
• project yourself into each element with pleasure,
• remove the images representing the obstacles you have overcome,
• add images instead,
• enrich your picture with even more positive elements.

Examples of inspirational boards

To work out what your magical life partner is going to look like, there's nothing like drawing inspiration!

Here are a few examples of vision boards to help you create your own.

Example of a vision board with inspirational images

Image: © diys

Example of a table with inspirational quotes

Example of a theme combining the two

Image: © creativityforlife

Example of a motivating vision board at work

Image: © coolasouhait

Example of a Zen visualization board

Image: © positivebienêtre

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Tools and applications for creating your vision board

Looking for an application to create your vision board? Find what you're looking for in our selection of tools!

Photoshop or Laoviland Salient Design for the most creative

There is a serious professional alternative to the famous Photoshop software for creative and artistic professions.

Laoviland Salient Design is digital design and image pre-processing software that is easy to use.

Its trump card: intuitively create aesthetic shapes while playing with an intelligent palette of colours.

It's a real artistic assistant that lets you merge layers and swap colours, with thousands of compositions to customise. You can start from a template.

You can try Laoviland Salient Design free for 30 days.

Build your vision board on Pinterest

You've already seen above a vision board created on the social network Pinterest with inspirational quotes.

Pinterest is free, very intuitive and full of visual ideas thanks to its worldwide community of users!

Here's another example of a visual board to motivate you to eat more fruit and vegetables:

Applications for smartphones and tablets