I’m back after a very long hiatus. When you write and create content for a living, it’s hard to then come home and write more content for you. In reflecting on my blog thus far, I realized that this blog is more of a day in the life of yours truly. It was such a nice way to remember things that I’ve done in the last couple of years. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I’m not accomplishing as much as I would like, personally or professionally. Maybe that’s a side affect of not being in school, or learning anything new in a structured way. But I’m craving something new. But, with that crave, comes waves of insecurity and fear that I won’t succeed. This has been a challenge my entire life. Before I jump, I want to make sure I can jump well, high, and with a successful landing. But life doesn’t actually work that way. Sometimes you have to jump – even when you aren’t ready.

This is what has inspired me to write my first blog post in almost a year. When I’m craving change, my first instinct is to sit down, evaluate and make some goals. I’m more of a visual person, so vision boards work well for me! I only put mine together a week ago, and things are already starting to happen. Call me crazy, but I truly believe that what’s meant to be will be and that everything happens for a reason. However, without a vision and a plan – dreams are just dreams. You still have to take steps (even baby ones) to make your dreams come to life. Here are my 6 best tips for creating your vision board and start making your dreams a reality!

1. Don’t think – just cut

Pull out all of your old magazines that you were planning on recycling anyway and dive straight in. Don’t think too much about this process, just start cutting out pictures, words, phrases, etc that speak to you. You know, kind of like the KonMari method – if that picture sparks joy, cut it out and put it in a pile. You don’t have to use all of the images you select, but it allows your mind to just focus on what truly matters to you.

If you’re doing this online (Pinterest is a great platform for this), then just save as many photos to your board as you can. You’ll reassess afterwards.

2. Tidy your space

Clear space = clear mind. Your working area may have become a bit messy with all the magazine pages. Take 5 mins to clear up your space and get ready for the next part of the process. Gather your board, markers, glue stick, stickers, quotes, inspirational scrap-booking papers, etc that you’ll need to start putting your masterpiece together.

3. Talk is out

I did my most recent vision board with a few family members and friends, and loved having people there talk out why I found my images inspiring. I realized once I went through my photos and starting talking about why I selected it, it made more sense and my goals were becoming clear. If there were photos that I wasn’t as excited about, I ditched them before they made it onto the board.

I realized I had cut out a lot of outdoor photographs and found some really great quotes to conveyed the feeling of being more connected with nature. I always feel so much more energized and clear headed after a walk with my two dogs, and usually end up going out for much longer than intended.

Again, if you’re doing this online, talk through the photos that you’ve saved. You can even make a note on each photo about why it speaks to you as a reminder for later. Delete the photos that don’t bring you excitement or inspiration.

4. Put it together!

Assemble your masterpiece. Now that you’ve edited, and talked through your images, it’s time to start securing the pictures onto your board. I like to layout my images before gluing them permanently down. Play around with it – there is not right way to do this step! Everyone’s board will look different. I like to make it more of a collage, but I’ve also seen some people segment the board into different themes like fitness, health, career, personal, etc. Whatever makes the most sense to you, do it.

5. Add dates, numbers, actionable words.

This is a step I used to skip. I didn’t want to put actionable numbers or goals because then I would have to strive to reach them. (Yes, I know how counter-productive that is to make a vision board and just hope it happens). So this time around I put my money where my month was. When you have a date, you have to make steps towards that goal. It gives you something to envision and also gives you a time frame.

For example, I have a picture of a Before and After shot of a house. I know that whenever Adam and I buy a place, that it will likely be a fixer-upper (because Toronto is not affordable and we’re not interested in moving that far away from the city). So this photo represents our journey to home ownership. I put the year 2022 right beside a quote that says “focus”. I know that if we really crack down on our spending and paying off debt, that we will reach this goal – or at least get pretty close to it.  Another number I included was ‘300’ – which is the deadlift goal I’ve set for myself to hit by the summertime. I’ve also included the word “Summer” with a picture of a mic and stage, as that’s the time when I want to go solo and really get my singing going again.

6. Put it somewhere you’ll see it often

My final tip is to put your vision board somewhere where you will see it everyday. Don’t hide it away in your closet or let it get lost in a room you never go in. If it’s online, take a screenshot and save it to your desktop background or phone background. Look at it with intention, smile, close your eyes and give yourself some grace knowing that you’re working towards this. It’s not meant to be a board of what you’re lacking – but of where you’re going.

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With that, happy vision boarding! It’s never too late to create one and whatever season of life you’re in, I can guarantee you’ll benefit from having it.

Have you ever created a vision board? Did it work for you? Let me know in the comments below.