Vision Board, Dream Board, Reminder Board, Action Board and etc..

I have attended a Vision Board party earlier this month. Vision board is a collection of motivational sayings, photos and cut-outs from magazines that probably reflects our dreams and wishes. I was told that I should hang my vision board in my room and look at it everyday. That way my dreams will come true.  I am a believer that dreams will come true through hard work and we can't merely depend on luck or chance. While I am a very practical person, I understand the rational of a vision board from the host's perspective.

Creating and looking at the vision board regularly can help maintain the goal in our subconscious. It reminded me of a friend from primary school who achieved first place in school in a major examination. I recalled her telling me that her mother had pasted newspaper cuttings of students who have achieved full As. The newspaper cuttings kept her focused on the goal and  reminded her to put in the hard work and strived for full As.

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” – Leonardo da Vinci

I have read in many articles that when goals or intentions are declared openly and aloud to others, the action will satisfy our self-identity just enough that our motivation to achieve the goals dramatically decreases over time. After declaring intentions on the Vision Board,  dreaming alone will not turn our dreams into reality. I recognized the behavior as I am guilty of doing just that. I shared my intention to practice yoga 3 times week and included this plan in my resolution. I have almost never practice yoga more than once a week. 

Regardless, creating a vision board is a good excuse to connect with my feminine side. We,girlfriends,  gathered at a friend's place. The party commenced with laughter, food and beverage of choice.  Once the host has accomplished her first mission that was to feed us, we gathered in the living room to peruse magazines and be inspired by our discoveries. There was a moment of peace where the only sound was flipping pages and tearing out pages. Then came the second phase of sieving through our findings and arranging them on our boards before the final stage of sticking the cut-outs to create our masterpieces.

My board represents a reflection of my thoughts while I was going through the process of building my vision board. I was not dreaming about acquiring material objects. I will confess that I was considering to include a picture of an Audi however, it was not at my disposal that evening. I suppose it was not meant to be in this vision board after all.

I tuned inwards as I was building out my vision board. I wanted to be inspired, be less self-critical, have a little self-affirmation, self confidence, self respect and to nurture my body, mind and soul.  I am happy with the end product.  I can guarantee that I will not heed the advice of avid vision board fans about looking at my vision board on a daily basis.  My vision board had help me frame my thoughts and will serve as a reminder and a boast to keep me focus and continue to learn and grow.