How visualisation can help you set goals 

A lot of people are not where they want to be in life. There could be a million reasons and many of them might sound familiar to you.

·        Maybe you’re stuck in an unfulfilling job.

·        Perhaps you’re a single mum – parenting and working, always pulled in different directions, trying to please so many people.

·        Or maybe there’s just always so much TO DO, there’s never any time left for fun and adventure.

In this article I’m going to explain how to create a Vision Board to help you focus on the future and kick-start the goal setting process to create action and momentum towards the things you want.

Why create a Vision Board? Because when you realise you’re feeling stuck and not living the life you dream of, you need some tools to help you do something about it.

I believe the first step to creating any kind of real change in your life is deciding what you want.

Do you have goals? What will it look like when you achieve them?

If you don’t have clear goals, or a picture in your mind of what you want your life to be, it’s difficult to know what changes you need to make.

For any real, lasting change to take place, your need to get crystal clear on what your future looks like.

There are several ways to focus on the future and get you into the mindset of planning and goal setting.

Visualisation is a popular tool for many high-achieving entrepreneurs and sportspeople. They use the power of visualisation to help them prepare mentally and practice their craft in their mind before stepping into the boardroom or into the sporting arena.

Helping my kids look to the future

I think creating a Vision Board is a creative, hands-on way to clarify your vision for the future. It forces you to stop and think about the things you want to work towards.

Creating a Vision Board was a powerfully motivating activity I did with my beautiful kids during my divorce, when we were moving out of our family home.

Leaving that home was one of the saddest and most difficult things I’ve ever experienced. My darling children were overwhelmed with such a sense of loss.

It wasn’t the actual bricks and mortar – but everything they represented.

Our home was our haven. It was security and love and trust. It was birthdays, Christmases and so many happy family memories.

On one especially hard day, I knew the kids needed something positive to focus on. There were so many emotions and so much sadness, I knew I had to do something to turn it around.

We got out of the house and went to the beach for a little while, then on the way home I had an idea.

I stopped and bought some cardboard, magazines and glue and the kids and I went home and made Vision Boards. I fondly think of them as ‘Vishen Boards’ because that’s what my little girl Willo wrote on hers.

It wasn’t something I planned to do that day. It came from my heart, deeply in the moment, as a way to get us out of the mindset of loss.

It really helped lift the kids spirits and brought comfort on a really tough day. We still have our Vision Boards now and look at them often to remind how far we’ve come.

Why I love Visualisation

The effectiveness of Vision Boards is sometimes debated. While one camp (including me!) fiercely believes in the power of creating a physical, visual representation of your goals, the other suggests Vision Boards might actually prevent people from taking action.

They suggest this is because some people believe creating the Vision Board is all they need to do. They don’t make any effort towards their goals.

I agree that the board itself doesn’t do the work. It’s just the starting point. Because a Vision without any action is just a DREAM. If you create a Vision Board but take no action towards achieving the goals you’ve set for yourself, then the chance of success is super-low, wouldn’t you agree?

Here’s what I love about Vision Boards:

·        There are no rules

·        You can’t mess them up

·        You can focus on feelings, not just material things

·        You can update it whenever you want, as your goals change

·        It’s completely yours – as unique as you

·        They’re fun! Who says only kids get to cut and paste!

I believe Vision Boards can help to:

·        Shift focus to the future

·        Bring joy and fun through the process

·        Spark inspiration

·        Boost your confidence – you’ve got goals, go get them!

·        Clarify what your goals actually are

Vision Boards and goal setting

I think Vision Boards are a great start in the process of goal setting. According to Tony Robbins, effective goal setting is the fundamental key to success.

“Whether it’s increasing your intelligence, taking up a new hobby or rekindling a relationship, setting goals lets us create our future before it actually happens. Setting goals helps us grow and expand, pushing ourselves to transform in ways that, just maybe, we never imagined. In order to feel truly fulfilled, we need to know and feel like we’re working to achieve something.”

He says, “Progress equals happiness,” and setting goals is what gets us there.

How to create a vision board

There are lots of ways to make a Vision Board and they can be as creative as your heart desires.

I think there’s something therapeutic and mindful about the process. You’ll find your focus turns inward while you flip through magazines for images that resonate with you, cutting or tearing them out and putting them together in a way that makes sense to you.

You might also like to add some ‘power words’ that are meaningful to you. You might connect with words like:

·        Overcome

·        Strength

·        Fun

·        Adventure

·        Travel

·        Success

·        Love

·        Slow

·        Simplify

·        Achieve

You can create your Vision Board on a sheet of cardboard, or on a pin board. I truly suggest you use the old fashioned approach with this one. It’s more fun to get a little hands-on, rather than using an app. A Pinterest board isn’t the same thing.

Create a fun board that sparks joy and inspires you and display it somewhere you can see it often.

Have you ever visualised a slower, simpler life for yourself? 

It might seem impossible, but I promise, you can slow down. I’d love to help you kick-start your slow-down journey. I’m super excited to share some easy, practical lessons you can implement in your life right now. If you are keen to slow down but not sure where to start, join in with my free challenge here. This is an opportunity for you to experiment and find your most suitable way for regularly initiating self love into your life.

Grab the rules for #hiddysslowdowndare here and become part of my beautiful, supportive online community as we simplify our lives and focus on our mission to slowing down and saying goodbye to the rush, once and for all!  Make slowing no longer a hassle for you, but rather, part of your everyday.

Thank you so much for being here and for adding your perspective. I’d love to hear how you feel and what you think about goals and visualization in the comments section of this post.

Blessings, Hiddy xx

P.S. Please share this post with someone you love, because they might be in need of some slowing fun today too!