Vision Boards Help you see your dreams and goals
In business – just like in life – there are challenging times, right? We’ve all been living that reality for a while now. Those are the very times you need to keep your dreams and goals right in front of you. And a vision board can be just the thing to help you do that.⠀
When I’m having a tough day… or I’m toying with the idea of just blowing my business up 😲, I stop and look at my vision board to remind me about why I’m doing what I’m doing.
How vision boards work
Plans aren’t just about goals, measurements, and numbers. That’s why I recommend adding a vision board to your planning process. It’s a fun, visual, creative way to make your Focus Dream come true.
If you aren’t familiar with Focus Dreams, I talk a lot about how to use them for planning. Defining your Focus Dream keeps you in touch with your why and your mission. And that helps you develop a plan that keeps you on track and aligned. Check out this post to learn more.
Collecting images that represent things that inspire you – or things that represent where you want to go, what you want to be doing, what you want your life to look like – is fun all by itself. It’s a visual form of daydreaming.
But, because you are hooking it up to your Focus Dream, it will remind you about the positive, beautiful things you’re moving towards and even why you started your business in the first place.
Maybe you want to spend more time with your kids or finally take that vacation to Europe. What about that house at the beach you’ve always dreamed of owning, or the cross-country camping trip you’ve been putting off ‘til retirement? How about fresh flowers every week? Or finally having that little vegetable patch in your backyard?
Perhaps there’s a little red convertible that’s been calling your name 🚘 That last one is all me – and I was able to move that dream car from my vision board to my driveway. And one reason why is that it was on my vision board!
None of these dreamy inspirations will find a place in a traditional business plan, but they’re right at home on your vision board. More importantly, they’re critical to your long-term success.
When you collect and add pictures of your dreams to your vision board, it allows you to see what you’re working towards and remind yourself about your “why.” When you feel bored or tired or frustrated and just want to run away or take a nap, your vision board is there to add some creative playtime to your day. Or you can just sit, breathe, and look at it to bring you back to a place of calm and focus.
How a vision board fits into your planning
Life Goals
Where do you want to be next year… or in five years? What will your life look like as far as work, family, or even retirement? How do you want to change your little corner of the planet and make it better and more beautiful?
Maybe you don’t really know the answers to those questions. Me – I always HATED the “where do you want to be” question in job interviews. Because I really wasn’t sure. But vision boards helped me grow towards the answers.
Your life goals vision board – like any vision board, really – should grow and evolve with you. As your dreams, your ideas, your perspective, and your priorities change, so will your vision board.
Maybe the big, gorgeous dream house becomes a cute little tiny home… or an RV. Or that baby grand piano becomes a guitar. Or that room full of lovely plants becomes an organic farm.
Whatever you do, don’t create that life goals vision board and hide it away. Keep it fresh. Move things around, update images, replace them. Spend some time with your board each time you have to make a major decision. It will help you more clearly see the path forward.
Business Planning
Your business vision board is where you’ll keep track of why and how you do what you do. You started your business for a reason. That’s your “why.” And your Focus Dream helps guide you in the right direction.
Sometimes, though, we need more than that to stay on track. We need to actually see what things like success and fulfilling our mission look like.
A business vision board does exactly that.
Fill this vision board with images that represent your ideal business. For you, that might be working from the beach, or speaking from a TEDx stage, or finally writing that book that’s been inside you for years.
Maybe it’s faces of all the people you’ve touched (or will touch) with your magic or the things you’ll create.
And don’t hold yourself back thinking “this isn’t practical” just because it’s a business vision board. Because actually seeing the dream helps you make it happen.
Client Attracting
You’ve heard this advice a gagillion times. Define your ideal client.
Sounds basic, right? But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Try using a vision board to support you.
What’s your person’s gender identity? Do they have families? What do those families look like? Where do they live? How do they work and play? What do they dream about and worry about?
Start seeing in your mind what your people look like. Next, find images that represent that ideal client and add them to your board.
Then – and this is so key – refer to your board EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. you are tempted to work with a client who is not your people.
Now that you know what vision boards are and how you can use them, let’s get to the fun stuff and talk about bringing your vision board to life.
How to Make a Vision Board
There’s so many ways to create a vision board. The first thing to ask yourself is whether you want to go digital or old-school-tactile. Of course, you can do both.
If you go the digital route, Pinterest is the reigning queen because she makes it so easy to explore, find, and pin images that speak to you. You can share all your boards with the world. Or make them secret so they’re just for you to create and dream.
You also could try out some of the vision board apps or use something like Canva or PicMonkey.
Digital vision boards are easy to create, and you can access them just about anywhere at any time when you need that burst of inspiration.
But there’s a lot to be said for creating your vision board on corkboard or poster board with a stack of magazines and art supplies by your side. Spending time with your board cutting out images, placing them, adding doodles, sketches, and inspiring phrases can really help you tap into what’s most important to you.
Either way, collect images that speak to your goals and dreams. They can be photos of you, your family, your life, places you want to visit, things you want to learn or try doing, something you’ve always wanted to buy, your dream workspace… I’m sure you get the idea 😊 Anything that inspires you is fair game.
You might add in colors and textures that make you happy or quotes that lift you up when you’re not feeling all that great about yourself, your life, or your business.
Hang out with your vision boards on the regular
Visit your boards often. Maybe they’re the first thing you look before you start work in the morning or last thing before you log off for the day. They’re definitely there for you when you need to take a breath and remember why you do what you do.
And don’t be afraid to change your boards up. Back to my little red Beetle, some dreams will come off your board and land in your driveway. Or you may decide that particular vision of the future isn’t right for you anymore. That just makes room on your board for better things.
What’s important is that you keep seeing your dreams in front of you and keep moving towards them.
Want to join a group of Gen X women who are making their business dreams happen? Join my free community where we talk about business and life – and we have some fun, too!