Why and How You Should Create a Vision Board |‘Manifesting in the Real World’ Episode Two
Vision boards are not necessarily just a spiritual concept. In my opinion, they make logical sense too. Studies have shown that you’re more likely to achieve a goal if you’ve written it down.
Well, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then accompanying your written goals with images will surely help you achieve them!
Today I want to tell you why you should create a vision board and share some tips on how you can create one that will work effectively so that you can manifest in the real world.
This is Manifesting in the Real World, Episode Two!
Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog! Or if you’re new around here, nice to meet you! My name is Ebonie, and my hope with this blog and my YouTube channel, is to help you reconnect to your intuition, so you can manifest the most magickal life you could dream of – in the real world!
If you’re new to the Law of Attraction or curious about how I think of it, I definitely recommend starting with Episode One of this series – Click Here to check that out first! In this first episode, I introduce the Law of Attraction, share theories on how it works, and how to get started!
Today we’re talking about vision boards, one of my all-time favourite Law of Attraction techniques! Not only is it so much fun making a vision board, there are so many wonderful reasons why they’re worth making!
First, I’ll explain why you should create a vision board and how they can work. Then I’ll take you through step by step, from working out your goals to ensure no dreams are left behind, to making your digital vision board on Canva. Finally, I’ll talk about what next! How can you get the most out of your vision board? I have a couple of suggestions I want to share on how you can use your vision board to increase its effectiveness.
It’s gonna be a lot of info, but I hope you find it super helpful! If you like, you can also check out the blog post linked below, so you can read back over these tips when you sit down to make your vision board! All of this I’ve figured out after years of making vision boards that have worked, so I hope this method will work for you too – so you can manifest all the things you want in life!
So firstly, why create a vision board? What is it that helps vision boards to work? Get yourself a cuppa, and let’s get into it!
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Why Create a Vision Board?
A huge aspect of why you should create a vision board comes down to the Reticular Activating System, that is located in the brainstem. This system works like a filter in our brains, constantly sifting through the information around us so that only what is deemed necessary reaches our attention.
In last week’s video I talked a little bit about this system, and how it can help explain the Law of Attraction and manifesting. So, if you want to learn a bit more about it, check out that video here.
With vision boards, you are essentially telling your Reticular Activating system to focus on the images that represent your goals. So that when you come into contact with something or someone that might help lead you towards your goals or whatever you’re trying to manifest, the Reticular Activating System will focus on it.
This is why writing down, visualising and getting super clear on our goals is so important. Because anytime we reinforce what we want to our reticular activating system, we remind it to actively seek out and focus on what will help us bring those goals into reality.
So, if you have a vision board that you look at every day, your subconscious is going to internalize those images – and your Reticular Activating System is going to mark them as important. Whenever you see or experience something, or meet someone, that may help you bring those images, your vision board, into reality, your Reticular Activating System is going to flag it down. It’s going to direct your attention to that thing or person that may lead to achieving your goals on the vision board.
That’s the more logical reason behind why a vision board might work… The more spiritual reason is that you’re asking the universe/your higher self or whatever you believe in, to help you manifest these goals and dreams displayed on your vision board.
There is only one thing you need to believe for your vision board to work for you – you need to believe that it will work. You need to be in a positive mindset when you create your vision board, from start to finish. You need to be crystal clear on what you want and believe that you will get it. And every time you look at your vision board, you need to imagine all of these things coming true. But more on that soon!
Beyond the possibilities of the vision board helping you to manifest all that you could possibly dream of, creating one is also just so much fun. It puts you into a grateful, positive place, where you can confidently see all your goals laid out in front of you.
Seeing all the possibilities helps you believe that they are possible for you too.
So now you know why it’s worth doing, let’s start the process of creating a vision board!
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How to Create a Vision Board
Step One: Clarify your Goals
If you want the vision board to work, you first need to know what you want. A huge benefit to creating a vision board is that it helps you really figure out your goals. By that reason alone it’s worth doing!
I’d recommend choosing a timeline too, ideally no more than five years ahead. But it’s up to you!
Coming into this, you might have a few ideas already or be completely confused about what you want.
So I suggest breaking your goals down into three categories: mind, body and spirit. This allows you to encompass all aspects of life, work towards finding a good balance, and it helps you think of things you may not realise you want to focus on, too.
Mind: The mind category includes things like career goals, your dream home, any material things you want or the amount of money you’d like to make.
Body: The body category includes things like exercise goals, eating nutritious foods, or any habits that will make you feel healthier such as a morning or night-time routine, or getting more sleep.
Spirit: The spirit category includes things like relationships, meditating, goals to help others or donate, or any hobbies that bring you joy and make your soul sing.
With these three categories in mind, start writing about what you want.
Putting pen to paper is the best way to do this. Try brainstorming if you’re really stuck or meditate and see what ideas come your way! What would make you happy? Never mind what others may think, and cast aside any fears you may have, and let yourself daydream. Let your imagination take over and run wild.
Whatever your dream is, it’s very likely that crazier things have happened, then if you were to achieve that goal.
If you’re stuck between aiming “too high” or downplaying your goals to be more “reasonable” – aim for the middle ground and add the words: “this or something better” to your vision board!
Now this next step was a game changer for me. You don’t have to do this, but I encourage you to give it a try to really step your vision board up a notch!
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Step Two: Use Affirmations
Once you have your goals and dreams written down, turn each into an affirmation that you can add to your vision board, to reinforce your images.
Make every goal or dream you have into a current state of being.
Instead of “I want to exercise more” change it to “I exercise daily.” You don’t just want to eat healthier – state: “I am healthy”. You don’t just want to own your own home – affirm it instead with: “I am a home owner.”
Adding affirmations means that every time you look at your vision board, you can repeat them to yourself, telling the universe/higher powers/your subconscious that this is what you want to attract into your life, this is what you want to manifest, this is the reality you want to live.
It feels good to reinforce your images with affirmations.
Rather than just a pretty collage, you are embodying how it would feel to live in these dreams, in real life.
Stating these affirmations while looking at these images helps you visualise it as if it were real. The visualisation combined with the affirmation, while you feel excited and truly believe that it is your reality, will raise your vibration to the same level as what you’re asking for. As the Law of Attraction states: energy attracts similar energy. What we’re trying to do here is embody the same energy of what you’re trying to manifest.
That’s very much the spiritual side of things – if you’d rather, think of affirmations as just adding further input to your subconscious.
Looking at your vision board, or even just stating your affirmations alone, will help solidify in your mind that this is what you need to focus on.
Like I said in last week’s video, the first step to using the Law of Attraction to attract anything into your life is to ask with belief. As long as you believe that what you add to your vision board will come true, then it’s very likely that it will.
While you clarify your goals and start looking for images, while you create your vision board, do so with an open, positive mindset backed with the strongest belief that you can muster. Believe that your goals are achievable. Know that you are capable and if you do believe in higher powers, know that you are supported and that the universe will help you get what you want.
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Step Three: Find your images
So, you have your goals listed and your affirmations ready. You’re excited to start achieving your dreams, and you truly believe that it is possible. Now you need to work out what images will best represent what you want.
Pinterest is my go-to for this, as you can create multiple boards to keep your images organised. This means you can save as much as you like to these folders on Pinterest, then look back through them to find your favourites to download. This means you don’t end up with heaps of photos downloaded – but only the ones you’re sure about!
If you’re struggling to find the exact image that you’re after on Pinterest, you should be able to find it on google! Or you can screenshot an image from a website or social media. As long as this is for personal use only, the images don’t need to be credited. Your vision board is just for you!
For instance, one of my goals is to have my own home. So, I wanted an image of an office I could truly see myself in. I looked for little details and tried different keywords until I found the image that stood out the most. I knew I wanted an iMac in my dream office, so I included that in my keywords too!
Looking for images should be fun. Enjoy the process, get excited and really try to see yourself living these images in real life. Visualise as much as you can and keep your spirits high – you want to see an image and feel SO excited that it is yours!
Look for the living room that you would be over the moon to call your own. The decor is as close as you can find to perfect for you. You would adore that couch, and you can see yourself sitting there watching Netflix.
If you want to reallyyyy take things up a notch… you can use canva to edit and modify images to make them unique to you and your goal!
I had SO much fun editing my YouTube channel subscriber count and making my everyday bank account display more money, to show the income I want to make each month! I even created a quick mock-up of a book cover, because I want to write a book one day. I don’t know yet what it will be exactly, but I know I want it to be a bestseller – so I took a screen shot of the Amazon Best Sellers list and changed the #1 spot to my own book-to-come!
It didn’t take too long to muck around with, and now I have these images on my vision board, waiting for the day when I see them in real life!
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Step Four: Create a Digital Vision Board on Canva
I love that with a digital vision board you can easily see it everywhere, as much as you want to! But if you’d rather make a physical vision board, you can print off the images you find online or cut out images from magazines, and stick them to your wall or the back of a door, glue them onto a posterboard or pin them to a cork board – whatever you like.
Whichever way you want to make it, I hope that sharing how I like to make vision boards is helpful to you!
Every vision board I’ve ever created has been done on Canva. Canva is a free website that allows you to easily create designs, and I’ve been using it for years! Not sponsored or affiliated, I genuinely find it such a handy site.
I use the blank desktop template so I can make it my desktop background, airdrop it to my phone, and I always print it off and stick it on the wall at my desk too!
I love being able to see it all the time. It just amps me up thinking about all the things I’m going to do! It’s just a matter of time, right universe?
So, once you’ve found and downloaded your images, go to canva.com. Choose the dimensions you want – I select the blank desktop template. Upload your images, and simply drag and drop them onto your page. Arrange them however you want!
Once your images are laid out, add your affirmations! Simply choose ‘text’ from the menu on the left-hand side. If you’re having trouble reading your text over your images, click on ‘elements’. Select the square shape to use behind your text for your affirmations. Stretch it to fit behind your text and line it up, then highlight both together and click ‘group’. Now you’ll be able to move it around and resize it easily while working on the placement of everything.
To give you an idea, I ended up using 27 images in total, and arranged it as roughly 4 images down, 7 images across, with one image taking up two spaces. There’s no one way to arrange your vision board, and you can overlap photos if you want to. Just play around with it!
This is my finished vision board – what I hope to achieve within the next few years. Though most of these goals I hope to achieve by the end of next year! I’m sharing it here online so that if anyone is feeling stuck or not sure where to start, maybe it’ll help you to see an example! I may tweak a few things later, who knows — life happens, and as far as any goals go, we always find more clarity as we go along!
All of these photos with other people or taken of other’s homes are real to those who actually took them. They actually exist in real life. I’m not reinventing the wheel – I’m following the footsteps of those who have already achieved them. My path may be different, and there may be detours and challenges unique to me along the way, but the end goals are possible to reach.
Many of the affirmations are actually real to me now, too. But speaking them and seeing them every day reminds me of what I have achieved, and what more I can do. It reminds me that even though right now I’m not sharing my songs or performing, I am still a singer and songwriter.
I already have beautiful friends and family but stating it on my vision board reminds me to be grateful for my relationships, always.
I do read every day – but having it on my vision board keeps the momentum going and reminds me that it’s not just about learning new things, or simply enjoying the act of reading – but that it also enriches my spirit with the joy it brings me. Reading every day is also huge part of my night-time routine.
Every image and affirmation on your vision board should be meaningful to you. It can still look pretty and aesthetically pleasing while also serving a purpose. There should be a reason behind every single thing – and you should be able to think with excitement and gratitude with every word and every picture.
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Step Five: What Next?
Now you have your vision board complete, save it as your desktop background, send it to your phone, and if you want to, print it out and blue tack it to your wall. The idea behind having it somewhere you’ll see it every day is that you’re reinforcing the images subconsciously every time you look at it. When you actively look at your vision board, it’s important to feel gratitude and appreciation, to trust and have patience. Keep your vision board a positive thing!
Here are a couple of suggestions to make a part of your day, that will help your vision board manifest.
Visualisation
Visualise your goals and dreams coming true, using the images. Sit in meditation and let your imagination lead you through an in-depth visualising session. In your mind, act out the moment you achieve one of your goals – how would that look? What would it feel like?
State Your Affirmations
State your affirmations everyday, as much as you can, really believing them to be true — even if they haven’t manifested yet.
Take Inspired Action
And last but not least, be sure to also take insightful action towards each of your goals. As I spoke about in last week’s video, it’s so important to take the real life steps needed too. For every single big goal or dream that you have, break it down into smaller goals or tasks, that will help you work towards achieving them. The Law of Attraction, your reticular activating system, the universe, your subconscious, whatever you believe in – all of these things will help you, but you also have to remember to lead the way with action.
Creating a vision board is a technique that frees your mind from overthinking these bigger picture goals – you can trust that they are in the works, now that you have made your vision crystal clear, you have set your intentions, you have asked for what you want.
Now, you can focus on breaking those big goals into more manageable tasks. Trust that one day at a time, you are working towards your dream.
The vision board is just where it starts. Having clarity on what you want and actually writing it down and asking for it, is the crucial first step. Now you know, and now you’ve asked for it, you just have to keep believing that it will manifest and take inspired action.
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I hope you achieve so much success and that your vision board helps you manifest your dream life! Don’t feel pressured to share your vision board, it’s such a personal thing – but if you’d like to share it, I’d love to see it! Tag me on Instagram @eboniehyland, and use the hashtag #manifestingintherealworld – or direct message me if you want to!
I hope you enjoyed today’s video and found it helpful! Comment below – what is one of your goals that you’ll be adding to your vision board? If you don’t want to share all the details, comment using emojis to illustrate your dreams!
I’d also love to know your experiences with vision boards. Have you had success with a vision board before? Let us know in the comments!
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If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below too, or find me on Instagram @eboniehyland. I’d love to see you over there! As always, if you’d like to learn more see the Resources and Recommendations linked below!
Thank you so much for being here today! I can’t wait to see you next week.
Much love,
Ebonie xx