Do you set goals for yourself, either in your personal life or for your business? If not, how do you know you’re growing or making progress? When was the last time you allowed yourself to daydream about the type of life you want? What is your WHY, the reason behind all the long hours you spend on your business? Creating a vision board has become a popular activity in recent years, especially during January as people think back over the previous year and forwards to all the New Year’s resolutions they want to keep. A vision board is simply one tool that helps you visualize your dreams and your goals. How so, you ask? Let’s explore the ways...

1. Vision boards make you focus on what’s important to you. Whether you combine a personal vision board with a professional one or keep them both separate, thinking about what you want in life or in business forces you to prioritize what’s important. Do you want to start your own brand or get stocked in a particular retailer? Putting a photo of your dream retailer will inspire you to work harder and not give up easily. If you want to be stocked in that retailer, you alone can make that happen and you’ll make better business decisions if you keep reminding yourself of that desire.

2. Visualization stimulates the creative side of your brain. Placing your vision board in sight of your desk or computer or even as the wallpaper on your phone serves as a constant reminder of what you want to achieve. Some believe keeping it open by your nightstand helps stimulate your subconscious before you go to bed, which makes you motivated upon waking. With your creativity soaring, keep a notebook handy to jot down any ideas you have for a new product you want to formulate or new branding ideas you have.

3. Focusing on goals makes you recognize new resources or opportunities. Visualizing yourself living in a warmer climate or having a successful skincare brand (or whatever your primary goal is) will motivate you to work towards that goal but you’ll also notice new opportunities or resources which can lead you to reaching your goal. These resources may have always been present but now that you’re focused on your goal, you will see them in a new light: as a way to help you reach that intended goal.

4. Break out of your comfort zone by stating a big, scary goal. Are you stuck in a rut because you’re afraid to break out of your comfort zone? Acknowledging big goals – as scary and outrageous as they may be – will help you step out and take on new challenges, all in the name of reaching that scary goal. If your goal is to be stocked globally at Sephora, then you’ll start to see more opportunities to be stocked in smaller retailers. These smaller opportunities will give you lots of practice in dealing with retailers and build your brand recognition so when you spot an opportunity to pitch to Sephora you’ll be well prepared.

5. Seeing a big goal forces you out of the daydream and into action. Nothing happens without some action on your part. Vision boards are not magic tricks; they are instead a tool that spurs us into action because we finally know what we want out of life. Visualize your ideal life then approach each day with action steps which will lead you toward that ideal life.

Aside from these reasons, creating vision boards can be very relaxing and a fun activity. So grab some glue and some old magazines and start daydreaming!

If you’d prefer to create a digital vision board then why not try one of the following ways:

• Microsoft offers a free desktop app called “Vision Board” which makes placing your photos much easier and more visually appealing than just importing them into Word

• PicMonkey is a paid platform with a free 7-day trial period and they offer very detailed advice for creating a vision board using their platform template in this blog post

• Pinterest is an easy way to search for photos of your ideal lifestyle and simply pin those to a secret board. If you want to make your vision board public at any time, it’s a simple switch under Settings

• Hay House Vision Board App allows you to choose photos, add quotes and different backgrounds. Some features are payable https://www.hayhouse.com/hay-house-vision-board-app

Do let us know if you’ve created a vision board this year and whether you prefer to create a hard copy or a digital version.

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