I admit it. I’m in love with my vision board. It’s a beautiful, colorful daydream brought to life, and when I’m working on it, I get lost in my dreams and time slips away.

But don’t make the mistake of thinking whiling away an afternoon with my vision board is unproductive. Quite the contrary, spending a couple of hours planning my future with a vision board leaves me feeling inspired and ready to take action. After all, the harder I work, the closer I am to seeing those dreams become a reality.

If you’ve heard of vision boards but haven’t tried your hand at creating one, what’s holding you back? For some people—especially those right-brained analytical types—find the very idea of creative goal setting to be so overwhelming they simply don’t know where to begin. For others, it’s the thought of collecting all the pieces that turns them off.

For both, though, the answer is simple. Begin with what you have on hand. There are no “rules” when it comes to creating a vision board.

Books & Magazines

We all have that stack of magazines we keep meaning to toss. Now you can put them to good use building your vision board. Flip through them and clip pictures that inspire you, such as vacation spots you’d like to visit, homes you’d love to live in, museums you want to explore. Don’t be picky or too selective. You don’t have to use all the images you clip, so for now, just cut out anything that captures your imagination.

In fact, the images you collect don’t have to be photos at all. Inspiring words, beautiful typography, even attention-grabbing ads can all make for an inspiring vision board.

Colored Pens & Markers

Don’t be afraid to let your creative side show with some hand lettering or doodling on your vision board. Quotes you love, special dates you want to commemorate, and even the names of people you admire can all find a home on your vision board.

Stickers, Ribbons & Art Supplies

If you have kids, chances are you have plenty of craft supplies that will make great embellishments for your board.

Stickers are more than just quirky accessories. Use them to mark the most important items on your board, the ones you want to work toward next. Ribbons keep related ideas together, and mementos such as ticket stubs or receipts can serve as reminders of the life you want to live.

Remember, above all else, your vision board is your own. Design a board that inspires you and lights you up every time you look at it, and it will work its magic on your life.

What's Next?

Step 1: Revise Your Expectations And Expect Resistance

If you’re familiar with the principles for successfully growing an online business, then you know that Step 1 of successfully pulling out a strategy to optimise and grow your business is to shift your mindset. I share through this blog and social media channels some tips and tools to help you with that. Yet, we all know that it takes more than just knowing what to do to actually do it.

That’s why I want to invite you to revise your expectations. Know that there will be resistance along the way. You might say to yourself “I’ll have a look tomorrow again”, “that’s not so urgent”, “I’m not sure that’s for me”, “I don’t think this will work for me”, or many other things. Often when we’re stepping out of our comfort zone (a.k.a. what we’ve been doing until now) we’re finding excuses to keep on doing what we’ve always done. The first step in success is acknowledging that. So… acknowledge where you’re at. Then…

Revise your expectations bearing in mind your goals AND your life. Not everything that I’m sharing will resonate with you. Not everything will be applicable to you either. And that’s alright! But you’ve got to start somewhere.

So, as long as you’re clear on your goals and on your vision, take a conscious decision of what you want to apply starting from today. And if you are not clear on your vision, here are a few resources you might find helpful:

• Customer Journey Review Pack,
• Plan Your Funnels And Tripwires For Profits,
• Optimised Business Academy, or
• Schedule a call with me to discuss where you're at in your business and what you should focus on.

Step 2: Carve Out Time, And Make A Plan

That’s where carving out time, and making a plan comes in. You know yourself at that stage better than I do. Use that knowledge to implement a plan of action that will help you start making positive changes into your life, that will soon bring positive changes in your business and in your life.

If you're stuck wondering what to do next, I invite you to join the FREE Optimised Business Membership.

Step 3: Just start

There’s no tomorrow in success. Any successful path starts today, with a small change that you keep on building onto. Commit to starting today with ONE small thing, and share with me in the comments what it is. This commitment will help you start – and keep – taking action!

Step 4: Get Support!

We tend to want to do things on our own. I’m not stranger to that either. But I’ve learnt over time, and I’ve seen both with my personal coaching clients and professional mentoring clients, as well as with myself, that getting support helps to really create the change we’re after. So, if you’re stuck wondering what’s next, and you know you need help, I invite you to check out the many online resources I have created to help you save time and achieve faster growth in your business: Free articles, online membership, online books and courses. If you’d like private mentoring for your business strategy, you can also book a call with me to discuss the different mentoring options that are available for your special needs.

Step 5: Please Share!

If you like what I'm sharing, please do me a favour and share it with friends or colleagues you know would benefit from it! The more we are on this journey, the greater the collaborations, co-creation and achievements!