How To Make A Dream Board To Create Your Best Life
This post on how to make a dream board (or vision board, same same) was not planned – at all! In fact, I’m sitting here surprised as usual that my dream board, once again, came true after only realizing it today.
I’ll be honest with you, part of me thought vision boards were a thing of my 20’s and perhaps I was past it. The other half of me then reminds me of how truly powerful vision boards can be and here’s why.
I was sitting here 10 minutes ago reading The Magic Of Thinking Big and this one story of an executive and his level of thinking resonated with me. He said:
“I’ve made up my mind to look at myself as the person I’m going to be in a few short years. I see myself not as a rate clerk but as an executive. I don’t see a crummy apartment. I see a fine suburban home. When I look at myself that way, I feel bigger and think bigger.”
David J. Schwartz then sums it up like this:
“Visualize yourself not as you are but as you can be”.
This is where the power of vision boards is.
Creating a vision board is about piecing together the person we want to be and having faith that we can get there. The biggest struggle we all have is thinking we can’t achieve something because we don’t already have it. When we create a dream board we’re allowing ourselves to focus on who we are going to be. It creates a sense of direction and vision that we can strive for. Rather than settling for a vision based on who we are right now.
It’s a powerful exercise that I will continue to do throughout my life because it works.
So how to make a vision board for your best life?
This is a process I know well because I’ve gotten it wrong and right (which is why I created a printable vision board template around this process).
I created a dream board in 2017 (the video says it was 2020 however my YouTube got hacked and deleted so I had to re-upload it). In 2017 I was:
- in a bad relationship
- watching my brother deteriorate from brain cancer
- had no idea who I was
- had no hobbies or interests
- basically was extremely unhappy.
I created this dream board in the hopes that despite everything I would become the person I was yearning to be.
It is now 2020 and here I am. Today I realized that 90% of the vision board has come true. I’m going to share the images I put up as and what my current situation is.
The image on my vision boards for relationships and fitness:
- I’m in a great relationship, living with my new partner and my dog that I got with my ex-partner
- I run 3 times a week and am currently training for my first 10k run
The images on my dream board for mental health, wellbeing, and fitness:
- I follow the Sam Wood 28 app for eating, this is the healthiest I’ve eaten in my entire life
- I read nearly daily (currently loving The Magic Of Thinking Big & Women Who Run With The Wolves)
- I meditate daily
- I workout 5 days a week and love it!
The images on my dream board for my career:
- I started an online printable store and I’m extremely excited about it
- I also work from home in my partners business
When I made this dream board these were the vision board ideas I aspired to. This was the vision I had for myself outside of my current circumstances. I’m here and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been despite facing a huge loss in my life and other major obstacles.
I firmly believe the reason I’m sitting here writing this to you is that I created this dream board 3 years ago and visualized who I wanted to be, rather than who I was in those circumstances.
Here’s how to make a dream board for your best life:
1. Look at each area of your life and where you currently are
A life wheel is a great tool to help us look at each area of our life and where we want to be. Knowing what we don’t want is just as powerful as knowing what we do want. When you reflect on where you are right now and see where you’re most unhappy, it gives us a path towards creating a powerful dream board.
2. Ask yourself powerful questions
The biggest lesson I’ve learned when figuring out how to make a vision board is to ask myself how I want to feel, not what I want.
When we aim for an end goal, it’s the feeling that we think that the end goal is going to give us not actually the item itself. When we think about how we want to feel first, it opens our minds to the endless opportunities that can get there. For example, I thought that starting an online business was my way to be financially free but then I realized it wasn’t the financial freedom that I wanted but the freedom in general to pursue a life that truly resonated with me.
So ask yourself how you want to feel first.
3. Once you’ve figured out how you want to feel, decide what you think will help you to achieve that
Back to the example of freedom, for me, it was creating an online business that I loved doing, which helped me achieve freedom of time. Financial freedom can be achieved in many ways including working in an office, when I tried that I realized that wasn’t working for me because I focused on the material side of things.
When I started creating goals around how I wanted to feel I recreated my life, leading to a lot more happiness.
4. Put it all together and place it somewhere you pass every day
My suggestion is to put is somewhere you will see every day. My room or study is my favourite place. I see it every day and I feel as though it subconsciously drives my actions just by seeing it.
Dream boards are truly a life-changing tool that is empowering. It helps us to take back our lives and gives us the power to redirect our path.
As David J. Schwartz said so perfectly in The Magic Of Thinking Big:
“Visualize yourself not as you are but as you can be”
Make that dream board and start moving on to your best life! The best time to start is now!
