by Laura West
Vision Boards have become all the rage!
Everyone is really catching on to how powerful this simple creative process can be. I love that…. deceptively simple and deeply powerful.
This vision board to the left is one that my husband and I did together before we were married, representing what we wanted to create together in our marriage.
I have created collages for years. Some of my first ones as a teenager were actually collages of my favorite movie stars and singers… Lindsay Wagner (Bionic Woman), Linda Carter (Wonder Woman)… is there a theme? Add to it: Olivia Newton John, Cher. Evan back then, I intuitively understood the power of pictures and the metaphors for what I wanted in my life.
Nowadays, my vision boards and vision books have morphed into images that are both powerful and calming…. quiet power is a consistent theme.
Most of my clients work with vision boards or collages. They have a vision of a topic come alive through pictures, words, color, and they express their creativity even in the materials they choose to use.
Several years ago I facilitated a workshop for my chiropractor’s office. Everyone in the office created a vision collage for what they wanted in their lives. When I came back for a treatment a few years later, Dr. Shelley West said to me that she had recently found her vision board from three years ago. She said, “You know what? Everything on that board has come true!”
As part of the Joyful Business Guide system, I recommend creating vision boards for your ideal clients, your ideal vendor partners, and your life vision. It’s inspiring to take a photo of your vision board and then add a color copy of it to your guide – it’s part of creating your own personal inspirational guide.
Spending the time claiming photos, discovering words that bring a visceral response, seeing an object that intuitively speaks to you…. all this is a way of uncovering your deepest yearnings and giving them some air time… letting them be discovered and claimed.
Here are some sample visions from several Joyful Business owners. I hope you’ll get lots of ideas and inspiration for possibilities for your own…
I love this idea of using something unexpected! A shell, a piece of bark, or a piece of driftwood even. This is from Beverly Keaton-Smith of Embrace Your Gifts and Soar.
These others are from Beverly, too. She was in a visioning mode that September! Must have to do with it being her birthday month that makes her (us) feel like taking stock of life and dreaming of possiblities….
I like this one….”Bev Goes Big!” This one prompted Beverly and I to talk about what “big” looks like, and we even had a phone call where we got on the phone… we imagined ourselves five years into the future, calling each other up and sharing what was going on in our lives, celebrating our business successes, what our husbands were up to, where we have traveled, and what is bringing us joy in this year! What fun… and you’d be surprised at the things that will spill out!
This one just uses words and color for impact. My former client Jenny Chafe, a very cool voice and movement coach from NYC, did this one as an easy way to get her thoughts out about her ideal client. Simple, easy to do in a short amount of time and yet a powerful reminder of who she is attracting.
Here’s another creative idea – lay out your vision board and forget the glue! Another former client Tara Seawright, a wonderful interior stylist from NYC, laid this ideal client collage out on her floor and then took a photo. She says it gives her such inspiration as she spends a few minutes of each day looking at it.
You can create your vision collage as an ongoing project. Here is an example from Joyful Business owner, Ginger Burr, of Total Image Consultants. She has created an Attraction Book. She uses it to collect images and words, quotes and ideas for what she wants more of in her life. Ginger shares how it is a very relaxing ritual to do at night before bed. Pulling a few photos out, cutting and pasting. Very nurturing and …as we know, powerful too!
I hope you have enjoyed a few of these ideas of simple and yet creative ways you can create your own vision board – collage – shell – book!
Let it be simple. Don’t edit the photos, images, or words…just let them quietly (or sometimes loudly) inform you.
Please share your examples of how you use this process to create and attract in your life and business! your ideas inspire us!
Laura
