What methods do you use to visualize reaching your goals?
One fun (and powerful!) way of doing it is by creating a vision board. Vision boards allow you to bring to “life” the things that you dream about and can be a powerful tool in reaching the goals that you set for yourself. And setting and achieving your goals is one of the ways that you can manage your stress before your stress manages you.
In this post, I’ll discuss what a vision board is and then I’ll give you a few tips on how to create a digital version of a vision board. Read on for your digital vision board tips!
I’m Board – I Need A New Vision
As I stated earlier, a vision board is a powerful tool to be used in the pursuit of your goal. Traditionally, once a goal is set, you’d cut up pictures and words related to that goal, post them to a board and use it as inspiration.
For instance, a few years ago, I was going through a period of stress and dissatisfaction regarding my career and wanted to make a switch from traditional social work to training/facilitation for adult learners. One of the steps that I took was to create a vision board to help me focus on being able to successfully make the transition.
However, vision board don’t have to and as a matter of fact, should not be static thing that’s only looked at once in a while. To the contrary, your vision board should ideally be reviewed daily to help keep your goals top of mind. And should be updated as needed.
As a matter of fact, your vision board doesn’t have to be a board at all! You can make it mobile by having a vision journal or even make it more mobile by having a digital version.
If you love the idea of creating a vision board to help focus on your goals but don’t have dozens of old magazines lying around, simply create a digital vision board using the online resources listed below.
The point is the same: Prioritize those goals that you are most excited/determined to achieve. Then find photographs and text that represent those goals and dreams.
The one difference is that you’ll find those photos and text online; so, you don’t need glue or tape.
The Tips
Tip #1: Choose Your Creative Medium
Digital vision boards can be made using Microsoft, PicMonkey, or Pinterest.
Microsoft
Microsoft has a free desktop app called “Vision Board” which makes it easy to place pictures and helps the final outcome to be more visually appealing than just importing them into Word. You can reposition the pictures and choose from various backgrounds for your board.
It’s free and lets you take a screenshot which you can then save either in the app or on your PC. Your board is saved as a .png file and you’re also able to “write” on your final creation.
PicMonkey
PicMonkey is a photo editor and graphic design tool. It’s a paid platform, but they offer a free 7-day trial period.
You can use PicMonkey’s brand board templates or start from scratch using a blank canvas and put in your favorite pictures, shapes, text and colors and you’re all set! You can even upload your own fonts if you’d like. One other cool thing about PicMonkey is that after your finish with your vision board creation, you have the option of printing it out or sharing it via e-mail or social media.
Wanna make a vision board on the fly? You can do that with PicMonkey’s app.
Canva
Similar to PicMonkey is Canva. It’s an online graphic design tool that lets you design anything. Although Canva is free to use, they also have a paid version. You can upload your own pictures or graphics or use their stock photos. You can also download your vision board to your computer where you can print it out or keep on your desktop or share via social media.
Pinterest is one of my favorite tools. It provides me with so much inspiration whether it’s for scrapbooking, travel, self-care or stress relief, there’s something for everybody. In Pinterest, it’s easy to search for photos that represent your goals and vision and simply pin them to a secret board.
And since you’ve saved your pins, you can go to those websites that you’ve pinned to get further inspiration.
If you decide in the future that you want to make your vision board public, you just make the switch under Settings.
Tip #2: Choose Your Pictures
When it comes to your pictures you have so many options! You can pick some of your favorite pictures and scan them into your computer so that they’re digitized and can be used multiple times. So dust off those old baby pictures and scan away.
If on the other hand, you decide that you want to use digital photos to create your vision board, then you’ve opened up a whole realm of possibilities for yourself. You can search millions of pictures that are online; which has good points and bad points.
On the positive side, it means that you have a vastly larger selection than the few old magazines you, your family or friends can collect. So your choices are endless. But having so much choice can also lead you to become paralyzed with indecision. Don’t let that happen to you!
But because it doesn’t take much to drag and place your photos and text, creating a digital vision board is easier and quicker than the “old fashioned” way.
There are so many sites where you can find pictures for your digital vision board. However, it’s extremely important that you read the rights and permissions of any pictures that you are downloading from the internet if they aren’t pictures that you took yourself. Especially if you plan to post your vision board online.
Unsplash.com offers a ton of free, high-quality pictures for download. But please give the photographer credit which Unsplash makes easy to do.
You can also go to stock photo websites like Shutterstock offer high-quality pictures that you pay a fee to use.
You can also use Google Images which offers access to millions of images, but I would caution to use them ONLY if you plan to keep your vision board for personal use only and NOT post it online as you never want to be accused of copyright infringement.
Tip #3: Use Pictures That Make You Feel Something
When it comes to creating your vision board, it’s important to think about what your ultimate goal is and why. The more you connect emotionally to the pictures and words on your vision board, the more motivation you have to make your dream a reality.
Think about it, do you really want the latest and greatest most expensive new toy? Or do you want the freedom and the carefree life that its photo symbolizes? Vision boards aren’t only about material things; they’re about making your desires come to life. Find those pictures that make you FEEL positive emotions. And it goes without saying that you should add words, quotes, or affirmations that speak to you.
Tip #4: Keep A Screenshot With You
No matter what tool you use to create your digital vision board, take a screenshot and save it as your wallpaper on your laptop and the lock screen of your phone (or your phone’s wallpaper as well).
Once you do that, it’s important to look at it every day and meditate on the steps you’ll take to get closer to your goals. If you find that you need to break your larger goals down, then map out the action steps. It’s also important to reflect on your progress every night before you go to sleep; having a visualization session prior to sleeping helps you feel motivated to get up in the morning and start working toward to reach your goals.
Your vision board – whether traditional or digital – is a tool to help you stay on the path towards your ideal life. It’s all about making time.
Let’s talk, what methods are you going to use to make your digital vision board? Let me know in the comments section.
Cassandra Martin-Himmons is a trainer, wellness coach and consultant who believes in empowering her clients and providing the tools that they need to make positive changes in their lives to manage their stress and increase their self-care. In her spare time, she enjoys papercrafting, volunteering and travel. Connect with her on Instagram or Linked/In