Vision boards in the simplest form are just pictures and objects stuck to a board, but they can really help you achieve your goals. A study by TD Bank found that those who used vision boards for their goals were almost twice as confident they’ll achieve them than those who don’t visualise their goals in some way.
So how can something almost Blue Peter like in its simplicity have this effect on you? Well it’s down to a several factors that can be transformative by themselves but when combined as they are in a vision board they become incredibly powerful.
Self-reflection
When you start creating a vision board it encourages you to reflect on yourself. You think about what really matters to you, what you want to achieve, who you want to be and who you want to help. This self-reflection creates improved self-awareness.
Emotional response
The images and objects you chose should spark a positive emotion, this is really important as emotions are the driving force behind human behaviour. When you look at each image or object it should draw you in and make you think about what it would feel like to achieve that or how you want to make others feel. This can trigger dopamine or serotonin to be released in the body fuelling the connection to the goal. This emotive response motivates you and compels you to take action.
The emotive element of the vision board enhances the self-reflection and self-awareness as it allows you to see yourself, visualise your future self in that situation. This provides a greater understanding of what you need to develop personally to not only achieve the goal but to excel there.
Visualisation
When you are visualising yourself succeeding in something that is important to you, your emotions will trigger a physical response of happiness or excitement. You get to stand in those shoes and imagine what it must feel like. This powerful visualisation will make you realise how much you want to achieve the goal which in turn makes you think of more ways in which you can achieve it. It encourages you to think of different options, what you need to do, who can help you and it also broadens your mind, you start to contemplate what else this goal would allow you to do and who else you could help. This creates a deeper, resilient and more insightful connection to the goal, further increasing your motivation.
Tells a story
Vision boards create a tantalising story of our future selves.
The process of enhancing self-awareness, creating emotional bonds and visualisation makes us realise that this exciting future story is actually achievable if we commit to it. The goals are no longer distant dreams, they are now part of a plan.
We can easily revisit this emotive story simply by looking at the vision board and know that all this is available to us. Just focusing on a single image when you are having a bad day will trigger the memory of the story and associated feelings which will get you back on track.
It is the combination of these factors, all building on top of each other which makes the humble vision board so powerful when setting and working towards goals.