When my husband and I were thinking about buying a new house 10 years ago, we began brainstorming what we’d want in a dream home. We weren’t ready to make the move immediately but wanted to create a vision for our future life and home. We brainstormed ideas, cut photos out of real estate sites and magazines, and pasted them all on a vision board of possibilities.

Then, we paused our idea about buying a house for about five years and put the vision board in the back of the closet.

Five years later, when we started to look for houses, look at the drawing we cut out five years earlier (top photo), and the amazing house we saw in a real estate ad five years later (bottom photo) — an almost identical to the house we put on the vision board!

THAT is the power of Vision Boards!

Using Vision Boards with your mastermind group

One of the best exercises you can do with your mastermind groups is to have them create Vision Boards. Even Ellen DeGeneres created a vision board about her goal to get on the cover of Oprah Magazine — and it worked!

When your members create a Vision Board and share their finished pieces with the other members, it clarifies and communicates each person’s vision. Then members can keep this in mind as they go through meetings, holding each other accountable for working towards those goals.

What’s a Vision Board?

A Vision Board is a collage of things you want in life, experiences you desire, and people, situations, and feelings you want to manifest. Sometimes it’s called a treasure map.

Making a Vision Board has several purposes:

• Keeps your goals constantly in sight and in your mind
• Surrounds you with the energy of what you desire most
• Helps you gain clarity about what are your most important goals and dreams
• Keeps your emotional energy high and your focus strong

The way to achieve your goals in life is to have a clear picture of what you actually want. Brian Tracy says, “An average person with average talent, ambition and education, can outstrip the most brilliant genius in our society if that person has clear, focused goals.”

The more you focus on the things you want and the more time you spend paying attention to your purpose, then the more you draw your desired items and experiences into your life. So surrounding yourself with visual representations of what you desire helps to elevate your energy in the direction of those things.

Supplies needed

1. Poster Board – I use 20″ x 30″ poster board because you can find inexpensive frames of that size in any discount department store or art supply store.
2. Old magazines – You’ve been wanting to clean up your old magazine pile, so here’s a good excuse! Also, check with friends to see if they have any old magazines, or ask your local library if they ever trash magazines. Choose magazines that have always appealed to you in the past, as they’re a treasure trove of images and words for your Vision Board.
3. Glue – Don’t use glue sticks as the glue isn’t stable (unless you’re going to frame the Vision Board between a plastic cover and a cardboard backer, which should keep all the items secure). Personally, I use paper cement. There are also double-sided sticky tabs you can buy at most photography stores.

Note: If your mastermind group is a virtual one, have them do this exercise on their own, then take digital photos of their completed Vision Board to show to the group.

Getting started

While it helps to review your goals and dreams in advance, I find that just diving into the magazines and cutting out any words or images that appeal to me is the best way to collect ideas.

Don’t let your mastermind group members judge or critique what they’re cutting out yet. Tell them, “Just cut out any image or word that attracts you, as these are subconscious messages from your brain, heart and soul.”

Sort them into piles of themes:

• Feelings you’d like to experience
• People you’d like to attract into your life
• Travel and places to see
• Money goals
• Lifestyle goals, like health, family, relationships, etc.
• Professional goals, like building your business, stepping up the career ladder, or writing a book

Prioritize what must go on your Vision Board

Soften your focus and allow your thoughts, feelings and intuition to guide you to the most important images and words.

Layout without gluing

This helps you to group the items in a pleasing manner and eliminate those items that don’t work for you. Don’t forget that you can write your own words and draw your own sketches for the Vision Board, too.

Glue and frame

You can find inexpensive frames in any discount department store or art supply store. A frame will keep the board flat and dust-free, and will allow you to hang it on your wall where you can see it every day.

Use the Board daily

Take a moment each day to focus on a portion of the Vision Board that calls to you.

When you create your Vision Board, take photos of it, and post it on your blog or Facebook, so we can all share in the manifesting of your dreams! (Post your Vision Board photos to my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/MastermindGroup

I can’t wait to see what you create!