ision Board is a space for visualising your goals and aspirations. Modern tools make it possible to create a digital enhanced vision board.
In this article, I will explain how to make a digital vision board and share a strategy to make it even more powerful using a goal-setting system in Notion.
You can duplicate the vision board template and follow along.
## What is a vision board?
As per Wikipedia, a vision board is a set of images of things you want to achieve or have. The purpose is to motivate you and let your subconscious mind to align with them.
The principle behind most Vision Boards is the Law of Attraction, which, unfortunately, has no scientific proof and is based on metaphysical pseudoscience of "positive electrons", and "abundant Universe".
I see a vision board differently. It activates the strongest region of the brain: the visual cortex. Images are rich in details, they make the goals more specific and material.
The outcome of any goal is in the material world, whether it is physical, or mental. A goal that is not put on paper has lower chances of materialising because we tend to forget things. The human brain is not good at remembering.
> Dreaming and imagining is not enough. The difference between dreamers and achievers is that the latter take action to get closer to their goals.
A vision board makes your aspirations more specific and acts as a reminder for the necessary actions.
You can define anything that motivates and inspires you on a vision board. It can be a feeling, a material object, your career path, or relationship goals.
## How to create a vision board. Step by step guide
One of the many benefits of creating a vision board is self-reflection and self-analysis. Once you create a vision board you will understand yourself better: what do you want, where you want to be, what do you want to achieve.
Here is a step by step guide.
### Step 1. Analysis and self-reflection
A vision board is a visual representation of your life goals, and the changes you strive for. Think of the goals you want to achieve or the identity changes you want to make.
Analyse your yearnings and jot down whatever comes to your mind. Every change matters. Smaller ones propagate bigger shifts.
A few categories that can get you started.
- Material
- Identity
- Professional
- Social
This step is crucial because the changes will be reflected in your life. The analysis will turn into a plan for you to execute.
*Questions to ask yourself.*
- What would be the coolest things that could happen over the next 5 years in my life?
- What would make 2021 the best year of my life?
- What can I improve?
- What can I build in the future?
- What identity changes do I need to fulfil my goals?
### Step 2. Rank your yearnings
Rank them in priority and place them accordingly. Choose the goals that make the most difference. Time and attention are limited. It is not worth to waste it on things that do not matter.
### Step 3. Compose
Compose the vision board with images, text, quotes, or videos. Try to be as specific as possible in detail.
This part can be done in online apps such as [Canva](https://www.canva.com/create/mood-boards/) or [PicMonkey](https://www.picmonkey.com/).
It is divided into two parts. The upper part consists of affirmations that reflect the identity changes I want to make. The rest is visuals and quotes that represent my macro goals.
### Step 4. Enhance
Now it is time to align your goals with the actions.
Actions make the only difference. Everybody wants a prosperous life. But not everyone does whatever it takes to achieve the goal.
In the next chapter, I will explain and show how to make your vision board actionable.
## Enhanced vision board in Notion
My system in Notion includes two parts: Vision (goals) and the Vision Board. Vision is a space where I keep track of my macro goals: assign projects, track the outcomes, and schedule.
Vision Board is the counterpart where I represent my macro goals with visually rich images and affirmations.
Every week I go through both pages and see if anything has changed. The most important thing is to ensure that every macro goal (which is linked to the visuals) is in progress, and I take action.
Every goal has a metric of the outcome. I track the completed tasks and status. Habits are also weaved into the system to promote identity changes.
I covered the goal-setting system in more detail in this [article](https://www.maray.ai/posts/goal-setting-system).
## Empower your vision board
If vision boards were the secret ingredient of success then everybody would do it. It is beneficial as it makes you find what you really want in your life. It makes your goals easier to achieve. However, the mere creation of a vision board is not enough to promote real changes and success.
### Shift your thinking pattern
Visualising success or things you aspire for can be beneficial. Doing so breaks the mental patterns and improves self-confidence. You might believe that you are not capable of achieving your goal or having something that seems unaffordable.
The way you think is reflected in your life. Negative thinking brings negative things. Broken self-confidence hinders you from achieving your full potential. People with negative thinking say "I cannot afford it.", but don't ask themselves why or what he or she should do to avoid that.
Imagining and visualising can shift your way of thinking. It can break the mental pattern and promote positive thinking. This, in turn, increases the chances of achieving it.
### Make the vision board a part of your life
To make a vision board that works and promotes changes, it should become a part of your life. You can of course make a vision board, hang it on the wall and wait for the miracles. But we will take another route. Instead of waiting for the grass to grow, it is far more productive to take action on the goals.
Notion is a platform that allows building a system to accomplish the goals (and much more than that).
My vision board weaves perfectly in the life system I have been building
To weave it in the life system it should become a part of your routines and be linked to your actions and goals.
### Take actions
To achieve the best result it should be aligned with your actions.
Studies ([Pham and Taylor at the University of California](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146167299025002010)) on the group of students showed that visualising the process of learning had better results during exams than those who visualised just the success. The former leads you to more practice, more actions, and better results at the exam. The latter just makes you more confident and reduce anxiety before the test.
> Athletes visualise not the final result or the score but the process of training.
In my system, I have a Notion page where I put images, quotes, and affirmations to activate my subconsciousness and shift my current believes.
My actions take place with my macro goals and projects area, where I align my tasks with my aspiration on the vision board. When I do not take action I know that I do nothing to make my goals come true.
When I do have a task, I have to make sure it links to one of my goals from the vision board. As one of the most prolific polymaths Leonardo da Vinci said, we must apply, mere willing is not enough.
> “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” — Leonardo da Vinci
During my weekly, monthly, and annual reviews I adjust and remind myself of my goals and aspirations. I weave my vision board with my daily life so that I can remind myself of my goals and adjust them when it is necessary.
## How to use a vision board
A digital vision board is more than a piece of paper with glued images. To make it work, it should become a part of your life.
I integrated it into the system that helps me organise and execute life and work-related tasks. My vision board acts as a visual representation of my goals.
It is part of my weekly routine where I go through my goals and their visual counterpart. The advantage is that I always see if I take enough actions to fulfill my goals. If I do not make any progress then I adjust and allocate time for the goal.
If it was hanged on the wall, it would have been disconnected from my daily life and I would have forgotten about it. However, a vision board also acts as a reminder.
Making it visible is a good addition to your actions. The more you see the visuals of your goals, the more you will be motivated and see new opportunities. It can be used as a wallpaper or placed somewhere visible.
## Final thoughts
Dreaming about your future life and your personality can make you feel better, change the way you think about yourself and what you are capable of. However, dreams and goals are different. The former stays in your mind, the latter helps you bring it into your life. Set your macro goals, and set actions to make them real.
Once you create a vision board you will notice how your life starts to align with your goals.
Now you know everything about how to make a vision board that is coupled with your actions. Start with the [template](https://www.notion.so/Vision-Board-Template-c6e53f59fd474f5abcc3f44824465151) and feel free to change it to your needs.
