vision board ideas Archives

Vision Boards, Dream Boards, Life Strategy Maps; whatever you want to call them, are a fantastic way to get your brain engaged in your future and stir up the energy for you to MOVE.

I must be honest. I used to think Vision Boards were hokey.

The idea of a room full of card tables, magazines, cuttings all over the floor, glue sticks and scissors, was an activity for kindergartners and a waste of time for me. Then, I was educated on the science of Vision Boards, and my perspective totally changed. Today, I am a strong advocate of taking the time, at least once a year, to dream, to think, and to focus on what you would like your future to be.

A quote I use often is “an unaimed arrow never misses.”

That means if you are at an archery field and you are just shooting arrows at nothing, you will ALWAYS HIT IT. If you have no target; your arrow will land where it will, and you can say that was a success, but you will have arrows in a chaotic pattern.

Now, if you put a target in front of you and then shoot arrows. You might not hit the target, but you will notice that all the arrows at least are heading in a singular direction.

So, it is with life.

Most people go through life like an unaimed arrow. They simply follow whatever spurs them at the moment. As they look back on their life, it can look like a field of scattered, haphazard events.

Start aligning your goals and make progress

On the other hand, people who take the time to think about the life they want to create and start aligning their actions with achieving their goals, tend to make progress in a singular direction. Over time, one goal is achieved, then another, and then another. As they move forward, goals may change, be modified, and adapted, but the person is always moving in the direction of what they want to accomplish.

Which archery field would you prefer for your life? One that has arrows strewn in chaos, or, one that has arrows focused towards a goal?

I prefer the field that has arrows heading to a target and that is why I am an advocate for Vision Boards. They are a powerful tool to focus on goals. Your vision of your future self can be represented. They work to become the goal, the target, and the life you desire—the life that fills you with joy, purpose, contentment, and LESS ADVERSITY!!

So, what’s the science behind Vision Boards that turned me from a skeptic to a believer?

I learned about the power of stimulating our Reticular Activating System or RAS for short, with visual images. Let me explain further.

At the base of our brain stem is an information filter known as the RAS. The function of this powerful part of our body is to filter out all the unnecessary stimulus that goes on around us 24/7 and only bring to our consciousness information it feels we NEED or WANT to know.

That’s it. The power behind the RAS, which is no larger than the end of your little finger, is to send information up to your conscious brain, that you can then process.

John Paul Goodyear is his article Understanding how Vision Boards Impact your RAS states…” When you are stimulating your brain with visual images, words, symbols and quotes as well as the associated emotions, you are essentially training your Reticular Activating System to filter all incoming data. As a result, your RAS will change its filtering algorithm to select only the data that it thinks is valuable or supportive to whatever you currently think, believe or are trying to achieve.”

A common experience that many people relate to, that involves their RAS, is car shopping. If you are shopping for a particular vehicle, maybe you have even taken a test drive, have you noticed that suddenly you spot several of that style of vehicle on the road? Why is that? Are there suddenly more of that vehicle, or are you just taking notice? The answer is your RAS is alerting you to those vehicles as you programmed your brain that that particular vehicle is important to you at the moment.

You may ask how can this possibly be helpful?

Let me share with you the story of how I authored Lemon Crushers.

Several years ago, I thought about writing a book but had nothing specific in mind. It was just a passing thought.

Last year I created a Vision Board. As I was looking at an image of a book my heart stirred. For whatever reason, the image resonated with me, and I added the image to my Vision Board. I didn’t spend much time pondering details about the book I just knew that writing a book was one of my specific life goals.

Later in the year, I stumbled across my friends post on Facebook. She was announcing she was writing a book. My RAS triggered with this info, and instead of mindlessly scrolling past the post, my RAS pointed a huge arrow to the info and told my conscious brain, “Hey, isn’t this what you want to do?” My conscious brain responded with “Yes, let’s learn more about writing a book.” I connected with my friend, continued to follow her posts, celebrated with her when she launched her book and connected in with her for advice and wisdom to write my own.

That is how Lemon Crushers was birthed.

No goals? No movement

Let’s recap. Without specifically including “writing a book” on my Vision Board, my RAS would not have been programmed for what information to seek for me. When the Facebook post triggered the RAS, it sent that info up to my conscious brain and allowed me to act on it.

You may think this is hokey, but it’s not.

We can program our RAS to alert us to that which aligns with our goals. But we MUST program it to be effective.

If you have no goals, your RAS does not trigger.

In the case studies section of Lemon Crushers; A Working Woman’s Guide to Overcoming Adversity I share a story about Alex. She was unhappy in her current job and actively seeking something more rewarding, more fulfilling and which offered more pay. When she was out on a date, the guy she was with talked about how he had his own online marketing business and made a comment that he wished he could find someone competent to do an online task for him. He went on to say that someone could make a business out of the task he needed to be completed.

Those words triggered Alex’s RAS.

Just like my book, it was like a neon arrow pointing her thinking at the online task.

Alex jumped on the opportunity and within a short period of time had opened up her own marketing business as a side hustle. Eventually, that hustle grew to become her full-time, very fulfilling, very purposeful, career.

Vision Boards can be effective in your personal life as well.

Last year, when a girlfriend did her Vision Board, she looked at an image of a couple and smiled. She knew she wanted companionship back in her life since her husband had passed. As she was holding the image and putting it on her Vision Board, she also knew the person she was currently dating was not the one.

She realized that hanging out with the current companion was simply settling for average. The longer she stayed in that relationship, the longer it would take to find the man she knew was out there. The Vision Board gave her the energy to make changes. To separate from average in order to pursue great.

Vision Boards give us the power to prioritize.

As much as we may want to, if we attempt to be all things to all people, all the time, we will exhaust ourselves and accomplish little. Vision Boards allow us to prioritize what goals and targets we want to focus on in our current season, and what we would like in seasons of life to come. It also gives us the understanding to drop projects that are wasting our time and our energy.

Vision Boards are a tool for you to use to MOVE you to your goals of a happier, more purposeful, more enjoyable life and away from adversity!

Lemon Crushers has custom Vision Boards for you to complete today!

5 features of the Lemon Crushers Vision Boards

1. Custom Designed for Working Women

A working woman’s life is complex. She has vast responsibilities, relationships, roles, goals and objectives. The board is intentionally designed to allow her to organize her thoughts accordingly. The board is also designed with a timeline approach. There are goals that she may want to work into the near future and goals to achieve over time.

2. Vibrant, Goal Inspiring, Images Included

64 rich, colorful, images are included. Each image, by intent, is specific yet vague; specific enough to spark a goal or desire, yet vague enough to represent vast topics to various women.

3. Beautifully Designed

The Lemon Crushers Vision Board is gorgeous and will be proudly displayed. The more we ponder and reflect on our goals, the more opportunity for those goals to become reality.

4. Easy to Follow Instructions

Detailed instructions on completing the Vision Board are included. The only supplies needed is a pair of scissors and some tape or glue.

5. Great for Going Solo or Hosting a Party

Some women may want to make an event of it and invite their friends. Others may want to fly solo. Some may do a Vision Board with their life partner, their colleagues or with their family. Whether solo or group, the kit works for all, and yes, even men enjoy our Vision Boards. The kit is designed to create the experience you want as you set up a Date Night with Your Future.

The simple steps to complete your Vision Board are:

Purchase and Download Your Kit
Print out the Vision Board, Images and Instructions.
Go Solo or get a Group together
Schedule some Time
Dig out Scissors and Tape or Glue
Pour a glass of Wine (or other favorite beverage)
& Enjoy a Date Night with Your Future!

Lemon Crushers Vision Boards are available here! Begin your project now and get started on creating your beautiful future!

For more on helping working women make Lemonade out of Lemons you would love Pearl’s book Lemon Crushers; A Working Woman’s Guide to Overcoming Adversity!

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, we receive a small commission at no cost to you! For more information, read our disclaimer.

Doing too much is the surest way to accomplish little. We only have so much capacity in our busy lives as working women. A vision board helps to cut out some of that “extra”. That means saying no and finding your focus. In this post, I’ll be connecting your vision with saying no and providing three essential steps to find your success.

The whirlwind of too many choices and not enough time

One of the biggest hindrances to success today is having too many options, too many choices. It’s like a restaurant with a 20-page menu. Just the time it takes to review all the choices is fatiguing and makes picking dinner nearly impossible.

This is especially true for those who have had young kids. It only takes one morning of offering 10 choices of clothing, or 5 different kinds of cereal, to know that the more choices you present to a toddler, the greater the odds that no one will get out of the house on time.

Our brains are wired to want to do everything. We want to binge all of Netflix, attend our kids events, learn Spanish, exercise, and have a girl’s night out.

There is never a lack of opportunity for what we can do or where we spend our time. Couple that with what I refer to as the “Wonder Woman” syndrome, where many women feel they have to be “great” at everything, and we end up with women who are feeling guilty, tired, overwhelmed, and far from successful.

Let’s change that.

Vision boards and cutting the noise

Reduce the noise, in order to thrive. The start of any woman’s success is understanding that she can’t do everything and the sooner she reduces her activities the more chance she has to thrive.

There is a key step in the Vision Board exercise that demonstrates this well. When I lead the workshop using Lemon Crushers Vision Board Kit, I have the women consider all the images provided and then force them to make two piles.

One pile with images of goals or tasks they want to work on in their life
One pile of images of things they are going to say “no” to.

Then I walk around the room with a garbage can and I have the women toss the “no’ pile into the trash. Oh the challenge of this simple step. Women will hang on to images and lament at the choices they need to make. Some even run after and pull images out of the trash.

The key point here is no one can do it all. Doing too much is the surest way to accomplish little, yet the appeal to accomplish all, draw us in.

Laser focus leads to success

The key to success is to be laser-focused on your goals. Focus on what you want to achieve. As difficult as it may be, allow the alternatives to fall by the wayside.

I heard a speaker once say that if one person had the idea to create Amazon and Facebook and Google and attempted to pursue and build each company, that person would have achieved nothing.

A perfect example of how a focused vision made dreams come true

I am reminded by Lorena’s inspiring story in Lemon Crushers: A Working Woman’s Guide to Overcoming Adversity case study. Her story illuminates that with focus, great things can be accomplished.

At age 40, with a 3 year old and a 3 month old, Lorena was a homeless, single mom. Her focus suddenly became crystal clear. In order for her to provide for her and the girls, she had to turn her life around. In less than 5 years Lorena went from homeless and unemployed to completing her college degree, securing a well-paying job and purchasing her first home. She accomplished more between the ages of 40 to 45 then she had from age 20 to 40. Focus and desire was the fuel for her success and that can be the motivation for you as well.

3 Ideas that should be Incorporated into your Vision Board

When you create your vision board, whatever that may look like for you, it’s important to include the things that will lead to success.

1. Focus on What You Really Want to Achieve

Target on what is important to you. One of the best ways to do that is to use the Lemon Crushers Vision Board Kit. Take the time to narrow your choices down to what you WANT to accomplish and allow alternatives to go by the wayside.

2. Find Complementary Goals

If you feel pulled in several directions, work to find goals that can accomplish two things at once.

I was having a conversation with a woman this week who talked about stepping away from boards that were taking her away from her family and replacing those volunteer positions through serving with organizations that her daughters already participate in. This way she is aligned with her family and can spend as much time with her daughters as possible. In the future, once her daughters are grown, there will be an opportunity to go back to other pursuits.

3. Don’t Try and be Wonder Woman

In Lemon Crushers I divide a woman’s life responsibilities into 5 categories:

health
finances
relationships
career and;
circumstances

If any woman attempts to build each of these areas simultaneously, she will implode. No one has that much capacity. It is better to hyper-focus on one area to bring it to a level of success then attempt to accomplish many.

One last note before building your hyper-focused vision board

Consider some of the most successful people in life; athletes, musicians, business owners. Each of them achieved their success through being hyper-focused. If you truly want to follow and achieve your dreams, you will need to set aside alternative options. I’m not saying it is easy, but it will be worth it.

Doing Too Much is the Surest Way to Accomplish Little