We all have desires. They may be grand. They may be survival level. But hope is what keeps us living. The question is, how can we get more living out of life?
One way is to put a visual focus on those dreams and desires that are priorities in our life. These aren’t wishes that we hope will magically appear, but priorities we want to work toward. Perhaps they seem too “impossible” or too “crazy” or too anything. While no-doubt some people have expectations of their life that truly aren’t going to happen. Too many more fail to see a future that is more in-line with what God has put a desire in their heart to be and do.
A Dream Board / Vision Board is a visual representation of your dreams and goals for your life. It is a collage of images and words that inspire you and show your priorities. A Dream Board can be simple or elaborate, but should not be cluttered. They are easy to make.
The purpose of a Dream Board is to place your dreams and desires before you visually, where you will look at them daily, and multiple times a day, keeping these priorities and desires ever before your eyes and in your mind. Although businesses use them, vision boards are not just, or even primarily, about your job goals. They are about your life dreams.
How to Make a Dream/ Vision Board
Begin by reflecting on what has been, what is, and what you want to be. In the areas of Personal Development, Emotions, Relationships, Health, Finances, and Experiences.
- What excites you in life?
- What are your core values, at the core of what makes you you?
- If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you love to do?
- Think about various areas of your life: body, soul and spirit.
- What are 3 things that light a fire in your soul? What creates passion and joy to well up within you? Let’s start there!
- What do you want in your life related to these things?
Find images and words that reflect those things. Photos, online images, magazine pictures, or even your own drawings! In addition to individual words, you can add quotes that inspire you. Use fonts and colors, that bring you joy, if you create your own! The images and words should represent your dreams and goals and inspire in you the feeling those things bring up in you, not necessarily be an exact picture of the thing.
Keep it positive! Every picture should bring joy to your heart and should cause you to want to create that in your life. Not through daydreaming, but reality. These are things you want to be your reality, that you are working toward creating in your life. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Collage your images and words onto a poster board, bulletin board, or other medium that you can place somewhere that you can look at it several times a day. This can even be small scale in a planner or journal that you look at throughout the day! Collage, but don’t put so many things on that it looks cluttered and distracting. Stay focused. You can always make another Dream Board when you’ve achieved these goals and want to add new ones. Be sure to date your board!
Now put your Dream Board where you can easily see it. Focus and contemplate on it throughout the day, at least first thing in the morning, and last thing at night. Be sure to be grateful for what is already in your life, and for each step you take toward your goal. Be thankful to God for putting your dreams and goals in your life, and for working in you to achieve them.
As you reach these goals, “rinse and repeat!”
I’ll be adding more Dream Board ideas! We can envision our dreams in many ways. And yes, I purposely did not include a picture of a Dream/ Vision board in this post. I didn’t want to give any pre-conceived ideas of what this is “supposed to” look like. This needs to be your own!
Living Coram Deo,
SDG!
~ Liberty
P.S. One note I must make, especially because some of my ministry is to those in/coming out of abusive situations. Hope is not hopium. It is not living in cognitive dissonance, believing a toxic relationship will get better because you want it to. Your hopes and dreams of such things are not reality if the other person isn’t doing their work of true and full repentance and heart change and restoration work. Please don’t use a vision board to try to envision a destructive relationship being good.
