Inspiration

Creating a vision board is something I’ve been wanting to do for years but never made the time. I’m sure there are many who have wanted to do this for a long time, but never got around to it. Maybe this will be the inspiration to get you over the hump. In any case, you don’t have to do it all at once. Start a doc, and just add to it one line at a time as you think of your goals and visions. In my experience, although an all-nighter and high-output working sessions are truly great, most success comes from steady baby steps.

My inspiration comes from watching The Secret in health class in high school, my mom’s God Boxes, and reading Joe Dispenza’s book Breaking The Habit Of Being Yourself. Over time I’ve built the belief that visualizing is the best way to get somewhere faster. It’s a version of faking it till you make it.

Visualization Works

For example, there is a study by Dr. Biasiotto at the University of Chicago in 1996 of people shooting basketball free throws. The participants were split into 3 groups and for the following 30 days:

• Group 1 was told not to touch a basketball
• Group 2 practiced shooting free throws every day for an hour each day
• Group 3 came to the gym and spent an hour with their eyes closed visualizing hitting every free-throw each day

After 30 days, the three groups were tested again on their free throws:

• Group 1 had no improvement
• Group 2 improved by 24%
• Group 3… improved by 23%, without physical practice!

The result shows that visualization can have physical results, that our imagination can lead to tangible real-world change and materialization.

Now for a twist… Although this study above is very popularly referenced online, I could not find the actual scientific paper anywhere on the internet, leading me to doubt it’s existence. And it seems others are also questioning if this Doctor ever existed (Skeptics Stack Exchange). Regardless… I still included it above, as there are several other similar studies that show similar results (Similar Study 1, Similar Study 2) and confirm the linkage between visualization and impacts on our real-world results.

IMO, visualizing helps prepare us for the moments in our life where we have the opportunity to move closer to our dreams. It helps us instinctively react towards the life we visualize, to seize the opportunities that flicker before us, that give us a road to the life we are imaging.

My Process

I am sure there are endless right ways to do this. Here however is the way I did mine.

Step 1: Starting with Words

I started with a google doc, and just started listing what I want in my life. As Tim Ferris would say, if you want a ferrari, write that you want a ferrari. No point in hiding the truth from yourself and writing that you want world peace if you don’t care about that. Be honest with yourself. Gradually roll these items into higher level categories.

I’ve listed for you some of the categories and sub-categories I consolidated my lists into as an example; but ultimately it’s up to you what is important to you and what you want to try to visualize and materialize.

• Career
  • Real estate
  • Sustainable energy transition pioneer and investor
  • Frequently conversing with mentors and discussing projects
• Side Career
  • Blogging & Content
  • Consulting
  • Wave pool investor and involved in the projects
• Mental and Physical Health
  • Flexibility in how I spend my time
  • Routines
  • Growth mindset
  • Friends
  • Fitness
  • Decompression & Hobbies
• My Family
  • Mama, Papa, Babushka, Katya
  • Partner
  • Kids
• Adventures
  • World travel big adventure
  • Adventure lifestyle
• Giving back
  • Volunteering
  • Charitable Donations
• Wealth
  • Toys
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Financial

Each of these categories and subcategories has further lines within them, detailing what I am envisioning. The more detail the better. Specificity is a key part of this. Is the Ferrari red? What model and year? What are you going to do with your free time? What is it going to feel like?

Time Frame

A question I’ve had frequently is what time frame to use when understanding my goals and vision I am building, should it be 1 year, or for my whole life? For example if I think about my dream life for my whole life, it’s more focused on a happy loving family vs for 1 year more focused on short-term goals like starting my blog. I decided to go for the full-life goals, because why not? Dream big.

Step 2: A Visual Vision

With all that wonderful specificity you dreamed up for your life, now it’s time to put images to paper. The old school way is magazine cut outs, however I used Canva Pro to either find existing images, generate AI images, or insert my own images where I felt they best exemplified the vision. You will find that the images you choose can have specific meanings to you that may be hidden to others. That’s great, the higher the emotional significance of the images, the better.

For example, here are a couple images I picked and what they mean to me:

This is the image of Francis Ouimet (top), moments after he became the first amateur to win the U.S. Open in golf. His story is the basis of the movie The Greatest  Game Ever Played. Francis came from an Irish and French-Canadian immigrant family that was part of the working class, and ends up putting on one of the greatest golf performances in the sport’s history. It was a very emotional movie for me, and I included the image as a reminder and representation that anything is possible, and the greatness is achievable, even by the unassuming. Also the boy in the front is Francis’ 10 year old caddie, another absolute legend of a character. Anything is possible.

Step 3: Making the Vision Visible

After making and editing the Canva and written versions, I knew I wanted them to be visually present in my day to day life to remind me of my dreams and visions. I printed both the written and image version, and taped them to my wall in my room. Additionally, I made it my background on my computer, and on my phone. That way, I get little reminders of the vision I am creating for myself. Below is my image version 🙂

Since then, I’ve had a couple new images that have become important to me. I will likely include them in a future interaction, most likely near EOY for an annual refresh.

I hope this was helpful! I’m sure there are many who have wanted to do this for a long time, but never got around to it. Maybe this will be the inspiration to get you over the hump. In any case, you don’t have to do it all at once. Start a doc, and just add to it one line at a time as you think of your goals and visions. In my experience, although an all-nighter and high-output working sessions are truly great, most success comes from steady baby steps. Let me know any questions, and good luck ❤