Back in high school, my friends and I cut pictures and words from magazines to create collages, usually an ode to our favorite heartthrob of the moment. I remember decorating several binders and posters mostly with pictures of Rick Springfield and Duran Duran.

We’ve come a long way, Auntie. Being the Savvy Aunties we are, we can use those same techniques of snipping pictures and words from magazines for a higher purpose – creating an inspiration or vision board.

A majority of us are visual learners, meaning we have to see something to learn. Vision boards are an excellent tool to guide you, inspire you and move you on a project or life change, and they’ve become more and more popular over the past few years particularly with the rise of life and career coaching. Just Google “vision boards” and see all the information that comes up.

Vision boards are sometimes called inspiration, mood or idea boards. No matter what you call it, vision boards serve as guides and personal cheerleaders for a new stage of your life or a new undertaking. Creating boards are a fab way of brainstorming your ideas and uncovering those hidden nuggets of information you have buried.

You can make a board to show what kind of auntie you want to be. Make one for your upcoming wedding to get an idea of the type of affair you want to have. If you’re single, you can make an inspiration board about the type of person you want to date. Stuck in a career rut? Make an inspiration board about work you like to do. You may be surprised by what you discover. Want to buy a house or condo? Make a board for how you want your new place to feel and look.

I liken inspiration or vision boards to the work of the Impressionist artists, such as Monet and Renoir. The Impressionists used their abstracted paintings to depict an “impression” of a moment in time. It may look blurry on canvas, but standing back, you see the detailed scene they captured.

Savvy Auntie founder Melanie Notkin recently shared an example of the inspiration board she and others created for her upcoming Savvy Auntie book cover. Their inspiration board included fonts, words, and designs they loved and spoke to them.

By creating an inspiration board for the book, Melanie and her colleagues answered the question of what do they wanted and how they want to get there. Those questions can be difficult when you’re contemplating the future and change. Vision and inspiration boards can help you zero in on the answers.

A vision board also be more specific, help you zero in on short-term or long-term goals, what to include in a project, or make a major life change, such as buying a house, losing weight, or starting a business. Just as the creation of a vision board is personal only to you, the definitions are also personal.

The first “rule” of creating an inspiration or vision board is that you cannot make mistakes. So my little perfectionists, do not worry about how well you cut, glue or place your inspirations. Nothing is wrong, and everything that touches you has meaning of some kind.

To create a vision board, think about what you want to depict and all that comes up for you. If you’re starting a business, is the goal to make lots and lots of money? To have personal satisfaction? To get famous? Actor Jim Carrey famously talked about writing a $10 million check to himself, and he carried it in his wallet. After a string of successful movies, Carrey was able to cash his check in.  

Followers of The Secret and the Laws of Attraction love using vision boards to generate what you want to attract in your life. Using the Law of Attraction, Jim Carrey attracted his multi-million paydays because he had a specific vision and wrote out the check.

To create your own board, don’t think too hard. Look at magazines, newsletters, quotes, ribbons, fabric, photos, poems, sayings, words and anything else that inspires you. Cut out those things that light a fire in your belly and ignite your passion. Don’t worry about what other people may think and focus on your own needs and wants. This is not the time to select anything that’s mediocre or ho-hum.

If you want to travel, choose pictures and words showing the places where you want to go. If you want to lose weight or adopt a healthier lifestyle, find a (realistic!) picture of the body you want. If you’re buying a house, pick out pictures of houses, neighborhoods, maps, and other related items to figure what you really want. Want to be The Auntie? What does that look like to you?

Once you have everything cut out, glue it on a piece of foam board, poster board or canvas. Like I said, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Once you finish, stand back and see what it tells you. The message comes through very loud and clear. Show your trusted posse for their thoughts (making a vision board is much more fun with friends!).

Place your vision board in a prominent place so you can see it. Use the vision board to set your short-term and long-term goals. By having a clear vision, you can see your future.

Janice Marie Simon, MA, CPO

Published: June 1, 2010