A vision board works by promoting focus and inspiring new ideas by serving as a constant source of reference for anyone that has taken the time to map out their goals and ambitions. Many people choose to combine their vision boards with the law of attraction – more on that below – but they remain an incredible tool for changing lives and achieving dreams, even if the owner doesn’t directly apply the law of attraction theory.

The key idea is to get away from the idea of taking every day as it comes. It works for some who have the fortunate habit of seeing things going their way no matter what they do. For most, however, a vision board, from creation to display, helps to organise thoughts and really get to the centre of what the individual in question wants and what they need to do to get there.

Vision Boards and the Law of Attraction

There are many important components of the law of attraction for practitioners, but one that certainly shouldn’t be undervalued is visualisation. As part of this process, people who follow the theory not only visualise what they want from life, but go a step further by visualising themselves using whatever they want to manifest.

If it’s a new car, they visualise themselves driving it. If it’s a new home, they visualise themselves living in it.

I have a friend who runs a business exclusively around speaking on the importance of vision boards and one of their favourite tips is to make things personal. Sure, everything on a vision board is personal to an extent, as it represents your dreams and ambitions. However, he wouldn’t stop at putting pictures onto a board. When making a physical vision board, he would find a picture of someone doing what he wants to do and cut off the head. In its place, he would stick his own head!

I can tell you from personal experience that this additional personalisation works as it has seen him graduate, drive the car of his dreams and adopt the kind of fitness regime that not only feels good, but demonstrates real results.

That’s not necessary for everyone, but it demonstrates the power of visualising in the moment, and the law of attraction thrives on manifesting for people that do just that. I have a specific office building on my vision board and if you look closely, you’ll see I Photoshopped myself working in there before I printed it out!

When combining the law of attraction and vision boards, the best thing about them is that they are a constant reminder to both you and the universe of what you really want. Every time you look up and see that board, your thoughts turn to what you really want to manifest over both the short and long terms. The law of attraction thrives on thought, so if you want to bring them into your reality, you have to devote the positive energy towards making them happen.

Why Do Vision Boards Work?

The law of attraction isn’t the only way that vision boards work. I’ll never forget the conversation that I had with the same friend I mentioned above. We first met when he gave a talk to students on the benefits of vision boards and how they oversaw and aided his journey from his home town to university and work. Shortly afterwards, we got chatting about all sorts of things, but a conversation about those vision boards was inevitable.

After going over a few of our experiences, I asked him what he thought about the law of attraction. He was puzzled. He had never even heard of it!

And yet there he was, reaping the results, bringing everything he aimed to do into the world with vision boards. Was the universe helping him along? Possibly, but if it was, he knew nothing about it.

Many of the speakers I’ve listened to on vision boards will talk about the concept first, and introduce the law of attraction. Some, such as my illustrious friend, never mention it at all. To put it simply, the law of attraction isn’t essential for vision boards to work, and you don’t have to be a believer. It might help you along anyway, and that’s a great bonus, but it’s not essential.

Instead, they work because they focus the mind. When you take the time to make a vision board, you don’t just sit there with random photos sticking them onto a sheet of card. You choose those pictures carefully and as you give it more thought, more ideas come to you.

Over minutes or hours, you build up a vision of where you want your life to be.

From there, you then refer to this vision board regularly. When you’re down and demotivated, the board reminds you that this isn’t your perfect life – that is. When you need a pick-me-up to get you back on track, the vision board reminds you of what you’re working towards and focuses the mind.

If you’ve got ten tasks on your list and are overcome by choice paralysis, your vision board will guide you on which one to do first, at least after some practice. You’ll choose to favour tasks that get you closer to that vision, automatically assigning them a priority order.

Are Vision Boards Helpful?

It doesn’t escape me that you’re here at Widibi and, as such, you’re not expecting any contributor to come out and say that vision boards aren’t helpful. The fact is that they are helpful – very helpful, in fact.

I believe that anyone can benefit from thinking about what they want their future to look like, and there are few opportunities like creating a vision board to devote time specifically to doing just that. If you’re the kind of person that gets bored of a routine or wakes up in the morning intrigued by what the day will bring, but with no plans to guide it in a particular direction, a vision board can be the most helpful tool you could hope for.

If you practice the law of attraction, whether a novice or highly experienced, a vision board is a helpful way to focus your thoughts on manifesting your dreams into reality.

The fact is that there is nothing to lose but a little time, and if you’re not focusing on the future and the bigger picture, the chances are you’re already wasting more time than you’d spend creating a vision board to put that lack of direction right.

Do Digital Vision Boards Work?

I was surprised when I was first asked this question. Someone literally said to me “do digital vision boards work?” and I had to ponder it for a second. It did occur to me that a lot of people think of vision boards and the law of attraction as being some kind of magic. I suppose it’s a valid way to look at things, but it’s not the be all and end all. I think of it more as a method, a means to an end and, in the case of the law of attraction itself, a lifestyle of sorts.

However, the piece of card you use for a physical vision board isn’t magic. Neither are the pictures you print out or cut out of magazines. The format and materials you use are largely inconsequential. A working vision board relies on imagery and thought, not scissors and glue.

If you want to make your vision board on a computer or iPad, I say go for it. You’ll even have the added benefit of being able to set the board as your wallpaper across your devices so it’s there when you need it, and even when you don’t – all without scanning it or taking a picture.

I’m of the belief that vision boards work, from paper and card to mobiles and tablets – I’m even a big fan of instant vision boards which use nothing more than words in a document to channel what you want to focus on and achieve.

How Does a Vision Board Work? – In Summary

A vision board works through a combination of time and thought. Using thoughts to manifest dreams is a concept commonly associated with the law of attraction, but you don’t have to actively seek to implement that law when using the concept of vision boards.

I believe that they are an essential component of daily life, whether you want to focus on your career, business, family, home or anything else. By taking the time and applying your thoughts, you’ll adjust your behaviour towards making the most of what you have, and bringing more of what you desire into your life.

A vision board is merely a visual depiction of what you want. The rest is down to you, but once you complete your board, you have an incredibly powerful tool at your disposal.