The science behind vision boards
When I made my first vision board in November 2017 I had no idea it would change my life, and have such an impact on others too.
I’d heard about vision boards before; lots of self-development gurus talked about them, even Oprah Winfrey had created one.
What are vision boards?
Some people call them mood boards, action boards, journey boards, but whatever you want to call them, they are a board of any size or shape, with pictures words and phrases from magazines that represent they life you want to live over the next year.
But it’s not just a board with pictures and words, it’s an inspirational, motivational, aspirational tool to push you towards your goals, dreams, aspirations over the next 12 months. The timeframe is deliberate: it focuses the mind and makes the goals much more achievable.
My first board was a jumble of pictures and words with no particular order, just a brain dump of pictures that represented things and some nice pictures I liked.
The boards I do now focus on specific goals I want to achieve.
I marvel when each of these goals is ticked off one by one, especially since not all are always easily achievable. Some need to be broken down into small, bite-sized chunks, brainstormed, mind mapped and planned out, but the main thing is, most of what I put on these boards come to life.
And it’s not just me who thinks so. Take a look at this lovely testimonial from Emma Reed, who puts her transformation down to vision boarding.
So why do they work?
This all might sound quite mystical, but vision boards are in fact rooted in neuroscience.
Neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart explains: "Looking at images on a vision board primes the brain to grasp opportunities that may otherwise gone unnoticed. That’s because the brain has a process called ‘value-tagging’ which imprints important things onto your subconscious and filters out unnecessary information.”
“The brain assigns a higher ‘value’ to images than written words on a ‘to-do’ list,” says Swart, “And the more you look at those images, the more those images move up in importance.”
And there are ways you can boost this activity, for example, if you look at your board right before you fall asleep every night, the images will be imprint even further. That’s because the brain is very impressionable as it drifts into sleep and so if you focus your attention on something during that period — particularly on something new — those images are more likely to feature in your dreams and thoughts.
This is known as the ‘Tetris effect’ (named after the 1980s video game).
Visualisation
Vision boards also work through visualisation. That’s because the brain sees little difference between something actually happening and a strongly imagined vision of it.
Therefore, imagine it already happening, for example by visualising that you’re a published author – not just that you want to write a book – you’re more likely to make that leap.
Studies have shown that people who imagine themselves flexing a muscle for example, achieve actual physical strength gains.
Repetition
Another way to manifest your vision is to practice.
Swart says that using an action board regularly can help you become more willing to take action toward achieving your goals.
“Normally, when you try something new, the body has a stress response, releasing cortisol and adrenaline. In other words, new things can be scary,” she says. “However, when you repeatedly look at images related to your goals, your brain no longer sees them as new.
“The process reduces the [physiological] fear response to any new situation or person, making you more likely to take healthy risks, collaborate and embrace opportunity.”
Positivity
Finally, what happens in the brain during the process of creating the vision board over the 5 hours is essentially a ‘positive emotion booster’. Simply the process of going through the process step-by-step in order to produce the board, which involves journaling, meditation, writing and creating provides a positive emotional space that energises the brain.
Of course, vision boards alone don’t get you to your goals, you have to be prepared to put in the work.
But don’t let this stop you from thinking big.
To go back to Oprah, when she wanted Barack Obama to be elected president, she made a vision board with a picture of him and a picture of the dress she’d wear to his inauguration. And if it’s good enough for Oprah…
