Goal Directed Living: Vision Boards and Affirmations
In Hal Elrod’s book, The Miracle Morning, as well as countless other books in the Personal Development/Productivity category, there is the recommendation of developing statements of affirmation to be read and repeated consistently as well as visualizations to be reviewed repeatedly. The former is usually a collection of written (or typed) statements whereas the latter usually involves creating a vision board. The primary benefit taught of these exercises is to train your mind on a subconscious level to actualize the content of these items. Though, I’ve always been skeptical of the effectiveness of this strategy, I do recognize that, if nothing else, these items keep your overarching goals and purpose in your mind when you can easily be distracted with your daily activities.
Once again, this is where Life Lists become helpful. Without a source of inspiration, you might find it difficult to create your statements of affirmation or vision board. With Life Lists, you can also break up your statements of affirmations into distinct categories and then write the statement as-if you have achieved or are close to achieving those items at this current time. The temporal nature harkens back to the idea that by subconsciously believing that you’ve already achieved this goal will shape your mind and activities to actualizing these goals. Does this work? Maybe. Regardless, it’s a harmless fifteen minute exercise that keeps your overarching goals in your mind at worst. For visualization, review your lists and determine (a) what items can be visualized and (b) what would my life look like if these items were actualized and then create a list that you can use as a reference when searching for supporting images to place on your vision board collage.
After this is completed, you should have a collection of lists to provide direction to your life, for the rest of your life. Additionally, as supporting documents, you have statements of affirmation and examples of visualizations that you can revisit on a routine basis to reinforce these long-term goals. Next is creating a routine that actively works toward these goals.
