Making Your Vision a Reality

When I look back on the accomplishments in my life, I realize there was always a deep-seated belief that I could achieve them. When you consider things such as getting married, having children, learning to drive a car, graduating from high school or college, all of them started with a goal. How you got there is something else. In any case, your determination lead to those accomplishments.

Some of them may not have turned out exactly as you would have hoped. In my case, my first marriage ended in divorce. Not something I would have wished for. But maybe I wasn't clear even to myself what I wanted in a marriage. So when you have a vision, be careful what you wish for. There are always consequences.

One of the most significant visions my husband and I had for our family was the opportunity to live abroad. We both stated this out loud and mentioned this to several good friends. Before we knew it, we were flying across the Atlantic and moving to Amsterdam. It was amazing how quickly it all came about once we stated our intention. Your visions can become a reality once you set your mind to it and state it out loud.

What is a Vision Board?

One way to clarify your intentions and goals is to create a vision board.  This helps you really understand what your passions are.  Above is a vision board I created about 2 years ago.  I attribute having many of my goals realized by stating my intentions through this board.  Here are a few goals that were realized:

• My family had lots of great family vacations including Europe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter grand opening (a big hit with my kids), several east coast vacations and Hawaii. 
• I purchased a sweet Canon 7D which I totally LOVE,  plus some great go-to lenses.
• I became a paid freelance writer for Yahoo! and got an award in 2011 for Rising Star.  I also got picked as just 1 of 10 writers for the Yahoo! Get-It-Guide program.  A nice paying gig!
• My husband and I carefully invested our money which these days is a huge savings, pun intended. 
• I am also surrounded by amazing women who inspire, guide, comfort and love me, and are a huge part of who I am.  
• My photography started taking off last year and I received a good number of referrals and repeat customers.
• In surprising ways, a few of my photos were picked up by several photo editors and made their way around the globe.  I continue to get paid royalties for a series of photos and one image I shot at Stanford University was picked up by Travel and Leisure magazine.

I  love the vision board explanation described on Cook It Allergy Free.  You can enjoy creating a vision board while you keep yourself regular and satiated :)

I'm going to start my vision board this week and start cutting images and idea from magazines.  You should keep your vision board in a place where you notice it daily.  It will be a constant reminder of your dreams and goals.

What's your vision for 2012?  And when did you achieve something truly amazing because you believed?