Vision boards, made popular by the movie, The Secret, have actually been around for at least 30 years. One of my favorite terms is what Shakti Gawain calls a “Treasure Map” in her ground breaking book, Creative Visualization.

Whether you call it a Treasure Map or Vision Board, or even a Life Collage, it’s a visual reminder of where it is you want to be. Every time you look at your vision board, your brain is stimulated into action and will start searching for ways to help you accomplish your goals.

Have you ever had to rent a new home? Do you remember driving around looking for the “for rent” signs? After a while it seemed you could spot signs down the street and around the corner, right? This was because your brain, ever the good servant, was in a continuous search mode for these signs. Then even after you rented your new home, your brain was still on alert for those signs, and it seemed like months before you could stop looking, right?

The brain observes these same visual queues when you look at your vision board. If you want a particular home, this image is imprinted in your subconscious, and your brain becomes alert to opportunities that could bring you to your new home.

To make your own vision board, first you want to spend some time focusing on what you want. If you want to get a clear picture about what it is you do want, write out in paragraph form where you’d like to see your life in the next year, three years, five years and even ten years from now.

What kind of home do you want to live in? Is it a cottage in the country, or a luxury apartment in the city?

What sort of relationships do you want? True love? Passion? Harmony? Family? Friends?

And don’t forget your health. Are you looking to eat healthy, organic foods, or maybe start a new exercise program?

How much money do you want to make?

How do you want to spend your free time? What are your hobbies or vacation plans?

These are questions you want to ask yourself as you plan out your vision board.

Then you’ll need: Poster board, glue stick, colored pens, scissors and a variety of magazines.

After you have decided where you want your focus, sit down with your magazines and start cutting out pictures and word phrases that match your vision. You then arrange the life of your dreams in a collage on the poster board.

Sometimes you may want to focus on things separately, and for this you’d want to make a topical vision board. For instance, you may want to focus on getting a family vacation, a new job, a new car, good health and harmonious relationships. Good health and relationships are sort of an on-going goal, whereas, once you get your car, new job, or take that vacation, you don’t really need to keep the vision board for that particular goal.

After you’ve finished, you may want to put your vision board in a prominent place where you can see it everyday. Though many people have reported good results by simply making the vision board, even if it ends up in the back of a closet.

Creating your own vision board allows you to open to the possibilities and potentialities that surround you every moment of the day, and focus in on what it is you want to manifest in your life. Whatever your vision, the Vision Board is the ideal tool to help you move in the direction of your dreams.