If you look up to the sky, you might see me walking on cloud nine. Why? Because one of my biggest dreams came true this past Friday. It all started a few weeks back when I got a call from my good friends' husband. He told me that he got tickets to see The Oprah Winfrey Show and asked me if I wanted to go. That's like any woman asking Tiger Woods if he wants her hotel key! It's no secret that I'm a huge Oprah fan. She's a woman I respect and really admire. And let's be honest, she does killer giveaways. I've always dreamed of attending a taping of her show. I tried countless times to get tickets by logging onto her site. But it proved to be as futile as getting a toddler to choose broccoli over brownies. And once she announced her retirement for September 2011, I knew that the clock was ticking. But even though the odds were stacked against me, I knew that one day I would walk through my pearly gates of Heaven called Harpo Studios.
What made me so sure?
A magical tool called a vision board. For those of you who don't know, a vision board is a collage of images created by you that represent your dreams, goals and visions of what you want your life to look like. The idea behind this is when you surround yourself with images of who you want to be, how you want to live and what you want to have, you manifest these things into your life and they become your reality.
At the beginning of the year, I created a vision board and it had a picture of Oprah on it. And here's the coolest part. In the picture I have, Oprah is wearing a long sleeve, flowy red dress with a belt in the middle. Last Friday when I saw her at the taping, she was wearing a long sleeve, flowy orange dress with a belt! Cue the goose bumps now.
So what do you want in your life?
Here are five steps to help you create your own vision board.
Step 1: Buy a big piece of Bristol board and a bunch of magazines. Use a variety that cover topics that interest you like fitness, travel, fashion, home etc. Have fun while you go through the magazines. Tear out the images, words, quotes or headlines that speak to you. Don't glue anything down yet. Just form a big pile.
Step 2: Go through your pile and begin to lay your favourite pictures out on the board. Eliminate any images or words that no longer impact you. Try not to think too much about the layout. Quiet your mind and let your intuition guide you. Maybe you want to keep all your health related stuff on one side and all your financial goals on the other. Or maybe you prefer to place things randomly on the board. Don't try to make this perfect. Just do it so it makes sense to you and it's something that's nice and inspiring to look at.
Step 3: Glue or tape everything onto your board. If you want to add handwriting or painted images, go for it.
Step 4: Hang your vision board in a place where you'll see it every day like a bathroom mirror or a home office.
Step 5: Spend a few minutes looking at your vision board every day. Pay attention to how these images and words make you feel. Hold onto that feeling for a few minutes.
Like your life, your vision board is an evolution. You can add to it as often as you like or adjust it based on new goals and desires as they present themselves. Dare to dream. Don't worry about how your desires will manifest. Let that go and leave that to the Universe. Your job is to get clear on what you want and focus on that every single day.
So now that I can cross Oprah off my list, what's next for me? Flying first class to Bora Bora and having John Travolta dressed as Danny Zuko from Grease fly the plane. Hey a girl can dream can't she?
 Carly Cooper | |
| About the author: | |
Carly Cooper is a certified Life Coach for 'Moms'. She gets motherhood because she is a mother. She understands the struggles with guilt and finding a work/life balance as she herself is a working mother. For more information about Carly, her services and to request a complimentary coaching consultation visit her website at www.balance-the-mother-load.com. | |
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From a fellow Canadian, hello and Thank You for your article about visualization and vision boards. I have long believed these really work and had some wonderful experiences last year that told me they do.
Thanks for sharing your story and wisdom.
Charlene