Get in, we're getting crafty!
Grab your Papermate Flair pens, newest sticky notes, favorite home decor magazines, and a bottle of wine. Everyone knows the beginning of the year is the time that vision boards become hot commodity. & with a Pinterest search the wheels easily start turning on all things manifestation. First what does that even mean, manifestation? Cliff notes version, it is the ability to create/see something through attraction and belief. Sounds fun right? Who doesn't get excited about imagining all the things they want in their life. From homes, vacations, money, ideal partner...the list goes on and on. Now don't get me wrong we LOVE a cute AF vision board. (I have two!) But getting crafty and throwing a bunch of cut outs onto a corkboard doesn't exactly make magic happen.
What I have found (even from my own attempts at vision boards) over the years, is that there is a crucial reason why vision boards can actually hold you back. Yes, I also realize that sounds like a contradiction since you're setting the intentions on a better life...how the heck could it actually hold you back? Take it from someone who has spent many of afternoons crafty away only to shove said "dream" board under my bed pretending it didn't exist. Or worse, left frustrated when I had mapped it all out but nothing was happening.
3 reasons vision boards BLOW
They aren't realistic. Sure it's cute, and gives you the warm and fuzzies as you're doing it but the whole board isn't realistic. The board becomes this fantasy of "if only". The board becomes an outlet for all things wanted in order to escape some present form of reality or current situation.
The vision board is too extreme. If you're manifesting $100k a year, and you're only making $40k at the moment we're missing the bridge between the gap. The in between needing to happen to actually get to the $100k. This pertains to any element of your vision board. There has to be consideration that a path is laid to make these things attainable.
There isn't clarity/it's rushed. Just because you spent 5 hours sprawled out on your floor binge watching Sex and The City with your wine doesn't create magic either. You have to know what these elements mean to you/why you want them. It takes more than a Sunday afternoon to dig deep on the emotional aspect.
When I made mine prior to last year, I literally just. threw a bunch of affirmation words on it and hoped it would come to fruition. I "believed" it. In my head I'd done the work. (A Sunday afternoon with scissors and glue come on I earned these visions!) However, I never grasped the key concept of the in between. Even worse, I never grasped the concept of what I truly wanted and WHY I truly wanted it. Last year though, I changed the whole approach and it was the most connected in the manifestation realm I had been. My board had it all. Hand selected words that I wanted to embody daily, an income goal of at least $70k (long term is over 6 figures), sunsets in Arizona, mountains of Colorado, a TRD vehicle, even the color splash of my apartment. I spent a good month journaling, reflecting, and asking what did I want THIS YEAR. My vision board matched my goals for just that, not 10 years down the road. It wasn't that I snagged Elf rubbed Elmer's glue or used the right pens...it was that I did the work to envision where I wanted those 12 months to take me. THAT is the missing link.
Vision boards are great, and I will make another this year at some point. What I have learned though is that it isn't about when you make the board, it is how you feel in that moment. Just because it's January doesn't mean you need to DIY hardcore these first 31 days. Attracting what you desire (AKA letting the universe guide/flow with you) starts with clarity. The universe will give and provide based on the energy you put out, it all comes down to where you decide to focus. If you're overshooting and not looking at the path between to get to that monstrous board one day, it's no wonder the dang corkboard can be swept under the bed. I am all for big goals, dreams, and wants. In fact, I want you to be so heart led to receiving all the universe has for you. Life is meant to be as grand as you desire, but before you throw it all out there hoping it sticks look at the in between. After failed attempts and frustrations I have finally grasped that concept, and know many are in the same boat. Dream big, but don't dream SO big that you never make it by not taking action right now to form the path needed.
-Taryn
Email: taryn.shaffer@yahoo.com
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