Dreamboards
Dreamboards: An Effective First Step Towards Achieving Your Goals
When I sat down to figure out what my goals in life were, I had trouble translating the images in my head into words. Instead of continuing to struggle to write them down – or putting it off altogether – I started pictorially, collecting images, words and personal photos that showed how I ideally wanted my life to be. Together these images made up my “dreamboard”.
As the name suggests, a dreamboard is a visual representation of your dreams for your life. It expresses what’s important to you, what inspires you, and where you want to end up. It’s an easy and effective way to keep your goals front and centre, rather than tangled with the rest of the clutter in your head.
Property is an important part of my life, and my dreamboard clearly illustrates how I see property as my vehicle to achieving my other goals in life. I’ve included pictures of properties I currently own and those I would like to own – while some of the examples I’ve picked may seem impossible to reach, my experience has shown me that I can reach any goal I set my mind to. And so can you.
Using both images and words lends more power to my aims and strengthens my aspirational statement: “I want to own enough quality properties to earn a passive income of $150,000 a year before 2012.” It may seem a long way off, but I figure even getting half way there would be better than never trying to reach it at all.
By being this focused and specific, property opportunities have presented themselves daily.
CREATING YOUR DREAMBOARD
1. Make it inspirational
Use images and words culled from magazines and newspapers to create an overall picture. What you’re aiming for is to provoke emotion so include the things that inspire you and the things that give you purpose. What gets you up in the morning? It doesn’t matter what they are or where they come from, as long as they are important to you.
2. Make it wide-ranging
My professional goals are not the only things covered by my dreamboard – after all what’s success in one area if it isn’t coupled with similar satisfaction in another. Every area of your life is linked by the simple fact that they each make up a part of your life.
Some areas to consider when making your dreamboard:
• Relationships (friends and family)
• Finances
• Travel
• Health and fitness
• Investments (eg. Property)
• Business
• Hobbies/interests
• Consumer goods (eg. Cars, electronics)
• Personal Development
• Anything else that comes to mind, don’t be shy!
3. Make it about you.
Without pictures of you, your dreamboard becomes a collection of random images and words. Make sure you include photos of you and your friends and family doing things you enjoy and want to do more of. This way you are a part of the things you desire, rather than watching from the outside.
4. Don’t get caught up in “reality”
Let your mind roam free and include things you may think are unachievable. One thing I’ve learned is that it’s easy to surprise yourself. I’ve found myself replacing goals with bigger and better ones because I’ve achieved them much faster than I ever thought I could.
5. Make it part of your routine
Spend three minutes every morning imagining yourself in your dreamboard. Visualising yourself surrounded by and living in the situation you have created categorises it as a reality rather than a dream. Make sure you really feel what it would be like living in the world depicted by your dreamboard.
Having a dreamboard means you are inspired every day by having something to reach for. It focuses your efforts and imbues everything you do with purpose. It’s an easy, fun, and effective way to help you live the life you really want.