Use Vision Board Strategies for Your Finances - The Bossy House

Use Vision Board Strategies for Your Finances

Create a Vision for Your Financial Future

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If you have an idea of your goals but you don't create a vision of your financial future, chances are you won't get there. In this post, I share some vision board strategies that can help you set a vision and charge full-speed ahead to your dreams. 

Setting a vision for yourself gives you a MUCH better chance of meeting your goals. Why? Because we are a visual people, and creating a picture in your mind is a powerful tool. 

Do I believe vision boards are magic? No. Not really. 

But they DO WORK and I'll tell you why.

Vision Boards Help you Make Good Goals

Remember all that stuff about how goals have to be SMART, which stands for something like "specific, measurable, actionable" and I forgot the rest. 

Well, vision boards help you create SPECIFIC goals. 

If you want to be "better with money," a vision board is going to force you to put a picture with that. You're going to look through pictures and figure out which one speaks to you. Which picture BEST captures that goal? 

Is it the lady with the clipboard standing confidently, or is a closed purse with a "no spending money!" caption? What does "better at money" mean to you? You have to figure that out, and a vision board process pushes you to get real specific. 

Vision Board Strategies: Prioritize

A vision board, by nature, is gonna force you to prioritize. Out of ALL the things you could focus on, you are going to select just a small number to place on your board. That helps you narrow your focus and gives you fewer things to move toward. 

In the long run, that helps make these suckers so effective. 

Our brains want things pared down. Let's use the limited energy we have on fewer things so we can put more towards our goals! 

Vision Boards Aren't Magic

No, vision boards aren't magic. They don't somehow bring your dreams closer, they don't send a message to the universe, and they don't get angels to do your work for you.

Vision boards, by helping you prioritize, get concrete, and visualize,  just capitalize on what our brain needs. 

I once "manifested" a whole backyard using a vision board. Here is the picture I put on my vision board when I knew I wanted a new house and a big wooded backyard. 

wooded backyard

And, this is the backyard of the house I bought four months later. 

backyard deck

Did that backyard get sent to me by the universe? Not at all. 

When I made the vision board I worked to put the exact image of what I wanted for my backyard there.  Because that picture was so clear in my mind, when I walked onto the deck of my future house, I immediately recognized it. And bought the house. 

We can work WITH our brain and use vision board strategies to solidify our goals and dreams. 

First, get clear on your financial needs

Before you get to making your vision board, you're going to need to take stock of your financial needs. 

It's time to get honest about your financial situation. Take a good hard look at your debt, your savings, and any big financial problems you have. (The free financial templates at the end of this post get you started!)

woman writing a plan

Then, answer these questions: 

  1. 1
    How do you FEEL about your finances?
  2. 2
    How do you WANT to feel about your finances in 6 months?
  3. 3
    Is there something you are saving for? (buying a home, college, etc) 
  4. 4
    Is there a bad situation you need to get out of?
  5. 5
    Is there something you've been MEANING to do with your finances but have been putting off?
  6. 6
    What does "financially free" mean to you?

With the answers to these questions, you can start to think about what is possible for your goals. 

A word about debt: if you have any, this is your first priority. Getting out from under debt is a HUGE necessity. If you want some motivation, use this debt calculator to find out how long you will remain in debt if you keep paying the amount you're paying now. 

Hopefully, that will get you motivated to make the payment of debt your biggest priority right away! 

Vision Board Strategies: Make Your Board

The next step is to make your board! Put some music on, get a glass of wine or a LaCroix and get to it! 

You can use scissors and a glue stick, OR you can make a vision board online. Check out this tutorial on how to make an online vision board. 

I wish you the best on your financial journey! 

Get this set of financial planning templates to get started on your budget journey!

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