Succeed by visualizing your future...

Whatever conclusion you come to after reading this, I recommend that you put down your dreams and desires onto a Mind Map.

If anything else, it will get you to document your dreams and get you to focus on them, increasing your chances of achieving them.

A few years ago, I visualised having a forum where I can promote and teach Mind Maps. Today my blog www.mindmaptutor.com, and this website, reaches thousands of people all over the world and continues to grow from strength to strength.

This website was also conceived to help people to use Mind Maps in their daily lives. Today it is up and running, with lots of content, and growing daily...

The concept of a Vision Board

Recently, 'The Secret', a movie and book promising you health, wealth, success and happines promoted the use of a 'Vision Board'.

In a nutshell, a Vision Board is a large board with pictures depicting what you would like to achieve in life.

When you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live or vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires.

This is called the 'Law of Attraction' by the popular psychologists. You attract to you what you think about most.

When you think about it, most people never pause long enough to ask themselves what they want. They just let life happen to them.

While the 'Law of Attraction' is a contentious subject, having a vision of where you want to be is definitely the common element among all motivational tools and motivational gurus.

Steven R. Covey, the author of the 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People', states that everything is created twice; first in the mind of the creator and then in reality.

John Kehoe, in his book 'Mind Power for children', quotes a famous and well documented experiment conducted by psychologist Alan Richardson. A group of basketball players were divided into three groups and tested for their ability to score baskets.

• The first group went to the gym everyday to practice shooting
• The second group skipped practice altogether
• The third group also skipped the gym, but just practiced in their imagination

After a month, the three groups were tested again. The first group improved by 24 percent, the second group showed no improvement and the third group improved equally as much as the first group that had practiced for real!

He also quotes Arnold Schwarzenegger in his book 'Mind Power into the 21st century'. Arnold is a successful real estate tycoon, movie star, five times winner of the Mr. Universe title and a successful politician. This is what Arnold has to say: 'When I was very young, I visualised myself being and having what it is I wanted. Mentally I never had any doubts about it. Before I won my first Mr Universe, I walked around like I already owned it. The title was already mine. I had won it so many times in my head...'

John Assaraf, in 'The Secret' and in his book 'The Answer', states how he unpacked his vision board after being in storage for more than five years, only to find himself in the actual house that he had pasted on his vision board.

Christine Kane on her website quotes a similar example. She also has a free Ebook called 'The complete guide to visionboards'.

For the cynic

I know that many of you are quite cynical reading this and probably rolling your eyes as you read. I am therefore proposing it as a vision board for those who 'believe' and as a focus tool for those who don't.

Whether you believe in the 'Law of attraction' or not, Mind Map 'Vision Boards' can help you stay focused on what you want to achieve and help you define your future.

As Winston Churchill said, 'History will be kind to me, as I intend to write it'.

Why a Mind Map Vision Board

A Mind Map fully utilises the whole brain in its creation and use. It allows the imagination a free reign and allows the logical mind to organise and structure the imaginative process.

Without a Mind Map, the imaginative and creative person can be 'out of control' and not come up with something at all and the logical person will simply not be creative enough to explore possibilities.

A Mind Map is therefore the solution for both individuals.

How to create a vision board

A vision board is usually created by looking through magazines, newspapers, etc. and cutting or tearing out pictures and quotes that represent what you would like to achieve. It is the typical 'picture says a thousand words' story.

You could also do this digitally in today's world. There are many free and premium Mind Map Software packages that are great for creating Mind Map vision boards as all of them allow you to use images, which is a fundamental principle of Mind Maps.

You could then make this your desktop image on your computer, or your screen saver.

To add pictures you could simply go to Google Images and search for the pictures you want, or you could also use the pictures that come with the software packages, but they are normally more limiting.

I suggest that you create your Mind Map first, before you go to Google, as the Mind Map naturally lets your imagination thrive and you will have good Key Words for your search.

If you are going to do it by hand, I suggest you take a firm board that is larger than normal writing or typing paper and create a poster that could be hung on a wall or door.

'Be', 'Do', 'Have' - preparing to create your Vision Board

These three words are the keys to creating your vision board. Assume that money is no object and do a little dreaming.

Create a Mind Map with those three words as main branches. If you don't know how to create a Mind Map, or don't know what a Mind Map is, then read through some of the other articles on this site on how to Mind Map and also look at the article of learning to Mind Map by example.

• On the 'Be' branch write down everything that you want to be in life
• On the 'Do' branch write down everything that you would like to do, or experience
• On the 'Have' branch, write down everything that you would like to have

I've added another branch to my Mind Map with my heroes and people I would like to meet.

Once you have done this, you can go about drawing your actual Mind Map Vision board.

Creating your Mind Map Vision Board

• Using the outcomes from your 'Be', 'Do', 'Have' exercise above to categorise your aspirations.
• From each category, write down the Key Words that describe those categories
• Make each branch a different colour
• Get pictures that support those Key Words and insert them on the branches

You now have a colourful, whole brain vision of what you would like to achieve in life.

Review regularly

It is recommended that you review your Mind Map vision board at least daily. It is actually better if you review it three times a day; in the morning when you get up, in the evening on going to bed and midday. In doing this, both your conscious and subconscious mind will be constantly focused on what you what to achieve.

Don't worry about how you are going to achieve it. The 'how' will follow...

I'll end with a quote by Napoleon Hill, the author of 'Think and Grow Rich': 'Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve'.

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This article may be a bit controversial, as many people don't believe that they have much control over their destinies.