It was actually a vision board that stimulated me meeting my husband and manifesting that into form as quickly as it did. In fact, it took me three weeks from making the vision board. I made two at one time. And one of them was focused around love and relationships, and the other one was focused on more things and travel and cars and jewelry and things like that. And I made it around October 3rd 2006, and I had the first date with my husband on October 28th 2006. Now, I had met him earlier, so it wasn’t just completely magical in three weeks that I went from not even knowing who he was to meeting him and having a date. I didn’t know I was going to marry him. He knew he was going to marry me. But when I put that up there, I didn’t even have him in mind. I was so open and ready for whatever was supposed to be the right thing, and it just so happened that the right thing was within my vicinity, just not in front of me quite yet.

A vision board is like a piece of exercise equipment. And to me, it only works when you’re working it. While it’s great to have a good thought about something that you want that maybe evokes some excitement or joy or happiness from thinking about living the experience that you’d like to live through having or attaining or manifesting whatever it is you’re going to put on your vision board, the real work is in the usage and in the creation. So back to “Well, what is it?” Again, it’s as simple as a poster board. And my first board was actually on a corkboard because I really liked the idea of having it be changeable, even though I never touched it and I never changed it. But I used pushpins and I used a corkboard, and I hung them in my wall in my office.

The second one, I used glue and I stuck it on a poster board. And it didn’t have the hooks that the corkboard has, so I never actually stuck it up on the wall. I think I had it resting on the top of a shelf so that I could see it, but it actually wasn’t mounted on the wall. So it wasn’t as pretty as the corkboard was.Now, many years later, and I’ve got several vision boards, but what I have now is actually a shadow box that is on the wall above my desk and above my computer. And again, it’s done with pushpins and tacks so that I can change out the photos if I choose to. And it’s behind a really lovely piece of glass, and it’s framed, and it’s a really pretty piece that fits into the décor of my wall.

Now that you understand what a vision board is, and for those of you that have done one before, maybe you have manifested some of the stuff that’s on your wall, and that’s great. And if you haven’t or if you’re thinking about doing a vision board, I’m going to walk you through some of the steps that I want you to take when creating your new one, and also what to reflect upon about why the one you made might not be working. So number one, the question I want you to ask yourself when you made your vision board, if you’ve already done it, is what energy were you in when you made it?

So law of attraction says that we’re all vibrating at a certain level, and that vibration is what we’re working on elevating. We want to vibrate at the place where that thing that we want is. And just as a side note, everything that you want, everything, is really because you think you’ll feel better when you have it. And that’s to say that you really don’t need the thing that you want in order to feel the happiness that you think you’re going to experience once you get it, if that makes sense. Yes? So the vision board is that practice in vibrating at the level in which that thing is in your experience, that you get it, that you manifest it.

And what happens oftentimes when people make vision boards is that they’re not necessarily doing it out of pure joy and excitement, because in every thought, in every desire, Abraham will talk about two ends of a stick. There’s the activation of the having of it and the activation of the lack of it. And oftentimes, when we look forward or look ahead and say “I want these things,” what we’re really doing is activating what’s going on currently in us, which is the lack of it. So while we’re speaking that we want that thing, and we’re making efforts because we’re cutting out a picture of that thing, what’s actually happening in our emotions and in our vibration is really evoking the pain or the lack that we’re currently feeling, which puts up resistance and a block to us actually manifesting it.

So I just came back from a four-day, five-day workweek in Scottsdale, Arizona where I’ve got lots of wonderful clients who are listening to this podcast (thank you guys for being great supporters) and working with new people and doing classes. And one of the classes I got to test was a visioning class, and it had to do with vision boards. And one of the things that people think: “Oh, it’s just putting pictures on a wall or on a board, and that’s it.” And that’s not it. And the power that you have of using this tool can really accelerate you manifesting it. It can accelerate you manifesting all kinds of things. Again, my first vision board took me three weeks to speed that process up. And I wasn’t really looking to do it quickly. It’s just I was activating it. I was taking the vision board and using it like a piece of exercise equipment and actually doing it.

So the first step, if you’re going to make a vision board and you haven’t done it yet, is to get yourself into a nice, relaxed, meditative state. What I did with the group was a meditation/visualization that relaxed their bodies. I put them in a really pretty place that they chose themselves. It’s a favorite place. And I’m actually going to create one of these, or two or three of these meditations, and I’m going to put it in the membership site. So when you’re ready to come over to fit2love.tv and join the community, you can then get these as free downloads to use both for just normal relaxation, but also for activation of more positive energy that gets you those things that you want.

So getting ready to make your vision board, we have to get you into a state of allowing. We have to get into a state of non-resistance. And meditation is great for that because meditation releases that resistance. When you can slow your mind down, when you’re focusing on your breath, when you’re visualizing something pleasing to you, when you feel really, really good and calm and grounded, that’s the place to start looking at your magazines. That’s the place to start visualizing what it is you want and then looking for pictures that match that.

The reason why your vision board might not be working is because you’re in a place of lack when you made it. You’re feeling despair and desperation. You’re feeling not abundant, maybe not appreciative. And so looking through magazines, you’re looking at the exact opposite of where you are. And while in

So first and foremost, if you’ve made one already, that’s totally fine. You can still use it. But I would recommend making a new one. If you haven’t made one, get yourself into a nice, comfortable, relaxed state. Do a visualization process, if you can. Quiet. Either guided. You can find them online. I will be creating one for you. That will be part of the membership program. And just walk yourself through until you get to a very, very calm and relaxed state. You need to set time aside for this. This is not going to happen while you’re talking on the phone or while you’re with other people, really gabbing. You need to create some space internally to quiet your mind, tap into who you really are, and activate the highest vibration possible with the clearest vision of what it is that evokes joy from you.

And I’m not going to say “makes you” because we use that term too much in our society. “Something makes me happy.” I’m guilty of it as well. Nothing makes you happy. You decide to be happy based on your relationship to that thing. And so when you’re in your visualization, when you’re in your relaxed state, and you’re having thoughts about freedom and your health and relationships and whatever it is that you’re desiring, money, business, success, fame, whatever it is, you’re going to get really clear that it’s about what is true to who you really are, coming from a state of calm, relaxed, and grounded, and not coming from a place of rebellion or lack. So the first reason why your vision board isn’t working is because you possibly made it out of desperation. So again, once you look at it, it doesn’t activate having it. It activates where you are right now, which is not having it.

Number two, how you use and if you’re using your vision board. That’s why I love making the parallel that a vision board is like a piece of exercise equipment. It’s great to buy it. It’s a great investment, either one of them. But if you’re not going to use it, it’s not going to do you any good. And there are times where maybe you made the vision board, but you’re doing other things, like you’re doing an appreciation exercise. You’re doing a gratitude journal. You’re listening to Abraham on audio. You have a mastermind group. You’re doing a list of positive aspects. You have many different practices. There’s lots of different practices within law of attraction that you might be doing and not paying any attention to your vision board that’s helping you to raise your vibration. So maybe those things are manifesting for you because you’re doing other work.

If you’re not doing other work, then the work has to be on and with the vision board. So how do we do this work, JJ? If you’re the person that says “My vision board is not working, and I’m not doing any other work,” then the first step would be to create a new vision board based on the principles we just talked about. And then you’re going to get your one or two pictures. And let’s say you have the vision board up on the wall. The exercise I did with the ladies in the class was to start with the meditation and the visualization, and put them in their favorite place that they feel comfortable and relaxed and in alignment with who they are. And then coming out of that, I had them write whatever came up for them. And I would recommend doing the same thing.

Just write whatever pictures in your mind came easily and effortlessly. What did you gravitate towards? Because oftentimes, when we’re making the board and we’re getting ready to use it, we put up pictures that we think we should want. We should want a lot of money. We should want a big home. We should

From there, you’re going to open up the magazines and look at pictures that represent what you just came up with in your mind. And you’re not going to do the shoulds. It’s a very fast process. You’re going to flip through that book real quickly. There’s not a lot of time spent. It’s either going to activate something within you, or it’s not. And you rip out those pages, and put them at a pile, and get ready to create some kind of great board. You can also use sayings and quotes. You can write words. You can do fun stuff on the computer and print it out, and cut it out, and stick it at the top of the board. And that’s great, too.

So the next step is the using it. What I would recommend is if you already have a board that you feel really, really good about, that you made it when you were in a great state, let’s just use that. If you’re someone who doesn’t have a board yet, but maybe you have a picture or two that you’ve held onto because you want to use it, go ahead and grab it right now. So the first thing you’re going to do (I’m going to take the first picture) is you’re going to look at the picture. You’re going to study the picture. I’d prefer that you put the picture on the wall and that you’re standing up. The problem with sitting down is that it cuts off some of the circulation and you really can’t get the full body experience.

So you’re going to put the picture on the wall. And it’s fine if it’s with a piece of tape or something temporary until you make your board. You can hang it on a door. You can hang it on a mirror. But you’re going to stand there for at least five minutes with one picture, and you’re going to focus on that one picture, studying it, all the details. Next, you’re going to close your eyes and you’re going to be in the picture, and you’re going to ask yourself, “What is it that I’m seeing? What is it that I’m smelling? What is it that I’m feeling? What is it that I’m hearing?” You go through all of your senses until your body is clicked into that picture.

And how you will know is you will have like a vibrational, energetic, I’m going to say, orgasm where a chill runs down your spine and maybe the hairs on your arms stand up. But you will know once you’re in the picture because you will have a physical response to it. This is where we’re actually changing how you feel. If we keep it in your head, if you’re just looking at it, if you’re just thinking about it, it’s not really changing your vibration. And the whole point of this exercise is to change your vibration. So once you have that picture, you’ve looked at it for five minutes, you studied it, you close your eyes, you put yourself in the picture, you ask yourself all these sensory questions and you stay there as long as you need to until you click into that picture. And then once you click into that picture, you’re there, and then you go about your day.

And that’s what I believe also helped me manifest sort of the reaching out, because I knew him. We knew each other, and it had been eight months since we met, and we hadn’t really hung out or anything or talked. And all of a sudden, out of the blue, he’s asking if he can come up and visit me. So I definitely attest my energy as to helping pull him forward because my husband will tell you he wasn’t ready, but I was. And what I love about law of attraction is the highest vibration wins. So whatever you’re vibrating, the highest and most connected vibration is more powerful than 15 million people who aren’t connected at all. So the higher you get, you win. And you get to attract things at a very high level, and things come to you of that level, so whatever that may be that you’re looking for. So if your vision board isn’t working, it’s probably because (a) you’re not using it, and (b) you might have put it together from an energy that, again, activates the lack in you.

A few other things to consider when doing vision boards. There are three. But before we get to that, I do need to take a minute to thank our sponsors… So the next three things to consider when making your vision board. Number one, if you’re not going to hang it up, it probably won’t get used. So I moved to a shadow box this last time because it was really pretty and it fit the décor, because I am in a smaller office now and I don’t have all the wall space to put up a corkboard, not to mention the corkboard had other things on it. Not my vision boards, but I would have several corkboards and one of them was a vision board and then the other one was for notes and reminders and things like that. So you want to make sure it’s not too cluttered, wherever your vision board is. You want there to be clear space, and you want it to be visible and attractive and inspiring that you want to look at.

So shadow boxes are the new greatest thing for me and the clients that I work with in helping them put these together. I know a lot of stores carry really pretty ones. It doesn’t have to be a big one. And in fact, a medium-sized shadow box would be a great place to start, again because you can switch it out. And you can even buy pretty little tacks that will go in that are maybe sparkly. If you’re a girl, you can put sparkly tacks or whatever you want to do. But number one, it has to be hanging up at eye level.

Number two, pick one picture. Most people put up all these pictures, and they look at all of them, and then they get overwhelmed with which one. “What do I do? I just look at them. Yeah, that’s nice. I want all those things.” So as we discussed in the how to use the vision board, each day pick one picture. And I would recommend staying with that one picture as long as it gets you quickly into your body and gets your vibration raised. If you have one that takes 20 minutes just to get into, then use the one that takes five minutes. And use it until, just like exercise, you adapt to it. And once it stops working, then move on to another picture, because then this way, you create this really good habit of being able to increase your vibration and your feelings and feel better and evoke this great feeling within your body faster.

And that’s really what law of attraction is about is being able to find a better feeling place and taking contrast and not staying in that contrasted emotion. So something happens to you. It’s negative. It shows you what you really do want because it’s telling you what you don’t want. So it helps with clarity. We have to have contrast in life for clarity. But once that’s happened and you redirect, “Okay, I don’t want this. I’m clear I don’t want this. What do I want?” once you focus forward on what you do want, it’s having these tools and this ability to click into looking forward to what you’re going to be having and matching and aligning to that energy so that you can manifest it. But when we stay in that contrasted energy, we just keep getting more of what that is. And we don’t want that.

So pick one picture. Get really good at it. And you can even use it when you’re out having a negative experience. After you figure out what it is that you want, but you want to feel better, close your eyes and get into the picture. Get into the picture to sort of wipe clean that slate and kind of get back to a higher vibration, provided that, of course, you’ve figured out the clarity of the contrast and now you’re ready to be done with it and move on. So when you’re ready to be done with it and move on, you stop telling that story and you use one of these pictures.

So the benefit of really using the vision board is it is accessible to you in your mind all the time. You don’t even need it to be in front of you. We’re just having the practice of standing in front of it, studying it, and then closing your eyes and being in it so that you can be accountable and present in your body. I want you standing and not seated so that really you can allow that vibration to penetrate your entire body from head to toe. And then when you got it, you can start your day. Or if you’re in the middle of the day, you can use it in the middle of the day to refocus you back to what’s really important, which is how you’re feeling.

So I hope today has been helpful for you. I’d love to see some of your vision boards. If you want to see mine, the first one I made about my husband, let me know. Come over to fit2love.tv and write a comment, and I’ll be happy to post the picture, although I do have it on invisiblefitness.com/blog. I definitely have a picture up there somewhere about how to use a vision board. So if you want to come over and find that article, I welcome you to do so. Thank you so much for listening. Have a fabulous weekend.