Creating an Action Board (Vision Board)

As we enter 2020, many of us are thinking about goals and plans for the new year. But planning and goal setting can be overwhelming — especially if it involves professional or personal change.

There’s something easy and enjoyable you can do to clarify your goals for the new year, and keep them top-of-mind so they don’t fall by the wayside …

… It’s called an action board.

What is an Action Board?

Also referred to as a vision board, an action board is a tool that helps clearly define your plans and goals in a visual way. The great thing about an action board is that you don’t have to be an artist to create one. They can be words, pictures, things you’ve printed out off the internet — whatever — and they can be as minimalist or intricate as you like.

The main thing about an action board is that is needs to contain things that are meaningful to you. If you haven’t read it already, our series on Running a Small Business can help you with the art of balance, discovering, defining and setting goals, as well as overcoming obstacles. Feel free to check the series out to help you define what needs to be included in your action board.

The purpose of an action board is to help clarify your professional and/or personal goals, and help you keep them top-of-mind on a daily basis. An action board is any creation that’s made on oak tag, foam core, canvas, or some other type of substrate that displays imagery that represents whatever you want to accomplish in life. This could include who you’d like to become, what you’d like to do, or something you’d like to have …

The awesome thing about an action board is that it can become an extension of you. Not just your goals, but also your personality. Most people make a action board that looks like a collage, but we’ve seen some that have been hand painted (like mine), sketched (like my kids’), or made up entirely of words. And once it’s done, you can hang it in your office, bedroom, living room — essentially wherever you spend a good amount of time. Since it’s easily accessible, it becomes less of a challenge to refer to it often. And the more we look at our action board, the more likely we are to take action on our goals and accomplish them.

Being Mindful

Like Muhammad Ali said, “what you are thinking about, you are becoming.”

In other words, our thoughts lead to what we talk about, what we talk about has an effect on our actions, and our actions affect what we manifest (or don’t manifest) in our lives. So, the more we think about our goals, the more likely we are to take action on them.

Being mindful about creating our action board, as well as reviewing it on a daily basis, are critical components to accomplishing what we desire.

How to Make an Action Board

Use a poster-sized piece of foam core, oak tag, or something similar that can be hung on the wall. Command Strips by 3M are very helpful with this.
Drawings, sketches, paintings or images collected from magazines, the internet, photo albums, etc., that are inspiring representations of your goal(s).
Craft supplies: glue stick, magic markers, tape, scissors, stickers — and whatever else you like.
Most importantly, make time to discover, define and set your personal and professional goals so you know exactly what needs to be on your action board.

Best of luck with creating your board and accomplishing your goals!

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