Inspire

How To Create a Vision Poster

Monday, 4 Jan 2010

Words by Sarah Johnson

Post-it notes pinned to your computer…words of wisdom on the toilet door. It’s these little visual cues that can lift our spirits or remind us of the big picture, just at the right time. They’re also a great way of staying on the right track when you’re on the way to realising a dream… or a New Years’ resolution. It’s far simpler to ignore a goal that’s tucked away in the deserted recesses of our subconscious, than one that’s boldly inscribed on our bedroom wall.

It’s certainly a tool that has worked well for the Basheer family.

When Jamie and Adèle began Intrinsic, they sat down with a large piece of cardboard and penned their passion and vision for their fledging business. Like a map, the board pointed to the places the couple dreamt of taking Intrinsic. The 13-year-old Intrinsic “Dream Board” still has pride of place at Intrinsic and continues to provide the team with inspiration and direction.

Many years later, Livvi Basheer, Jamie and Adèle’s now 17 year-old daughter adapted the idea to create a yearly vision poster: a place to record her dreams, plans and positive mantras for the year ahead. It began on Australia Day (January 26) in 2005, when the Basheer family spent a lazy day discussing their goals and resolutions. They considered their plans for 2005, looked five and ten years ahead and also reflected on their achievements and triumphs from the year just past.

Born with her Mum’s creative spirit, Livvi spent the rest of the day presenting her dreams and ideas on a colourful poster that would have pride of place on her bedroom wall.

Now a three-year veteran creator of vision posters, Livvi says the posters have provided inspiration during stressful times at school and helped her keep an eye on the big picture. She has also seen her dreams come true. On one poster, she wrote: Travel and listed New York and Paris as dream destinations. Seemingly out of the blue, the opportunity to travel to New York with a school music group and to Paris with her family became a reality within a year.

Simply going through the process of creating a vision poster means that you make the time to consider what you want from the year ahead. You can take an active role in creating your future, rather than simply reacting to what comes your way.

Here’s Livvi step-by-step guide to creating a vision poster.

You will need:

Large piece of coloured cardboard
Coloured pens and textas
Magazines
If you choose...stickers, photos, scrapbooking materials
A couple of hours to ‘lose’ yourself in the creative process

Step 1:

Brainstorm your plans for 2010. Get together with friends or family if possible, because people close to you can help you unearth your talents, passions and dreams. Don’t limit yourself: be bold and imaginative! Here are some examples from Livvi’s posters: “Make my own decisions”; “Try new foods”; “Choose to be happy”; “Read more books”; “Trust your intuition”; and “Keep in touch with friends”.

Step 2:

Collect favourite quotes and affirmations.
Clip words and pictures from magazines that match the quotes and dreams from your brainstorming session.
Gather photos that depict golden moments you want to recreate.

Step 3:

Print or stick the numbers 2010 to your cardboard and then start writing and decorating! Make it as simple or detailed as you like. Embellish with illustrations, photos or even scrapbooking trimmings.

Step 4:

Attach it to a wall or door in your home or office: somewhere that’s easily viewed by you and others. In fact, it’s great if your vision poster stimulates conversation, because talking with people about your dreams will keep them alive and may even inspire others to follow your lead.