My Real-Life Pinterest Board + The Power of Visualization

“I’ve discovered that numerous peak performers use the skill of mental rehearsal of visualization. They mentally run through important events before they happen.” -Charles A. Garfield

 

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a nice weekend and a lovely Valentine's Day🤍 I know lockdown has been hitting everyone especially hard during these snowy winter days, and that is why I am about to share a lockdown activity that will 1) keep your hands busy, 2) liven up the room you now use for work/school/leisure, and 3) may actually help you succeed.

 

A lockdown activity that doesn’t include Netflix, Hulu, or TikTok? Tell me, tell me, tell me!
 

I’ve been a fan of Pinterest for a while now. After visiting the app, I always feel inspired to try a new recipe, revamp my wardrobe, or tackle a unique workout. Over the summer, I saw a YouTuber make a real-life Pinterest board/inspiration board. She used a cork board, cut-outs from magazines, newspapers, books, etc., and push pins to mimic the interface of Pinterest, which features all of your saved “pins” conveniently organized into different “boards.” I had seen the idea before and thought I would give it a whirl.

 

Naturally, I went to Pinterest for ideas for my Pinterest board.

 

Here are some of the tips for creating an inspiration board that I gathered:

1. Use a confined space. I went for a large, cheap cork board that I could hang behind my desk. I purchased mine from Michael's. 
2. Or don’t use a confined space. Use an entire wall. Go crazy.
3. Use different mediums. This is where creativity comes in! Some ideas for what to hang up are: postcards from past travels, concert tickets, paint swatches, keychains, hand-written quotes, magazine images, photos of art, newspaper headlines, the list goes on!
4. Organize it. It can be fun to be all over the map with your ideas, but I find it helpful to organize my sources of inspiration by category. For example: Places I Want to Travel, Dream Home, Skills I Want to Learn, Recipes, Ways to Be Sustainable, etc.
5. Go for clean lines. Cut your photos into similar sizes and shapes and tack photos in an organized manner for a clean, minimalist look.
6. Color matters. Match your board with the vibe of your room! Or keep a consistent color scheme within each category. I covered my cork board with a neutral gray fabric that I purchased at Walmart to match the rest of my room. 
7. Add personal touches. It is your board after all!

Here is what my board currently looks like:

·       The upper right corner houses images of places I hope to either visit for the first time or return to (including, but not limited to: the Northern Lights and Quebec in Canada, Machu Picchu in Peru, and Amsterdam in the Netherlands).  The Amsterdam piece is a postcard that I brought home with me after my first trip there. I fell in love with the unique architecture of the homes and the uneven cobblestone roads! The photos from Machu Picchu and the Northern Lights are both from travel magazines, and the postcard of Quebec came from the hotel my family stayed at when we visited a few summers ago. Although Covid has impeded many travel plans, thinking about where you want to visit when travel becomes safe again can be fun!

·       The lower right corner houses photos of nature (in particular, beautiful flowers!) to remind me to live more sustainably. I got into gardening over quarantine this past summer and attempted to raise a succulent this past semester. Sadly, the succulent is no longer with us. Maybe I should include a photo of it to remind me to be a better plant mom next time around!

·       The lower left corner houses dream home/apartment inspiration. What 20-something-year-old hasn't thought about what they want their dream home to look like? I am drawn to natural light in homes, so that is the vibe I went for with this section of my board. 

·       The upper left corner houses objects and images that simply bring me joy, such as the graphic of a cat and a man chilling on a couch. Also, learning how to golf is one of my goals for 2021 (yep, you heard that right), so I included a graphic of a golfer. The White Claw sticker was a gift from my lovely friend. 

My inspiration board is a work in progress, but aren’t we all? Definitely move the items on your board around and add/remove as you see fit. Do whatever brings you the most joy!

 

At this point in the post, you are probably remembering how I mentioned that making an inspiration board could help you succeed. How, you ask?

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but making an inspiration board is no substitute for the hard work required to succeed in anything. However, as Ph.D. Tchiki Davis notes in Psychology Today’s What is Manifestation? Science-Based Ways to Manifest, “visualizing what you desire can help you feel positive emotions related to [that which you want to manifest] more strongly.” This can ignite a desire to take action to bring these things into your life. The word “manifestation” means to turn an idea into reality. If you have positive emotions surrounding an idea, you are more likely to work toward making that idea a reality than if you have negative, or an absence of, emotions surrounding an idea.  

I hope you can see where I am going with this.

 

Inspiration boards are simply one way to remind yourself of the positive emotions that you may associate with the things, ideas, and experiences that you want to bring into your life. Think: me putting a graphic of a golfer on my Pinterest board because I want to learn how to golf in 2021. If you keep your inspiration board in plain sight, then you will likely be reminded of these emotions daily. In my experience, consistency is critical in reaching goals. This is why I believe that daily reminders are useful in making progress toward your goals, whatever they may be.

 

I hope this post leaves you feeling inspired to set new goals or to take small steps towards preexisting ones. Wherever you are in relation to your goals, you’ve got this!

 

Lots of (self) love🤍

Rebecca