Recently, Augusto Pinaud, a Mindjet customer and avid GTD practitioner, shared with me his unique vision board mind map. Being a little new age myself, I loved the concept. In fact, I created my first vision board earlier this year and keep it near my bed. It’s the first thing I see when I wake up and one of the last things I see before I go to sleep. Hey, when in California…
What is a vision board? A vision board is typically created on poster board where you put a collage of images that you’ve collected from various magazines. They’re pretty simple to create.
The general gist of a vision board is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to manifest in your life, where you want to live, your life will change to match those images and desires.
Having your dreams and goals in front of you is an effective way to stay focused on what you want to achieve.
A Vision Board Mind Map
Download Augusto’s Vision Board Example Map and send him some thanks on Twitter.
What you’ll need for creating a vision board mind map:
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Open up Mind Manager and map out what you’d like to include in your vision board.
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Find evocative images (e.g. flickr’s creative commons search) and your own pictures to represent the vision’s and goals you would like to materialize
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Find inspirational quotes that you’d like to internalize (e.g. inspirational quotes)
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Add the images and quotes into your map
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Make your topics Adjust your topic line and fill color properties to match the map’s background color
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You can play around and create a hierarchy within your vision map and use MindManager’s ability to hide / show different levels of details to allow you to see the big picture vision or the very detailed break out of each item on your map
Two Ways to Use Your Vision Board Mind Map
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Your Default Map: Adjust your MindManager 8 general options to set this map as your default starting map. Each time you open up MindManager, you’ll see your ‘vision map’. With MindManager Mac, you can do the same by adjusting the ‘preferences’.
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Wall Paper: Save your maps as an image and use it as your desktop’s wall paper.
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Horizons of Focus: If you’re into GTD and have created a horizons of focus mind map, you can link your vision map to your horizons map. Periodically (e.g. your weekly reviews) review your vision and goals.
For more information about vision boards and how to create them, check these resources:
- How to Make a Vision Board
- Squidoo Lens: What is a vision board and How Do You Make One?
- Create your vision board online
About the Author: Michael Deutch is Mindjet’s Chief Evangelist, content contributor for the Mindjet Blog and the Mindjet Connections newsletter. Get more from Michael on Twitter.