Create a Powerfully Effective Vision Board for Your Career

visionboardFor those of you that truly know me well, you know that I’m a huge believer in the Law of Attraction.  One of my favorite tools to attract what I desire is though creating vision boards. Vision boards can and do work for those that do them right. But what does it take to create the ultimate collage of images that evokes the positive changes you want in life? Well, for one thing it takes a positive mind and for another, it takes a certain kind of technique.

When you get it right, a vision board will help you attract anything you desire as a result of the Law of Attraction. An audition, a great agent, that certain kind of resume building role…let’s take a look at how you can make your dreams come true with a vision board that inspires through evoking images.

Before You Begin Cutting and Pasting:

A vision board that is done right should include images that matter to you personally, not some general opinion of what people want for themselves. To get yourself in the right frame of mind for your search, do a little visualizing first. Think about how you your career to look EXACTLY.  Who are you with, what you want to have, where in the world are you and all of the things you want to accomplish. Write anything that really stands out on a notepad, creating a list of what matters to you. Dream big and don’t be doubtful. Realize that everything you want can come to you with the right attitude and serious focus.

Once you have finished your list, it’s time to find out what is missing. There will be pieces of your life that you left out without realizing it. In order to have a complete vision board that really says who you want to be regarding your career, don’t ever forget that acting is a part of your life…not your whole life.  What else you want also takes some serious soul searching. Think about every aspect of your life and be VERY specific.

Be Sure to Include:

  1. Acting career and other business goals
  2. Your idea of wealth and abundance
  3. Who you want in your life
  4. Where you want to live
  5. The things you want to do
  6. Your health and fitness goals
  7. The things you want to have most

When you have finalized your idea of the life of your dreams, it’s time to start looking for the images that match each desire. The images should make you go “awwwwww!” and “oooooooh!” and make you feel something strong emotionally. Don’t include images of things that don’t make you feel completely captivated as they won’t produce the right vibrational energy to attract the life of your dreams. You need images that will really power you up and create a positive energy that you feel in every cell of your body.

There are Two Main Ways to Find the Right Images:

Online – This is the best resource for finding those awe inspiring images that will kick your Law of Attraction journey into high gear. Simply type in the search what you are looking for and select from the entire results for your perfect image. A great way to do this is by using Google images to narrow down the results to pictures alone. It makes the treasure hunt a lot easier than clicking through links. Save all of your images to a folder and then print them out. Make sure you have color ink to get the most visual appeal out of your images.

In Magazines – If you have a wide selection of magazines to choose from and don’t mind cutting them into pieces, this can be a great way to find exactly what you are looking for. It might take a little more time, but it is a lot of fun. Bring out the collection of dusty magazines or ask for the old copies that others are throwing away. For those that have the cash to spare, try investing in a few specific types of magazines based on the images you want. Travel and automotive magazines are always a great place to start.

Add Positive Affirmations to Boost Effectiveness:

When you finish getting all of your images together for everything on your list, it’s time to boost their effectiveness with positive affirmations. For each image you want to include on your vision board, write down something short and to the point. You want it to affirm those things you want are on their way to you. Use the present tense as if they are already becoming part of your life.

Some Examples of Positive Affirmations Include:

  1. I travel to Los Angeles and enjoy a career in film and television
  2. The person of my dreams is coming into my life
  3. I am excited about getting my dream car
  4. I easily attract money like a magnet
  5. I am more physically fit and attractive with each passing day
  6. Every step I take brings me more success in my acting career

Each positive affirmation can be catered to your own personality. Get creative with it and add some humor, spirituality or inspiring quotes. Whatever makes you feel like nothing is stopping you from achieving all of your goals is what you should include. You can print the words out on paper and cut them out or get in touch with your artistic side and do your own bubble letters – whatever works best for you.

The Finishing Touches:

After you have finished cutting everything out, arrange everything so that the most important things are at the focal point, then place everything else around those. This can be done on a piece of poster board, magnetic surface or on a cork board. For a more permanent vision board use the poster board. If you are the kind of person that changes their mind often, use the magnetic surface or cork board. That way you can easily replace things as they are achieved or if you decide you want something else.

Glue, magnetize, or pin each image in place and take a step back to admire your masterpiece. It might not sound like much at this moment, but when you have it all finished and you are looking at it, you’ll know the great power it truly has over your positive energy level. With every look you will automatically recharge that motivation for maximum Law of Attraction magnetism.

How to Get the Most Out of Your New Vision Board:

Your vision board is complete and it looks amazing. However, if you don’t know how to use it you might as well have done it all for nothing. So though this is the very last step to creating a powerfully effective vision board, it is the most important step of all. You’ll need to make it work for you.

Here’s How:

1. Place it somewhere that you will see it daily. Make it a priority to just look at it without distractions for 5 minutes or so throughout the day. Set an alarm or work it into your break time. Just make sure you set aside at least 15 minutes daily.

2. Believe that every single thing on your vision board is a part of your life and that it is all on the way right now.

3. Imagine yourself as if you already have everything you see. Let the details of having what you want fill your mind and really feel what it’s like to live that life. Think about how grateful you feel for each and every one of those things.

4. Carry this feeling of certainty and happiness with you throughout each situation on a daily basis and watch as your reality transforms to match that of your vision board.

It’s amazing, it works and I have experienced this many times myself!  When all of your dreams have come true, be sure to practice gratitude for everything you have. If you feel really ambitious, set new goals with another vision board to lead the way!

The Hype over #Hashtags

hashtagOK, so I’ll admit it.  I’m NOT the most tech savvy person on the planet and sometimes even wear that fact as a badge of honor!  But being in the business I am, heck being in any business, and yes, even the business of show requires that a person has some basic working knowledge of current social media trends.

I just started to check out this HASHTAG phenomenon that seems to have crept up in the last year and thought I’d pass on some of what I came up with during my research.

Originally the ‘pound symbols’ that were used to catalog content on Twitter, these puppies are popping up on all of the social platforms today – Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, and most recently Facebook. You have to pay attention or be left in the dust.

The purpose? They’re an effective way to discover and organize specific content, and an easy way for social media users to find posts that are relevant to them. For example, I started to use the # before my networking parties and put it together with the acronym for my company as in “The #AOTB Industry Networking Mixer”.  I put it on all of my social media sites and even in emails.  Why? So that other people out there can find out about all things “Act Outside the Box” by searching for that #AOTB.  Of course you have to know about it and see it before its use is effective.

We also know they’re easily abused and can be pretty meaningless, too.  Have you seen strings of fairly nonsensical phrases with the # in front of them that no one would ever search for?  #whythehellwouldyoudothat?  I mean, really, who is searching for that? How do you rise above the noise online and help your audience or target market find and engage with your show, latest update or other event?

Here are our four tips:

KISS (Keep it Sweet and Simple): Is your show called The Greatest Story Ever Told? Then make your hashtag #greateststory or something equally simple. Make it easier on your viewers and use a hashtag that’s similar to the name of your event.  A bad example 2hashtagwould be #Mikesshow.  If it’s super long, sometimes an acronym is best.  #AOTB or #actoutsidethebox?  Either one could work but it’s up to you to choose (brand).

Don’t Go Overboard: Quality, not quantity, folks! Limit yourself to using one or two hashtags when promoting your stuff. If you tag tons of terms, you might come off as a bit spammy or overwhelming and it’s easier for your message to get lost in the #ebb #and #flow #of #a #sea #of #hashtags.

Do Your Research: Think you’ve found the perfect hashtag for your next event, show or idea? Type it into Twitter, Instagram, Vine, etc. and see if anyone else is using it. If you’re using the same hashtag as another person or group, it could confuse your intended audience.  If it’s already there and associated with something entirely different, rethink your strategy.

Be Smart: Consider the platform you’re using. Is it Twitter? Then you have limited real estate. Be mindful of the number of characters in your hashtag. Keeping your hashtag under 10 characters leaves plenty of room for the rest of your thoughts.

In the end, this girl will always prefer s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g things out.  I don’t even like to use LOL and instead Laughing Out Loud…but I’m old school.  However in business I often subvert my preferences for what works.  And just like reality television, these hashtags aren’t going away. (Just for the sake of transparency, I was really wrong on that one when I thought Reality was just a passing fancy all those years ago.  Maybe it was just wishful thinking!)

Getting in the groove and using hashtags effectively will improve the chances of you clearing through the clutter.  And there’s ton of clutter (some like to call it content) out there!  To your #success, Lisa Gold