Ready. Set. Dream.



It is always the right time to dream new dreams... bigger dreams... and to bring dreams back to life that you may have given up on long ago!  Drag those "I could never do that..." and "How could I possibly go there?" phrases to the curb and give them a good hard kick 'bye bye'.  You need to reclaim yourself and your dreams and believe that anything is possible again.  Because (psssttttt!)... anything IS possible!  YOU just have to believe in yourself and turn those negative little voices in your head and sometimes the negative voices surrounding you in your life ("supposed" friends, family members who don't wish to see you succeed or change for selfish reasons of their own, your group at your work, you know the ones who are in this category!) into positive beliefs and positive influences in your life.
All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.
Brian Tracy 
If you follow the blog or have seen my tweets, you must know I am a big believer in "Dream. Believe. Achieve!".  : ) I've just completed a new DREAM BOARD (also called a Vision Board) as I'm embarking on a new chapter in my life as I return to my fitness and health disciplines and as I embark on a very exciting new healthy business venture!  It was time for me to renew my goals and dreams in my own life, to think about "what do I *really* want in my life", "where do I want to be in one year, two years, five years", "if I weren't worried about (fill in the blank), I would...".  I absolutely love having a dream board because I KNOW the dreams on the board, with action put behind them, and belief in yourself and (for me) God and the universe to bring you the dreams you have, and deep gratitude for what you already have becomes dreams realized.  Four years ago I put up my 2009 dream board as my background on Twitter because I knew - that way - I would see it every day, a couple of times a day, and would be reminded of what my dreams were... where I was focusing my energy and momentum.  I have purposefully left that board up for you to take a look at because I have achieved 75 percent of the goals I once thought "out of reach".  75%!!

So let's get started so that you can begin making your own Dream Board and allow great things to appear in your life, too.














1.  Find something to use as a "board"... it can be an old white paper bag, or a poster board, or a piece of foam board that you can buy for under $2 in most office supply stores.  It can be whatever size you feel you'd like it to be... mine is foam board and BIG! :)   You'll need scissors and a glue stick and a stack of old magazines or newspapers or wherever you can find inspiration!

2.  Lay back, close your eyes and DREAM!  What do you really want in your life?  Be specific! Do you have fitness goals?  Do you want to be able to walk a mile without having to stop?  Do you want to skydive?  Do you want to be a marathoner?  (Remember, even if you can't walk 1/4 mile now, you can STILL believe in yourself and your ability to achieve ANY dream, so if you want to run a marathon... that is a dream/goal for you to write down!) You don't have to know now how it is going to come true, just add it to your dreams! Now... what about your personal life?  Are you happy in your relationships?  Do you wish you could see your family more? Do you wish you had more girlfriends?  What about your finances? Do you wish you were able to afford new outfits every season?  New running shoes?  A vacation home on a lake?  A second car? A motor home?  A trip to Australia?  Whatever YOUR DREAMS are - they are your dreams and worth going after.  No one else has the right or the ability to dismiss your dreams.  You get to hold onto them, believe in them, believe they can and WILL come true.  

3.  Write the dreams and goals down.  Big and small.  Make a list and date it.  (You're going to put this list into an envelope and paste the dated envelope on the back of your dream board!)

4.  Now begin paging through your magazines and materials and cut out everything and anything that appeals to you or attracts you.  Words that mean something to you personally, images of people doing things that are part of your goal.  You'll see in the photos that I have cut out a photo of a woman jumping up onto a high box.  I cannot do this yet.  (Note the "yet"!)  But I have a goal to do this and I will do this.  And the photo is a reminder of this goal.  When I see it now every morning, I say to myself, "I've GOT that!"  That positive attitude may take a little work for some people at first, but attitude is like a muscle, it may hurt a little and feel uncomfortable for a little bit, but pretty soon that positive nature and attitude will be second nature to you and not feel odd at all. We ALL want to be positive people, that is how we feel best - when we're smiling and happy.

5. Start a big pile of all your dream photos and words, phrases and begin to lay them out on your board.  I segregate my dream board a little because it is so big... I have a personal fitness side, the middle is about dreaming, believing, and achieving, and the other side is about financial, relationship and business goals I have for myself.  But you should organize your dream/vision board however you feel best it works for you!

6.  Finally, starting pasting down the photos.  I paste and say to myself with each photo or phrase I put down "This dream of jumping on a high box will come true before (and then insert a date) and I will be so excited to have achieved this goal! Thank you, God!"  Sounds a little crazy at first, but I learned this part of the process from reading Jack Canfield's "The Success Principles" and it seems to have changed how I look at each phrase or photo to being able to single them out individually in my mind and know their intent.

7.  When your board is dry, turn it over and paste the back of an envelope to the board and fold up your list of dreams/goals and put it into the envelope, dated.  Let it dry and then find a place you can put your dream board every single day.  If you want to hang it on your bedroom or bathroom wall, a cheap, easy way to make a hanging hook is to take a large paperclip and bend the top outward, taking a piece of duct tape and taking the flat part of the paperclip to the back of your Dream Board.

It is best to hang or place the board where you'll see it multiple times a day.  Take a photo of it and use the photo as your desktop wallpaper and your smartphone background.  Print the photo out and stick it on your frig as a reminder of your dreams and goals.



People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.
Brian Tracy 
Believe in your goals and take action to make them come true.  Every dream is achievable if you're willing to work hard enough, give up or go after what it is that is needed to accomplish them.

Good luck with your dream board.  I would LOVE to see photos of them on my HealthyLoser Gal Facebook wall! : )  If you have any questions, leave me notes in the comments here and I'll get back to you with an answer as best I can!

Here are a few additional resources that I like about Dream Boards and Vision Boards:

From Jack Canfield: http://jackcanfield.com/how-to-create-an-empowering-vision-book/
From Oprah: O Dream Board: Envision Your Best Life
http://www.oprah.com/spirit/O-Dream-Board-Envision-Your-Best-LifeTM

Dream. Believe. Achieve!
Jan / HealthyLoserGal