How to make a vision board that supports your business dreams

Amy Taylor-Kabbaz, founder of Happy Mama, is author, podcaster and creator of the Happy Mama Movement, a community of resources for busy working mums with young children. 

Her mission statement is clear: make mums less stressed by supporting their business passions so they can raise less stressed kids.

You don’t get much clearer than that, right?

That level of clarity doesn’t happen by accident. But getting there doesn’t require an overwhelming amount of work, either.

A clear mission statement

A vision board is what makes all the difference, and at least as far as Amy is concerned a great vision board is all part of her success.

As Amy told Flying Solo, she discovered the power of the vision board as a teenager.

“I’d just seen the movie Something’s Got to Give and fell completely in love with the house. So I created a vision board of all the photos,”says Amy.

“Years later, when my husband and I bought our first house in Adelaide, my sister remarked on how uncanny it looked to those pictures I had on my wall all those years ago!”

A full time soloist for the past four years, and a busy mum to three young children, Amy says she now uses vision boards to keep her inspired.

“We all have days when things have gone wrong and we wonder why we started the business in the first place,” laughs Amy.  “Being able to look at my vision board, is an instant reminder of why I am doing what I am doing.”

Vision boards are also a key component in Amy’s work as a business coach for working mums.

Focus on the feeling

“Cutting photos from magazines has always worked for me. And most of my vision boards are full of women laughing or smiling, working and playing with children as that’s how I want to feel,”says Amy.

“That’s what I encourage my clients to focus on when they’re creating too – the way the photo makes you feel, the vibe it gives you. As long as this reflects your general intention it doesn’t have to exist.”

Amy says the biggest hurdle for some of her clients is trying not to overthink the creation process.  

“A lot of the time a client will pick some photos and agonise over the small details  – like the woman in the photo has sons insteads of daughters, or red hair or a house at the beach instead of the suburbs, etc. But that’s not the point of it. You need to focus on the feeling that particular image invokes in you about the future or your business.”

Set your vision but surrender the timing

She also advises letting go of the ‘when’ factor.

“Years ago when that book The Secret came out, people were really focused on writing down dates to achieve the dreams on their vision boards. Jim Carey came out and said that as a struggling actor, he wrote down he wanted to earn $1 million,”says Amy.

“So he wrote down a date for that happen. Sure enough, after one of his early successful movies, he said that he earned the exact amount, and it was just days after the date he had written down all those years ago.”

In real life though, Amy says she’s had much more personal success surrendering the idea of ‘when’and just focusing on the goal.

She shares a terrific recent example of this:

“I’ve wanted to be a Hay House author for years and I have had them on my vision board for years and pitched them hundreds of times, and each time have been rejected. But last year they contacted me and asked me to come and meet them. And now I have two book deals with Hay House!”

How to get started on your vision board

If you’re new to the vision board thing, Amy recommends  starting with a whole pile of magazines and cutting them up.

“If you create your baseboard with images then you can easily update it with post it notes of words that inspire you, and even written-out quotes, “ says Amy.

“It really doesn’t matter when you create your board. If you create rules for yourself around when you create it, you often end up not doing it! So, just strike the mood is right.”