Why Focus on Going Beyond the Vision Board
Lots of people are familiar with vision boards. They know them to be great dreaming and scheming tools. These boards can also serve as reminders and 
reinforce commitments. Furthermore, some people use them in manifestation-focused spiritual rituals. Of course, any real change or transformation requires the board creator to go beyond the vision board and into praxis. This phase can be hard, iterative, and protracted. Thus, the “personal commemoration board.” This type of board is used to highlight successes, encourage, and keep the momentum going toward fulfillment. In this way, it reinforces praxis. It helps the dreamer and schemer embody desired change and transformation: all that was laid out on the vision board.
Personal Commemoration Boards
The personal commemoration board is something I recommend to my clients who struggle with staying the course of personal growth and development and/or who relate to and enjoy rituals. The board embodies the same intention as any commemoration board or plaque. However, instead of honoring someone else, it’s directed to the self. It honors your commitment and progress.
The board can be paired with a vision board. The latter charts where you want to go and the former charts where you are along that journey. They reinforce each other.
But, pairing isn’t necessary. All you need are clear, positive, specific intentions. That said, it’s a good idea to identify some action steps and milestones associated with those intentions to monitor and celebrate your progress. These reflect your initial impression of how events will likely unfold. Of course, they can change over time or as you gain experience and greater clarity about what’s needed to meet your goals.
Recognition and Gratitude Empower Your Process
The value of the commemoration board lies in positive recognition. There’s a growing body of research and literature on the benefits of acknowledging accomplishments and expressing gratitude.
Embracing your success is said to release endorphins, boost motivation, and build momentum. It releases stress and anxiety, improves your mood and outlook, which fosters optimism, and reinforces commitment. In a sense, it’s a form of positive self-care (Havard Business Review, Psychology Today, Inc, Gambo).
Likewise, expressing gratitude offers a whole series of similar benefits. A regular gratitude practice increases optimism and feelings of self-worth. In addition, it can reduce stress, reactivity, and anxious rumination thus loosening the gripe of toxic emotional states. Finally, expressions of gratitude reinforce a sense of connectedness and improve relationships. Research has shown that over time, the brain becomes more prone to experience gratitude (Positive Psychology, Forbes, Healthline).
When you regularly attend to your board you perpetuate these outcomes, establish a habit, and create a positive growth mindset. It becomes easier to stay the course of personal growth and development.
Making a Personal Commemoration Board
The concept of and creation process for your commemoration board is simple and straightforward. Nevertheless, it can also represent a deeply personal and profoundly transformative process for you, the creator of the board.
Three Basic Steps to Create Your Board
- Start with a corkboard, piece of cardboard wood, or any other material that can be used to post or tack up notes.
- Label and decorate the board any way you like. Consider dividing the board space into topics (work life, personal life; health, diet, sport, etc), time frames, or in some other manner that supports your process. I prefer a single space because I can then see all kinds of interconnections emerging.
- As you progress along your journey, overcome challenges, and/or make notable strides, jot down short positive notes about significant events or revelations and post them to your board. The photo above illustrates the use of standard yellow post-it notes and tacks. But, you use whatever materials you want and add other mementos to the board if you like.
Unlike the New Year’s vision board which remains relatively stable over some time, the commemoration board is by definition dynamic. It continually unfolds because it documents your journey and successes.
You populate, i.e., create, your board as you progress from your original intentions to milestones and on to the fulfillment of your goals. In fact, you decide what to commemorate: whether it’s the completion of an anticipated step or acknowledgment of an unexpected auspicious event.
Work With Your Board to Embody Change and Transformation
There are lots of ways to work with your board to gain insights and embody the process. Here are just two suggestions.
- Do progress checks: Make sure to regularly review your board and its contents. This means checking your progress. Perhaps your accomplishments to date offer new avenues or opportunities. Also, consider if you’ve been making good use of your time. In other words, have you made your intentions a de facto priority, or do you need to rework your strategies?
- Appreciate your accomplishments and express gratitude: Spend time with your board, acknowledge your successes, and express gratitude to yourself and others who deliberately and inadvertently assisted you. Explore all that’s been unfolding through meditation, journaling, and other forms of introspection.
The more you notice, acknowledge, celebrate, appreciate, and internalize or embody your process, the greater and more sustainable your transformation will be. In fact, your persistent attention will enable and encourage your life-forward momentum and continued movement from your current intentions and goals onward to new intentions and plans.
