The Art and Science of Visualization with Vanessa Buck | EP181

If plan A fails , remember you still have 25 letters left , henry . Guest Today on the Mindset in Action podcast , we have Vanessa Buck with us . She is a vision board mentor who helps people to reconnect with their lives , using vision , connection and action to create a life they love . I can't wait to jump into this conversation .

Let's go Welcome back to the podcast . I am excited to have you here today and , as always , I'm excited to be bringing you a guest . So welcome to the show , vanessa . Thank you so much for coming on .

Before we jump into the questions , I would love it if you would introduce yourself to the audience . Let them know what it is that you do and how you ended up doing it .

I am a mum of two now grown-up kids and I run a beauty business for 25 years and also suffered illness loss and allowed my business to rule me rather than I the other way around . So when we experience life-changing events over a long period of time , we often forget where we are heading and find ourselves lost and a bit off track .

So what happened to me is when I created my vision board . It gave me a roadmap to what I wanted in my life . It helped me find clarity , it motivated me to take action and prioritize what was important and gave me that clear direction of where I was heading .

We really underestimate how powerful vision boards are and when we get that clear vision , we can make better decisions and recognize opportunities that present themselves , rather than pass and by because we're so focused on just the doing so .

When we get clear , actually life becomes simpler , and that's how my vision board changed my life and how now I obviously have created my own methodology and bring it to other people .

I love that and I think it's really important , before we dive in , that we really explain a little bit of the background of what vision boards are , because I think a lot of people are under the impression that it's very , very woo and that you just put these things on a vision board and then you manifest them into existence and I've put it on the board , so

it's going to happen , and then they do absolutely nothing with it . And two years later they're going through sorting out a room and they come across this vision board and they're like well , that didn't work , did it ? So explain a little bit of the science behind , what vision boarding actually is and how it works .

Everything we see and do has a visual attached to it , and 40% of people respond better to visual information than text , which I'm definitely one of them and visuals are processed 60 times faster than text . And , if you think , 95% of our thoughts are repeated and we believe our thoughts .

This is why one of the reasons your vision board can really resonate with you . So what a vision board does is it creates that visual picture , and when we start to visualize our best life , that becomes that kind of mental rehearsal , which means we get familiar with the unfamiliar .

So this in turn , will start us to see possibilities and opportunities that and then we don't become fearful of them as well .

So your vision board is has emotions attached to them , because everything we do has an emotion attached to it , and athletes have been using visualization for decades , because the brain doesn't distinguish between the real and the imagined , and what visual visualization does ? It can trigger the neurons in your brain to react , as if we imagine .

What we are imagining really is happening . So if you think of athletes , they visualize . They sit there and they visualize them scoring that goal . They visualize , you know , finishing the race first and this builds new neuro pathways which the brain when they then use when the event actually occurs .

So I think they say athletes , actions are 20% physical and 80% visualization .

So when we visualize our best life and what we want in our life because we often construct what we don't want rather than what we do so when we start having that vision board in , that becomes your daily visual reminder to know what you want , how you want to feel and where you want to go .

So they help you to kind of reflect , they gain that clarity , they create focus and they reconnect with you if you have lost your way , if you are stuck and you've really lost your way . It really gets you back out of your head and into your heart .

They really help you to stay connected with your goals and dreams , because life is going to happen anyway and we can easily get lost , can't we ? And they remind you to take action , because often , if we're not taking action , we need to reflect why . What's holding us back ? What's the stories we're telling ourselves ?

So vision boards can help you to see how far you've come as well , because we really forget what we do , because that has become our normality . So when we look at your vision board , you think , oh my gosh , I've achieved that .

I have achieved more joy in my life , I've achieved more balance , and it's about celebrating the small moments and the journey , because life is a bit like a road , really , and you need that clear vision and you need that roadmap . We don't jump in the car to go to Cornwall without knowing where we're going , and it's the same with our life .

If we want more joy , we have to schedule it , because 90% of what we do is we're on autopilot . So we have to learn to become aware , and that's one of the things why your vision board can help you .

I've literally listened to him since he bought his book out originally and he's now got a podcast which I listen to regularly and it kind of really brings it home how many people in their finances are just ticking over and doing these things . And he says that he always asks people okay , what does your rich life look like ? And they go , oh , freedom .

And he's like freedom to do what . And they're like , oh , I want to buy a really fancy car . And he's like what car ? And they're like , oh , a Ferrari , a red one . And he's like , why ? And they're like , oh , because it looks cool , they've got actual , no connection to it whatsoever .

It's just what society has said is the epitome of wealth , and so that's what they think wealth is . And he's like trying to educate people into what their rich life might look like and how . If you want to be able to go on extravagant holidays and stay in the best hotels and stuff , you might have to sacrifice something like you can't have it all .

So if you're not bothered about clothes , then you go to the cheaper clothes shops and you can have the extravagant holidays . But you can't have the extravagant holidays and the Blentzy Arga slides .

You know , whatever it is , it's , and our spirit . We all have our own essence . We will all cook a recipe and it will all taste slightly different because we bring our own essence to it .

We will all read a book and , depending on where we are in our life , we'll all take something different from it because , you know , we , we react with our emotions and our energy and and that is why it's so important to find your version of success , because it's your , why it's your purpose .

We're all being put on this earth for a reason and just showing up for work because it pays the bills and but it doesn't like ignite a spark within you .

It's such a shame because it's finding and having that , that balance of life , in the sense of tuning into all those different areas , to really feel more rounded and really kind of can feel yeah , just feel that happier . You know own skin , I think .

. And I heard something that I have to share because I didn't hear this previous to our other recording . I heard it this weekend and it was from Oprah herself , and she was in an interview a few years back where she was asked if she still created vision boards and she says you know what ? I don't , because I am a powerful manifestor , and she's .

She talked about how , when you put something on your vision board , it's no good desperately wanting that thing . You have to raise your vibration to where that thing is . And she goes , and that's what I now can do without the need for vision boards .

But if you have one , it's not about putting things on it and then sitting there desperately longing for it , it's about raising your vibration to where it's already happened . And I thought that was so powerful so I thought I would mention it here . But okay , so we're like convinced now that you know having a vision and this isn't like we will vision .

This is having a path , having a plan , having a purpose , knowing where you're going is going to help you to get there . And if you don't sort of sit down and make that plan and say , ok , where do I want to be in five years time . You know , where do I want to be at the end of my working career ? What does my retirement look like ?

Where have I been ? Where have I gone ? What have I done ? Where did I get to in my career ? Okay , so that's the big you know lifetime goal out there . So how am I going to get there ? Let's focus on the next five years . Let's make a vision board for the next five or 12 months , whatever it is .

What are the three things that we need to look at , consider , do when we are starting to put together a vision board ?

So , going back to Opho Winfrey , you know at the time she wanted to , when she was new in her career . She knew where she wanted to go and , as you say , you have to raise your vibration up . We are all energy and if we are concentrating on what we don't want , we often that's all we will see .

So the first thing I would say is , if you've never done a vision board to really get you to connect with yourself , is , do a holistic vision board . The difference between holistic vision board and a goal targeted vision board is Choosing . A holistic one is allowing yourself to be drawn to pictures .

So this allows you to get out of your head and let you your inner voice or your gut or your subconscious , whatever you want to call it and get be drawn to the pictures . Maybe spend half an hour just flicking through some magazines you don't need .

I know a lot of people say they don't have magazines anymore but you can pick up free ones from the news agents and Tescos and Sainsbury's all the local supermarkets and boots have their kind of annual one or even go to the library and they sell them for 50p . So or even ask friends , you'd be surprised how many you can get . You only need about 10 .

Set a timer , put it on for 30 minutes and just pick out pictures that resonate with you . Sometimes you don't really need to know the reason why . Start kind of positioning them on a board .

And when I say when you go to pick a board , pick a board that you know you're going , know where you're going to put in your house , because there's no good going for a giant or almost big A3 board and then think , well , where am I going to put this in my house , so it doesn't have to be big .

And then put those pictures on and start actually working out what it means to you . Because when we start to see a connection through pictures , we start to get light bulb moments . So people really underestimate the power of allowing themselves to dream and plan for the next bit of their life . So through life we often reflect , but we don't change .

So holding this space for yourself , or joining a workshop , or come and join one of mine . You know , obviously mine are the best . I am going to say that and listen to what you really need , rather than think what you need or what society assumes you should have by a certain point .

Because going back to you know we live large parts of our life on autopilot and it's often a life event stops us in this , in our track , and think how did I get here ? You know what . What you want in your 20s will be different to your 30s , 40s and so on .

So first of all , I would say , do a holistic board just to get that connection and then from there you can start working out and doing a goal , specific one . I have some people journal around this and I have a freebie in my Instagram which is some like questions like what does your dream life look like and what if ? What ?

If you know it's it's not putting an outcome , holding an outcome to it , you know of how am I going to get there . Just allow yourself to dream , allow yourself to . What would it look like ? What would it look like if you wrote that book ? What would it look like if you kind of had employees , if you wanted to start your business .

How does that make you feel ? And you normally start to feel something inside you that fizz , that excitement . And it might be that that isn't something what people want . They might actually want to , you know , turn back their life and in the sense , you know , scale it down .

And it might be that actually they want to scale down and live in a smaller house so they could be mortgage free and they want , might want , to live by the sea . So it's , it's tuning in , it's allowing yourself to connect .

And I think my first vision board , what it meant to me was , although I had beautiful destinations on the sunny beaches , I live by the sea . It made me realize I can tune into this . Every day , I can go and visit the sea . I don't have to go abroad . I can make micro moments of half an hour to go and walk and connect with my surroundings .

And coming back to where I was talking about connection before , is your second home , is your physical home where you live . You've got to be happy where you are . If a room is cluttered , it can really reduce our energy . And , coming back to Oath of Winfrey talking about energy , we are all energy emotions .

So if we feel that our house is cluttered and that it's just not working . We can it really can lower our vibe . We can feel really disconnected and our third home , I call , is out , is the world , our surroundings , that's our community , it's the street we live in and we have this all on our doorstep .

And how many times do we go on autopilot and go to the same coffee shop or take the same route to work ? Or actually we can discover new little areas in our life and actually light our life up just by doing it differently .

So that would be the first thing I would say to people is create that holistic board , maybe , journal around some of the questions what does my dream life look like ? Or even do the wheel of life , because that's a very easy visual .

If you've ever heard of the wheel of life , if you just pop it in Google , you normally can print off a bit like a triple pursuit kind of eight columns and it will have things like family , it will have career , it will have fun and it scores naught to 10 and you can kind of put where you think you are on there and then I have given it to my people

in my group where they then can see I've got a image of a bike and if you think about it , if your career is really really low because we're not very happy with it , but your family life is really high , you feel very fulfilled .

It starts showing that will start showing a bit in balance , and we have to have a little bit of everything so we can have that little kind of more smoother turning of life . So maybe maybe print one of those off , so really start to journal or see that visual kind of image .

And then the second thing I would say when considering creating your vision board is at least keep coming back to it and doing it at least once a year , because through the year things change and it's sometimes you need to start come aware of this method so you're starting to listen to that inner voice . It's like peeling the onion .

It's not about always having all the answers at once . It's about becoming more intentional and using your board to set those goals and show up to the person you want to be , because it isn't going to come natural . You know we have to create new habits and to create new habits we need to make room for them . So that would be the .

The second thing keep tuning in , because what we want in the in the summer is naturally different to the winter . In the winter we wipe , might , walk , candles and and to hunker down and really , you know , go with the seasons , like the trees , and we should use nature and be more with nature and and pull back , not be pushing , pushing , pushing all the time .

Have a bit of hibernation , tune in and reflect and and in the summer , you know , throw the doors open and and get out and and discover and and move furniture around , some lights kind of coming in the room . So you're you know you're fulfilling your life that little bit more intentional , as well as setting goals .

You know what do you need to do to move yourself forward .

And then the third thing I would definitely say is put your board somewhere where you're going to see it daily , and I mean really look at it , because , as the things in our house , we start not to notice those things over time , like pictures on the wall and they just become part of our everyday furniture .

So it's sitting every morning looking at your board asking yourself what version of me do I need to be to show up for myself ? Eg , if you are stressed and it's kind of , you're not going to notice those opportunities trying to present themselves , so it's kind of being aware . What version of myself do I need to show up today ?

So you can see , you know the opportunities

. Sometimes , what we think it's going to look like often presents itself very differently , and I often use the story of if you are at a wedding and you're really hungry and you want some canopies , you can see the woman walking around . You think , gosh , they're not coming to me , so I'll go to them .

So you go rushing , chasing over , and you come back you haven't got a canopy in your hand , and everyone around you you were standing with has a canopy , because they've trusted and believed that the lady will come to them with the canopy . You're trusting it will be there , like your dreams , goals .

If you're taking action , you are putting it out , they , it will come where . If you're chasing all the time , you're not seeing the bigger picture , and the last thing I would say is , with that , though , is putting your board . You're looking at it daily . You're putting your . You know . What version of myself do I need to show up as ?

What am I grateful for today ? Because the one thing you can do is be grateful for where you are now . The past has gone , the future hasn't happened . We only have today , so you get a chance to move . You can kind of move yourself closer to feeling and achieving your dreams by coming from that place of abundance rather than lack .

So it we have to tune in to being grateful for where we are now as well .

Now , if you have been around for a while and you have been in my world , maybe you've been to one of my classes about podcasting . I talk about this method that I use , that Amy Porterfield taught me about how to create ideas , and it's called the Post-It Party , and the idea is that you are going to set yourself a timer , get all your ideas out .

One idea , one post-it note , stick it on a wall , stick it on a mirror , stick it somewhere . Ok , so I did this and I want to say it was probably like last spring . I'm like pretty sure , and I would have to go back into my messages because I remember talking to my Accountability partner about it . So I bet I've got a picture of when I did it .

But yesterday we had Friends Round and those Post-It Notes are still stuck on my dining room window . So I've got French doors in my dining room with the glass windows and I had stuck all these Post-It Notes on there and they have been round twice since I've done it . So the first time they were like , oh , what's that ?

And I was like , oh , it's a Post-It's . I've just a course idea that I was running through , you know , da , da , da , da . And this is like now , maybe four months later , for them , that they're coming round and I thought I've got to take , and I took them down because I just forget they're there .

Yes , they've just become part of my furniture , these pink sticky notes that are all over this .

And I think that what you were saying about making sure that you're sort of what , who is the person I need to be , to be the person that has these things ? And that visual of the canopy thing was literally what Oprah was saying like don't be desperate for it .

Don't put it on your vision board and then be desperate for it and be chasing it and like trying to run it down . It's no , it's happening and this is the person I have to be for it to come to me and it comes to me . I don't have to go to it and I love that , and so I love the way that all sort of fits together .

It could be in your inside of your wardrobe where you open it up , you look at your board and you say what version do I need to show up today ? I need to show up calm and collective . Maybe it might be that I need to feel that I am good enough that there might be words on it . So on , here on my board I've got business board and a personal board .

It says start small , think big , because anything in business it's one step at a time . It's how would you eat an elephant . You know the elephant is big , but it's still be one bite at a time . And so it reminds you those words and that's why the vision board with words , pictures and quotes , it resonates with you .

It's those , and just sitting with it for literally five minutes while you're picking with your , your wardrobe you're going to wear that day , it puts you in the right energy . You are showing up . You know one thing every single day to move yourself forward . What does it have to be ?

And sometimes it isn't about pushing , sometimes it is about sitting back and reflecting and actually just going for that walk , because sometimes that pouring into our cup is when the ideas come to us . If we can't see trying to fill our mind and we get stress and overwhelmed and burnt out . One , we're not having joy .

Two , we can't see any possibilities because all we see is the stress , overwhelm . So it is about just one moving one thing forward . And what do I need today and what can I be grateful for ? You know , and when we come from that place , it is , and that's basically what manifestation is .

It's about taking consistent action , trusting the process , believing , have faith in your own abilities , coming from a place of kindness and compassion for yourself . And if you need that extra help , you know tuning in , hiring someone or , if you want to , you know , run a marathon , it might be .

You need an accountability personal coach , whatever it is , once a week to hold you accountable . It doesn't mean you have to do it all alone , and I think that's what's really important as well .

I think it has actually by the time this one comes out , where I talked about you know the fact that consistency and what not is BS . I was just like I calling it out . It is absolute bullshite .

I am not having this like consistency is going to get you everywhere , because it's not if you haven't got improvements with that , because you can put out the same sort of post every single day on social media , it doesn't mean you're going to blow up sometime , because if it didn't work on day one , it's not going to work on day two .

You've got to consistently be making it better . You've got to consistently be moving forward . It's not just about consistency for consistency's sake , and I think that is where it gets lost in , especially in the business world , with people and social media . It's like you've got to be consistent .

It's like , well , no , if you're not improving things , if you're not getting more growth , if you're not seeing the results of those actions , then it's not just consistency , there is something else behind it , and a vision board is something that is going to pull you through to that extra step , like it's okay , I need to move forward , not just be consistent , and

I love that . Okay , so we've created our vision board and we are going to be looking at it every single day and we are going to be spending that five minutes just to focus on how we need to show up in our lives to be the people that receive those goods that are on that vision board , and I think that's going to be fantastic .

So , if you create a vision board from this guys , let me know and tag us and let us see your boards , share them on social . That would be fantastic . I think it's something that we can do at any time . This isn't something you have to reserve for January , the first , and you all know that I don't even run my years like that .

So it was great that you said that , vanessa , that we sort of hunker down in winter , because I've been speaking a lot on the podcast about how I've changed my year , to start with the seasons . So spring to me is my new year and that's where I focus my sort of renewed energy and starting afresh .

And what can I do this year that makes it different , and then sort of hunkering down in winter . And I've also spoken about how , with the females amongst us that have our cycles , that that works on a monthly basis as well , not just an annual basis .

That we have weeks where we should just be internal and quiet and doing the least we can get away with Because I know some of us do have day jobs or we have commitments in our businesses that we can't just shirk .

But then there are days and weeks in the month where we can go hard and we can do so much more than we think we can is even possible for us . So those are some interesting things that also came out of this conversation that is great to sort of bring into that creation of that vision for your life . So , vanessa , you have a freebie for us .

I would love it if you would just tell us what that freebie is and where we can go and grab it

.

That dreamscape without putting that outcome and the how and the stories you're telling yourself and you know , reminding you . You know why do you want it ? Because we can all want to lose weight , but unless we actually actually still eating if we eat in the egg donuts , you know what is the reason why we want it . We have to have the outcome on the edge .

So it gets you to start playing around , thinking about it and not , it's okay if you don't always have all the answers keep journal it , keep coming , because it will get easier the more . When I lost my way . I really like to . What do I want ? Where do I want to go ? Who ? Who am I ? Who is Vanessa ?

Within the roles I take on , you know I'm a mum , a business owner , a friend , a mother , a daughter , a sister . So you know who . Who is Vanessa , what does Vanessa like ? So it's getting to know you . So it's allowing yourself to just keep journaling and see what comes up really .

So yes , you can find it in there all my website , all my yeah , my website , the freebies on there , and I think I might actually have my life wheel on there as well , which is so . My website is wwwvisionboardsforallcouk as well and where are you on Instagram ?

I am also under vision boards for all , so that you'll see VB standing for vision boards and it's it's purple and white , so can't miss my branding brilliant .

Again , you have to be intentional with it , because it does become just something that you always see . So if we want to see changes , we have to be intentional about making those changes happen , okay ? So before we go , vanessa , I have got a quick fire round that I do with all my guests and I would love it if I could do that with you .

Is that all right ? Yes , okay . So the first one is what is the book that has made the most impact on your life ?

So I would say , if you were that little bit lost , that is a good book to start with . It really had those light bulb moments so , but then from there there's been other books , but that's my first one love that , love that .

I like that nice , quick , easy . I think definitely of our sort of generation that crisps is a snack for sure . And what is your ultimate me time thing to do ?

It is like if the writer is really good , the whole world around you just disappears and you're in this book and it's amazing and I think that is such a great way to just take take 10 minutes . So I love that one love that . Thank you so much , vanessa , for sharing that with us . Thank you for coming on the show .