HOW TO MAKE A RUNNING VISION BOARD

Do you have a running goal? Are you running to keep fit? Are you running to achieve a certain weight? Whatever your goal, visualisation is a very powerful tool that can help you get there. Olympic athletes have been using visualisation for decades to help give them a performance edge. A vision board can help you focus on your running objectives and, most importantly, help keep you motivated. Join us as we show you how to make a running vision board to help you achieve your goals.

On This Page

• WHAT IS A VISION BOARD
• WHY MAKE ONE
• WHAT GOES ON YOUR VISION BOARD
• HOW TO MAKE YOUR VISION BOARD
• WHERE TO PUT IT
• HOW TO USE IT
• WRAPPING IT UP

WHAT IS A VISION BOARD?

A vision board is essentially a collage of images, words, affirmations and other inspiring items that you assemble on a poster-sized backing board and place in a prominent position in your home or office.

The items you use will have special meaning for you and will be arranged on your board in a way that will inspire you every time you see them.

Maybe you have a goal to run a marathon, making a vision board with pictures of the marathon event you want to enter, maybe even the event flyer will be a motivating visual reminder of your running dream.

There are no rules when it comes to creating your own vision board. Consequently, this is a project where you can let your creativity, inspiration and design flare run wild, plus it’s a lot of fun too.

WHY MAKE ONE?

We all know what a fantastic lifestyle running can be. The fitness, the happiness, the sights and sounds out there on the track, the friendship, and of course, the achievement of personal goals is why we do what we do.

This is where creating a vision board is a fantastic tool for putting all those goals, dreams and why’s right in front of your face several times a day as a reminder. For this reason, a vision board helps with motivation, goal-setting and focus through visualisation.

For more help and tips on other ways to maintain your running motivation check out our in-depth article 7 Ways to Stay Motivated to Run.

But sometimes our motivation wavers and it’s easy to lose sight of our why’s and our reasons for running in the first place when life gets busy.

Goal Setting for Runners. What are your Goals?

Creating your vision board around a specific goal you want to achieve is key. Firstly, figure out what is important to you, secondly, what is the thing you really want and thirdly, what is it that would make a huge difference in your life when you achieve it.

Need some inspiration? Here’s a list of running related goals to give you some ideas.

Goal Ideas

As you can see, there are many amazing goals and aspirations you might have. With this in mind, putting these on a vision board will go a long way to helping you achieve them.

WHAT GOES ON YOUR VISION BOARD?

As mentioned previously, a vision board is a collage of items attached to a backing board that you can place in a prominent position in your home or office to act as a visual reminder of your goals.

What Can I Put on My Vision Board?

Here’s a list of items that you can use to create your own vision board. Use your creativity and utilise anything that has importance and meaning to you.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR VISION BOARD.

This is where the fun starts. Get your creative hat on and create something that is meaningful and uniquely you.

What you will need.

First of all, here is a list of items you will need to create your vision board. But once again, use your creative flair and use everything and anything that speaks to you personally.

Putting it all together.

Find a nice big flat surface to work on, grab yourself a coffee (or a wine) and, importantly, give yourself a couple of hours of uninterrupted ‘me’ time and get creative.

• First of all, lay out all your photos, pics or feature words on the board, arrange them and re-arrange them until you are happy with the look. You don’t have to use a full-sized poster board, you can cut it in half for a smaller version.
• Don’t glue them down yet.
• Once you are happy with the placement of all pics etc, glue them in place but don’t glue down the edges just yet, you may need to overlap or tuck other elements under the edges later.
• Use your glitter pens, texta’s, paint brushes etc to add your own writing, doodles, sketches and personal accents.
• Add your other items such as ribbon around feature pics as a border, stickers and other knick-knacks.
• Finally, glue down the edges of your pics once you are happy with the final creation.
• Write your name and the date in a corner or on the back so you can look back on your vision board in years to come and see how your goals, dreams and aspirations came together.
• Place some books or other weighty items on top of the board to keep it flat as the glue dries.

Stand back and admire your creative handywork, and finish off that bottle of wine, you deserve it.

Going Digital

If you are more digitally inclined and would rather make your vision board on your computer, iPad or phone, I recommend Canva. This is an amazing graphic design tool that is easy to use and moreover, has enough functionality in the free version to create your vision board, check it out here.

Here is a handy YouTube tutorial on how to use Canva to create your vision board.

WHERE TO PUT IT.

The whole idea of a vision board is that of a visualisation concept to help inspire and remind you of your goals and aspirations. Consequently, you will want to mount it in a place where you will see it often as you go about your day.

Use a poster hanger or mount your vision board in a frame with hooks to make it easy to install on a wall. Additionally, you could even get it laminated which will keep it looking pristine for years to come and make it easy to dust off.

Put your vision board in a line-of-sight position in your home or office. You could even take a photo of it and use it as a wallpaper on your computer or phone.

Maybe display your vision board where you put on your running shoes, or near the door so it’s the last thing you see as you head out for your run.

Stop and look at it regularly.

HOW TO USE IT.

Here are some tips on how to use your vision board.

• Read it daily. Especially if you have included affirmations, power words, inspirational quotes or other meaningful script.
• Visualise achieving that core goal you have set for yourself as you look at your board. Imagine how it will feel to cross the finish line of your first marathon, achieving your target weight or some other life-changing moment.
• Take time to acknowledge and celebrate the small goals that you have already achieved. If your vision board has some smaller goals as well as your larger core goal, put big green tick or smiley face stickers on them as you smash them out.
• Acknowledge and celebrate your changes and improvements. If you are progressively increasing your running distance or gradually edging towards your target weight, for example, make sure you give yourself a big congratulatory pat on the back.
• Reward yourself. Achieving the goals on your vision board can be life-changing, why not reward yourself. Add a small pic of a reward you’d like to receive on your vision board goal. How about a nice massage after you achieve your first 5k run?
• Don’t be afraid to make changes. If you want your vision board to evolve as you do, it may be easier to use a corkboard and simply pin all the elements. Alternatively, consider making new boards as you progress, remember that your board reflects a certain time in your life and you might want to keep them as mementos. If you are working your way up to a full marathon, for example, you could make individual boards for 5k, 10k, half-marathon and full marathon.
• You may wish to leave some gaps on your board to add other visual elements as you make progress towards your end goal.
• Look at your vision board first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

WRAPPING IT UP.

People take up running for many different reasons. For some, it’s just a way to get in a little exercise now and then, but for others, there are far more important reasons.

Running changes lives.

Weight management, health and fitness, mental health are all areas where people are seeking improvement. As a result, these can be profound and meaningful motives for taking up running.

Setting goals in these areas, making plans and taking the required actions are all essential to get you where you want to be.

Using whatever tools that are available to you to achieve these goals, desires and outcomes makes a lot of sense. Visualisation is just such a tool and creating a vision board is such a positive way to help you achieve your goals in all areas of life, not just running.

Visualisation + Action

But remember, visualisation alone is not enough, you MUST take the required actions to achieve the outcomes you want.

Give it a go, it’s a fun thing to do anyway. Running, art and creativity, who would have thought you could blend all these together.

Have you used vision boards, do you have any other tips for us on how to make a running vision board or how to use one? Please let us know in the comments.

Happy running.

Steve.

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