New dream board tool on Oprah.com

Check out this new free tool on Oprah.com. You can create a beautiful vision board in minutes. The photos are from Getty Images so there’s plenty of inspiring ones to choose from.

It’s the first time I’ve created a vision board on my PC. Always gone for the manual way before. I think there are benefits to both. This is a lot quicker but I enjoy flicking through the magazines and selecting the photos. Both are great fun though…and both work! (See my old posts).

Great article from O Magazine also, written by Martha Beck, about how to best create a vision board. Covers the importance of letting go of the ideas once you’ve ‘put them out there’. You create the vision and put the power into it while you’re making the board, after that you can let it go. Makes a good point – when you hear of people who’s amazing visions have come true, they always seem to say: “It was only two years later, as I unlocked the door to my dream home, that I remembered that vision board” etc.

The important thing I think is to put all your creativity and effort into it while you’re doing it. Get yourself ‘in the zone’ by doing whatever feels good for you. Whether it’s lighting a candle while sipping tea and listening to soothing music or ordering a pizza and cranking up the ACDC (air guitar optional). By the way, there’s no limit to the number you make or how often you can make a new one. I have four now – the one I made in England, the one I made at the vision board workshop when I arrived in California, one I created for my novel, and now the Oprah one.

Dream on people!

Can vision boards work even for cynics?!

I just randomly came across this clip.

It seems that Oprah actually granted Ellen DeGeneres’ wish! Not only that, Ellen was delighted. Turns out she really wanted to get closer to Oprah.

As a result, she ended up being interviewed on the show.

Is this proof that vision boards work even if you don’t believe in them?

Oprah’s approach to this is just great. Most people would have been really annoyed that someone was taking the mickey out of them. They would either ignore it and store up bad feeling or retaliate in an angry way.

Instead, Oprah completely turns it around!

That’s it. The evidence is in. Vision boards work. Even if you don’t believe in them – or start off thinking you shouldn’t believe in them!

Make one anyway and see what happens.

Vision boards – what’s the case for and against?

Today I’ve come across two very different clips about vision boards. One for, one against (sort of).

It made me think of a question. Do vision boards work or not? Are they worthwhile and life-changing or just silly and pointless?  What do you think?

The case ‘for’: Clip one shows John Assaraf telling his story of how he got his dream home by using a vision board. John is very successful, well known and wealthy, and he puts much of this down to vision boards. In the clip, he shows us his home and the vision board in question. The house is, it has to be said, stunning.

The case ‘against’: Clip two shows comedian Ellen DeGeneres satirising Oprah’s well-document love of vision boards. Ellen is very successful, well known and wealthy, but it doesn’t seem like she is into vision boards. Or maybe she isn’t actually ‘against’ them – it’s just satire. Who knows. Anyway, it’s quite funny. And it sort of reminds you not to get too serious about this stuff, I think.

It made me think that having a balanced discussion about vision boards is important. Because that’s how we learn.

I’ve edited the ‘Experiment’ page to invite people to try making a vision board to see if it works for them…or not. I’d like to have honest feedback, not just positive comments. A mixture would be good and, I think, helpful. You can probably guess which camp I’m in. But we all have times when we struggle to focus on what we want and I think sharing that would be a good thing.

What is the case for and against vision boards? What are the problems we can come up against? Are there ways to overcome them?

Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

The Governator Schwarzenegger’s secret to success, fame and wealth?

Great response to my post on the ‘Steve Pavlina’ forum about Oprah and movie stars who use visioning to achieve their ambitions. Based on my last post on here ‘Dreams can come true – what can we learn from the Oscars?’ I believe in sharing content from here on different sites.

Celebs who apparently use the law of attraction include Will Smith and Jim Carey. I commented that it makes sense as Carey’s film ‘Yes Man’ ties in with the idea of saying ‘yes’ to opportunities that come up and shaping your own life. (Love that film and currently reading the book by Danny Wallace). Also, both actors have dramatically and succcessfully changed the direction of their careers since they started out.

Thanks also to Ted the Mighty who said that California’s ‘Governator’, Arnold Schwarzenegger, used the law of attraction to become famous and wealthy. To read how he did it, read this article on the ‘Good Vibes’ blog.

Dreams come true – what we can learn from the Oscars…

Watched the Oscars last night. First time watching it in LA. If you’d told me I’d be doing that this time last year…

Seeing Oprah Winfrey talking about Best Actress nominee Gabourey Sidibe reminded me of an interview with Larry King where she talks about ‘The Secret’. Oprah had read ‘The Colour Purple’ and became obsessed with being in a film version of it. Nothing was working. Then she did this…

Oprah told last night how Gabourey skipped school to make the audition for ‘Precious’ on a Monday. On Tuesday, she got a callback. By Wednesday, she had the part. It reminded me how an important part of manifestation is…action. It isn’t just about visualisation, although that is important of course. You know it’s working because you start getting opportunities and ideas. Then you have to act on them.

The Oscars also reminded me of a story I heard years ago about Catherine Zeta Jones. Apparently, before she came to the States to try to make it in Hollywood, a fan gave her a gift. It was a collage of photographs of all the great female screen idols. In the middle, there was a picture of Catherine.

At the time she was well known in British TV but not in the States. She’d tried a singing career but it had stalled. At the time, it must have seemed a big leap to get to the same position as these great screen legends. The rest is history.

Sometimes, our dreams can seem like a big leap. The first step is to visualise it. The second is to believe it will happen. The third step is to act when you get an opportunity. The fourth step is to receive what you want.

The alternative? Do nothing and hope our dreams will materialise through chance.

Keep dreaming.