Book Review #futureboards: Learn How to Create a Vision Board
It was serendipitous a review copy of Sarah Centrella’s book #futureboards: Learn How to Create a Vision Board to Get Exactly the Life You Want was placed in my mailbox. A few days earlier, I was blown away by the exhibit “Dior: From Paris to the World” at the Dallas Museum of Art. From a cathedral-like room packed with remarkable designs to areas filled with Dior’s works, imagination ran abundant throughout the exhibit. Several pieces, in particular, caught my eye…the mood boards by current Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri. Mood boards (aka vision boards) let designers establish a theme for their lines with visual details and inspirations.
In the same mindset, Centrella asks readers to take the concept further with what she dubs #futureboards. She defines them as a physical board (proudly displayed) with beautiful photographs intentionally chosen to show the creator’s future dream life.
#futureboards
What I appreciate most about Centrella’s concept is #futureboards focus on experiences and not things. Experiences matter because, as Centrella writes, “they teach you to focus on what brings you happiness and joy. When you build your life around experiences, you are training your mind to seek happiness and receive joy. It’s one of the fastest ways for you to tap into a sensation of happiness at any given moment by thinking of an experience you want to live. When you feel that happiness in your mind, you will soon manifest it in real life.”
The book is divided into three parts:
- Exercises to do before building your board
- Recommendations of what to put on your board (and how to assemble it)
- Making the things on your board happen in real life
Centrella also offers questions to determine if you’re a dreamer or a thinker (important for #futureboards) and delves into three “primary blocks” that hold people back from achieving their dreams. She also discusses how to overcome them. Additionally, personal stories appear throughout the book from folks who’ve had success after using Centrella’s methods. And if using paper is abhorrent to you, she outlines ways to utilize online tools to build a #futureboard.
Something Personally Powerful
Both #futureboards and the Dior mood boards encourage viewers to enter another world. A world where ruts vanish, stunning images intertwine, and out-of-the-ordinary possibilities exist. Except with a #futureboard, you’re putting together something personally powerful versus losing yourself in someone else’s dream. I’ll be making my own #futureboard using Centrella’s tactics and encourage you to do the same. You can also share her book with a girl in your life or another loved one looking for a new direction.
Happy Creating!
Resources
Why Vision Boards Are A Killer Tool For Wannabe Writers (she writes)
Video Making-of ‘Dior’s From Paris to the World’ exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art:
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Written by Erin Prather Stafford
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