Visioning vs Wishful Thinking – The Power of Belief
“Believe it can be done. When you believe something can
be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it.
Believing a solution paves the way to solution.”
~ David Joseph Schwartz
The hit movie “The Secret” created quite a buzz about the benefits of visualization. The most popular technique is usually the “vision board” – a big bulletin board that displays pictures of dreams and desires you wish to experience. I eagerly jumped on the vision board bandwagon a few years ago after reading the book “Visioning”, which I still highly recommend. I experienced a lot of success with my board, including the spontaneous appearance of a baby grand piano in my living room, plus a role in a major music video that was eerily identical to the “Madonna” video that I had visualized myself appearing in. However, I’m always curious as to why some things manifest overnight while other things take years to appear. Could it be a lack of focus? Yes, but another reason lies in understanding the difference between a vision and a belief.
I’m sure we’ve all experienced the frustration that surfaces when our goals and desires aren’t achieved in what we consider to be a reasonable time frame. What’s even more frustrating is the knowledge that the Universe undoubtedly has the ability to deliver us the people, opportunities, and material objects as instantaneously as we can dream them up. Rather than take responsibility, we often hang our heads in annoyance and attribute the delay to some force we don’t understand. Something must be “under construction” somewhere and unfortunately, no one showed us the detour.
The traffic jam is not located on the superhighway of Universal manifestation however, but it is found within our own minds. The roadwork being done is the formation of new and more “constructive” belief patterns that are conducive to the new goals and desires we have set for ourselves. The process of re-configuration can take time; usually more time than it takes to pin up a picture of a new yacht on a bulletin board. The only “detour” is found by shifting our attention from visioning a goal, to believing it.
The profound difference between “visioning” and “believing” was drawn to my attention this morning when I set up a new type of board I read about from Steve Pavlina called a “belief board”. A belief board is much simpler than a vision board because it displays only a few select beliefs that aim to re-program your subconscious mind. The whole project taught me a lot about myself and I realized that although visualization is simple, “believing” in the vision doesn’t always come as easily.
For example, the first round of beliefs I printed off for my board went straight into the trash. In comparing them to Steve Pavlina’s example, my “beliefs” felt weak and didn’t measure up. Surprisingly, the problem wasn’t found within my written words, but in my choice of font and size. Steve proudly printed his beliefs using a big, bold font that takes up a 4 x 6 page. I had printed mine using a tiny, 14pt, finely edged font that wouldn’t even fill a cue card! My subconscious mind would have to get reading glasses in order to take advantage of these affirmations. I was amused by this and thought it was a good metaphor for why it sometimes takes forever to achieve something when your goals are weak or obscure. I re-printed my beliefs using a bigger, bolder font and posted them directly behind my computer, where I’ll consciously and subconsciously read them every day.
A belief board can be more effective than a vision board because it helps distinguish between true visioning and wishful thinking. Sometimes when we select goals and desires out of the catalogue of the infinite universe, it’s easy to get carried away. We’re told “anything is possible”, and it’s true, but only what we BELIEVE is possible has the ability to show up in our experience. “Pie in the sky”, lofty desires quickly transform into discouragement if we don’t actually believe that we can achieve them. Vision boards are only effective when they’re married with the power of “believing”, which energizes your goals because it emits the “feeling” that you’ve already received whatever it is that you are asking for.
The beauty of the process is that it will allow you to uncover your unconscious blocks quickly and easily. If any of the statements on your belief board feel uncomfortable to your subconscious mind, you’ll know immediately. When you find a new belief that is “out of range”, you can hone it until it feels more achievable. The trick is to find a happy medium between your current comfort zone and your new “uncomfort zone” without attempting a quantum leap.
I’m already thinking and feeling differently because of my belief board and I’m excited to share what happens next. I’ll keep you posted, but in the meantime check Steve Pavlina’s blog to learn how you can construct a belief board of your own.
Experience the joy of giving by making a donation to keep this site up and running.
Technorati Tags: law of attraction, visualization, vision board, belief, belief board, Steve Pavlina, manifesting
July 16th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
[...] a conscious creator of Reality. He didn’t spend time cutting out pictures of millionaires for his vision board. But I do see him as a soul on a journey, with a strong desire not only for a better life for [...]