It’s a piece of paper covered with more pieces of paper. It’s a collage. It’s a vision board!
Maybe you’ve made one before. But have you ever made a fertility vision board, specifically geared towards helping you on your fertility journey?
Vision boarding is a powerful tool, especially in situations where you’re having a hard time finding clarity. Like, say, on your fertility journey when you sometimes feel like you’re just stabbing in the dark at anything and everything!
Let’s take a look at some of the great things a fertility vision board can do for you:
Goal Setting and Action Planning:
A vision board is your personal visual roadmap, and a great opportunity to help you clarify your goals and desires.
“Um, excuse me,” you say, “my goal is obviously to have a baby.”
I totally get that, but as it turns out, “have a baby” isn’t such a great goal. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but I’ve written an entire blog post explaining why that is, so I’ll just summarize here.
Good goals are always achievable if you follow the action steps that you’ve laid out for yourself. In the case of having a baby, however, you don’t actually have control over whether or not you get pregnant. It’s an absolute bummer of a fact, but true nonetheless.
The good news, though, is that vision boarding can help you turn that ultimate intention of having a baby into actionable, achievable steps that can move you closer to your destination, and help you feel better as you go. Displaying your finished board serves as a visual reminder of the steps you need or want to take, and helps you stay motivated and focussed
Improved Mindset and Sense of Empowerment
As we already talked about, making a vision board requires you to clarify goals and actionable steps. In the world of fertility problems, finding ways to regain your agency and control is priceless.
In addition to being empowering, making, and then continually looking at your vision board will boost your mindset and sense of well-being.
Stress Reduction and Relaxation
If you’ve ever been on my site before, then you know how important I think deep relaxation is for every woman who is struggling with her fertility!
Arts and crafts, like vision boarding, work magic as stress-relievers. (Even if you don’t consider yourself a “crafty person”!) The process of selecting and arranging images and words or phrases that represent your personal fertility goals can be a calming and even meditative experience.
Law of Attraction and Positive Thinking
The Law of Attraction states that focusing on positive thoughts and intentions will attract positive outcomes. Regardless of whether you totally buy into that, I think there’s little doubt that surrounding yourself with positive images enhances your overall mindset and helps you feel better.
A vision board is great to help you hone in on the positive aspects of your life as you work through your fertility issues: the things that actually remain in your control, the traits and values you admire in yourself, the activities that you enjoy, etc.
Making Your Fertility Vision Board
Step 1: Gather Your Supplies
You will need:
A stack of magazines and catalogs
1 piece of poster board or card stock; the size and color you choose are up to you
Scissors
Mod Podge or double sided tape (glue works, but it’s more likely to make your vision board ripple)
Pens or markers (optional)
Embellishments like stickers or glitter are totally optional, but can be a lot of fun
Step 2: Plan
Before you start physically working on your vision board, you need to get clear on what you’re aiming for. In order to help you with that process, here are some reflection questions you can ask yourself. If it’s helpful, get out a piece of paper and jot down your thoughts. You don’t need to answer every question–just the ones that you find to be the most helpful or intriguing.
What are some things I can do that will make me feel good about myself and my life while I’m working to get pregnant?
If I weren’t working on having a baby right now, what are some things I’d want to be doing?
What are the things in my life I wish I had more time for?
Are there things I could be doing to increase my chances of getting pregnant?
Reflecting on fertility, what does a state of optimal fertility mean or look like to me? What steps would I need to take to get there?
How would I be feeling and/or what would be different about me if I were in a state of optimal fertility?
Thinking about life as it is right now, what steps could I take to increase my happiness and well-being even without a baby?
What are some words that describe how I’d like to be feeling?
Remember, just as everyone’s fertility journey is unique, so is everyone’s fertility vision board. You might find it helpful to make a vision board that reflects your goal to optimize your fertility naturally, but the next person might make one all about the activities she likes to do (or wants to start doing) to chill out. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach!
Step 3: Gather Images
Now it’s time to find the words or images that represent the questions you’ve answered and the goals you’ve selected. I think it’s fun to go through magazines to find what I’m looking for, but don’t be afraid to print out, or write out, quotes or words if you want. Get as creative as you like!
As you look through your magazines, rip out anything at all that speaks to you. Don’t get hung up on whether it will really work on your board or not. You’ll have a chance to narrow your choices down later. Which brings us to step 3…
Step 4: Make Your Final Selections and Make Your Board
This is the time to go back through all the images, quotes, and words or phrases that you pulled out and figure out which ones will work the best for you. Then you can start arranging them on your poster board, and when you’re happy with how it looks, glue everything down.
Step 5: Display Your Fertility Vision Board Somewhere You’ll Look at it Often
You’ve spent time clarifying your goals and vision. Now it’s time to let it all soak in and use your finished board as your guide as you take action!
Vision boarding is a tool that I find so helpful and inspiring, and I hope you do too! As one final reminder, let me say: there is no right way to do this–it’s all about creativity and what speaks to you!
