Revealing my personal vision board for the very first time + Steps to create your own
It may not appear this way, as I’m always on social media posting instant updates, but I’m a pretty private person.
I work away quietly in the background, I’m what they categorise as a hermit, prefer to do many things alone, I keep a ‘sometimes’ diary and often don’t share half of what’s inside even with people closest to me.
I have never showed my vision board to anyone.
So yeah- sharing it publicly is a pretty big deal.
Before I do the big reveal though, I wanted to tell you how I knew that IT REALLY WORKS …
The first time I’ve ever heard of this manifestation technique was when I was fresh out of uni, working in my dream job as a commercial leasing agent, already with two mortgages on investment properties, $25K in student loan debt (some of which went towards the investments), rent to pay in central Auckland and just $200 in my bank account. Being commission based, I never knew when I’d be paid next. Having to drive clients around (without knowing when I’d be paid next) was fun, but on a gas tank that cost half of what was in my account, not so much.
Then I got hold of a book called The Secret.
A certain visualisation exercise really inspired me. You had to focus on a word or image, which you desired and by doing so daily, you’d send out vibrational frequencies, that should eventuate into reality. That same night, I printed off my bank statement, twinked out the date and the summary balance (remember twink?) and changed them to $45,000 for a year from then.
It felt totally absurd writing down five figures, especially since I was so used to seeing only three or even two, and had absolutely no crafty plan or clue about how that would even happen.
Very soon, I was to learn this:
1. YOU DON’T ALWAYS NEED A PLAN. THE WHAT AND THE WHY ARE YOUR JOB, THE HOW AND THE WHEN ARE UP TO THE UNIVERSE.
2. TRUST THE UNIVERSE. IT ALWAYS HAS YOUR BACK.
Almost a year later, it seemed that things got even worse and I was going backwards…
The big recession started to creep in. The property market dropped and so did the leasing demands, I was advised to sell my properties fast, but no one wanted to buy. Meanwhile, the ‘twinked-out’ aka ‘dream’ bank statement remained up on my dressing mirror. I still took note of it every day.
Then my business partner decided he didn’t want to sell our investments for any lower than our purchase price, instead we got a valuation and he bought me out.
Can you guess what I got for the deal? That’s right- $45,000.
Could it really be that easy? Does this really work every time? Is our potential really only limited by our own imagination? Does law of attraction truly exist?
There was only one way to find out… I need to experiment some more! 
I put together my ‘proper’ vision board, which is basically a collage of pictures and words that you desire. I’ve done this now for every new year and today will mark my seventh. I won’t say that every year, it all got ticked off, but the universe has a fascinating way of translating our little pictures into our big picture. Sometimes the result was even better than what I set out to manifest. Sometimes, it wasn’t in my spiritual DNA and I was guided to change my next year’s image that was nearer to my true calling.
Below is my 2014 vision board.
If you’re inspired to create your own, see the steps beneath it. If you’d like to know more about mine and what got ticked off, continue scrolling…
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SIMPLE STEPS TO MAKE YOUR VISION BOARD
1. Play some good tunes, light a scented candle, clean your sacred space for creativity, load up on magazines or have the printer handy if you are searching online.
2. Cut out images and words, which inspire you. They may be feelings, desires, goals, specific targets or numbers, and as long as they aren’t so completely unreasonable that you don’t believe them achievable for a second yourself, then they belong on our vision board!
3. Place the cut-outs on a large cardboard or a stretched canvas. Continue to arrange them, until it feels just right, then glue them in place.
4. Now that your vision board is ready, place or hang it where it can’t be ignored. Take it all in, see it as a whole, see it as individual parts and then breathe as though they have already happened. Give it a little attention daily and celebrate with deep gratitude each desire that is coming true for you. Remember that you’ve done your job, so become an observer, let go of any attachments to it and let the universe do its job.
MY 2014 BOARD IN DETAIL
1. The office table represents a clean workspace where I can be more organised and creative. We moved house in 2014, got an extra bedroom for an office and a desk and chair for our wedding present. TICK.
2. The ‘my’ stickers over a kitchen represent a collaboration with myhotels group for a new cafe. When I put this board together at the end of 2013, we were just ‘chatting’, but i knew what I wanted. The result- Tanya’s Cafe inside myhotel Chelsea! TICK.
3. The living wall is actually part of the kitchen in the photo. For anyone that’s seen Tanya’s, you’d know that I got my living wall TICK.
4. My book deal with Hay House! There are so many authors whose work I respect and words I treasure, but the majority happen to be Hay House authors. I’ve decided long ago that this is a publisher for me but only added them to my vision board in 2014. [BTW note how being specific and putting a picture of yourself on the cover tells the universe that YOU are the author]. In July I received the most exciting email of the year, from none other than… HayHouse! In December, I signed a contract for The Uncook Book, out September 2015. TICK.
5. Interestingly- this was an empty area and I needed to find a picture to fill it up. I randomly chose the pic of these tigers as they seemed to fit in perfectly. Ha! We all know nothing happens randomly and the more I looked at it, the more I resonated with the spiritual meaning of a tiger totem:
“By affinity with this spirit animal, you may enjoy dealing with life matters spontaneously, trusting your intuition and acting fast when needed.”- Spiritanimal.info TICK.
6. Visa! In 2014, we were due for a visa renewal, which was the most challenging thus far. We’ve celebrated five years in London, which meant that getting this visa would give us Indefinite Leave to Remain. But first, there was studying for a Life in the UK exam, hundreds of documents to fill out and thousands of pounds in accountant’s and immigration lawyer’s fees. All totally worth it, because now we are only a year away from a British passport. TICK.
7. This picture to me represented open plan living, a bigger kitchen and a creative space to work. Interestingly, not only did we move to a new much-bigger flat, which TICKS these elements, but it also has an exposed brick wall!
8. I love this picture so much. Not only do I have the love of my life by my side, but we are facing in the same direction, doing the same thing, in the best city in the world, while being totally random and taking risks on such an iconic public bridge. It’s just a feel good image and a vision board is meant for feeling good. I wanted to create more memories with Elliot by my side and of course 2014 was the year we said ‘I do’. BIG TICK.
9. I love green and to me, this image means relaxing holidays in nature. We tied the knot in the most beautiful place best known for its outdoors- the Coromandel, NZ, our friends took us glamping in Wales as a wedding present, my 30th was on a beach in Barcelona and my retreat was in the most pure organic part of the word- Vilcabamba, Ecuador. TICK.
10. Here’s an obvious one. Babies, babies! 2014 was the year when Elliot and I settled on a plan, we are both happy with. TICK.
11. IIN x 55 was about getting that many people signed up to the health coach course in a year. I’m a proud ambassador for IIN and a big believer in everything they do, so this year I wanted to aim higher than the 13 people I referred in 2013. I’m a couple of people away, so would like to call it a TICK!
12. Family. I love my family to bits, but while my sis lives in New York with her husband, my parents live in Ecuador, I’m in London with my husband and his parents are in New Zealand- our wedding in March made it- THE family year. TICK.
13. My sis and I make hearts using our hands and yoga poses too, so this is the image which represented us together. She surprised me for my 30th with a trip to Barcelona! And it was on a beach too! TICK.
14. This was something I felt silly doing, but just goes to show how powerful a vision board can be. At the time I photoshoped the number of fans Better Raw has on FB, there were only 12,000 odd. The difference may not seem like massive ask, but it did take me 3 whole years to gather 12,000 fans and a whole lot of competitions, bribery, posting, sharing, liking, linking and commenting to get there. How I was to get to 45,555 in a single year, I had no idea, but remember the ‘how’ is not up to you, just know ‘why’ you want it. I knew I had too many inspiring healthy tips to share that would improve the lives of many. A year later and we are up to 47,480. Wow! TICK.