How To Manifest your Desires by Making a Vision Board

Planning my Third Act and my Transition from Qatar to Thailand Using Vision Boards

As I plan my international move from Qatar to Thailand for my third act as a retiree, I have used a number of planning tools.  I describe them here, here, here, and here.

• I picked a word for the year: Transition.  
• I reflected on the goal setting words I chose for 2019.  Had they worked?  
• I listed all the things I did in 2019.   All 108 of them.  
• And, using the Sunday Summits for 2019, I closed the loops on pending projects. 

In June 2019, I created a vision board to help me get through my last year as a Clinical Professor of Law at Qatar University College of Law.  As an organizing technique, I used the nine quadrants of the Feng Shui Bagua Map.  The vision board included:

• financial goals and tasks, 
• the need to update my internet presence to reflect a change in location and employment, 
• recognition of the relationships that would help me make the transition, including professional advisers, friends, and family,
• a list the health-related items I wanted to address before departure while I still had cheap, high-quality, employer-sponsored health insurance,
• recognition of the joy my students had created for me,
• unfinished business, including opportunities that never got my time, attention, or resources, especially an effort to build a mediation community in Qatar. 
• wellness activities that would help me handle the stress of the transition.

It also included images reflecting my role as a leader, which will find expression even in retirement.  It included many affirmations that captured my emotions, aspirations, and resilience.   As it turns out, it captures many aspects of my life in Qatar and will continue to bring forth fond memories of my five years here.

This past week-end, I created a new vision board.  This time I focused on the transition to Thailand.   I chose a taller shape that seemed to suggest a transition from bottom to top.

I used large background photos of a map of Thailand, Thai food, a temple, monks praying before a golden Buddha, the mountain landscape around Chiang Mai, elephants, and an umbrella maker.

On the left side, I included a monthly countdown with images of the things I still needed to do:

• Change my email address on any accounts using my university email account.
• Transfer important emails to a format I could preserve on my external hard drive.
• Get a police report from Qatar in case I need it later.
• Get a letter from my doctor showing that I don't have any exotic diseases like elephantiasis.
• Obtain a Thai visa.
• Make a one-way plane reservation to Chiang Mai.
• Get an estimate on the cost of shipping my home furnishings.
• Reserve AirBnB housing for the time I will be waiting for my home furnishings to arrive by ship, and I will be looking for a 3-bedroom house to rent.
• Establish and fund a Schwab International account so I can be reimbursed for ATM fees in Thailand, and I can transfer 401k and Social Security payments to an easily accessible account. 
• Sell my current SUV.  Do some scratch repair on it first.
• Get a few more passport photos. 
• Retrieve my workout equipment from the gym.
• Continue to move  computer files and photos to DropBox.
• Buy some additional furniture to furnish the 3-bedroom house I plan to rent.
• Complete my 2019 tax return. 
• Move the items I have in storage in the US to a new location. 
• Buy a new computer.
• Print and scan copies of 2020 bank statements, payroll information, and other financial records. 
• Pack.  
• Find a friend who will put me up for a day or two until I fly out.

As I complete each task, I will put a star sticker on the image related to that task.  In short, while it operates as a manifestation tool, it also serves a project management tool.  

As with my earlier vision board, I included a number of quotes and affirmations, but the focus of them had shifted.  They spoke of the role older people play in society.  They reminded me of the purpose of this third stage of life in my own growth as a human being.  In the middle of the board, I included quotes from Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Big Magic, about pursuing a life of productive creativity.  I have discussed her book here and here. 

Towards the bottom, the affirmations focus on the new life I want to create.  This part of the vision board shows a map of Chaing Mai and its bus system, air quality data, the vehicle I plan to buy, and the house I hope to rent.  

It has images of the wellness activities I plan to pursue: massage, reiki, yoga, meditation, and the gym.  It shows an older woman in a bikini on a beach.   It mentions the new blog I plan to create and monetize. 

In creating a vision board, you can use poster board, but I wanted something more durable.  So, I built my vision boards on stretched canvas that I bought at an art supply store. 

For more information about creating a vision board, I recommend Christine Kane's tutorial.