Whether you’re just beginning to know where to get magazines for your vision board or you’re a seasoned vision board maker, we hope that scientific information about the power of mental imagery will help you understand you’re on the right track.
In this article, we’ll talk about why visuals are an effective way to manifest your dream life and help you find the best resources to get magazines for your vision board-making journey.
MENTAL IMAGERY AND THE POWER OF VISUALS
You may have read or heard about it before, athletes visualizing scoring a goal to win a championship, Olympians meditating about their next moves, and CEOs dreaming about innovative products and decisions that changed the world.
Mental imagery, the act of envisioning an object, scene, or event in your mind without physical stimuli, has been known to boost performance, increase confidence, and even reduce depression and anxiety.
So what does this have to do with the Law of Attraction and vision boards? Well, mental imagery is a form of visualization, which helps you achieve everything you have on your dream board, as well as positively impact your life.
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ANYONE CAN LEARN MENTAL IMAGERY
Did you know that 3% of the world’s population suffers from aphantasia? Aphantasia is the phenomenon known as the inability to create a visual experience when the physical object is not there. In other words, aphantasia is the inability to create mental imagery.
Unless you suffer from this condition, you have the ability to visualize objects, scenes, and events in your head. You may not be even aware of it most of the time, but once you realize the power of visual imagery, you will be amazed at how it can help you attract the very life you’ve been dreaming of.
BENEFITS OF MENTAL IMAGERY
Visuals have the power to evoke emotions. Whenever you see a picture of a car crash, a fire, or a natural disaster, what kind of emotions do you feel? Sadness, fear, anger? Just as these negative pictures evoke negative emotions, positive images can also evoke positive emotions.
You can use positive visuals to help shift your mindset from a place of negativity to a place of growth and positivity.
Here are some of the benefits of mental imagery in achieving goals:
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BOOSTS MOTIVATION
A picture of a successful man or woman can show you that it’s possible to achieve success. Positive visuals show you what’s possible if you work hard for it, helping you picture success in your mind.
Because you know what success looks like, you will become inspired and motivated to get started and keep going, so you, too, can achieve the success you’re looking for.
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IMPROVES PERFORMANCE
Mental imagery has been known to improve the performance of athletes, students about to take exams, and public speakers. This is because imagining success helps train the brain to expect situations in advance, prepare for real-life situations, and give you the tools you need to respond in a way that leads to positive outcomes.
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REDUCES ANXIETY
Not knowing about the future can be anxiety-provoking. Not knowing if you got the job you interviewed for, not knowing if you’re going to win a game, and not knowing if you’ll get the money you need to pay rent can negatively impact your mental state.
Mental imagery, however, has been known to reduce anxiety because it helps build confidence and focus. When you constantly think about a positive outcome, any negativity will be washed away, and what’s left is an excitement of the anticipation of winning, having money, and getting that dream job.
USING MENTAL IMAGERY FOR VISUALIZATION
Now that you know what mental imagery is and the benefits it provides, let’s talk about how you can use it for your Law of Attraction practice.
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VISION BOARDS
The best way to use pictures to manifest your goals is the use of vision boards. Collecting images of what you want to attract in your life and making a collage of your dreams, putting it on a board, and mounting it on a wall where you get to see it every day is one of the best ways to take advantage of the power of images.
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VISUALIZATION
Making a vision board is not enough. You need to practice visualization techniques to harness the power of visuals.
Studies have shown that repeated exposure to positive imagery increases a more positive mindset and can even induce a positive mood.
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JOURNALING
If you can’t make a vision board right now, try writing down your goals and adding pictures in a journal. You don’t have to make a dream board right away, simply putting pictures and images on a piece of paper or notebook and practicing visualization is enough to reap the benefits of visuals.
Visuals are what our brain craves, so feeding it stimuli that it can process immediately and effectively is the key to helping us achieve our goals, improve our mood, and positively impact our lives.
WHERE TO GET MAGAZINES FOR YOUR VISION BOARD
If you’ve never made a vision board before, don’t worry, we’ve got tips to help you find inexpensive or even free magazines you can use for your mental imagery practice.
Here are the best places to get affordable and/or free magazines for your vision board-making activity:
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DON’T BUY, JUST ASK
You don’t need to buy the latest issues of magazines to get visuals for your vision board. You can ask your friends or family if they have old magazines or back issues. You can also ask your doctor/dentist’s office, or salon if they have any extra magazines.
These offices and establishments usually have magazines in their lounge or waiting areas for clients and customers to read. If they have a few they need to throw out, try asking so you can get magazines for free.
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TRY THRIFT STORES
Goodwill usually has cheap magazines for sale or other thrift stores. You can also try Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. You can try posting on social media, asking if anyone is selling their old magazines or if they want to declutter and need to dispose of old magazines for free.
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GET A SUBSCRIPTION
If you want to use new issues for your vision board, it’s better to subscribe annually rather than buy a new one each month. Some publications offer $5 for 12 issues a year, but if you buy only one issue, they can cost just as much, so you’ll be saving tons if you buy the subscription.
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DOWNLOAD ONLINE
If you don’t want to use a physical magazine, you can opt to download images online and print the pictures you need. You can try Pinterest, Google Images, and even free clipart sites, free photo sites, and other online sources.
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VISION BOARD MAGAZINE KITS
If you don’t want to collect magazines and spend time flipping through the pages to find pictures for your vision board, try vision board magazines or books. These are designed to be used specifically for dream boards, so they contain images that resonate with common goals, such as personal finance, material possessions, travel, love and relationships, and so much more.
The Vision Cloud’s Vision Board Magazine Kit is a great product as it has all the things you need to make a vision board, plus a magazine that contains over 500 images you can cut out for your board.
