Social media in general is blamed for being one of the biggest distractions in our lives. But it’s a distraction only because of the way we use, or shall we say, misuse it. Pinterest in particular can become your ally in enhancing your overall productivity and improving your life.
How? Simple answer: the power of images.
Sports coaches, life coaches, teachers, educators, and anyone else who wants to inspire themselves, psyche themselves up, or drill a goal into their subconscious all understand the power of visual images and use
(Image credit: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/90916486201718292/)
Whether you want to lose weight, win a championship, write a novel, or improve your business, you can benefit from this in many ways.
The visual medium is extremely strong. The vision board you create (which is essentially what Pinterest is) will serve as a strong reminder every single day about your goals. This constant exposure to the images of where you want to be will percolate down to your subconscious and make you instinctively do things and cultivate habits and thought patters that will take you there.
Does it work?
Yes. But it depends on how badly you want something to happen. If you are ready for the change, Pinterest is a great way to make it happen via your phone or tablet.
Here’s how.
Create Area-Specific Boards
(Image credit: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/178173728981903482/)
Determine the areas in life that you want to improve in.
Merely saying I want to stop wasting time, improve my productivity, and be the best person I can be may not give you the clarity you need for focused action.
In which areas do you want to become more productive?
- At work?
- In your studies?
- With your fitness goals?
- With your personal creative work?
- Do you want to learn a new skill?
- Try out a new hobby?
Home in on your priorities.
Next, determine the goals you want to achieve by the end of a couple of months in each of these areas. Be as clear as possible, and then create goal-specific boards on Pinterest.
Populate Your Boards with Inspirational Images
Scour the web for images and quotes that inspire you and are directly related to your goals for now. Pin them (or upload them) to your boards on Pinterest.
To give you an example, let’s say one of your goals for 2014 was to become a better and more inspiring coach/trainer. You can create Pinterest boards filled with images that offer you practical tips to make this happen. Put together sound and executable expert advice (in the form of charts, quotes, book excerpts, or simply images of successful trainers) that will take you closer to your goal.
(Image credit: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/539095017866993014/)
You will find plenty of material on the Internet for you to pin to your boards but we don’t want big numbers here. We want our boards to stay relevant and manageable. No point in populating your boards with hundreds of images and then forgetting all about them.
All the images you choose should speak to you in some way or the other. This will only happen when there are fewer of them, and when you have chosen them wisely. I’d say stop at 50 or 60 per board but the exact number will depend on the person.
Some need a big variety to get their imagination going, others prefer to let one or two images bore into their minds.
You should have a good idea of what inspires you, but at the same time doesn’t overwhelm you to the point that it becomes a distraction instead of a tool aiding your purpose. The aim is to put together a relevant and inspiring board, not create a board for the sake of it or to find any followers.
Go through Your Boards Twice a Day
Once you have awesome and inspiring boards ready, go through them at least twice a day. More if you can find the time to. Spend ten minutes going through each board, or go through one board each day, whichever works for you better. Soak in the images, let them strengthen your desire for change, and keep looking at them till they have imprinted themselves on your mind.
Some people find meditating on images helpful. Keep the entire process effortless but be disciplined with it.
These images will serve as reminders through the day about the changes you need to make in your routine to achieve your goals and keep you on track with accountability. They will help you fight listlessness and negativity.
With time the number of lapses will go down and you will find yourself subconsciously doing more of that which you should be doing to achieve your goals.
Once you have made the desired changes, or developed a new habit to the extent that it becomes your second nature, you can move on to other areas of life that you want to change/improve and keep creating new boards as per your needs.
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