Tranquil Topics
Are you someone who strives to be the best version of yourself? Then Tranquil Topics is the podcast for you! Hosted by Stephanie Graham, this wellbeing podcast delves into the realms of self-development and spirituality. On her own journey of personal growth, Stephanie shares valuable insights and tips she wishes she had known earlier in life, believing that sharing this goodness with the world can make a difference, one episode at a time.
Each episode explores a variety of topics centered around mindset, wellbeing, and spirituality, offering thoughtful discussions and practical advice to help you enhance your approach to life. Tune in to Tranquil Topics and embark on a path to a more tranquil and fulfilling life.
Tranquil Topics
Vision Boards: From Dreams to Reality
Vision boards offer so much more than pretty pictures on a page—they're powerful psychological tools that can fundamentally reshape how we approach our goals and dreams. This episode explores the strategy behind effective vision boards while weaving in authentic stories of transformation.
What exactly makes vision boards work? It's not magic or manifestation alone—it's the beautiful marriage between visualization psychology and focused action. By creating visual representations of our deepest aspirations, we're effectively training our minds to recognize opportunities aligned with our goals. The images we choose matter less than the emotions they evoke—that magical blend of excitement and healthy fear that propels us forward even when challenges arise.
Special guest Dave Holt from DH360 Fitness joins us to share his remarkable journey with vision boards. Years ago, he created a quadrant-style vision board featuring his dream house, car, vacation destination, and financial goals. Looking back, he discovered he had achieved virtually all these aspirations, sometimes in surprisingly specific ways. Dave's story highlights a crucial insight: goals that slightly scare you are often the ones most worth pursuing, pushing you beyond your comfort zone into genuine growth.
Whether you prefer the tactile satisfaction of cutting magazine images or the convenience of digital collages, your vision board serves as a daily reminder of what truly matters to you. Place it somewhere you'll see regularly, spend time visualizing yourself already achieving these goals, and—most importantly—take consistent action toward making them reality. Vision boards aren't passive wish lists; they're strategic roadmaps for intentional living. Ready to craft yours and transform those dreams into achievements? This episode shows you exactly how to begin.
If you wish to connect with Dave, please use the details below:
Instagram: @dh360fitness
LinkedIn: Dave Holt
Email: daveholtpt@hotmail.co.uk
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Hello, welcome back to Tranquil Topics. I'm your host, steph, and this week I want to talk to you about vision boards. The reason is I am feeling very, very aware of my future. As most of you know, I'm studying human physiology at the moment and I have about two months left of uni, and for the past well, all year actually, but for the past three weeks I have been really really focusing on getting my dissertation written up. It's been a really long process and, I'm not gonna lie, I'm ready to hand that in. I just want it done now so I can have my life back. Many of you know that I'm a huge neuroscience fan. I discovered this whilst I was at university. I was lucky enough to get a project where I was able to research Alzheimer's disease, so the handing date for it is actually the day that this podcast goes out, so wish me luck. I'm so, so ready to have it done and to just refocus. So I want to talk about vision boards this week, and the reason is they are such a powerful tool for goal setting as well as personal development. We had Dave Holt from 360 Fitness with us on the last episode and he spoke to us about gut health, and he kindly agreed to record a snippet for this episode because he is a huge fan of vision boards, so I will play that towards the end of the episode. But it was really. It was really interesting to speak to him about his success stories through using vision boards to achieve his goals.
Speaker 1:So what is a vision board? We use a vision board to create a visual representation of our goals. So these can be to give us motivation, to give us inspiration and even use them as a tool to increase our self-belief, increase our self-confidence that we can achieve what we dream of and you can. You can absolutely achieve anything you put your mind to. There's different types of vision boards, so you can use a physical or a digital one. What I did was I created on a word document, I put quotes and pictures together and then I just printed it off. But you can actually cut things out of magazines, newspapers, whatever you want. If you find something, you find a picture, you can stick it down and make it really personal. You could. Even if you're really good at art, you could draw, and I'm not, so I will not be doing that. You can also use digital ones in terms of Instagram. If you have Instagram. You can make a private page and post pictures of your goals so you can see them every day. I know there's apps that you can create free pictures, from where you can have as many pictures as you want and it merges them together and you can set that as a background on your phone.
Speaker 1:But the vision boards help with goal setting and achievement, and this is so. We have a main focus, so there's increased psychological benefits from using vision boards. You can have increased motivation, increased focus, you can gain clarity on your purpose and how you want to achieve these goals, and if you're aiming towards something, you will gravitate towards it, whether that's consciously or subconsciously. So having a vision board there is just to cement that for you and to keep it at the forefront of your mind. Obviously, one of the main things to do whilst you're making a vision board is to define your goals and aspirations. So, for example, you could do a vision board specifically career focused. You could have a specific health focused one, relationship focused, and if you're struggling to think of what to put on your vision board, start off by thinking of a really good memory from your life. The point of this is to just raise your vibration and put yourself in a positive mindset and go from there exploring your visualizations and see what pops up when you think of what you want in your future. Again, you can go through each area in your mind career, family, even hobbies. Is there something you've wanted to try but you haven't done that yet, anything at all? Whilst you're in this positive mindset, write them down. I would advise, if you're unsure about what to put on your vision board, after doing this exercise, go and visit what you've written down the next day and do it again, because the things you put on your vision board is what you want to achieve and bring into your life. So just let your mind go where it wants to go and you might be surprised what comes into your mind, but just pay attention to it.
Speaker 1:So, for example, on my vision boards I have two at the moment. I have a fitness one and on my fitness one I've got pictures of myself from a few years ago. I've got pictures of celebrities for inspiration. I have quotes to keep me motivated, be motivated. And my second vision board is all about my podcast and on that is again quotes about success and motivation. I've written my why on there, the whole reason that I started this podcast and why it means so much to me. I have a photo of myself on the beach as a kid. That was just to remind me of how far I've come from everything I've been through in school. I've been really open with that on the podcast. My confidence was severely impacted from primary school and high school and I wouldn't wish that on anybody. But I use that picture as a reminder to be proud of myself, to see where I've come from, because if someone had said to me you will be hosting your own podcast, I would have laughed in their face. There was no way I would have ever thought I'd be able to do that because of all the issues I face with confidence. But here I am. I'm doing it and I now have a full vision board dedicated to my podcast.
Speaker 1:So whatever you do with making a vision board whether that's digital or physical just make sure you have inspiring images on there that resonate with you and be specific about your goals. You can include a mix of short-term or long-term goals. You could even have two separate vision boards for that, if you wish and make it visually appealing and inspiring. So I don't know what they're called, but I took a test which was about what sort of learner you are, and it wasn't very helpful for me because I actually came. I came out pretty even across all the types, so I'm just a bit of everything, but I know some people are visual learners. So if you are a visual learner, a vision board would be amazing for you to keep your focus on your goals. And then you need to find some way of integrating this vision board into your daily routine, so that's placing it somewhere you'll see it regularly. You can spend a few minutes each day visualizing your goals. For example, my fitness vision board is on the inside of my wardrobe. I see that every day. My podcast one is with my computer and use it as a reminder to take actionable steps towards your goal.
Speaker 1:If you find that you're struggling creating your vision board or even using your vision board, it may be that the goals you have put down have a lack of clarity around them, and what I mean from that is, if I talk about fear and excitement, those are two very strong emotions, so you want healthy fear around your goals. You want to be able to feel the fear and have a level of excitement behind it, and you do it anyway and that you don't put any blocks on yourself. It's not coming from a place of desperation. So if you can think about your goals and your dreams and they scare you a little bit and they bring out excitement in you, that is a positive sign. And vision boards aren't a magic solution. They are there for us to combine with consistent effort, consistent action and to ensure that there's movement, because when we stop moving with our goals, you're not getting anywhere. Even if it's a tiny thing, every day, you need to make these small steps. Even if it's that you do a meditation on success, you are training your mind to believe in yourself and training it to believe that you are capable.
Speaker 1:Use visualization techniques. See yourself in that situation, having that thing, and then revisit your vision board and see what are the actual steps. Do I need to put something else on there as like a midway step before I get to the end goal? A lot of the benefits of vision boards do link in with visualisation, so it allows us to see our goals regularly, keep a reminder of them and help get them into our reality. So before I play the clip that we recorded with Dave on his success story from using vision boards.
Speaker 1:I'm just going to recap the main points discussed today. So vision boards can be physical or digital. They're used to identify your goals and actionable steps. Make sure you find images and quotes that speak to you and resonate with you and enhance the feeling of excitement when you think about your goals.
Speaker 1:Put your vision board somewhere. You'll see it every day. You do not have to show anybody. If you don't want to, you can put it on your phone, laptop or you can print it out. You could keep it in your purse wherever you want it. See it every day and make sure you put yourself in the position of feeling that you already have them and you can revise it at any point. And, of course, I'd love to hear from you, if you want to share, on how using vision boards has impacted your own life and any progress you've made and goals achieved through using them. So here is a conversation with Dave Holt about his success stories from using vision boards. So, dave, I know that you are a fan of vision boards. Can I ask what inspired you to start using vision boards?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got into the whole. It was my self-development, so I didn't really know much too. I didn't know too much about it, believe it or not. I wasn't the most confident, especially when I started this job personal training I wasn't the most confident going up to speaking to people this job, personal training I wasn't the most confident going up to speaking to people. There was a lot of barriers and limiting beliefs and was I good enough? Could I do it?
Speaker 2:And then part of the training where I worked at the time it was self-development and within that there was well, what are your goals? So then you discuss your goals, why it's important to you, like why do you want it? And that's where it started for me. So I was like well, I want to do a vision board on what I want to do with my career, how I see it unfolding, and do I want to earn a certain amount of money? Is there a certain thing that you're interested in, like holidays or cars? You can put that on there. And yeah, that gave me a bit of a focus. It was coming from a self-development point of view. So trying to grow my personal training business or my career, if we're talking about a good, 15 years ago, maybe slightly longer, I got into it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, that's where it all came around and are you able to share a specific goal that you've achieved using your vision board?
Speaker 2:yeah, definitely. Um, so yeah, as we've discussed in the past, like I, for some reason I like, I liked a quadrant setting. So I had four pictures. It was a picture of a house, it was a picture of a car, it was a picture of a holiday resort and it was a picture of money, and they all represented something that I wanted to achieve.
Speaker 2:At the time I didn't have a house. I wanted to get onto the property ladder and, like you, do you want to buy a house and then to get that you need a certain amount of money or a certain amount of salary or income that makes you can afford that. Um, and there was a car on there as well, and anybody knows me, I'm a bit of a car geek, so that was a huge driver for me, that having a nice car or what I wanted to on a house. That was how I seen it as a quadrant style. And then, within all that, you break it down.
Speaker 2:So why is it important? What do you do on a? It basically comes down to the answers lie in your daily routine. So what is the daily routine looking like for you? That as the year, weeks, months, years go by? You're bettering yourself in your career, you're earning more money, you're potentially getting to the point where you can buy a house and you can have a nice car and you can have a nice holiday. That was my, that was kind of my journey. The money represented my business and my career. I wanted to earn a certain amount and then how that looked, how many clients you'd need to have and how many hours of personal training that I'd have to do that was kind of it.
Speaker 1:And when was it that you realised that it was on your vision board, but it was actually in your life now as well? Do you remember realizing that like, oh, this is actually happening yeah, it was because I had it on my.
Speaker 2:It was a picture. I had it on my blackberry and going back some time though aren't blackberries, jesus, um and then it's when I made the switch to an iphone, and then you lose it, but in the back of my mind I could, I can picture the, the house, the car, the holiday, the money, etc. I think I was rooting for something like in the galleries, like loads of paperwork, and I came across. It was back then. Obviously we used to use paper when we were studying. So I came across the, the goal setting sheets and the what you had to do, and it was how it was all laid out. And I was like I wonder where that picture is and the what you had to do. And it was how it was all laid out and I was like I wonder where that picture is and I couldn't find it. I think it was on a pen stick. But it was that moment when we were I was clearing out some stuff and I found all the paperwork and I was like, do you know what I'm actually living in? That that kind of house, what I've got now? So it's a.
Speaker 2:It was a right-sided, semi-detached house with a drive and that's what I have currently. There was a certain car on there which, believe it or not, I drive. It's not a 4x4 one, but my wife has a 4x4. I've got a the same. I've got the brand which was on there and, yeah, my earnings have gone up some since I started doing this. It's probably gone past what the original amount was. So, yeah, it was. It's quite interesting how it. You don't really see it all the time, but in the back of my mind it was there and it not. Like I said, it wasn't until I I found the paperwork and what I was writing down and it was in what we used when we was training. Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it it's really interesting.
Speaker 1:I love hearing stories like this, and I like one thing about it is, like you say so, about being specific, because when you mentioned the car, you got the brand, but your wife's got the 4x4, so it's like yeah, it was a.
Speaker 2:It taught me to be specific. It was a. It was a BMW 4x4. So my wife has a 4x4, I drive a BMW now. So, yeah, and it's my second BMW. It's, yeah, it's. It is random, it's crazy, it is and it's not quite. It's. Um, and the color in the picture as well, was black and obviously mine's dark gray. So I kind of think, well, it's, it's not red or it's not blue, is it?
Speaker 1:it's kind of it's similar yeah so it's close to me, it's close enough yeah, I think I know some people call them vision boards, action boards, whatever you know, whatever suits you like. Some people think it's manifestation, others think it's just narrowing your focus to achieve, but either way, if you achieve your goals by using one, I don't think it matters. But one thing that I'm just aware of is being specific with things that you put on there, because you don't want to attract something else. Do you know what I mean? Yeah yeah, I wanted that.
Speaker 2:I wanted that exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, the mine was like uh, mine was very specific so when it came to creating yours, can you just talk us through? I know you said you had four photos on it and how did you go about creating it? Was it um, like physical? Was it on your phone?
Speaker 2:it was on my phone, yes, so obviously, just going on google um, right move screenshot in a house and then using like a collage app, putting it on my phone, and yeah, it was. Uh, it's on my screensaver on my phone. Yeah, it was at the time and I have one now. So obviously when my phone's locked I've got a picture of my daughter on there. But then when you open it, it's got my goals on it. So, or it's got the quadrant style vision board. Yeah, and it's been.
Speaker 2:I've slightly sorry, I've slightly updated it as well. Obviously, career-wise, I wouldn't say I've made it or I've achieved it. I've just I've moved the goalposts further and I've kind of raised the bar for myself. Hence the kind of journey like breaking out, going online and trying to push myself, get myself outside my comfort zone and kind of push it a bit further. And there's still a house on there. It's a, it's a bigger house, it's a kind of a dream house and it kind of scares me, to be honest, because, like I think, I think your goals have to scare you, don't they?
Speaker 2:yeah because it it whips you into shape a little bit, thinking you can't, you can't take your foot off the gas daily. So there's a and it's kind of the same. Actually there's a better car on, it's a bigger house and there's a bigger monetary goal on there as well. So, yeah, I kind of still use the same format, just it's got better pictures on it or what you, what you would say, is a little bit more expensive okay, I was actually going to ask how often do you update or revise your vision board?
Speaker 2:I did it last year actually, because obviously, doing the first podcast for yourself last year and then currently on the second one, and then we're thinking about well, how do I branch out now my business wise and it's growing. That so it was was literally last. I think it was christmas 2023, uh, 24. Sorry, because I was like I'm going into a new year, it's a big year, I'm turning 40, so I've not got time on my hands or youth on my side anymore, so I need to push on and kick on progress myself. So it was the Christmas time about a year, a year and a bit ago, so maybe 15 months ago, and then that's my current vision board now okay, I know some people think, oh, I'm going to make a vision board for this year or for, like, the next six months.
Speaker 1:I suppose that's individual, isn't it? As to what your goals are as well?
Speaker 2:yeah, it could be. Your vision board could be a well in my line of work. It could be a weight loss goal, like if you need to lose a couple of stone, you could put a picture on there of I don't know if you're, if there's a certain actress, actor, sports person that you think I would quite like their figure, physique, it could be that it could be a certain weight you want to get to, so you could put a number in it. And so, let's say, you weigh 12 stone and you want to be 10 stone. If you constantly see in 10 stone every day on your vision board, will you subconsciously make the decisions that will move you towards that goal? It might be a bit direct, it might be indirect, I don't know, but I think when it's like we say, if it's on your radar and you're aware of it, yeah, you can use it for anything. I don't think there's a right or wrong. It's what's personal to yourself and what will motivate you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a fitness board, let's go with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a fitness board and I don't think you can title it. There's no specific title for it, it's yours. So you call it whatever you want to call it, because there's no point in me picking a title for yours because you'll be like, that doesn't mean nothing, it doesn't sit with me. So make it as individual as you want, specific as you want, call it what you want, it's yours. And then sometimes telling people about it as well. So, yeah, I shown one of my best mates it and he was like that's a bit, that's a bit much, and I was like, well, now I've put it out there, I'm gonna have to do it. So I did that for the accountability side as well I really and I was talking to him about it.
Speaker 2:So I was like, yeah, these are my goals, mate, this is what I'm working towards. And then, yeah, so I used that for the accountability side because you don't want to talk about it and not take action, do you?
Speaker 1:exactly? Did you notice any changes in your mindset or your motivation from making a vision board?
Speaker 2:yeah, because it's. I think you need a goal, don't you? And having a purpose in life and a goal, something to aim towards. But yeah, I'd say I'm quite focused, I'm quite driven. I know there's definitely an increase in motivation and drive currently, I think because I'm pursuing something quite big and it's quite scary. Yeah, I don't have the days where I think I can't be bothered, like I don't have them. I'm quite focused and determined and I wouldn't say I lack that. Maybe it is because I've got a quite a big goal. I don't ever wake up and think I can't be bothered. Today I'm up and I'm I'm at it. My alarm goes off at five o'clock and I'm up and I'm out of bed six days a week. That's my own personal, my own personal one.
Speaker 1:I think it is important to have goals that scare you, like you say, because yeah you've heard that quote about um. Growth is on the other side of your comfort zone. Recently I've been facing stuff that I'm like, oh god, it makes me feel sick that I'm doing this, but you have to do it anyway, because otherwise you stay stagnant, don't you stay in the same place?
Speaker 2:yeah, that kind of scares me as well. I think, um, for me, if I don't, staying stagnant is a backward step and I don't like that doesn't sit well with me. So, yeah, I'm constantly thinking about moving forward and not staying stagnant.
Speaker 1:What are the current goals that you've got on your most recent vision board, then?
Speaker 2:It's my business one. So obviously, branching out online doing stuff like this I'm kind of like this is quite a bit outside my comfort zone. I'm not really one for being out there at the front in the spotlight, kind of thing, but I can't just sit in a gym and just train people one to one. I have to branch out and do content and put yourself out there and hopefully build an online business as well as a one toone business. So that's currently my goals. It's more branching out online supporting people remotely, wherever they are in the world, building stuff to support that. So that's my business one. It's like a bit of an extension of what I do.
Speaker 2:But online supporting people, food training that's my work, one which then it doesn't use. And again, it's leveraging your time. So I want to leverage my time more so, then, when I have down times in the afternoon or the weekends, when I'm at home because I'm up early, I want to utilize that time well and productively. So I'm not just lying in bed till 10 o'clock on a sunday morning. I'm always up early and bed till 10 o'clock on a sunday morning. I'm always up early and if I could fit a couple of hours working online there, that's using my time wisely and that's going to only going to help run my business and would you be able to tell the listeners what your business is and how they can find you?
Speaker 2:yeah, so my business is dh360 fitness. You can find me on instagram, linkedin and yeah, it's helping people, supporting people on their fitness journey. Put content out there which on food training, advice, sleep recovery, supplements, it's I kind of have that full spectrum. So 300 the 360 came from. You can't just look at training and nutrition. We have to look at sleep and stress and hormones and gut health and sunlight, hydration and life's problems. So that's kind of where that name come from.
Speaker 1:I will link all of that in the show notes so people can find you. But thank you so much for sharing.
Speaker 2:It's really interesting pleasure, not a problem it is into. I I'm a huge believer in that and yeah, um, the secret's a good read. We mentioned we've talked about the book yeah, by ronda byrne yeah, that, um, I'm also a big fan of tony robbins. Um, that was a big one.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you've heard of him I've heard of of him, but I don't know his work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's like breaking, yeah. So obviously we all have limiting beliefs, don't we so false expectations appearing real, we write ourselves off, we're not confident, we believe these certain things which don't exist, and then we go into that shutdown mode, don't we? And we don't put ourselves out there and express ourselves. There are a couple of things there for people to maybe have a look at might help them out.
Speaker 1:Brilliant. Thanks so much, Dave.
Speaker 2:Pleasure.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for listening. You can follow me on Instagram at Tranquil Topics, and if you have enjoyed this episode, please do leave a rating or review, as it will help me to reach more people and I'll be back in two weeks time with another episode. Bye, thank you.