Vision boards are these Long Islanders' key to a successful year. Here's how to make your own

Many people wouldn’t dream of exploring a new area without a GPS to guide them to their destination. And Amanda Fludd, a psychotherapist and wellness consultant who practices in Lynbrook, says people shouldn’t start their year without a vision board to do the same.

“The vision board is like a GPS for your life and for your year. It’s your individual plan for the better life you want,” says Fludd, who runs an annual workshop with fellow Lynbrook psychotherapist Katiuscia Gray.

A vision board is a collage, a collection of words and images the creator cuts out of magazines that represent their intentions and goals. That board can then be hung in a bedroom or office where the creator sees it regularly.

“Some people think that it’s ‘woo-woo’ that you’re putting it out there and this magical thing is going to happen,” Gray says. “You’re not just putting it out in the universe, you’re taking actual small steps to get there.”

VISIONS OF HEALTH, CAREER, FAMILY, TRAVEL

Maria Walker, 28, a teacher’s assistant from Wantagh, makes a vision board every year. This year she attends a workshop held at P.F. Chang’s in Huntington Station.

“It just helps me set positive intentions for the year ahead,” Walker says. “Last year I wrote ‘start my master’s.’ I actually just started grad school. It was a big accomplishment for me.” She’s studying special education at St. Joseph’s in Patchogue, and on her current vision board she is manifesting getting a full teaching job.

Sarah Baecher, 33, owner of Luna Blue Events, runs the workshop Walker attends. She provides boards in a variety of shapes — this time one 8½ by 11 and the other in the shape of a heart — as well as magazines including National Geographic and Vanity Fair, scissors and glue dots. She also includes stickers with words of affirmation such as, “I am free of all limiting beliefs,” or “I am unaffected by the judgment of others.” Baecher hands out a form with a list of eight categories to consider, including career, health, home, family, spirituality and bucket list.

People don’t need to go to a workshop to make a vision board. Gray and Fludd encourage families to create their own event at home, with each family member making his or her own individual board and then the family creating one together for family goals.

Parents might discover something new about their child — perhaps they’ll paste a saxophone on their board and say they’d like to learn to play it. Maybe for the family board, there’s an image of a family on vacation. “Then there’s great conversation. ‘How can we support you with your goals?’ Or ‘How do we do this as a family?’ ” Fludd says.

BE REALISTIC

Gray encourages workshop participants to set realistic goals. “Don’t focus on a big, ginormous goal. What are the chances of you winning a million dollars?” she says. Instead, focus on what is attainable.

Say you want a promotion in the coming year. Cut out the word promotion. Find a picture of a fancy desk, or an office with a door instead of a cubicle. “Maybe I need a clock because I’m always late, and if I’m late I’m not going to get that promotion,” Fludd says. “The visual is what makes it very powerful.”

When creating her vision board at the Luna Blue workshop, Molly Reese Lerner, 36, a recruiter from Centerport, includes pictures of a sailboat and of an electric mixer. She says the sailboat symbolizes the adventures she hopes to have in the coming year and the mixer is because she wants to get back into baking.

Melissa Biazzo, 28, of Port Washington, who works in merchandise operations support, plasters text saying, “C’mon, Get Healthy!” across the top of her board. “I just joined a gym, so we’ll see if it continues,” she says.

Biazzo came with her mother, Maureen Biazzo, 59, an executive assistant from Lynbrook. The elder Biazzo turns 60 this year and wants to visit Italy to celebrate. Alaska might also be on the calendar. “I found a map of Alaska,” she says. “I’m all excited. I’ve got to figure out where to put it.” She also adds a racket to her board because she wants to try pickleball.

Liz Fiore, 43, of Cold Spring Harbor, who runs workshops monthly through vision board company Vibe & Shine, says there’s a science behind the concept of a vision board. “A vision board is a tool that you use in order to rewire your brain, to be able to attract what it is you want,” she says.

“I have heard that there’s actual science behind it,” says the younger Biazzo. She plans to hang her board in her apartment. “Just looking at it every day will keep certain things that I want fresh in my mind. I’ll see if it works, but I’m trying to give it the benefit of the doubt.”

By Beth Whitehouse

beth.whitehouse@newsday.comBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.