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A slapped together vision board still works

A slapped together vision board still works

Kirk Duncan
January 16, 2025

I tried to write this week's email in a short version, but I just couldn’t do it.
This is too good.
So here we go.

“I have to see it to believe it”
That actually is a true statement.
But maybe not in the context that you think it’s referring to.

What’s wrong with me?
I will never forget the day, 18 years ago, when I was kneeling next to my bed, in the middle of the day, begging God to save my sorry soul from the disaster I was making in my life. There I was, asking for the same thing I had asked for last week….”what am I supposed to do to pay my house payment? I need money and I don’t have food and I am tired of receiving donations from others…..what’s wrong with me?”

I had left my salary job hoping to build my own business and I was failing fast and hard. We had some money from the sale of our home but the money was going away quickly. This was it, do I give up and go back and get a job? Maybe I wasn’t cut out for this business owner thing?

In the middle of my prayer I got a message. I figure it was from God cuz that’s who I was reaching out to. The message came with intense energy…the kind of feeling you get when dad walks in and you haven’t done your chores yet and you know what he’s going to grill you about. The LOUD AND CLEAR message was ....”There’s a part of your mind that isn’t working and you need to activate it, build a vision board and use it every day!!!!”

URGENT!
It was so intense, I immediately jumped up and RAN….I am talking RAN FAST to the garage looking for a cork board…or painters tape…so I could put my goal poster…..my vision board on my bedroom wall. As I ran through the kitchen my son yelled….”WHAT”S WRONG DAD?” “GOD”S GETTING AFTER ME, I HAVE TO DO WHAT HE IS SAYING BEFORE I GET IN TROUBLE!!!”

On the way back from the garage I grabbed the stack of junk mail and started looking for something that I could use as a goal on my slapped together vision board. Found it. A small video camera. Now…I didn't need one, but I had to have some kind of goal, so this will do.

I stood there looking at my messy square taped on the wall. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a blue tape square 2 foot by 3 foot tall and in the middle of it was a small picture of a small video camera. I was in awe…that I finally built this…but I was also seriously doubting that this art project would do anything for me.

So now what?
I looked to the ceiling as though I could address God…asking….so what am I supposed to do with this now?
No answer.

Later that day, my wife comes home...walks in the bedroom…YELLS from the bedroom, “WHAT IS THIS?”
I busted out laughing in the kitchen.
IT”S MY VISION BOARD….it’s going to change our life!
I could hear her laughing in the bedroom…..and then she tells me it doesn’t match her decor and I have to take it down.

NO! It took me forever to get to this point.

“Why is your goal to get a camera?”
“You should put a picture of groceries…or a house payment….or money…not a camera”

Lost
That night I stood there….looking at this picture of this camera on my vision board….wondering…..how does using visualization in my mind get that picture to turn into the real thing and be in my hand? I have no idea how to do this. So I went to bed.

Day 2 - A.M. - Looked at the same picture… no idea what to do.
Day 2 - P.M. - Starred at the picture again for 10 minutes… no idea what to do next.
Day 3 - A.M. - Glanced at picture, no idea what to do
Day 3 - P.M. - Stood there discouraged… why in the heck did God have me do this?
Day 4 - A.M. - sat on the edge of my bed… looking at the picture… wondering what I would use it for?
Day 4 - P.M. - Made sure no one was watching… then I pretended like I was holding the camera, felt weird
Day 5 - A.M. - I opened up the pretend box, and picked up the pretend camera and turned it on
Day 5 - P.M. - While using my pretend camera, I imagined filming my kids at their soccer game
Day 6 - A.M. - I turned on the pretend camera and watched the pretend soccer game, battery died
Day 6 - P.M. - Pretend camera is charged, got to watch the rest of the game, turned it off, put it away
Day 7 - Lady from down the street called and asked if I needed a side job, said yes to tomorrow
Day 7 - P.M. - turned on my pretend camera and made noises like it was really working, went out to the kitchen and filmed the kids…they laughed at me…said I was funny….video my wife, she made faces at me and rolled her eyes, went back into the bedroom and plugged the camera in to charge
Day 8 - A.M. - Laying in bed…I looked at my night stand where the pretend camera sits…wondered how I could use it today, thought of how fun it would be to use it to catch my kids doing funny things
Day 8 - Went down the street to do the side job…finished it….got paid $150…..I started to walk home and stopped in the middle of street….standing there….looking into my hand….I am staring at the exact amount of money I need to purchase that camera….I was in shock…..WHAT? But wait….I should buy groceries…..but wait….I need to finish this Visualization….I need to finish this creation process…..this is it….this is what all this visualization has come to….to create this side job….to create this money…..I have got to go get that camera right now and Finish this process!!! I started running.
Day 8 - Driving to the store, wife in car with me, wife is grilling me wondering why I am spending money on a new camera when we need food. She has every right to be bothered about what I’m doing, financially I haven’t taken care of the family and now I’m using the money I have to buy a video camera? I kept telling her that I need to finish this … If I can figure this out, I will change our families lives forever… this is going to change everything … it will change our whole lives if I can do this again with a different goal … just let me finish this. All the way into the store…she questioned me….she convinced the store guy to not let me buy it…I had to ignore both of them … I picked up the camera box…I was in shock…my hands already knew how this felt…OH MY GOSH!!! The box is in my hand….I got the front to pay for it….I go to the car…..I sit there holding the box…..just staring at the box….we drive home…I walk into my bedroom….I open the box….I hold the camera….I look at the picture….I look at the camera….it’s in my hand….I plug it in to charge it….it’s makes it noises….it’s real…it’s here….I SAW IT before I had it….I saw it in my mind before I had it…..I BELIEVED it before I had it. I reached up to my vision board and pulled the picture of the camera off of my vision board…I did it… it’s finished. IMMEDIATELY…I thought, what do I put on my vision board next?
Day 9 - I put my next picture on my Vision Board… here we go again!

My whole life changed from that starting day with my vision board.
So many successes, so many stories… so many miracles.
I haven’t been able to shut up about this, I tell everyone everywhere I go, USE A VISION BOARD!
So many lives changed forever, all over the world.

He was right!
God was right, that part of my mind wasn’t working.
The visualization function was not being used.
It wasn’t based upon my personality or my upbringing.
Visualization is a function of the mind.
If it’s not activated, it’s not being used.

For the last 18 years I have met countless numbers of people who claim that they can’t visualize.
I teach them that it’s a part of your mind that you have to activate.
It’s not an ON / OFF switch.
You have to USE it….and develop it.

There is a small percentage of people that naturally use it, but the rest of us, like you and me, have to activate it.

So, this email is already long enough.
Next week I will walk you through the steps of activating your visualization.
Don’t miss out on next week’s email.
In the meantime … build your vision board this week.
You can slap it together.
Get painters tape and mark a space on the wall that will be your focus point.
You can also use a cork board or a poster board and even a picture album on your phone.
Keep it easy to use.
I have a cork board in my office.

Cool.
If a goofy kid like me can fumble through this, you have as much as a chance that I did.
It’s ok, we’re learning how our mind works.
Might as well use all of its cool features to make the best of our lives as we can, right?

God’s solution to my issue of having no money wasn’t to give me money, that’s what I thought the solution should be. He is much wiser than all of us together. He knew if I could activate the visualization in my mind and use it to create, the solution would produce 1,000,000x more than money for a house payment.

I’m learning that God wants to help me fine tune my insides, my mind, my heart, my voice.
It’s as though he is showing me what goes on inside me….create my world around me.

Visualization is a mind skill that can be used in more places than achieving goals.
It’s endless what it can do.

Talk to you next week.