By Rachel Galvin

With 2017 upon us, many are ready to declare their intentions for the new year. But announcing your goals and making them happen are two different things. There are so many ways to set goals and make good things happen in your life. Many have watched the popular film The Secret (or read the book) and learned about the Law of Attraction but were left feeling that a step was missing. Why did they spend time visualizing but nothing came to fruition? Those who really study these types of self-help practices know that to really transform themselves they can’t just think about things to make them happen, they have to take action. But a first step is not only thinking about something, but also putting it on paper, or creating a “vision board.”

Author Laura Duksta knows all about creating something from nothing and utilizing a vision board to focus her intentions. Today, she is the best-selling author of three books, has traveled around the country promoting her book and travels back and forth between Ft. Lauderdale and Nashville.

But she didn’t always have this life. At age 11, she lost all her hair to Alopecia Areata, which caused her to wear a wig, hiding herself from the world. She withdrew and thought she would never be able to do the things she wanted in life. It wasn’t until her 30th birthday when she decided to give up the wigs and come out as “the bald chick,” a hip moniker that would help in her new life.

Her first book came about when she was praying for her sister, but something told her to pray for her nephew instead. From that experience came the idea for her first book, I Love Your More, an illustrated flip book for kids that focuses on the relationship between mother and son. She self-published it. At the time, she was a bartender in South Beach so becoming an author certainly was a departure and the first step on her journey to finding herself and spreading the message of love around the world, something she had in her heart deep inside when she was a young girl.

One of the manifestations from her vision board had to do with a number — 11 million, which she had put on her board as an intention of how many lives she hopes to touch, how many books would be eventually out in the world. When she switched her publishing to Sourcebooks, at the first meeting, the owner, to the surprise of everyone in the room, said that the vision for the book was 11 million copies sold, a number for which seemed way too large for a first-time writer. But, to Duksta, the number was no surprise; after all, she had it on her vision board.

“I love vision boards, because I am a visual person. I have become a big fan of visioning,” she said, adding, “The power of a vision board is connecting your goals and dreams to what it actually looks like in life. One of the key ingredients to achieving your goals and dreams is being able to see it as already so — feel and believe it in your mind and heart, to the point that it draws a tear of inspiration when possible.”

What is a vision board? Usually, it is a poster board with cutout images and words from a magazine or newspaper that you hope to manifest.

Duksta said, “Put that photo-shopped picture of you accepting that Oscar on your vision board, and take five to 10 minutes every day to imagine yourself accepting your Oscar and reciting your speech. What does it feel, sound, look, taste and smell like? Making this real is why Einstein said ‘Imagination is more powerful than knowledge.’

Our mind cannot discern between reality and virtual reality; so placing ourselves into the scenes of our life we wish to manifest puts the Universal Laws of Attraction, Appreciation and Vibration into motion and we draw to ourselves what we think, and thank, about, and resonate with.”

Duksta went on to write two other books: You are a Gift to the World and now I’ll Hug You More. She goes around the country doing book talks and motivational speeches, especially for children.

For more information on this dynamic and inspirational author, visit www.lauraduksta.com.