Creating a vision board is an amazing way to get clear on your goals and stay motivated to bring your dreams to life. It’s also an easy and relaxing activity to do on a rainy day or a night to yourself. It’s simply a fun and crafty way to attract positivity in your life .
But what are vision boards exactly?
A vision board is a physical and visual representation of your biggest dreams, aspirations, and goals.
It’s like what someone would see if they were to look into your mind and take pictures of what your dream life looks like.
It’s a collage of photographs, quotes, poems, drawings, and anything else that inspires you towards the future and the person you want to be.
Why do vision boards work?
Vision boards essentially help you picture and manifest your goals through guided visualization.
Science and visualization are not strangers to each other. In fact, studies have shown how visualization can get you closer to where you want to be in life.
Athletes and chess players have been using this technique with successful results for years! Visualizing every move and every strategy before a game.
When you consistently visualize an outcome, the brain starts to read it as a memory and not just a daydream.
Then, subconsciously, you start to be more encouraged to act upon your goals and adjust your behavior according to your desired outcome.
It’s almost like your brain is trying to match the reality you see inside with what you live outside! How amazing is that?
Now that you’re excited and ready to make a vision board, here’s exactly how to do it:
To make a vision board you will need:
- A corkboard or poster board
- Magazines or a printer you can use to print photos off the internet
- Scissors
- Glue, tape, or push pins depending on what kind of board you’re using
- Any personal photos or stubs that have a special meaning to you or inspire you
You can also simply use your computer or tablet if you’d like to create a digital vision board.
Step 1: Get clear on your why
Before you start scouring the internet looking for images, stop for a moment and reflect. Ask yourself: “What do I want to manifest into my life? What matters to me more than anything? How do I envision spending my time and energy in the future?”
You can choose to focus on anything that feels right to you, whether it is a physical goal, mindset goal, etc. You might be daydreaming of buying a house or focusing your energy on becoming a more positive person.
Here’s a list of questions that can help get you started with your reflections. Write down the answers to however many you feel like, but get clear on the things that matter to YOU.
What are your goals….
- For your career?
- For your relationships?
- For your relationship with yourself and your mindset?
- For the experiences you want out of life?
- For your health?
- For your education?
- For your spirituality?
How do these goals make YOU feel? (Important: not anyone else!) Close your eyes and hold on to the feeling that you get when you envision your dream life. And remember, no dream is too big!
Step 2: Visual research (the fun part!)
This is my favorite part of creating a vision board! This is when you pull out all those magazines and your devices to start scouring Pinterest/the internet.
Look for pictures, quotes, poems, anything that resonates with the goals you had written down in step 1.
The key here is that you only want to include images that evoke some emotional feeling for you. Do you feel inspired when you read or see the images you’re collecting?
It’s more important to choose photos that invoke deep feelings inside of you rather than being very literal.
Let’s suppose one of your dreams is to have your own business. The reason why you want this is to have freedom and do with your time as you please.
While a picture of someone working in front of a computer may be a literal interpretation of your goal, it may not bubble up the feeling of independence you are looking for. But maybe a photo of a beautiful beach, mountains, or even the sky can tune you with that feeling more deeply.
Tip: I also like creating my own graphics sometimes. I’ll pull up Canva to create my own graphic if there’s a quote or lyric that really resonates with me and I can’t find an existing image for it. It also makes me feel proud and creative when I look back at something that I created myself.
Step 3: Put it all together
Once you have all your images cut and printed, it’s time to put it all together! Begin arranging and rearranging your board with the images you gathered.
You can arrange it however you like – whether it is grouped in “sections” or totally random. The most important thing is that you feel inspired by it.
Move things around and around again until you have the layout just the way you want it. Once you have your layout, glue or tack all your pictures down, and have fun with the process!
Step 4: Visualize and manifest your dream life
Yay! You just finished creating your vision board. Now hang it somewhere that you can see it every single day in order to constantly feel inspired by it.
As time goes on and your goals change, you will absolutely need to refresh your board on occasion. How often you update your board is totally up to you!
I typically like leaving a little space open so I can add in new things that make me feel inspired, but I’ll typically only do a full refresh once a year. Again, that part is up to you and when you think it’s time to spruce up your board!
And of course, a vision board is not an “end all, be all”. You’ll still need to take action to actually achieve the things you’re looking to achieve. But a vision board will help you keep your momentum going, and you’ll be one step closer to manifesting the life of your dreams.
Have you created your vision board yet? Let me know about your experiences in the comments below!
