Vision Boarding: Ideas, Examples, Supplies, and MoreWhat is a vision board? Why might you want a create one, and how do you do it? Here are some vision boarding ideas, examples, supplies, suggestions, and tips for making use of vision boarding.
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What Is a Vision Board?A vision board is a collage, drawing, or visual representation to help us manifest our goals and big dreams. Generally, a vision board is made on a large piece of poster-board or cardboard. Your vision board can include words or images that represent your goals or where you'd like to be in the future. Vision boarding may be a useful tool that helps us engage in self-reflection, gain self-awareness, clarify our values, and more easily reach our goals (Burton & Lent, 2016).
How to Make a Vision BoardTo make a standard vision board, you just need a piece of poster board or cardboard, some pens, and if you prefer, some magazines or other pictures with glue or tape to attach them. You just write words that represent your goals and dreams, and attach pictures that represent your dreams. Keep reading for even more creative vision boarding ideas.
Supplies for a Vision BoardFor a basic vision board here are the supplies you need:
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Vision boarding words:
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Vision Board Examples
Here are a few examples of vision boards to give you some inspiration.
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Vision Board Templates
Sometimes it can be hard to know exactly where to start or what to put on your vision board. Luckily vision board templates can help. They provide a little outline and guide you as to what to focus on to gain awareness about your goals and dreams. Here are a couple of templates that may be helpful when creating your vision board.
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What Else to Put on Your Vision Board
Want else should you put on your vision board? Well, it depends on what you are trying to achieve. Here are some questions to ask yourself that can give you more inspiration:
What are your values?
I believe that personal values are the most important part of a vision board because no matter what our goals are, achieving them won't feel good unless they are in alignment with our values. For example, maybe we have a goal of being financially successful and a value of kindness. That means that if we are jerks in the way we go about getting rich, it won't be fulfilling. Or if we value love and we put all of our time into reaching our financial goals, we may end up less happy than when we started. This is why clarifying values can be so helpful for vision boarding.
"Why" do you want the things you want?
This question was tough for me. On my vision board, I have a certain annual income goal for myself. But why did I choose that number? Well, the real reason I want financial success is because I hate feeling financially insecure. I grew up poor and I still have a lot of fears about not being able to support myself. Knowing my "why" helps me think about what I'm really after. My real goal is to not feel financially insecure. So even though I have not made my income goal yet, I have made great strides at securing my financial future, for example, by investing in my retirement and saving money to buy an income property.
What are your priorities?
Let's face it. We can't do everything we want to do in the very limited amount of time we have. That's why it's important to know what matters most to you. We have to balance our careers with our family life or our relationships. And at times, we'll have to choose. After graduating with my Ph.D., I realized I had spent the last 6 years prioritizing the wrong things. My family meant so much more to me than my work yet I had been spending 99% of my time on work. Getting clear on your priorities can help you more quickly achieve what matters most to you.
What are your values?
I believe that personal values are the most important part of a vision board because no matter what our goals are, achieving them won't feel good unless they are in alignment with our values. For example, maybe we have a goal of being financially successful and a value of kindness. That means that if we are jerks in the way we go about getting rich, it won't be fulfilling. Or if we value love and we put all of our time into reaching our financial goals, we may end up less happy than when we started. This is why clarifying values can be so helpful for vision boarding.
"Why" do you want the things you want?
This question was tough for me. On my vision board, I have a certain annual income goal for myself. But why did I choose that number? Well, the real reason I want financial success is because I hate feeling financially insecure. I grew up poor and I still have a lot of fears about not being able to support myself. Knowing my "why" helps me think about what I'm really after. My real goal is to not feel financially insecure. So even though I have not made my income goal yet, I have made great strides at securing my financial future, for example, by investing in my retirement and saving money to buy an income property.
What are your priorities?
Let's face it. We can't do everything we want to do in the very limited amount of time we have. That's why it's important to know what matters most to you. We have to balance our careers with our family life or our relationships. And at times, we'll have to choose. After graduating with my Ph.D., I realized I had spent the last 6 years prioritizing the wrong things. My family meant so much more to me than my work yet I had been spending 99% of my time on work. Getting clear on your priorities can help you more quickly achieve what matters most to you.
The Science Behind Vision Boarding
Vision boarding is somewhat controversial in the scientific community. Vision boards are often thought to be a tool associated with the "law of attraction". And the "law of attraction" is not a scientifically supported phenomenon (it's actually what we call pseudoscience—i.e., practices or beliefs that are not based on the scientific method).
Personally, I don't rule out potentially useful tools like vision boards just because other scientists discount them. Science is slow (and affected by biases and funding issues), so instead of ignoring vision boarding, I think it's useful to look at whatever science does exist to see what we can learn about the potential benefits of vision boarding.
For example, we do know that imagination is a powerful tool that can increase positive emotions (Quoidbach, Wood, & Hansenne, 2009). And positive emotions often create opportunities and increase the chance of success (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005). This suggests that mental visualizations of positive outcomes and goals are likely good for our well-being and can help us more effectively achieve our goals.
If making a vision board also helps up be more optimistic about our future or to cultivate a growth mindset, all the better. Career optimism has been linked to our perceived career success (Spurk, Kauffeld, Barthauer, & Heinemann, 2015). And growth mindset—or the belief that we can grow and improve—can contribute to more positive outcomes (Dweck, 2015). Together, this research suggests that vision boarding, and other manifestation approaches, may have some value. It's just important to keep in mind that vision boarding is not magic. Changing your thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and actions are still an important part of making your dreams come true.
Personally, I don't rule out potentially useful tools like vision boards just because other scientists discount them. Science is slow (and affected by biases and funding issues), so instead of ignoring vision boarding, I think it's useful to look at whatever science does exist to see what we can learn about the potential benefits of vision boarding.
For example, we do know that imagination is a powerful tool that can increase positive emotions (Quoidbach, Wood, & Hansenne, 2009). And positive emotions often create opportunities and increase the chance of success (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005). This suggests that mental visualizations of positive outcomes and goals are likely good for our well-being and can help us more effectively achieve our goals.
If making a vision board also helps up be more optimistic about our future or to cultivate a growth mindset, all the better. Career optimism has been linked to our perceived career success (Spurk, Kauffeld, Barthauer, & Heinemann, 2015). And growth mindset—or the belief that we can grow and improve—can contribute to more positive outcomes (Dweck, 2015). Together, this research suggests that vision boarding, and other manifestation approaches, may have some value. It's just important to keep in mind that vision boarding is not magic. Changing your thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and actions are still an important part of making your dreams come true.
Digital and Online Vision Boards
If you're not up for breaking out the markers, glue, and magazines, there are also some tools you can use to create a digital vision board. This is what I do these days because I don't buy magazines.
Here are some tools to try for online vision boards:
Here are some tools to try for online vision boards:
- Canva - Canva is a website that has pictures and cool fonts and templates that can help you create a nice digital vision board.
- Pinterest - I make Pinterest boards that are kind of like vision collections. They include random things that are meaningful to me and show me what I'm striving for.
- Dream It Alive - This is an online tool specifically designed for dream boarding.
Video: How to Make a Digital Vision Board
Vision Bullet Journals
The bullet journal method is a method of organization that helps you keep track of things over time. So if you wanted to track your progress towards reaching your goals, dreams, or visions, a bullet journal might be a good way to do this. You might just make lists, to-dos, or other ways to track what you want and how you are working towards those goals.
Video: How to do vision boarding in a bullet journal
Goal Setting With a Vision Board
Okay, now that you've gotten some ideas for what to do in your vision board, let's talk about how to set goals for your vision board. You can either focus on one area of life for your vision board or cover a bunch of areas. Personally, I have one vision board with my larger overall goals—these include topics like health, career, and marriage with a few more details about each, like growing muscle and eating more nutritious food.
But I also sometimes make vision boards for specific goals. Most recently, I was working on buying my home. In the vision board, I included pictures of the things I wanted so that when I finally saved up enough money and went house hunting, I would know what I was looking for when I found it.
Here are some goals and life domains you may want to focus on:
But I also sometimes make vision boards for specific goals. Most recently, I was working on buying my home. In the vision board, I included pictures of the things I wanted so that when I finally saved up enough money and went house hunting, I would know what I was looking for when I found it.
Here are some goals and life domains you may want to focus on:
- Health
- Career
- Family
- Wealth
- Love
- Knowledge
- Hobbies
- Travel/Big experiences
- Community/Giving back
Vision Board Pictures
Want some pictures to download for a digital vision board or print for a regular vision board. Here are some websites with vision board pictures and images:
Vision Board Checklist
Now that you know all about vision boarding, it's time to see how you did. Use this checklist to help make sure you get as much as you can out of vision boarding.
- My vision board helps clarify my goals and the steps I need to take to get there.
- The words or images I chose for my vision board represent more than just the things I want, but also my values, priorities, and reasons for wanting them.
- I will be careful to treat myself with self-compassion and view my experiences non-judgmentally as I pursue my goals.
- I reflect on my goals (and vision board) periodically to see if I've learned anything that can help me more effectively or enjoyably reach my goals.
- I recognize and appreciate myself for the goals I have achieved.
More Reading on Reaching Your Dreams
Here are a few more related articles that you may be interested in:
Final Thoughts on Vision Boarding
Vision boarding can be a fun and creative way to visualize your goals, dreams, and visions. By using the techniques in this article, you can gain more clarity and insight that can help you manifest these goals more easily.
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References
- Burton, L., & Lent, J. (2016). The use of vision boards as a therapeutic intervention. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 11(1), 52-65.
- Dweck, C. (2015). Carol Dweck revisits the growth mindset. Education Week, 35(5), 20-24.
- Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success?. Psychological bulletin, 131(6), 803.
- Quoidbach, J., Wood, A. M., & Hansenne, M. (2009). Back to the future: The effect of daily practice of mental time travel into the future on happiness and anxiety. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(5), 349-355.
- Spurk, D., Kauffeld, S., Barthauer, L., & Heinemann, N. S. (2015). Fostering networking behavior, career planning and optimism, and subjective career success: An intervention study. Journal of vocational behavior, 87, 134-144.
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