THE ULTIMATE A TO Z GUIDE OF VISION BOARDS
Table of Contents
What is a Vision Board?
As the name suggests, Vision board refers to a board that we can see, grasp and analyze through our senses. In simple terms, it resembles a physical collage that is created purposefully to achieve goals by transferring visuals from our mind to a piece of board or paper.
When we repeatedly look at this board, our mind and soul are shifted into the desired reality creating miracles that we wished for. The more we stay in this energy, the closer we bring this desired reality into existence.
Origin of Vision Board
The origin of Vision board dates back to the Caveman Era where sharp stones were used to draw images on cave walls and pebbles. A lot of studies show that these carvings were more than just illustrations; they were an access to the future. While the underlying message was not given a serious connotation, the significance of Vision board got highlighted in the year 2006 when Rhonda Byrnes self-help book, “The Secret” gained popularity.
Since then, a lot of people started experimenting with Vision boards by hosting Vision Board parties where groups of people gathered to discuss their goals and indulge in board making activities. In fact, over the years, a lot of people who have followed Vision Board claimed manifesting plenty of things in their reality.
In fact, in 2015, Kellan Lutz (actor) and Ryan Daly (basketball player) proposed to annually celebrate National Vision board day on every second Saturday of January. Due to their immense fan following, this idea gained popularity and a lot of people all across the globe joined them. The main aim of starting this was to help people grow and achieve their goals by physically building a Vision board. They encouraged people to set their goals every year and stay motivated to achieve them.
Difference between a Vision Board and a Dream Board
A lot of people confuse Vision boards with Dream boards. Vision board is created specifically to target short-term goals, something we create keeping in mind a time period of maximum 6-12 months. Dream board on the other hand is long term. It includes desires and goals we want for life; how we want life to eventually look like.
For instance, our long term vision might be to buy a mansion so your dream board would have pictures of a mansion. But since you’re just starting out, you will take gentle steps towards buying that mansion hence your Vision board might include pictures of getting a promotion, bonus or increment in the next 8 months so that you could start saving money to buy the mansion later in life.
Vision board is all about manifestation: it is a collection of images and objects arranged in a resourceful way to help you manifest your goals by repeatedly viewing a desired reality. It is highly versatile as it activates the RAS of the brain (Reticular Activating System) which is responsible for filtering unnecessary information and keeping only the important ones intact.
What to include in vision board
The answer to this is simple and uncomplicated. While making a Vision board, we must include poster-size images and text that appeal our mind; something that is relatable, achievable yet vivid. The more creative you will get with the pictures and their presentation by choosing colorful images, the faster your mind will accept it as our mind is biased towards colors over black and white images.
Let’s test this right now. Close your eyes and try to remember a happy memory, you will notice that the picture will appear as a live state in the mind’s eye- like it’s happening right now. Usually and generally these memories are colorful in nature which is why while making a vision board we should be mindful to craft something that inspires us to realize our goals on a daily basis.
When it comes to manifestation, Vision board has a high success rate of around 82%, which is why it is highly recommended to make it a part of your daily life.
Celebrities Who Turned Their Dreams Into Reality with Vision Boards
Many celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Harvey, Ellen Degeneres, Beyonce, Will Smith, Lilly Singh are huge believers of Vision board and its power. I’m highlighting below some impactful quotes by famous personalities on the same for a better understanding:
“Everything I’ve ever gotten in life, I’ve written. My vision board is crazy. You wound’t even believe it because I’m not even in the need of business anymore. What’s on my vision board now is astronomical and guess what I’m gonna get all of it.” ~ Steve Harvey.
“Having a vision creates a path for the future,” ~ Oprah Winfrey
“Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it.” ~ Jack Canfield
“My first vision board had things like Twitter verification, hitting 1 million YouTube subscribers, and moving to LA. Since then, my vision boards have evolved to having things like working with The Rock, hitting the Forbes list, going on a world tour, and being on some of the biggest talk shows. Sometimes my accomplishments even surpass what my visions were.” ~ Lilly Singh
How do Vision boards work?
According to Dr. Erin Eatough, “It is the concept that thoughts precede behavior. Mindset drives behaviors that drive outcomes.”
Read it again and you will realize the power of your thoughts. A vision board starts with displaying your thoughts on a panel- a physical surface. When we do so, not only do we bring clarity, we also send a positive trigger to our mind to understand and accept our intention.
A Vision board reaffirms our goals by giving a visual representation of our dreams and acts as a constant reminder to stay focused by paving a clear direction to an assured future. When we repeatedly meditate our desired vision, we directly send affirmative signals to our subconscious mind which is where the core manifestation happens.
The pictures and quotes on the board help to grill the idea in our mind by acting as a visual anchor. It acts as a reminder to prioritize our goals and put them in the front seat for a smooth ride.
To make the Vision Board genuinely work in your favor you must combine it with consistent efforts to achieve your goals because without action the whole idea holds no meaning. By action, I mean you need to put in efforts to take out time to visualize, meditate and work towards living your desired life. Taking action is like adding essence to the Vision board. When you do so, you’ll realize that things will start changing around you and you’ll naturally discover new ways to reach your goals.
Benefits of having a Vision board
- Having a Vision board keeps us mentally active by triggering the deepest level of the subconscious mind. By seeing the images again and again we command our conscious mind to let it pass through it and deliver the information to the subconscious mind, which otherwise is a very difficult task.
- It increases our motivation, confidence and motor performance by highlighting our goals with utmost clarity.
- Viewing a Vision board is equally effective as a physical practice. When we constantly put efforts to view and study our goals, our brain neurons get activated. This active mindset is equal to performing a physical exercise which not only keeps us healthy but also gives us a sense of bliss.
- It is a fun and tangible activity. There are absolutely no restrictions to it; you have all the liberty to get as creative as you want. You can stick 10 pictures to your board, 20 or just 5- do whatever suits you. Feel free to arrange them however you like. You may follow a neat pattern or just stick them in an abstract way. Point of creating a Vision board is to make something that you can relate to; something that motivates you. It is personal so having judgments here should be avoided.
- Vision board works on the sole purpose of shifting our mindset. It’s a constant reminder to stay on the right track and be positive with the belief that our every desire will come true.
- It promotes emotional health by always transporting us to our desired reality where we get to live a different version of ourselves. That version only believes and breathes in a positive environment. When we think like this, not only does it boost our mood, but it also keeps us going.
- It improves our chances of success. No matter which area of your life you focus on and display on your Vision board, you will undoubtedly gain success in it.
- It inspires us to grow. Whenever we look at our vision board, our mind is triggered to look for opportunities in our surroundings to nurture. This growth mixed with action is honestly the most rewarding feeling one can experience in life.
Vision board undeniably works wonders for anyone who uses it. Despite all good things that it brings into our life, the only disadvantage is that it’s not accessible for carrying while we’re travelling. Irrespective of the size, there are solid chances of it becoming a mess in terms of handling it. The only way to resolve this is to click a picture and view it on your phone when you’re physically away from it. But please, never skip viewing it. In fact there are some equally good digital Vision board apps that can help you with this. For me, I feel having a physical board is more impactful than a digital board.
Creating a vision board is truly a game-changer and I just finished mine today! For 2025, my vision board leans heavily towards professional goals and travel. This year, it feels like I’m more focused on taking action than ever before. You too take some time to reflect on your priorities and map them out on your vision board. Trust me, it’s completely worth it!
How to make a vision board that actually works
- Start with self-reflection. Ask yourself questions to figure out what matters the most to you and what areas you want to focus on. Please make sure you do it with no distractions in the background.
- Keep in mind that you can focus on two or more life areas that you want to target and improve. It can be health, career, friendship, relationship money or alike.
- Be aware of jotting short-term goals and long-term goals separately. Start with baby steps. Pick a micro-niche first. Like, if you’re focusing on health which is a long-term goal, start with what you want to work on first. It could be your weight or better mobility. Start with the essentials.
- Then, we concentrate on the physical part of structuring a Vision board. The basic requirement for that is finding a sturdy base which can be a cardboard, wood or any physical surface including a paper.
- Next, since the Vision board is supposed to be visual, find images that represent your vision and goals. If you want to travel to Hawaii, you can find an image of a famous Hawaii tourist spot and put it on your Vision board. You can even put extra efforts and add an image of you in that picture to make it look real. Similarly, if you’re looking to adopt a pet, you can paste a picture of a dog or a cat on the board. Get your creative minds running!
- You can also add quotes that inspire you. These quotes can be handwritten, printed, drawn or cut outs from a magazine. The aim is for them to keep you motivated and inspired.
- Stick pictures that give a positive vibe or search and print images that are closer to your desired goal. They should look approachable and not something out of the world and difficult to achieve.
- Use vivid, clear and attractive images. The more color you add, the more entertaining it’ll seem and this is the kind of ambiance we need for a vision board. We don’t want it to look boring, do we?
- Use short catchy phrases and words as a reminder to prompt your mind to stay active and fixated. My favourites are “I am”, “Be”, “Just do it!”, “Realign”.
- Once you do all this, make sure to place it within your regular line of sight. It can be near your almirah, mirror, bed, fridge- anywhere you’ll spend most of the day. Just make sure it’s easily reachable and not too far. If you don’t want anyone to see it then you can hide it inside the closet or shelf. Just make sure you view it whenever you have time- at least twice a day.
- Know that you can always add new things to your Vision board and start from scratch whenever you want. There are no rules linked with it. Basically, you have to follow whatever your intuition says.
- For those who cannot build a physical Vision board can use digital boards too on their phones and laptop. There are plenty of free apps available that will help you build an aesthetic digital Vision board. You can then use this digital board as a backdrop or screensaver on your gadget screens. Crux is to be able to view it as often as possible.
Manifestation areas you can cover in your Vision board
- Self-care– Find images of self-care activities like writing, following a particular hobby, getting a spa, cooking, painting, singing or journaling.
- Career– You can stick images of a specific designation you want to get promoted to, a pay check, a healthy work environment or a random picture of good natured, smiling colleagues.
- Health– Paste images of a happy youindulging in physical activities and being able to do anything and everything with full zest or an affirmation claiming full recovery from an illness you’ve been suffering from.
- Relationships– Paste happy family pictures with your parents, siblings, partner and friends.
- Love life– Paste happy couple pictures with your partner.
- Family– Stick happy pictures of all family members with positive quotes and affirmations.
- Travel– Stick pictures of your dream travel destinations with their famous outlets, food, museums and parks.
- Positivity– Paste images of whatever brings a smile on your face along with quotes that you can relate to.
- Peaceful mind– Place pictures of yoga, retreats and Gods or Gurus you believe in.
- Healthy friendships– Stick fun pictures with your friends. Visualize attracting only good people in your life.
- Pets– If you want a particular animal as a pet you can stick their picture focusing on minute details like color, breed, size and nature of the animal.
- Material desires– you can put up a picture of anything you want to have. It can be a home theatre system, a swimming pool, a private jet or even a branded dress or handbag. As long as you believe you deserve it, it will get manifested.
- Money– Stick pictures of money. You can even stick a cheque with a desired amount.
- Spiritual growth– You can paste pictures of different chakras to represent balance of mind, body and soul.
Daily ritual of using a Vision board
- Look at it whenever you pass by it. The best time is right after you wake up in the morning and just before going to bed. But make sure you glance whenever you have breaks during the day.
- Mediate on all of the images. Don’t just stare at the board with a blank mind. Go through every picture and feel the emotion linked with it. Visualize it coming alive.
- Dedicate at least 5 minutes every single day to focus on your Vision board. The more time you’ll give it, the quicker you’ll be able to attract whatever you’ve stuck on the board.
- If you’ve added any quotes or text make sure you repeat them in your head or aloud. Understand and feel the meaning it wants to convey.
- Mentally own your Vision board. Speak it into existence- say your goals aloud fearlessly. Believe in its existence. Shut your doors to any doubts and fears. Let your faith guide you to places that you’re truly meant to go.
Can a Vision board be shared?
Absolutely! There’s no harm in sharing your Vision board with other people around you. If you trust them then sharing your vision with them will only expand it as they will keep you motivated and inspired but I know of a lot of people who hesitate to share their personal goals with others. For them, I would advise to keep it a secret because otherwise it will only add uneasiness and a sense of discomfort which will hinder their growth. You can do whatever you want with your board. If you feel like sharing, go ahead. If you want to keep it secretive then be it- nobody is judging you.
What I do need to highlight is that you can also build a common Vision board with your friends, partner and family. You all can add pictures and quotes of whatever you want for each other and your bond. This is a great fun activity to bring you closer with your loved ones and share a common, positive outlook towards life.
All-in-all, building a Vision board is the best way to breathe life into your thoughts. It’s such a constructive and fun activity which only brings positivity and clarity in our lives. Trust me, your mind and soul will thank you once you build a Vision board for yourself.
So, when are you starting your vision board?
There’s no better time than now! Wishing you a beautiful 2025 filled with success and happiness- may every dream on your vision board come true!
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