What is a vision board, how do you create a vision board and why should you have one?

I have used vision boards for most of my adult life and am pleasantly surprised by how they keep me motivated and on track with my goals.

For me, vision boards are a visual reminder of your goals they are also a great activity to do to help you visualise and focus. Having such a visual reminder helps your subconscious find a way to help you achieve what you want.

While you might not consciously make note of them, seeing them every day has them constantly in your mind and helps you actively work towards achieving your goals.

I started with vision boards in 2009, but in 2012 I expanded and have since used a motivation wall. Below is a small image of my 2012 vision board and motivation wall.

The motivation wall included a large calendar, a graph to pay down debt and save up for a holiday, motivational quotes and things that motivated me.

In early 2013, following an intense year, I used my mirrored wardrobes to write in permanent marker my goals and still had a separate vision board. Cleo magazine took some photos of my room to have it assessed by a psychic, psychologist and a guy.

You can see the mirrors behind me with writing and my vision board on one wall.

What is a Vision Board?

A vision board is simply a board with images of your goals and things you want in your life or want to achieve. You can make it out of cardboard and magazine pictures or create a digital one and print it. It’s up to you.

I’ll share my preferred method further down. It’s all about your goals, hopes, dreams and the life you want. Having a vision board is a visual creation and reminder of the life you want.

Personally, I create an entire motivation wall as shown above. A motivation wall includes a vision board along with more detail, such as your goals written out, your values, a calendar with goal deadlines plus motivational quotes and photos.

Why use a Vision Board?

I’m a visual person. Having a vision board or motivation wall keeps my goals right in front of me and even if I am not conscious of how often I look at it, having it there in my line of vision means I am subconsciously thinking about my goals all the time.

They become embedded in my mind which results in numerous opportunities presenting themselves. My subconscious mind is working all the time to achieve my goals while I am going about my daily life on top of the things I actively do to achieve my goals.

That said, I do not believe in creating the board and doing nothing further. I take action every day to achieve my goals and often, achieve more than I set out to do as a result.

How to Create a Vision Board

Creating a vision board can be a fun process where you let your mind wander, visualise the lifestyle you want and find images to match it.

When creating my vision board, I feel the feelings I’d have if this life I am presenting were real. More often than not, doing that makes it feel real and much easier to attain.

Step 1

Gather together lots of magazines from a variety of genres, glue and a piece of card. Generally, I have property and investing, travel, home and garden, health and religious magazines, as well as a few catalogues of stores I like.

Second-hand stores often have magazines for free or cheap and some people give them away on Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree. Travel brochures are easy to get and any store you like would generally have a catalogue you can use.

Go through them and rip out everything that appeals to you, that you would like, sayings or words that stand out to you or describe what you want.

At this stage, you don’t need to think too much or analyse it. If it appeals to you, rip it out and sort it later.

Step 2

Once you have done that, start placing the images on the cardboard in the way that feels good and appeals to you. Do not glue them yet, you are just getting a feel for where you want to put the images.

Discard any pictures you don’t feel are right. Some people put their pictures in groups such as travel, health, business/finance, home etc.

Others just put them wherever. It is your board for your life, do it how you want. No one else need ever see it or pass judgement on it.

Step 3

When everything is where you want it, glue the images to the board. Use good glue to ensure they will stay in place.

A vision board is a definite, purpose-filled tool for manifesting and creating a life you love. You don’t want your pictures which represent your dreams and visions to fall down.

Step 4

Place your vision board in a prominent place where you will see it regularly. When I was younger, I had mine in my kitchen because I loved to cook and was in there all the time.

Now, I prefer to have my full motivation wall in my bedroom so it is the first thing I see in the morning and last thing I see at night.

Plus, I go in and out of my room often throughout the day so there is a constant reminder every time I enter and exit my room.

Tips for Creating Your Vision Board

It’s a fairly simple process but can be powerful. Here are a few extra tips to make your vision board special and effective.

Take Your Time

Take your time when you are making your vision board and be specific. It needs to truly reflect what you want.

I have done rushed versions and they meant nothing to me, I didn’t feel connected to them and didn’t get the feelings of my lifestyle, future or anything else. When I take the time to do them with meaning and feeling, they have been accurate.

Funnily enough, when I created one in 2018, I had a lot of travel images. One of them was of a Caucasian woman swimming with an Islander man with a boat in the background.

Later, my kids commented how much that photo looked like Justin and me. We met on a diving trip at the end of 2018. We met, travelled a lot, repatriated and had two kids which is not what I expected or was thinking at the time.

Be specific with your board!

Know What You Want

I prefer to have sorted out some goals and to know the life I want, what I am working towards and be focused on it before starting my vision board.

When I have tried to do a vision board without a clear direction in areas of my life, it has been much harder.

My vision boards tend to focus on travel, experiences, fun, parenting, business and health. Occasionally I have included home things but often I end up in incredible locations with houses that suit our needs so I haven’t focused on that as much.

Travel and creating an amazing life for my kids and I has been more important to me and I haven’t felt connected enough to one location to be able to visualise a home there, except for Vanuatu.

My kids view Vanuatu as home too and we got property there because of Justin so that all fell into place easily for us and I didn’t need to spend time on it.

Motivation Wall

At the beginning of this article, I mentioned how I prefer a full motivation wall including a calendar, quotes, graphs, habit trackers etc. Being a visual person, having all these things available to me at a glance is helpful.

Seeing exactly where I am at with my financial goals and that I am on track with my habits motivates me to stay focused.

You can get my habit tracker and other resources in my freebies section.

Make It Digital

When I’ve done a vision board, I take a photo to keep it on my phone and laptop so I have digital reminders.

Others prefer to make their vision board completely digital by finding exactly what it is they want online and creating an image for it in Canva or a similar photo editing platform.

Doing it this way I feel less connected to it but it depends on you and what works for you.

Do you have a vision board or motivation wall?