How to Make a Vision Board That Works
It’s probable that at some point in your life, you’ve either made a vision board or have at least attempted to. Vision boards have the potential to be an instrumental tool for growth in your life if you create them with the right intentions. Making a vision board to get crafty or create a cute bulletin board for your desk is great, but taking it a step further and asking yourself some deep questions can turn a fun craft project into a life changing vision of your future.
To get started, either digitally or physically, we need to turn inward. We first need to figure out our true motivations, get in touch with our highest-selves, and admit and proclaim to ourselves our ultimate goals and dreams in life. These steps may seem simple, but if done thoroughly and honestly, they can be quite tough and result in some amazing breakthroughs that can reveal themselves in our vision boards.
1. Let go of all judgment
Before we can even begin, it’s important that you go into this experience with no expectations, no fears, and absolutely no judgments towards yourself. I suggest creating your vision board by yourself so that you can create and visualize without feeling watched or judged by anyone. Even still, the real judgment will come from within, so repeat after me:
There is no dream to big
There is no desire to unrealistic
There is no feat too difficult
There is nothing I am unworthy of
Everything that I could ever desire can be mine.
This is probably one of the hardest parts, but it is vital in order to truly begin the manifestation process. You may think to yourself, “this is so silly, there is no way I could have this life,” or something along those lines, many many times throughout this process. Acknowledge those thoughts, understand the place they are coming from, then gently release it and say to yourself these words:
“In this moment, I will believe this is possible, because realistically there is a path where this dream can be reality. I may not know that path yet, but today I choose to accept its existence and won’t accept thoughts that block that path for me.”
2. Begin with gratitude
Your vision board will represent where you will be in the future, but first, it’s important to accept and be grateful for where we are in the present. Take a moment and write down 5 things you are grateful for in your life right now. Try to be as creative as possible, it’s okay to write down the basics, but maybe try to reach deeper for some things that you may often take for granted.
Ex. My favorite things to be grateful for right now:
I’m thankful you let me share with you my tips for manifestation and creativity.
I’m thankful for clean and hot water whenever I choose.
I’m thankful for discovering new friendships via the internet everyday.
After you write those 5 pieces of gratitude, I now want you to write 3 grateful compliments to yourself in this moment right now. I have one rule: no backhanded compliments lol. This is hard for a lot of people I realize, but changing the way you think about yourself in the present to be positive will greatly help you visualize your highest-self in the future. Be creative here, as well; don’t give yourself the same compliments you already know to be true. Don’t be shy; you are in a safe space.
Ex. of some of my favorite compliments to give and receive to myself:
I am so thankful for the flexibility I have accomplished from stretching everyday
I love my freckles, dimples and every imperfection on my face because if it were perfect it wouldn’t be me; I am not perfect and I love that about me.
I love my extremely outgoing personality because it gives me the confidence and strength to talk about the hard things so that maybe I can help someone else.
3. Pinpoint your strengths & blocks
Strengths: Begin by thinking about a time in which you suffered something difficult in your life (i.e. break up, grief, trama, etc.). Write down the things you did to help you get through that time. Did you have to be stronger than you thought possible? Was there something/someone who helped you? Write everything that comes to mind down.
Blocks: Take a non-judgmental moment to think back to the last big goal you had, that you did not accomplish. Rather than sink into disappointment or upset surrounding that un-accomplished goal, analyze what went wrong. Write down these blocks or obstacles as objectively as possible. Some of your obstacles might be tangible, external, sometimes difficult to change things (i.e. lack of free time, insufficient funds, abusive situations, etc.), and some might be internal blocks (i.e. fear of judgment or failure, lack of dedication, misalignment with ultimate goal, burnout, etc.). Write down all that comes to mind.
Analyze: Now let’s analyze these two lists. One is a list of strengths that most often we forget we have, and the other is a list of obstacles we probably fixate on daily. To create a path to our wildest dreams we will have to overcome a lot of the blocks we’ve listed, but thankfully we have a whole set of strengths we can utilize. In order to meet our goals we either have to persevere through obstacles or avoid them altogether.
Go through each block on your list and ask yourself if it is possible to overcome that specific thing, and if you were able to, how would your life change? Be honest, yet optimistic—we aren’t making “reality boards” we’re making the vision board of our dream future which will be our’s. The things that hold you back now, will not in the future, as long as you become aware of them now, so you can work to push through or simply bypass them going forward because now you know they exist.
4. Visualize your perfect day in the future.
It’s time for the good part, the fun part if done correctly, the meat of this exercise: visualization. Visualization is different for everyone; some people have very active visual imaginations, and others prefer to focus on specific things especially through prompts. So here are some prompts to help you on this visualization journey; think deeply on each prompt, visualize it happening as if you are there in your mind, and then write a summary of what you saw:
Let’s take a journey into the future; it could be 15 years from now, 5 years, or even 6 months from now—you choose the time frame.
You’re waking up and you have a perfect day ahead of you.
Look around and take in where you are
What does the room look like?
Are you alone or with someone? If you are with someone what are their qualities?
How do you feel physically?
Go throughout your ideal day and answer these questions:
Where are you in life?
Who are you in the world?
Where do you physically live and what is that space like?
What is your career/ How do you spend your days?
What gives you purpose?
What does your morning or daily routine consist of?
Who do you spend your time with?
Where have you traveled? What trips are on your calendar?
What does your bank account look like?
How is your health?
What creative endeavors or projects do you have going on?
What do people think about you? What is your reputation?
You are the best and happiest version of yourself–how does that feel?
Once you have a brief but detailed journal entry entailing your vision, let’s get to the moment we’ve all been waiting for: making our vision board.
5. Making your vision board
Now you know the direction you are moving toward, let’s capture it in a visual. There is no right or wrong way to make a vision board, the only requirements are that it is a visual reminder of your dream future that helps you keep your goals at the forefront of your mind on a daily basis. Below is a template I use to make my vision boards that is available to you for free.
Click the image to download to the template.
Choosing your images: For each of the following categories choose one or more image(s) that are visual representations of your future dream life:
Future home, space, studio, or business
Career
Health
Reputation
Finances
Travel
Relationship
Creative Endeavor
Affirmations: Use these spaces to place quotes, mantras, or encouraging words that inspire you. I like to have “I am a ————” as one of mine as a reminder of who I plan on being in the world. I also like to write something as if it has already happened and a future version of myself is reminding me. Usually that looks like, “Wow Bella, you have no idea how great your trip is going to be.” Or “Moving to California was the most important move of your life.” I find these affirmations to be most beneficial for me.
Digital Vision Boarding: I suggest making a digital version before a physical one so that you can more easily edit and build your visual without having to permanently glue anything lol. I suggest using the app Pic Collage. It’s a free app that allows you to create easy layouts for anything and it’s perfect for using along with our digital vision board template. See the video tutorial here on how I made my vision board in Pic Collage.
Physical Vision Boarding: Ready to get crafty? To make your physical vision board begin by making a compilation of photos, inspiring images, words/quotes, mementoes, and/or notes that represent aspects of your visualization from step 4. You can either print these things, cut them out of magazines, or scavenge through your box of random paper scraps; the important thing is that everything you include on the vision board is meaningful and reminds you of your dream goal and future.
Layout your visual elements on a sheet of paper, poster board, bulletin board or wherever you’d like. Follow a pattern similar to that of the vision board template or simply print the template out and paste directly on it. Make sure to include something from each category and any specifics you outlined in your visualization journal.
What to do with your vision board?
Put it someplace you’ll see it many times everyday. A great place is as your phone lock screen or your desktop background. If you made a physical one, hang it somewhere you will see it often, maybe at your desk or in your bathroom mirror.
Every time you look at it, channel your highest most accomplished future self. Visualize that future you’re destined to have. Get excited for that future. Manifest on, friends!
I’m excited to see your vision boards! Please tag me on instagram or send me a photo of your vision board via email to letsgo@bellagonzalez.com.
xoxo, bella
