Vision boards are a powerful tool for manifesting your dreams. This is your ultimate guide to making a vision board that actually works, filled with vision board ideas and examples.
The start of the new year is more than just a date on the calendar — it’s a moment to dream about all the possibilities ahead of you and a time to reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re going.
It’s the perfect time for introspection, goal-setting, and envisioning what your future might hold.
Vision boards are a tool you can use to turn your wildest dreams into a clear and actionable vision. They are all about focusing your energy and mindfully setting goals that ladder up to your great life plans.
Whether 2025 is the year you finally get the promotion, get married, or start the business you’ve been dreaming about, creating a vision board is a great way to get clear on your dreams and turn them into a reality.
This post shares a step-by-step process for creating a vision board and is absolutely packed with vision board ideas to spark your creativity.
So get ready to dream big, get crafty, and make 2025 the year you finally start living out the life of your dreams.
What Even Is A Vision Board?
Think of a vision board as a personal dream collage. In essence, itâs a collection of images and quotes that you bring together into a curated board (handmade or digital) that shows your dreams and aspirations.
Reflect on all the things you might be pondering or daydreaming about (sometimes without even actually acknowledging it). Your board is the place where you make those dreams clear by visualizing them and putting them together into a cohesive vision.
Itâs kind of like making a visual map for your future. And when you look at it every day, it has a profound effect on the brain. In fact, visualization is a powerful tool that has been proven by science to change the way you think and behave.
The idea is that when you get really clear on your dreams, your brain starts to believe that they have already come true and you start acting in a way that will help you achieve the successes youâre looking for.
Plus itâs good daily motivation to remind you where you want to go.
In short, itâs a fun adult crafting project that can actually have a big positive impact on your life.
What Makes a Good Vision Board: Vision Board Ideas
So what sets apart a good vision board? One that will help you actually manifest your dreams?
A good vision board is anchored on a collective vision that dives deep into the many categories of your life.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Clear Vision: A good vision board is all about clarity. Choose images and quotes that all ladder up to the same grand vision or dream. This will help you stay focused and clear on what you really want.
- Balance: Although everything should connect back to your main vision, make sure youâre covering all aspects of your life. Youâre a multidimensional person and your board should reflect that.
- Emotional Intensity: Itâs important that your board gives you allll the feels and makes you feel powerful. In order to do this, make sure youâre only choosing images and quotes that speak to you deeply. Take your time curating the perfect images and quotes to represent your vision.
How Vision Boards Work: The Science of Visualization
This might seem like just a little fun arts and crafts project but visualization is proven by science to have profound abilities to help you achieve your goals.
In fact, when you visualize something, you actually trick your brain into thinking you’re already experiencing it.
Itâs like a mental rehearsal that prepares your brain for the real thing.
Have you heard of the Reticular Activating System (RAS) of the brain? It basically works like this:
Ever find a new song and then you hear it everywhere? Thatâs basically the same mechanism that happens when you visualize your goals, it tells your brain what to focus on.
Seeing really is believing and when youâve already visualized yourself accomplishing your goals, your brain starts to believe that you will.
What to learn more? Check out this article on The Power of Visualization & How to Use it.
If you’re interested in learning more about the power of manifestation, you have to check out Roxie Nafousi’s book “Manifest.” It’s like a bible for all things manifestation and gives clear simple steps for how to integrate the practice into your everyday life.
How To Make A Vision Board: Step-By-Step Instructions
Making a vision board should be a fun and inspiring process so feel free to act intuitively and break all the rules.
In essence, there are two ways to make a vision board, you can either start with a vision statement, or you can start with a collection of images and quotes.
For route one, follow the steps below.
If you prefer to start by collecting images and quotes, start at step 4 and then go back to step 1 and make your way down the list.
The goal of this process is to give you all the vision board ideas.
Step 1: Reflect on Your Dreams
Creating a vision board is all about visualizing your dreams so the perfect place to start is by thinking about your aspirations for the year ahead.
Whether you already have a clear idea or donât know where to start, it might be helpful to think about or jot down some reflections or questions about your life.
Honor your inner child and donât overthink it. If something immediately comes into your head, it might be worth diving deeper.
Here are some reflection questions to get you started.
- What are you most proud of accomplishing in the past year?
- What were some of my biggest challenges over the past year?
- What are some things I didnât accomplish that I wanted to?
- How do I want next year to be different?
- What are some things I want to do more of in the coming year?
- What are some things I want to do less of?
- When I feel jealous of those around me, what am I jealous of?
- When I feel most anxious, what causes that anxiety? What can I do to change it?
- Which moments in the past year made me the happiest?
- How can I use my strengths to serve those around me?
Step 2: Make a Vision Statement
Now that youâve spent some time reflecting on your dreams and goals, itâs time to make them really clear and put them into a vision statement.
To make it simple, weâve created a template to get you started. But donât worry too much about following it exactly, itâs okay to adapt it to suit you.
I envision a life where I am [describe your ideal state of feelings.]
Through embracing [specific actions or qualities], I will [goals or achievements] to create a life that [adjectives describing your desired state.]
I am committed to [values] and will cultivate [habits or practices] to support my journey toward [biggest aspiration.]
Hereâs an example of what a complete vision statement could look like:
I envision a life where I am empowered, purpose-driven, and deeply fulfilled. Through embracing self-care, continuous learning, and fostering meaningful connections, I will advance in my career, attain financial stability, and prioritize my well-being. I am committed to authenticity, resilience, and kindness, and will cultivate daily gratitude practices and mindfulness to support my journey toward becoming a respected leader in my field while maintaining a harmonious work-life balance.
Step 3: Apply Your Vision Statement to All the Areas of Your Life
Now that youâre clear on your vision and some steps you can take to get there, itâs time to apply it to all aspects of your life.
The above vision statement is focused primarily on career goals but it can be extrapolated to incorporate all aspects of life.
Take a moment to reflect on how your vision manifests in the following areas of your life:
- Career
- Financial Goals
- Relationships (Romantic & Friendships)
- Health & Mental Health
- Spiritual
- Fun (travel, pets, bucket lists)
Step 4: Collect Pictures & Quotes
This step is probably the most fun part of the whole experience. Itâs time to collect pictures and quotes that represent all aspects of your vision from your feelings, to your material goals, to the habits and routines that support them.
If youâre hand-making your vision board, you can go through old magazines and newspapers as well as printing out pictures.
If youâre going the digital route, Pinterest and Google will be your best friends.
Remember itâs important that you deeply connect with each picture and quote. Make sure you take time to find the representations that feel totally right to maximize the impact of your board.
Vision Board Pictures
To get you started, hereâs a big collection of images from one of my vision board projects a couple of years back (you can tell I love dogs!)
These vision board pictures include all kinds of goals from career and financial goals to health aspirations and inspirational quotes.
I hope you find these vision board photos helpful as you begin the process of collecting your own images.
Step 5: Put It All Together
In the final step, you will put it all together into a vision board that reflects your dreams and desires for the year ahead.
You can get creative with it, making it a more organic collage style, or try to block it out into a more linear story, or you can even color code the whole thing!
Once youâve put it together, itâs important you display it somewhere youâll see it often.
If you made a physical version, try putting it in your bedroom or closet, maybe even on the fridge.
If you went the digital route, try saving it as your computer or phone background.
Personally, we like to get my vision board professionally printed and put it in a frame to hang in the office. When the work gets tough, it’s a great reminder of why you are doing what you’re doing.
What Are Good Vision Board Ideas for Adults?
There are so many directions you can take with your vision board. Thatâs why we put together some main themes that might be helpful to get you going in the right direction.
- Mindfulness & Positive Thinking: Is this the year you change your inner voice to one of love and support? Integrate empowering phrases and affirmations and include images that represent mental well-being and relaxation.
- Travel & Adventure: Are you hoping to make the coming year all about travel and adventure? Be sure to include pictures of places you want to visit, adventures you want to take, and experiences on your bucket list.
- Career & Professional Goals: Is the coming year the year of getting that job, promotion, or raise? Incorporate images and words that represent the skills you want to gain to enhance your career. Include role models and mentors that you aspire to be more like.
- Health & Wellness: Is 2025 all about health and wellness for you? Find images of nourishing foods, workout routines, physical adventures, and self-care practices.
- Relationship & Community: Want to strengthen your relationships and maybe even start some new ones? Include images or symbols representing deeper connections and visualize acts of kindness and volunteering.
- Financial Abundance: Is it time to get rich? Incorporate images of financial stability, investments, and savings milestones. Include pictures of entrepreneurial endeavors and business goals.
Vision Board Inspiration
In case you need some inspo, weâve collected some of our favorite vision board examples into a board on Pinterest.
Feel free to take a look at the different vision board examples and use them to inspire your own!
Here are some of our favorites:
Vision Board Template (Free)
We want to make your vision boarding process as fun and creative as possible! That’s why we’ve created free vision board templates to get you started!
These three Canva templates include a pre-filled drag-and-drop grid formatted for desktop, iPhone, and iPad. They are filled with tons of pre-curated images to get you started as well as a blank template if you want to start from scratch.
All you have to do is drag the image into the frame and it will automatically crop and center it — no fussy editing needed. And when you’re done, you can download the vision board and set it as the background on your device for a perfect vision board wallpaper to keep you inspired all year long.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Vision Board
Your vision board should be a creative space and something that is completely your own so there are not too many strict rules when it comes to creating your own.
However, from many years of vision boarding, we’ve learned a couple of things to avoid:
- Overcrowding: There is a delicate balance between collecting enough images to represent the different aspects of your life and overcrowding your vision board. If you use too many images and quotes, your board can become a bit cluttered and lose it’s meaning. Focus on your main goals and aspirations and find images that really represent those things for you.
- Bland Images: Your vision board pictures should make you feel instantly empowered and inspired. They need to evoke emotion and trigger an emotional response. Be selective when curating your images to avoid bland or uninspiring photos.
- Vague Goals: The best goals are hyperspecific and speak to your inner purpose. If you stay on the surface level and just pick pictures that represent “happiness” or “money” you’ll be missing out on the opportunity to visualize a specific future for yourself.
By avoiding these mistakes, you’ll ensure that your vision board is not only super inspiring but also a powerful tool for manifesting your dream life.
How to Host a Vision Board Party
Making a vision board can be a great group activity to enjoy with friends, co-workers, or family. We love the idea of hosting an annual vision board party where you gather your loved ones for an afternoon or evening of vision boarding together. Here are a couple of tips to get you started:
- Set a Date & Send Out Invitations: If you’re planning to host your vision board party around the start of the new year, it’s important to pick a date well in advance and let people know to hold time on their calendars. December and January are busy times of year making last-minute plans difficult.
- Stock Up on Supplies: If you’re planning to make your vision boards by hand, be sure to stock up on supplies like magazines, scissors, foam boards, and glue. Each guest should have at least one of each.
- Create an Agenda: Facilitate the visualization process with a light agenda. Your guests might need your help in the process of clarifying their future dreams. You can begin with a moment of reflection, meditation or journalling to get everyone in the right headspace.
- Set the Atmosphere: Create a setting where creativity flows. Dim the lights, put on some soothing background music, and light some candles. When people feel more relaxed, they will let their creative energy flow freely.
FAQ
Yes of course! Vision boards can take any form! We actually prefer to make digital vision boards because it makes it easier to find inspiring images and quotes. Plus we love to use these free templates so we can save our vision board as the wallpaper on our devices.
There are no strict rules when it comes to making a vision board. So yes, a vision board can be just words. However, one of the ways that a vision board works is by helping you visualize your future goals. We find that images are more powerful when it comes to visualization but everyone’s brain is different!
While Pinterest is a great place to collect images and quotes, we recommend putting all the images together into a unique collage either by hand or digitally. If you’re committed to Pinterest, we recommend making a board called “vision board” and saving all of your images to that board so you can see them collected on a single page.
Vision boards can take all kinds of shapes and forms but often look like a collage of images and quotes. If you’re looking for vision board inspiration, we’ve put together a Pinterest board filled with vision board examples to get you started.
A vision board is a tool for visualizing your future goals. It helps you to develop a clear vision of your future aspirations and the habits and behaviors that ladder up to those goals. Through the power of visualization, you can train your brain to believe these goals and aspirations are already your reality and therefore start acting in ways that are aligned with them.
Every day is a good day to make a vision board but we recommend making a new board on a yearly basis. For many, the start of the new year is the perfect time to make a new vision board for the year ahead.
One of the most important, and often overlooked, aspects of creating a vision board is putting it somewhere where you’ll be reminded of it on a daily basis. Some of our favorite places are as wallpapers on our devices, framed in our office, or hang in our closet.
This post was the ultimate guide to creating a vision board that will help you manifest your goals in 2025, filled with alllll the vision board ideas.
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