Creating a Vision Board: a How-To

There will never be a better time to start than now. Whether it’s January 1st or August 20th, you can make a change. So, stop waiting for the perfect time and get right into it.

There are no rules in goal setting, only preference. Personally, I function very well with visuals. Seeing my ideas and dreams come to life on colorful pages of pictures, Pinterest boards, and  vision boards. And while it doesn’t work for everyone, you’ll be surprised with how well visualizing your goals will help you accomplish them. Below I have added a short guide to establishing your goals, which will be the foundation for your vision board.

Step 1: Determine your goals.

The best way to establish your goals is by categorizing them. To do this, consider setting aside 30 minutes of time and grab yourself a pen and a piece of paper. Next, determine your time frame for your goals, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, etc. After you decide your timeframe, you will want to create your categories. I have found that these 7 serve as the best guidelines for me: financial, spiritual, health, social, family, career, and personal. You should always choose what works best for you, so feel free to utilize this is a tool rather than a hard line. After you have done this, it’s time to start thinking. Beginning with your first category, think of 2-5 things that you want to accomplish. They can be big or small but the key is to find goals that are both attainable and challenging. The last and arguably most important step for creating a “good” goal is making sure that your goal is measurable. If you want to “get fit” a good goal might look like “I will exercise 3x a week”. After you have written 2-5 measurable goals for each category, it’s time for some fun!

Step 2: Creating

If you are a creator, this will be your favorite part. If not, don’t fret, seeing your hard work payoff will make it worth it. For this step, create a centralized photo album. This can be a Pinterest board, an album on your phone, or if you want to be super creative, a magazine collection.

From here, search for your overall goal online and save images that resonate with you/remind me of your goals. For example, when I set my goal to eat a cup of fruit or veggies daily, I searched “aesthetic fruit pictures” and found delicious images of berries. Finding aesthetic images will not only add to excitement, but it will help you stay on track if you slip up.

After you have gathered your images you can use various platforms like Canva, Adobe, etc. to design your board. After you adjust it to your liking, I recommend downloading the image. From here, you can utilize local printing services to make your board come to life, add it as your desktop screen, lock screen, anything that will help you stay on track. If you prefer a more hands-on approach try bulletin boards or pasting the images on to a poster.

Step 3: Follow-through

This part will probably be the hardest part. It will also be the most rewarding. As you continue on your journey to complete your goals remember that it’s okay to take detours. Mistakes or missed goals do not mean you are not capable. Perhaps your goal was not measurable enough, maybe it was misaligned with your value as you grew. The purpose of a vision board is to serve as a guideline and path of direction. Below I have added a few examples from my recent vision boards. Happy creating!

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the images pictured within the collages. This is for example only.