Create a vision board that actually works

Do you need inspiration? An effective way to help you generate the life you dream of?

This post shares everything you need to know about creating a personal vision board. It shows you how to make vision boarding a practice, engaging your whole self in the process of manifesting your dreams.

What is a vision board?

A vision board is a tool. It helps us stay connected with our wishes by bridging our innermost desires with our outer reality.

When we create our board, we transform our visions into intentions, and our intentions into actions. This can feel like we’re casting a spell – one that’s filled with both deep feeling and crisp clarity. Each colour, word, symbol, and image we choose becomes a part of the spell that works quietly in the background to bring about the life we envision.

What makes a vision board special?

Unlike other forms of visualization and manifestation, a vision board harmonizes our body-mind and spirit.

According to science, a vision board engages our body-mind (via our brain) in specific ways. In essence, it raises our awareness of opportunities and synchronicities that are in line with our goals (more on this later).

Spiritually, our vision board can awaken our heart centre, reminding us to stay connected with, and trust in, our deep inner-knowing while we take inspired steps forward.

Why create a vision board?

The ultimate purpose of a vision board is to offer a concrete focus for our unique intentions. We can fill our board with anything that holds meaning for us. Anything that represents our highest purpose, evokes positive emotions, and aligns with our dreams.

Everything we place on our board should emit the energy of our desires and draw us closer to them at every glance.

How vision boarding works

When designed and used mindfully, a vision board activates the innate ability of our brains to shape our reality through the mechanisms of focus, emotion, and action.

Focus -

A network of neurons in our brains, called the Reticular Activating System (RAS), determines what we pay attention to. Consistently engaging with our vision board teaches our RAS what matters to us, what to prioritize. Over time, opportunities that are in line with our goals begin to “appear”. Not because they weren’t there before, but because our RAS has become attuned to noticing them.

Neuroplasticity is another focus-factor. It refers to how our brains are able to form new neural pathways (connections). Visualizing ourselves leading the life we want activates the visual cortex within our brain. When we do this repeatedly, over time, these connections become stronger. Our aspirations start to feel more familiar, tangible, and attainable. The more we visualize, the more our brain prepares us to experience what we envision.

Emotion -

Mirror neurons in our brains respond to the emotions we feel. This is one of the reason why the emotional elements of our vision boards are so crucial. When we feel inspired and excited by our vision board, mirror neurons amplify these feelings. This creates a positive feedback loop. We see our vision, feel inspired and excited, our mirror neurons increase these feelings, and we experience greater connection to our vision and goals.

Another method of engaging our mirror neurons is to put aside our doubts. When we look at our board we imagine in both our mind and body what it will feel like to have our dreams fulfilled. By staying with what our senses tell us is our reality, we reprogram our imagination.

Action -

The Limbic System is the emotional power-centre of our brains. When we engage with our vision board, the Limbic System lights up and releases feel-good chemicals (also called happy hormones), like dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. These chemicals boost our mood, sharpen our focus, reinforce our positive behaviours, and help us take aligned and consistent action toward our dreams.

How to: vision boarding as an outcome and a practice

Ideally, vision boarding is a verb, an action. To be truly effective, it should be a ritual of our becoming, rather than an outcome to achieve. It should be an intentional practice that invites us to reflect deeply, while aligning with our spirit. When we immerse ourselves in the practice of vision boarding, we experience more presence, meaning, and purpose.

The most potent vision board depicts both what we want to manifest and the steps that will take us there. Focusing on the outcomes AND the process, trains our brains to notice opportunities. Again, this is our RAS at work. Each word, symbol, and image connects us to our journey. As an example, if ‘better health and fitness’ is a goal, our vision board could include an image of an inspiring body (outcome), AND images of nourishing foods, various movements, and moments of rest (process). This way, we depict the what and the how. And our board becomes a map of the efforts that lead to the transformations we seek.

By breaking a vision into smaller, more specific steps, we also quiet the overwhelm that can come with dreaming big. Each image inspires us and keeps us grounded by gently reminding us to focus on the journey over the destination. Progress over perfection.

7 steps to creating a vision board

1 prepare your space -

To support creativity and self-discovery, create a space that feels calm, clear, and uplifting. The more sensory the experience, the more deeply it will reverberate. Play some gentle music, light a candle or an incense stick, sip herbal tea, wear comfortable clothes, wrap yourself into a soft blanket. Make the experience a sacred event.

2 prepare your self -

Pause. Take some deep breaths. Imagine yourself one year from now. Embody the emotions of your future self. Experience the feelings of your wishes being fulfilled. Be completely free with your visualization.

3 choose your categories -

Separate your life into categories. These could be purpose/career, personal development, health, fitness, home, love, friendships, family, travel, style, hobbies. Choose six categories at most.

4 set your intentions -

Get clear. Write down all the things you want to manifest within each category of your life. Be specific. Dream big. Reach for lofty goals. Always write in the present tense, as if it’s happening right now. For example, “I am grateful for my financial abundance” rather than “I want to be financially abundant”. This creates positive emotions and energy flow.

5 gather inspiring visuals -

Carefully choose colours, textures, words, poems, quotes, symbols, and/or images that align with your vision and evoke the emotions you want to feel. Try for at least 3 things per category. Remember to choose items that represent your destination as well as the mindsets and actions you’ll need to get there. Let your intuition guide you.

6 design your life -

Organize your chosen elements. Give yourself space and time to really be in this experience. The more present you are, the deeper you will connect to the vision you’re creating. Enjoy it! Allow the design process to flow.

7 engage daily -

Spend a few quiet moments at least once each day gazing at your vision board. Imagine yourself actively living it, feeling it. Research shows that regularly engaging in this way will positively impact your mindset, motivation, and success. By interacting with your vision with patience and presence, you nurture the path from here to there with steady, soulful determination.

Download my free Vision Board e-book with all the steps:

Vision Board ebook.pdf

Download PDF • 875KB

The wrap up

When we approach vision boarding as a meaningful and sacred practice, we cultivate the energy, focus, and habits to make what they contain come to life. The most effective boards show what we want and the steps to getting there, while eliciting strong and positive emotions within us. Together, these train our brain to recognize and seize upon opportunities that seem to simply “appear” along the way to our dreams.

When we understand the science that supports vision boarding, we can unlock their fullest potential. By trusting our path is unfolding as it is meant to each day, and being grateful for the journey, we tap into the power of our spirit to manifest our highest selves. With this approach, our vision board can become the catalyst for the life of our dreams.

To learn more

Check out these awesome resources:

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One. Joe Dispenza.

Manifesting 101: Mastering the Art of Getting What you Want. Wayne Dyer.

The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life. Hal Elrod.

Manifest: Dive Deeper. Roxie Nafousi.