Perhaps you consider yourself to be a creative, artistic kind of person. Or maybe not. Either way, you’ll find it easy to create a vision board that expresses your dreams for your future. You may have already heard of a vision board: it’s a collage of images that represent your dreams for your life, such as the things that you want to be, do, and have. It can include inspiring words or phrases.

Maybe you’ve even done a vision board before. Did you find it to be a useful process? How successful was your board? When was the last time you looked at it? Get it out now, if you still have it at home, and take a look. How have these elements become a part of your life?

Or perhaps they haven’t. Many people create a vision board and then toss it to the back of their closet. That won’t work.

Top tips for a successful vision board:

Collect enough materials and set aside enough time to create the board. Plan several days in advance for gathering materials, at least one hour to search through the magazines for images, at least an hour for sorting through the images you’ve selected, and at least 30 minutes to actually paste the images on your board.
Clear your mind before starting
Take inventory of what you already have (see previous exercise)
Get clear on what you don’t want
Get rid of “shoulds”: there’s nothing you should be dreaming for
Go with your feelings, not with logic
Trust that it can happen, even if it seems impossible
Hang your board in a place where you can see it every day, like on the wall in front of your desk or on the refrigerator.
Remember what it felt like to create the board
Express gratitude when you start being, doing, or having the things on your board.

You’ve already done a lot of work to get in touch with your dreams. You’re clear on what you want to be, do, and have. And you’ve expressed gratitude for the things that you already have. Now you’re ready to get started on your vision board.

Collect your materials:

Something to use as a base: you can use construction paper, cardboard, canvas, or anything else you like as a base for your vision board.
A variety of magazines, being sure to include at least some of the following types: travel magazines or brochures (you can get old ones for free from travel agencies); inspirational, spiritual, or personal development magazines; home and garden magazines; publications with images of people, both men and women. You can ask hairdressers and doctors’ offices for their old magazines; many of them throw them out each month when the new ones arrive.
A photograph of yourself that you like.
Rubber cement, or other rubbery glue. Glue stick may work, but can dry up and the images can fall off. It depends on the base that you use for your board.
Any other creative elements that you wish to use: glitter, shells, feathers, confetti, or colored paper or wrapping paper to use as a background. Whatever comes to mind.

Once you’re ready, with all of your materials, be sure to set aside enough time when you won’t be interrupted to sort through your materials and create your board: at least two and a half hours. Clear off a large table, such as your dining table, so you have enough room to spread out your materials. Put down a tablecloth if needed to prepare the space. Sit down at the table and begin.

Clear your mind with a task meditation to get rid of anything that may distract you during the vision board process.
Re-read your purpose statement.
Reflect on your list of dreams.
Browse through your entire stack of magazines, taking your time. Look for images that catch your attention, things that resonate with you. Go with your gut feeling when selecting images, rather than searching specifically for certain elements. You may be surprised at what comes up. Spend at least an hour doing this. If you find that it takes less, go back through your magazines to see if you find anything new.
Now it’s time to sort through your images. Place your base board within reach, so you have a clear idea of the amount of space that you have. This is the time to decide which images will find their space on your board, and which ones don’t make the cut. You may find it easiest to sort them into three piles: images that you definitely want on your board, images that you like least, and images that you’re undecided on. They may be images that you like, but they’re not as high priority as the ones you definitely want on your board.
Put your base board in front of you, and glue your photograph in the center. Gather together the images that you’re certain you want on the board, and arrange them loosely over the base. Once you’re happy with the arrangement, you can trim them down as needed. Then glue them into place.
Reflect on your finished vision board. Does anything surprise you? Does it look how you expected? What have you learned from your board? What did you learn from the creative process? Make note in your journal or notebook of your reflections.
Hang your board in a place where you can see it every day, like on the wall in front of your desk or on the refrigerator.
Pay attention to any changes in your life that are aligned with the images on your board.

We’ll be doing more work with your board in future exercises. In the meantime, keep it present in your life. Be sure to look at it every day. I keep my current board propped up against the wall behind my computer screen, and I look at it numerous times throughout the day.

Much of what I know about vision boards I learned in a Spiritual Coaching course at The Smart School with the fabulous Jayne Morris, and the vision board I shared above was created during that course. Jayne also runs a vision board workshop audio course if you’re interested in delving deeper into the creation of transformational vision boards.

Vision boards, like many of the exercises I’ve shared here, work best when updated on a regular basis. Things change. When I created the board I shared above, I had no clue what it meant. I was just drawn to the images and messages. Maybe I wanted to spend more time in nature? I wasn’t sure. Just three months after creating the board, I ended up moving to a gorgeous area with creeks, rivers, and a small lake, surrounded by woods. Walking through those woods has become my #1 way to relax and de-stress. Once that all made sense to me, I realized it was time to create a new board. So I did.

2 Comments

Nat on February 26, 2013 at 21:29

I love your last paragraph. It’s inspiring! And it’s comforting to hear that I don’t have to KNOW everything, that it can just feel right. Someone mentioned making the board on Picasa, and I’m going to do that, because I have a hard time finding images I like for boards that aren’t about travel or places to live. For instance, I’d like to make one of how I’d like my home to look on the inside, with my ideal work space. That’s hard to find! Things like that. It also saves time 😉 I was resistant to the idea at first, because it seems too easy, like a shortcut, to use Picasa, but it sounds ideal when I think about the time I’d need otherwise.

Thank you for this post 🙂
Holly Worton on February 26, 2013 at 23:43

I made my first board on the computer, but since then I’ve used magazines. I’ve found that when I make a digital board, it’s a very rational process: I look for specific images and use the best ones I find. When I use magazines, it’s much more intuitive. I often come up with things that I never would have imagined, like this board that didn’t even make sense to me. But it was exactly what I needed.

Do you use Pinterest? I can’t remember. That’s a great place to collect images for your ideal home/work space. And it’s FULL of amazing home/office images.

The trick is to get LOTS of magazines. Ask for them at doctor offices, dentists, hairdressers. Get a wide variety of magazines, and then just browse through them. I made one at the end of last year for a friend’s birthday party. It was so much fun! Four of us sat around the dining table and made vision boards. Then other people showed up and joined in. I loved it!

Let me know how it goes!!