The Best Vision Board Guide for Beginners

Your dreams. Your goals. The life you want.  Where can you SEE them?

On a Vision Board.

You simply collect images and photographs and words that conjure up, illustrate and declare your wishes, dreams, and goals. You are creating a picture of your intentions so you can see them every day. So you can visualize the life you want.

Making a vision board will attract more of what you want in life… it works.

How Do Vision Boards Work?

The most popular way to make vision boards is by cutting images from magazines, arranging them as you like and pasting or gluing them to a large board or poster. The vision board is then hung or displayed in a place where you can easily see it and where you will look at it often.

Vision boards are made with inspiring images and words cut from magazines, printed images from internet, and from my vision board clip art books.

Put your vision board on a wall that you see everyday whether it’s your bedroom, office, or even your closet. 

Slowly but surely you will embrace the images on the vision board as a possible and reachable reality and you’ll find yourself taking more urgent action to make these visions come true.

A vision board is sometimes called a Treasure Map because that’s where your treasures are to be found. It’s sometimes called a Dream Board because that’s where your dreams live.  However you think of it or whatever you like to call it, it’s a potent visual tool for manifesting the life you want. For SEEING the life you want.

I’m writing about vision boards because I’d love to encourage and help motivate you to make one of your own and experience the positive outcomes. Even if you have experience making a vision board, I offer this article to support you in re-engaging with this life changing activity.

In this article you’ll see examples of vision boards and how to make one. And you’ll learn the different reasons why vision boards work so well at making your dreams come true. And also how you will benefit from the sheer enjoyment, fun, and resulting positive energy that comes from actually making a vision board.

Vision Board Examples

You can take a look at the Vision Board Examples with examples of typical vision boards. You’ll see they’re all different and individualized. No two vision boards are alike.

Some are chock full of images. Some are minimal. Some have images placed in a free and whimsical splash and some are laid out in a grid. The content can illustrate abstract qualities — ideas, mantras, aphorisms — or they can be objects, places, people and scenarios. Each vision board is an artful, rich reflection of the person creating it and manifesting it.

Why Make a Vision Board?

For a project that could help you change your life, it doesn’t take a big investment of time. It doesn’t take long at all. In just 2-5 hours and over as many days as you like, you can complete this powerful and personal work.

Making the commitment to design this personalized collage is well worth the time.  If you truly want transformation to take hold in your life, a vision board can act as your mission statement.

When Should I Make a Vision Board?

New Year’s Eve would be a great time to make one. Begin the new year with fresh images and a new plan. You’ll discover on social media that many people are making New Year’s Eve parties around the making of vision boards. How about hosting a vision board party this year?

But really, vision boards can be made anytime of the year. I used to do a new board around my birthday because for me that was the start of my own personal new year. If you have had a major life event or want to change your life, that’s the perfect time for making a vision board that can mark that moment of transformation and invite new things into your world. These creations are effective and powerful at manifesting the extraordinary for you.

The Long Lasting Benefits of Vision Boards . . .  Before, During, and After

Before you begin, you want to ask yourself what you really want to create in your life. That process will focus your intention. In fact, the moment you decide to commit to making a vision board, change begins.

Then as you start looking for images either in magazines, the internet, or books, you’re giving yourself permission to get out of your limited box of self and expand into a larger and richer version of yourself. You’ve begun to invite growth and opportunities into your life. You’re playing a bigger and longer game.

Another step forward occurs when you sit down with your materials to make your vision board .

This is when you engage in creative play that allows your energy to flow. Your unconscious — your soul — can speak about what is truly important to you.  It is far more intuitive and personal than regular goal making and longer lasting. It’s not just something pretty to hang on your wall – it’s a portrait of your intention.

And it’s a lot of fun. I’ve hosted many vision board workshops and parties. So many people have told me how relaxing it is. They experience is as a playful meditation and nourishing self-care opportunity.

Once you’ve finished, a sort of magic takes hold. The journey towards your desired life continues . . .

When your vision board is displayed where you will see it often — in your home or workspace — it starts working on your unconscious mind where your real mind-power resides. Our unconscious minds tend to “think” in pictures and symbols. You’ll see opportunities where you normally wouldn’t… you open up to having more goodness in your life.

Vision Board Starter Pack

Make a Vision Board Right now with this free Vision Board Starter Pack. Includes Printable Vision Board Clip Art, Instructions, and Shopping List.

Why Do Vision Boards Work?

How do vision boards keep you focused on what you want to manifest and what you want to attract?  And why do they work?

When you commit to gluing an element on a board, you are giving a stamp of approval to it. You are stating your belief that it will happen. The board can also be used as a confirmation of things that may already exist in your life because you want those things to stay in your life and grow.

Vision boards work on your unconscious mind to remove limiting beliefs. Because your unconscious mind can’t tell the difference between reality and what is imagined, when your unconscious sees the items on your vision board, your mind starts to accept that as reality. When that happens you become more free to take action — you now own the belief that you’ll get the outcome you desire.

Some people believe that vision boards have another kind of magic inherent in them. This is called the Law of Attraction. By visualizing what you want, the universe rearranges itself to deliver your dreams and desires.

Visualizing what you want creates a vibration within yourself and your mind that attracts “like-minded vibrations” to you. Those matching vibrations could be, for example, in the form of new opportunities to take action toward your making your dream come true. Or in some cases, the universe may drop the finished product (your heart’s desire) right on your doorstep.

Regardless of what you believe is happening behind the scenes, vision boards are a powerful tool for creating and living a better life. Would you like to hear an inspiring vision board story? Then check out Steve Harvey’s interview on Oprah about how vision boards changed his life.

How to Make a Vision Board

You will need a piece of poster board, scissors, magazines or other image resources like books (my book), or print items you find on the internet … and glue. There are ways you can prepare for making a vision board in advance that will make it better.

Flip through the magazines and find images and words that you like. Collect things that speak to you. You don’t necessarily need to ask why or how!

Build up a pile of these images and then start arranging them on your board. Try different arrangements. This should feel good and relaxing — you can’t make a mistake. Let it flow.

When you make a vision board, the manifesting process becomes more feeling-oriented. Since the images generally come from magazines, you have a limited set of possibilities to select from. But this limitation allows you to pull words and images that match you emotionally. In other words, the images may not resemble the exact things you want, but they give the feeling of having what you want.

It is the feeling that sparks vision board magic — feelings are emotions in motion. By deliberately creating positive feelings, we enlist the vibrations necessary to attract what we want.

Once you feel everything is looking good on your board, you can start gluing the images in place. If there is too much white space, you might want to add more images or find interesting textures to fill it in. Keep looking for visual treasures in your magazines until the whole vision board has a sparkle to it. Then you’ll know you’re finished. And of course you can always add to it later on if you get inspired.

Hang it on a wall and take a photo of it for your mobile device where you’ll see it often. Imagine all these good things happening to you! There are countless stories of people who have manifested a new life on their vision board — including me. It can happen for you too.

Vision Board Ideas

Throw a Vision Board Party

Why not affirm yourself, get affirmation from others and affirm others by throwing a vision board party?  By doing this creative act together with like-minded friends, the energy of the group will motivate and energize you all. You can have a lot of fun and be very productive too.

At a Vision Board Party, everyone can help each other find the perfect images. And when your boards are assembled, you can be a witness to each other’s visions. And by staying in touch with your visions board “club,” you support each other in the realization of your dreams. This is manifesting power in numbers.

Make a Vision Board Gift

Imagine giving your loved one a gift this year that goes beyond the ordinary—a gift that inspires and helps them pursue their dreams. Introducing the vision board. This isn’t just any present; it’s a profound affirmation of your belief in their aspirations.

A vision board communicates, “I recognize your dreams. I support you. And I believe in your potential.” What could be more beautiful than showing someone you care about how deeply you believe in their journey?

I even have a special blogpost on making your mom a vision board. Check out this article on Making a Mother’s Day Vision Board.  

Online and Mobile Vision Boards

I have been making vision boards in the traditional paper cut-and-paste way for decades. In recent years, I evolved the craft using modern technology. I create entire vision board websites, plus online vision boards via various software applications and social media platforms.  Right now PowerPoint vision boards are my favorite way to create online vision boards.

In this way, vision boards are accessible from anywhere and I take advantage of that. Using digital media allows me to incorporate affirmations and music. Multi-media vision boards not only make a greater impact on your unconscious mind but also saturate all your senses — especially what you hear.

The vision board just became a whole lot more powerful! Click here to learn more about Digital Vision Boards.

Benefits to Making a Vision Board

• Here are some benefits you can expect when you make a vision board.
• Get clear on your dreams and aspirations
• Remove limiting beliefs and adopt a more positive worldview of your life
• Allow yourself to be creative
• Become motivated to take focused and continuous action
• Stay inspired and upbeat
• Enlist the Law of Attraction
• Manifest your dreams
• Ease anxiety and stress
• Manifest more of what you want

I do hope you find the time to make a vision board if you’ve never made one before. If you are a vision board fan like myself, then I applaud your efforts and would love to hear the success stories you’ve had with your vision board.

Vision Board Starter Pack

Make a Vision Board Right now with this free Vision Board Starter Pack. Includes Printable Vision Board Clip Art, Instructions, and Shopping List.