What is a Vision Board?

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What is a Vision Board?

A vision board, also known as a dream board, is a visual representation of your goals. You can use a vision board to visualize achieving your goals. Vision boards work using the Law of Attraction, which is a philosophy that emphasizes having positive thoughts to bring positive results into your life. The 2006 film “The Secret”, which is based on the book of the same name, popularized the Law of Attraction. 

What Does a Vision Board Look Like?

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A vision board is a collage of photos, images, and inspirational quotes that help you visualize your goals. Vision boards can be physical objects like posters or bulletin boards that hang on the wall. Vision boards can also be created and viewed digitally through a website or tool. 

How Big are Vision Boards

Vision boards are usually between 8½ x 11 inches and 22 x 28 inches. These two sizes are popular because they are the most common. 8½ x 11 is the standard size of a piece of notebook paper, and 22 x 28 is the standard poster board size available at stationery stores. Other widely available paper sizes include 11 x 17 inches and 18 x 24 inches. All of these sizes are appropriate for a physical vision board.

Digital vision boards can be made in any size. If you want to print out your digital vision board, it will be easier to create your vision board using 8½ x 11 inches. Creating a digital board of this size will make printing your board easier and more convenient. 

What’s the Purpose of a Vision Board?

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The purpose of a vision board is to help you manifest your goals through visualization. Choosing images, photographs, and inspirational quotes to fill the board gives you opportunities to think about your goals concretely. Looking at a vision board after it’s been completed lets you meditate upon your goals and helps you visualize achieving them. According to the Law of Attraction, it is this visualization that will help manifest your goals into reality.

What are the Benefits of a Vision Board?

The benefits of a vision board are as follows:

  • Creates better intention: Vision boards help you focus on your goals, creating an active intention to achieve those goals. 
  • Clarifies your dreams: Vision boards are visual representations of your goals. Having a visual representation provides you clarity and increases your motivation to pursue your dreams. 
  • Improves your creativity: Vision boards naturally improve your creativity as you work to find innovative ways to achieve the goals you have displayed on your board.
  • Offers good motivation: Vision boards are excellent tools for providing motivation to pursue your goals in the face of adversity.
  • Enhances your productivity: Vision boards provide a clear picture of your goals. Being able to clearly visualize your goals inspires your desire to work hard to achieve those goals.
  • Provides you focus: Vision boards are an everyday focal point as you go work towards achieving your goals. 

How do vision boards affect you emotionally?

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Photo Credit: Pexels

Vision boards affect you emotionally by supporting the positive emotional states you need to pursue your goals. A vision board that depicts your goals makes it easy to envision a positive future, lifting your spirits and keeping you engaged and motivated to pursue your goals.

Are vision boards good for mental health?

Vision boards are good for mental health because they can help you gain self-awareness and self-reflect on what is important to you. Scientists have researched the role that vision boards play in therapeutic intervention. Peer-reviewed studies on vision boards are limited, but some researchers have concluded that vision boards can be used to inspire and help clients to focus on their goals and to empower them to create the life they imagine.

How Does a Vision Board Work?

Vision boards work through repeated visualization of your goals. Vision boards provide a daily opportunity to think about your goals and reflect on your progress towards achieving those goals. As you spend more time looking at photos and images of your goals displayed on a vision board, you will become motivated to try different plans and strategies you can use to pursue those goals. 

Do Vision Boards Come True?

Yes, vision boards come true because using a vision board motivates you to work hard and achieve your goals. Vision boards promote creativity and determination, inspiring you to work hard towards your goals and to not become discouraged when you suffer setbacks along the way. 

How long does it take for a vision board to work?

It usually takes between 6 months to a year for a vision board to work. If your goals are more achievable, you can reach them more quickly than those that require more long-term planning and work.

Why do Some Vision Boards Fail?

Some vision boards fail because they don’t inspire you to work hard to achieve your goals. Vision boards with images, photographs, or inspirational quotes that aren’t motivating will make it difficult to achieve your goals, that vision board won’t be an effective tool. A vision board will also fail if you don’t use them consistently enough to visualize manifesting your goals. 

How to Manifest Using a Vision Board?

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You can manifest using a vision board in the following steps:

  1. Visualize your goal: Once you have decided on what you want to manifest, use your vision board to visualize your life after achieving your goals. Fill your vision board with photos, images, and inspirational quotes that reflect your idea of your ideal life.
  2. Set achievable goals: Manifestation takes hard work. Plan your path to your overall goal by breaking things down into a series of smaller, more achievable goals that you can progress through over time. 
  3. Live in the moment: You can’t change the past or predict the future. Spending time worrying about things you’ve done wrong or things that are out of your control, you’re not spending your time working towards achieving your goals. 
  4. Celebrate your victories: The path towards manifesting your goals is a long one. Celebrate any milestones you reach to keep you motivated to continue moving forward.

Understand what goes into manifestation: You must master the three steps in manifestation. They include setting your intention clearly on what you want, believing that the process will work, and then allowing the change to happen in your life. Understanding how the manifestation process works is integral to the process.

What are the Types of Vision Boards

The two types of vision boards are listed below:

  • Online vision board: an online vision board is a digital board, created over the internet through the use of an online vision board creation service. 
  • Physical vision board: physical vision boards are boards that you can see, feel, and touch.

An online vision board is easier to create because you don’t need to gather photographs, images, and printed inspirational quotes to add to a physical board. Instead, you choose images directly from the internet and import them into your vision board creator. Physical vision boards require paper, glue, and other craft supplies to create, but once you do make a physical vision board you now have a physical object that you can touch and display prominently in your home or place of work.

What is a Digital Vision Board

A digital vision board, also known as an online vision board, is a collage of digital images that you have chosen to help you manifest your goals. Digital vision boards are created with the help of online design software and tools that provide help with composing your image layout. Once you have finished your digital vision board, you can print it out or you can view it online.

What is a Physical Vision Board?

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Physical vision boards are collages of images and photographs that have been cut from newspapers, magazines, and other sources and then pasted onto a piece of poster board using craft supplies. You can decorate physical vision boards using any type of object that can be affixed to its poster board backing.

How much do vision boards cost?

Physical vision boards usually cost between $5 and $25 depending on the quality and quantity of materials. The type of vision board you make impacts the price. Unlike physical vision boards, digital vision boards are often free to make since no physical supplies are needed. However some digital vision boards require paid software which has a fee.

How Do You Make a Vision Board

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Vision boards can be made using the following steps:

  1. Choose either a physical or digital vision board: The process for creating a vision board will differ greatly depending on whether you’re making a physical board or creating one online.
  2. Choose your overall design: If you are making a physical board, sketch your overall design on a piece of scrap paper and decide how many quotes and pictures you want. For digital boards, choose an online tool that you want to use.
  3. Choose your images: For physical boards, go through old magazines and other print sources for inspirational images and print out inspirational quotes. For digital boards, use the internet to search for images that inspire you.
  4. Gather your materials: This step only applies to physical vision boards. Gather the crafting materials you will need to create your vision board. Materials include glue, craft paper, scissors, and decorations. 
  5. Assemble your vision board: For physical boards, cut out and arrange your images and inspirational quotes on your board and glue them into place. For digital boards, take the images you have found on the internet and import them into your online tool. 
  6. Display your vision board: Hang a physical vision board in your home or place of work where you will see it on a daily basis. Save a digital vision board to your computer desktop or print out a physical version to hang as well.

Here’s a guide with more information on how to make a vision board.

How Do You Update a Vision Board?

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You can update a vision board using the following steps:

  1. Evaluate your current vision board: Determine if your priorities have shifted. Have your goals changed? Have you achieved some and not others? 
  2. Remove unnecessary images and photos: You no longer need images, pictures, or inspirational quotes for goals that you have achieved or for goals you no longer wish to pursue. For physical boards, you can physically remove old images or use craft paper to cover them up. For digital boards, you can delete old images.
  3. Replace these images and photos with new ones: Choose new content for your vision board that aligns with your new and updated goals. Add this content to your vision board in a manner appropriate for the type of board you have.
  4. Display your vision board again: For a physical board, hang the board back up in its previous place. For digital boards, download the new version and replace it as your computer desktop background. You can also print the new version of your digital vision board for display.

How Often Should You Update Your Vision Board?

You should update your vision board every 6 to 12 months. Updating your board on a regular basis gives you the opportunity to review the progress you have been making towards your goals and to adjust your vision board accordingly. 

Where is the Best Place to Put Your Vision Board?

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The best place to put your vision board in the bedroom, the living room, a home office, on the wall of your cubicle at work, or anywhere else that you will see your vision board several times a day. 

How Often Should You Look at my Vision Board?

You should look at your vision board at least twice a day, once when you wake up and once before bed. Looking at your vision board more will have a stronger impact on the effectiveness of your vision board.

Should You Keep Your Vision Board Private?

You should keep your vision board private if your goals are private and personal. If you feel comfortable having your vision board placed somewhere where other people will see it, be prepared to answer questions about your board.

What’s a Vision Board Party?

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A vision board party is a goal-setting event where you create a visualization of your goals together in a group. People attending a vision board party will bring printed materials and crafting supplies to create their own physical vision boards in a communal setting. Virtual vision board parties are used to create digital vision boards using remote video conferencing services like Zoom.

How to host a vision board party?

The following steps are recommended to host a vision board party:

  1. Decide on your invitation list: Vision board parties are best when the number of people attending is 10 or less. 
  2. Provide a list of items people will need: Inform your guests they will need magazines and craft supplies. The vision board party host should also have extra magazines and supplies in case any guests are unable to bring them.
  3. Welcome your guests: When the time comes, welcome your guests to your vision board party. Share some information about yourself and ask your guests to do the same in order to break the ice and get everyone comfortable with one another.
  4. Describe the process of making a vision board: Explain what a vision board is and why it’s effective. Provide them with a tutorial that showcases the steps involved in creating a vision board. Answer any questions they have about this process.
  5. Create your vision boards: Work together to create your vision boards. Provide each other feedback. If you are holding an in-person vision board party, you can share resources like craft supplies or magazines. 

Who are Vision Boards Beneficial for?

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Vision boards are beneficial for everyone:

  • Adults: Using visualization to manifest your goals through the use of a vision board helps adults achieve long-term career and personal goals.
  • Couples: Couples that create vision boards together can strengthen their relationship by working together to manifest the goals for their relationship.
  • College Students: Students can learn to focus on academic and personal goals by creating and maintaining vision boards.
  • Teens: Teens who practice manifesting their goals with vision boards build strong visualization skills that will help them as they grow into adulthood.
  • Younger Children: Younger children can embrace their creativity and imagination with vision boards to help in their emotional and mental development.
  • The Elderly: The elderly can use vision boards to work towards retirement goals with clarity and organization.

What Professions Can Benefit from Vision Boards?

All professions can benefit from creating and using a vision board. Here are some examples of how different professions can benefit from a vision board:

  • Doctors: Doctors can use vision boards to pursue goals related to treating their patients more effectively.
  • Nurses: Like doctors, nurses can use vision boards to help treat patients more effectively and provide more inspired care to the sick and injured.
  • Musicians: Musicians can use vision boards to inspire them to create new and innovative pieces of music or to further their careers as performers.
  • Entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurs use vision boards to visualize and manifest their goals to grow their business and become financially successful.
  • Lawyers: Lawyers use vision boards to help them visualize the achievement of long-term career goals like becoming a successful trial lawyer or making partner in their law firm.
  • Students: Students use vision boards to manifest their education goals and organize their plans for after graduating.

Which Celebrities Use Vision Boards?

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The following celebrities use vision boards:

  • Tony Robbins: a well-known author life coach, inspirational speaker, and philanthropist.
  • Oprah Winfrey: an Academy Award-nominated actress, talk show host, television producer, author, and philanthropist.
  • Beyonce: a singer-songwriter, she is the most awarded female recording artist of all time, with more than 75 million record sales worldwide.
  • Katy Perry: a singer, songwriter, and television judge that is acknowledged to have influenced popular music of the 2010s and is one of the best-selling musical artists of all time.
  • Ellen DeGeneres: a comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer.
  • Jim Carrey: an actor, comedian, writer, and producer known for his energetic, slapstick performances.
  • Steve Harvey: a television and radio presenter, actor, author, businessman, and former stand-up comedian.
  • Jack Canfield: an author, motivational speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur, most well known as the co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books.
  • John Assaraf: an entrepreneur, author, and actor.
  • Whitney Cummings: an actress, comedian, filmmaker, and podcaster.
  • Kellan Lutz: an actor and model most well known for starring in the Twilight series of films.
  • Patrick Starrr: a beauty vlogger and freelance makeup artist.
  • Shay Mitchell: an actress, model, and entrepreneur.
  • Lucinda Cross: an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author, and life coach.
  • Lilly Singh a.k.a. Superwoman: a comedian, actress, former talk show host, and YouTuber.

What is a Faith Vision Board?

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A faith vision board is a vision board used by Christians to provide a visual reminder of the goals, plans, and purposes to better serve God.

What Does The Bible Say About Vision Boards?

The Bible embraces the idea of using visualization. In Habbakuk 2:3 it says “And the Lord answered me: ‘Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.’”

Are Vision Boards Evil?

Vision boards are not evil. Vision boards are a tool for pursuing your goals through manifestation as taught by the Law of Attraction. They do not have any morality.

Vision Board History

The earliest evidence of someone using the principles of a vision board is found in the personal journals of author Octavia E. Butler in 1988. Modern vision boards first became popular in 2000 after the publication of “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne. Byrne’s book introduced the Law of Attraction to the world, and her book discusses how to create vision boards.

Best Books on Vision Boards

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The following are the best books on vision boards:

  • The Vision Board: The Secret to an Extraordinary Life: written by Joyce A. Schwartz, this book has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and features a foreword by Bob Proctor, one of the teachers featured in the film adaptation of The Secret.
  • Make Anything Happen: A Creative Guide to Vision Boards, Goal Setting, and Achieving the Life of Your Dreams: written by Carrie Lindsey, this book provides tools like guided worksheets, vision board templates and samples, and planning pages.
  • The 2022 Vision Board Clip Art Book: written by Angelie Dane, this book is the latest collection of inspirational photographs, images, and quotes to be used for creating vision boards.

What are the alternatives to a vision board?

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The following are the alternatives to vision boards:

  • dream boards: these boards are virtually identical to vision boards. The name “dream board” and “vision board” are interchangeable.
  • mood boards: a mood board is a planning tool used for aesthetic design purposes. While vision boards and mood boards are both collages of inspiring images, the images used in a mood board are for inspiration for art, fashion, and graphic design projects.
  • mind maps: unlike vision boards that are more focused on visualization and manifestation, a mind map is a diagram for representing tasks, words, concepts, or items linked to and arranged around a central concept or subject. Mind maps are graphical representations of these concepts.
  • action boards: an action board is a more detailed version of a vision board that schedules out the actions you are taking to achieve your goals. Action boards have dates and deadlines while vision boards do not.
  • goal boards: goal boards are like dream boards in that they are virtually identical. The name “goal board” is not as common as “dream board” or “vision board”.