3 Tips on How to Create a Vision Board to Manifest Your Dreams

The point of making a vision board is to dream big, without any societal or logistical limitations. It changes your mindset because it is playful and doesn’t have to be grounded by reality, or your perception of reality.

So your heart is free to open wide and add any goal or desire without fear of being judged. And once you’ve allowed the inspiration to flow out of you and manifest in a physical form, you can put somewhere you’ll see it regularly to stay inspired and be motivated to take actions towards the vision you created.

You have permission to think up whatever you want and put ideas and images that represent things in life that inspire you or that house you always dream of or the trip you think of when you’re stuck in a Zoom meeting.

When you’re in the moment of finding words and images to add to your board, you have the space to get excited and allow yourself to loosen up and throw ideas on that most tend to squash because of your own judgments, or what society tells us are right or acceptable.

Because it’s all for fun, and that’s what makes it so meaningful.

Creating a vision board is easy. Even if you’re not artistic at all, you can make an awesome vision board.

How? All you need is a few supplies and you’ll be ready to dream.

What do you need to create a vision board?

The first thing you need to create a vision board is some time to play and an open mind. I have create vision boards using all sorts of materials. Here’s a list of the basics that you’ll need to get started.

• Board: It doesn’t need to be fancy. Use poster board, an old canvas you don’t like, or even a cardboard box (who doesn’t have a few of these lying around). *Bonus, creating vision boards reduces waste and reuses materials that may have ended up in the trash or, hopefully, the recycling bin.
• Scissors: I prefer to use Fiskars because they are so sturdy, but any good pair will do. (Check them out on Amazon; they’re pretty reasonable.)
• Glue: I always use a glue stick. I like it better than using liquid glue because it tends to get tacky faster and it’s way less messy.
• Magazines: Any will do, but if you have a stack of magazines laying around on topics you enjoy, all the better. But you can find inspiring words, images, even cool-looking letters you can remake into words, in almost any old magazine.
• Books: I am not a fan of destroying books, but if you have old books laying around that no one is doing anything with, especially kinda cruddy old books but that may have cool images and fonts, then why not? I’ve done this before with old childrens’ books I’ve picked up at yard sales.
• Markers and Colored Pencils: You can draw shapes, words, frames, or anything around images that you are gluing to your board to give it some flare or emphasize a certain image or word. One thing that is fun to do is try and emphasize the points that you’re the most excited about, so it kind of prioritizes your vision.
• Photos: Sometimes adding your own photos can be a fun addition to your board. Especially if there’s an activity you used to do and want to try again, or a feeling you remember that you want to focus on that a photo captures. But adding photos is totally optional.
• Mixed Media: You can also get a little 3D with it and add found objects (though you may need a glue gun depending on how heavy whatever you’re adding is). Things like feathers, small shells, little pieces of driftwood, and other small objects can be fun to add if they represent a time, place, feeling, or symbol that you want on your board.

What are some examples of vision boards?

The last vision board I made was a few years ago. But one of the reasons I’m writing about them now is I’ve been feeling like making a new one because so much has changed in that time. The last one I made was before I met my husband, and I was so ready to find true love. So you’ll see in the picture below, that love was a huge theme. I didn’t feel the need to fill in all of the spaces, which is how I like my home too.

I like leaving space to breathe.

I recently visited my mom’s house when she was moving so we went through a bunch of old paperwork and art from my childhood. I had forgotten about a lot of it, but it was amazing how all of the memories came rushing back when I saw old vision boards I created in high school and college. Here are some snippets from a vision board I created when I was about 20 years old.

I used magazines, an old piece of a note that was inspiring, stickers, photos, rose petals, ribbon (which it’s all now a bit brown), and a sketch of a girl I had done in high school. So if you do like to sketch or draw or any other 2D art form, you can clip from old work if you don’t want to keep it for anything else, especially if it represents something you want to strive for or it hold positive feelings for you.

What should I put on a vision board?

Now you may be excited to start a vision board, but not sure about what to put on it. To get you started, here are some questions to use as prompts:

• Where do you want to be in five years?
• If you could live anywhere, what would it look like?
• What feeling do you want to have when you wake up in the morning?
• If you could spend your days doing what you love the most, what would your day be like?
• What does your highest and best self look like?
• What is your why?
• What kinds of experiences do you want to look back on when you’re older?

I’ll leave you with a video of Oprah talking about her visioning process and manifesting her dreams. It’s a quick clip but there are a few super insightful nuggets to get you on your way.

I hope you’re inspired to play and create a vision board today! It’s so much fun to dream big and give yourself permission to imagine and wonder. Visioning is the first step in making plans to get to where you want to be, and it can truly inspire and motivate you to start taking action to achieve whatever it is in life that you want. Looking for more fun activities this weekend? You may like my ultimate list of weekend activities.

Let me know if you create a vision board! I would love to update this post with your creations.

Happy visioning!