How To Create A Vision Board That Legitimately Helps You Achieve Your Goals

Flickr / Berries.com

Pursuing your biggest goals may seem easy when you say you’re going to do it, but let’s be real — we’re all human, we get side-tracked and sometimes, we’re just not sure how to stick to our plans. Most importantly, we may not realize with what intentions we set a goal. That’s where a *vision board* comes in.

If you’ve heard of a vision board, you might think of a flimsy sheet of cardboard that a middle schooler decorated with celebrity pics out of magazines. Maybe you think it’s a very “woo-woo” concept, but we’re here to enlighten you. If created with the best intentions, a vision board could help you reach your next goal quicker than if you were to attempt it alone.

What is a vision board, exactly?

A vision board is a visual (duh) tool that helps you narrow down your desired goals to one central place. By putting the time and energy into a vision board, you’re physically creating a game plan for achieving what you want within the next year or so. Most importantly, a vision board is less about obtaining material things and more about obtaining a healthier, more positive mindset.

How do you know you’re setting the right goals?

The purpose of this project isn’t to simply show you how to get from A to Z on every goal, but rather to force you to choose goals that truly mean something to you. For example, you may initially think you want to lose 15 pounds, but by setting pure intentions (meaning you sit with your thoughts for a while and let them evolve into your final, honest idea) and tuning into the reasons why you want to lose 15 pounds, you may instead set the goal to change your dietary habits and exercise more frequently. Do these actions get you to your goal of 15 pounds down? Likely! But even better, you learn to live a healthier life overall that you can sustain even after the weight loss.

The bottom line: you want to set goals that you truly believe will make you feel how you want to feel.

Flickr / Berries.com

Alright, let’s get started.

Step 1: Write down five to 10 goals you’d like to achieve within a year or two.

The key is to make your timeline long enough for you to be able to develop the necessary habits and witness the small-yet-mighty milestones, but short enough that you can see some starter results. As we said before, make sure to set your intentions by taking proper time to really consider what you want. Once you have some goals in mind (take a meaningful trip, earn a certificate in something you consider to be a hobby, etc.), store them somewhere accessible where you can pull them out and read over the list a few more times. Make sure that even a few weeks after writing them down, you still want to accomplish these goals.

Step 2: Get your supplies.

You can get as creative as you want with your vision board as long as it truly inspires you to achieve your goals. Typically, a vision board requires any combination of a physical board (cardboard, cork board, poster board, etc.), colorful markers, scissors, tape, pins, glue stick, favorite magazines, photos and quotes. Ultimately, you need something to put your ideas on, markers to write them and then complementary items, like a photo of you and your friends or your favorite Oprah quote, that are both aesthetically pleasing and inspiring for you to keep moving toward your goals.

Step 3: Set the mood.

When you create your vision board, you want to be in a focused, calm mindset. Light a few candles and put on some relaxing tunes. Don’t distract yourself with technology or other people, and make sure that you have a few hours dedicated to creating your board.

Step 4: Craft!

Make your goals front and center on your board, and then surround those goals with beautiful photos, magazine clips and quotes that make you feel inspired and eager about the future.

Step 5: Evaluate. 

Set up your vision board somewhere that you can see it every day, like on your bedroom wall. Ideally, you’ll want to look at it every morning and every night so that it serves as a reminder for your living better each day, step by step. When you feel that you’ve reached a goal, celebrate by highlighting it on your board. If your goal changes throughout your year- or years-long process, make necessary revisions and keep moving.