How Vision Boards Work & How To Make A Powerful One For Yourself
Vision boarding is an excellent way to get clear on your goals and motivated to bring them to life. Not to mention, it's a fun and relaxing activity for a rainy day. All you'll need to create a board that helps you attract positivity and abundance is a few supplies and an ounce of craftiness.
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What are vision boards, and how do they work?
A vision board is essentially a physical (or digital) manifestation of your goals. Vision boarding involves collecting images or objects that speak to the future you want to create and arranging them on a board for a tangible and aesthetically pleasing reminder of where you're heading. You can construct yours solo or vision board with a partner.
As reiki master and author of Burning Bright: Rituals, Reiki, and Self-Care To Heal Burnout, Anxiety, and Stress, Kelsey Patel, explains, "If we don't have a clear direction of where we're headed or where we want to go, it can be very easy to get caught up in things that aren't actually good for us. Creating a vision board is a powerful way of getting to know yourself and what it is you truly want to manifest and call into your life."
How to make a vision board
Creating a vision board is a totally personal and customizable activity, so there's no one way to do it. That said, here are some basic supplies you might want to start with:
- A board for your base. Cork, wire, or a magnetic whiteboard would all work.
- Scissors.
- Depending on your base, pushpins, tape or glue, magnets, or clips to secure images.
- Images or objects that resonate with you and your goal that can be placed on your board. Think magazine clippings, photos, quotes, and more. (Additional ideas for that below.)
- Stickers, markers, or any other extras you want to add, if you so wish.
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Once you've got supplies gathered, here's how you could go about creating your board:
- Get clear on your intention. Start by asking yourself, what do I want to invite/manifest into my life? It can be a physical thing (perhaps your goal is to buy a house), a personality trait (positivity, motivation, for example), etc.
- Zero in on your images and objects. Once you're clear on what you'd like to use your vision board for, you can hone in on some images and objects that represent your goals. This could be magazine clippings (a favorite of Patel's), photos—really anything that resonates with you.
- Start arranging. This is the fun part! Begin arranging and rearranging your board with the images you gathered. Move things around until you feel inspired when you look at it. It's best not to glue anything down until you have your layout established. The most important thing is simply to have fun with the process and take your time with it.
- Find a place for it. Once you're pleased with the final product, find a place to put your board where it can provide daily inspiration, like on an altar or your nightstand.
Some ideas to get your vision board started
Depending on what you're trying to manifest, here are some ideas for objects to put on your board. (For a more thorough idea list, check out how seven spiritual leaders use their vision boards.)
- For positivity: Magazine clippings that make you feel happy or a quote or affirmation that speaks to you would both fit on this board.
- For financial abundance: Yes, you can totally put a crisp bill on your board! For a less literal interpretation, you can also use images that represent financial abundance to you.
- For connecting with nature: This is a fun opportunity to incorporate objects such as feathers, pressed flowers or leaves, or small seashells.
- For travel: If you're looking to travel more, think postcards, photos of airplanes or trains, or a photo of you in your favorite destination.
- For love: To attract love, find some quotes about, or images of, loving relationships that speak to you. A picture of yourself taken during a moment you truly loved yourself would also fit here.
- For inner peace: Look for calming images, cool colors, and quotes that soothe your soul. Objects from nature would also totally work here.
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These are just some ideas to get the wheels turning—the options are limitless. When your board starts to feel uplifting and powerful every time you look at it, that's how you'll know it's ready.
How to use your vision board
Once your board is ready, here are some easy ways to use it to amplify the law of attraction and call in the future you've mapped out for yourself:
- Speak it into existence: Patel notes that one powerful way to use your board for manifesting is to look at it as you list the things you want to create in your life out loud.
- Leave some spaces open: By leaving a little open space on our board, you'll leave room for the things you want to attract.
- Let your board inspire action: As the law of attraction explains, simply visualizing your goal isn't enough—you need to take action too! Let the board serve as a reminder to take small steps toward your goals regularly.
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How often does it need to be updated?
As time goes on and your goals evolve, your board will absolutely need the occasional refresher. How often you spruce yours up is up to you. Perhaps you're craving a total revamp, or maybe you just want to swap out a few images and quotes or affirmations.
"I typically do it annually, for a new year or birthday," Patel adds, "but it's really up to the creator. It's your vision for yourself, so only you know best when it needs to be refilled or rearranged with your present-day desires and intentions."
Again, as with anything related to the law of attraction, you'll need to take action in achieving your goals. But with the help of your newly crafted vision board providing daily inspiration, you'll be one step closer to manifesting anything it is you're looking for.
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Sarah Regan is a Spirituality & Relationships Editor, a registered yoga instructor, and an avid astrologer and tarot reader. She received her bachelor's in broadcasting and mass communication from State University of New York at Oswego, and lives in Buffalo, New York.