One of my most popular past blog posts is Vision Boards: A Quick Story. I wrote it months before the DVD The Secret was released. Then John Assaraf’s story of manifesting his giant mansion by using vision boards (in The Secret) popularized the concept. Many of us, however, have been doing them for years. (I’ve been using them at my women’s retreats for about 5 years now.) And the value of a vision board goes way beyond just mansions and gold watches!
What is a Vision Board?
A vision board (also called a Treasure Map or a Visual Explorer or Creativity Collage) is typically a poster board on which you paste or collage images that you’ve torn out from various magazines. It’s simple.
The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires.
For instance, before I ever started performing music and I had no idea how I’d ever get a gig, write enough songs, or assemble a press kit, I drew a picture of myself in a bar with people watching me perform (I’m a terrible visual artist, so I actually had to label the people “people!”). And though it wasn’t the only factor in making it happen, I had a calendar full of bar and coffeehouse gigs by the next year.
My drawing was a kind of a vision board. Vision boards do the same thing as my drawing did. They add clarity to your desires, and feeling to your visions. For instance, at the time I did my drawing, I knew I wanted to play in bars and coffeehouses. (I have since left the that circuit, and I’m performing in theatres and at conferences. But in my early twenties, I wanted to play in bars and coffeehouses. I was pretty clear about that!) Taking the time to draw it out, even poorly, made it indelible in my mind.
There are several methods you can use for creating your vision board. I’ve written about each one below. You can choose which one works best for you, depending on where you find yourself on this path of creating your life.
Supplies you’ll need for creating a Vision Board:
- Poster board. (Target sells a really nice matte finish board. I highly recommend it.)
- A big stack of different magazines. (You can get them at libraries, hair salons, dentist offices, the YMCA.) Make sure you find lots of different types. If you limit your options, you’ll lose interest after a while. When I facilitate my women’s retreats, I always make sure we have plenty of Oprah, Real Simple, Natural Home, Yoga Journal, Dwell, Ode, Parenting, Money, Utne, and an assortment of nature magazines.
- Glue. Not Elmers. (It makes the pages ripple.) I like using Yes! Glue or Rubber cement. Glue sticks are my second choice because they don’t last.
Before you begin your vision board:
No matter which method you’re choosing, have a little ritual before you begin your vision board. Sit quietly and set the intent. With lots of kindness and openness, ask yourself what it is you want. Maybe one word will be the answer. Maybe images will come into your head. Just take a moment to be with that. This process makes it a deeper experience. It gives a chance for your ego to step aside just a little, so that you can more clearly create your vision.
Put on soft music. My favorite music for activities like this is Anugama Shamanic Dream I and Shamanic Dream II
. I love these CD’s for massage or any activity where you want to keep your mind quiet.
The Five Steps of Creating a Vision Board:
Step 1: Go through your magazines and tear the images from them. No gluing yet! Just let yourself have lots of fun looking through magazines and pulling out pictures or words or headlines that strike your fancy. Have fun with it. Make a big pile of images and phrases and words.
Step 2: Go through the images and begin to lay your favorites on the board. Eliminate any images that no longer feel right. This step is where your intuition comes in. As you lay the pictures on the board, you’ll get a sense how the board should be laid out. For instance, you might assign a theme to each corner of the board. Health, Job, Spirituality, Relationships, for instance. Or it may just be that the images want to go all over the place. Or you might want to fold the board into a book that tells a story. At my retreats, I’ve seen women come up with wildly creative ways to present a vision board.
Step 3: Glue everything onto the board. Add writing if you want. You can paint on it, or write words with markers.
Step 4: (optional, but powerful) Leave space in the very center of the vision board for a fantastic photo of yourself where you look radiant and happy. Paste yourself in the center of your board.
Step 5: Hang your vision board in a place where you will see it often.
Three Types of Vision Boards:
1 - The “I Know Exactly What I Want” Vision Board
Do this vision board if:
- You’re very clear about your desires.
- You want to change your environment or surroundings.
- There is a specific thing you want to manifest in your life. (i.e. a new home, or starting a business.)
How to create this vision board:
With your clear desire in mind, set out looking for the exact pictures which portray your vision. If you want a house by the water, then get out the Dwell magazine and start there. If you want to start your own business, find images that capture that idea for you. If you want to learn guitar, then find that picture. I remember at the last retreat, one woman yelled out, “If anyone finds a picture of a little girl with red hair who looks happy, give it to me!” And someone else yelled out, “I’m looking for a Cadillac!” Pretty soon, a lively trading session began. Following the five steps above, create your vision board out of these images.
2 – The “Opening and Allowing” Vision Board
Do this vision board if:
- You’re not sure what exactly you want
- You’ve been in a period of depression or grief
- You have a vision of what you want, but are uncertain about it in some way.
- You know you want change but don’t know how it’s possible.
How to create this vision board:
Go through each magazine. Tear out images that delight you. Don’t ask why. Just keep going through the magazines. If it’s a picture of a teddy bear that makes you smile, then pull it out. If it’s a cottage in a misty countryside, then rip it out. Just have fun and be open to whatever calls to you. Then, as you go through Step 2 above, hold that same openness, but ask yourself what this picture might mean. What is it telling you about you? Does it mean you need to take more naps? Does it mean you want to get a dog, or stop hanging out with a particular person who drains you? Most likely you’ll know the answer. If you don’t, but you still love the image, then put it on your vision board anyway. It will have an answer for you soon enough. Some women at my retreats had NO idea what their board was about, and it wasn’t until two months later that they understood. The Opening and Allowing Vision Board can be a powerful guide for you. I like it better than the first model because sometimes our egos think they know what we want, and lots of times those desires aren’t in alignment with who we really are. This goes deeper than just getting what you want. It can speak to you and teach you a little bit about yourself and your passion.
3 – The “Theme” Vision Board
Do this vision board if:
- It’s your birthday or New Years Eve or some significant event that starts a new cycle.
- If you are working with one particular area of your life. For instance, Work & Career.
How to create this vision board:
The only difference between this vision board and the others is that this one has clear parameters and intent. Before you begin the vision board, take a moment to hold the intent and the theme in mind. When you choose pictures, they will be in alignment with the theme. You can do the Theme Vision Board on smaller pages, like a page in your journal.
Some things to remember about vision boards:
- You can use a combination of all three types of vision boards as you create. Sometimes you might start out doing one kind, and then your intuition takes over and shifts into a whole different mode. That’s called creativity. Just roll with it.
- Your vision board might change as you are making it. I was just talking with a friend of mine who said that she had been making a vision board for the new year. The theme was all about what she wanted in this year. Then, as she pulled pictures and began to lay them out, the theme changed into a simpler one about her everyday life and the moments in each day. It surprised and delighted her to experience that evolution. You might find that you have little epiphanies from making a vision board.
Make a Vision Journal
Another option is to use these same principles in a big sketch book. Get a large sketch book and keep an on-going vision journal. This is especially effective if you’re going through many transitions in your life.
I welcome anyone who has created a vision board to write your own experience in the comments…
Technorati Tags: vision boards, personal growth, law of attraction, creativity
Now Available! Christine’s free eBook, The Complete Guide to Vision Boards! Go to the top right sidebar on this page – and sign up for the Triple Pack! This eBook is included!

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I thank you. i was so depressed and worried about my family before this project.
i sometime think the fighting will never stop.THANK YOU SOOOO VERY MUCH!!!!!!
Here is a application on facebook where you can make your own digital Visionboard. Its really fun and fast. here is the link… http://apps.facebook.com/visionboardapp/
Hi Christine
I am glad someone like you have common interest with me, doing vision board to inspire others. Very great explosive ideas!!! I love the way you explain as such vision board to create sets of goals to achieve.
Can i have the permission to share your blog article in my blog? Wait for your reply. Thanks.
Hi Christine
I had put your website link in my website blog @ http://www.sgdreamboard.com/blog
I find your blog is very interesting. So i use your blog in my blog to share with my friends. Thank you.
Yes! Awesome idea. I made TWO smaller (more manageable!) vision boards – one for my office and one for home. I found that using more pictures and less words worked the best for me. I’m also going to try to ‘change the landscape’ of the boards from time-to-time to keep them fresh.
For extra inspiration I went for some good-looking cork boards with custom frames on them that I picked out online at http://www.wholesalecustomframe.com/ . I’m sure there are other places as well, but FWIW this place was pretty cheap.
You may also want to check out http://www.GoalsonTrack.com, it has a built-in online vision board(slideshow) to help you visualize your goals.
Hi Christine. Well, like most of the others here it seems I found you through a Google search “Creating a vision board”. Great article. I am a yoga teacher and a recently licensed massage therapist trying to figure out how to make the transition from working a 9-5 job to working for myself. It’s scary. At lunch today with a friend who owns a local studio I realized I need a vision. I look forward to creating my vision board with your instructions.
p.s. Your name seemed so familiar and as I continued reading the comments, it finally dawned on me. I used to live in Asheville and my favorite radio station was, of course, WNCW. And one of my favorite songs was bowler song you sang. I can hear it in my head right now, but I can’t think of the actual name. I think I have it on my ipod possibly from one of the Crowd Around the Mic Cds.
Neato. I love synchronicity! Take care.
Namaste,
Chantel
What a fabulous creative blog you have. Thank you for taking the time to teach people how to vision boards. After crying on my boyfriend’s shoulder at the stroke of midnight on my 40th birthday, I decided to change my life. I have committed to an hour of yoga a day, mediation daily and have taken on a life coach who teaches techniques to living our dream life (based on The Law of Attraction). 2 months ago, she told me to make 2 vision boards that reflect the life I want as a professional writer and the other to reflect a healthy body. ( of my goals)
It took me 2 months to get them done because I procrastinated! Ugg. Sometimes I tend to resist change and doing what I know is good for me. I think my blog helps people understand that they are not alone in their quest and struggle in making change that they want. There are so many people who try to be “the expert”…I’m happy with being me. People relate to that.
Anyway, I digress. I will be sending people who go to my site to yours so they can read all about HOW to make a vision board, and I will simply post mine and leave the “how tos” to you.
Blessings and Namaste.
Hi Christine
Excellent guide on how to do vision boards! I included a link to this page on my site. Thanks for the inspiration.
Leon
Hello. I am interested in making a vision board but I don’t have any place to put one where I’m living that won’t be in others’ way, or commented on. Has anyone ever made an online vision board? I am on the computer daily and thought maybe I’d make a vision board on my computer and then use it as my desktop, so I can see it daily and be visually stimulated. If anyone has, I’d appreciate hearing how they created one. Thanks. ~ Tallulah
Hi Christine
Can i exchange link with you? Your website is interesting.
Thank you very much.
The new year is a perfect time for change and self improvement. Make 2010 the year that you attract the life you deserve. Let positive thoughts lead to productive actions and then to the perfect life!
I read this blog with interest. I found it following a search as I wanted to send some info to my friend to help her focus on her dreams after a sad year.
I did my first vision board in 2008. I found it the other day hidden away in a cupboard, where i had put it for safe keeping while we are decorating. All of the things/themes on it are now in my life – despite 2009 being a difficult year where my son was still born.
I now have my own business, have written a book, am helping people and sharing my success (putting aside money from my earnings into a fund to help other bereaved parents). Themes that focused strongly such as nature, animals and relaxation have supported me through my grief.
I have been reinspired and am going to collect images for a new one.
I’ve been collecting images of my dream kitchen and keep them in a folder. You’ve inspired me to put them on a board and display them prominently.
Thank you!
Christine, I want to thank you for sharing. I was a little confused with going about constructing a vision board. You made everything clear and easy. The universe has a way of leading you to the right people. Thank you so much. Peace and Blessings!
This was a great site to help me put into perspective what it is I’m trying to do. Just being told of the 3 types of boards helped me to single out the stage I’m in…”opening and allowing.” That alone let me know it’s ok not to know everything about what I want and my passions. I made a picture framed vision “board” before, but it hangs on a wall I seldom look at. Just as a decoration. I am making another (thanks to the inspiration here) that is pure & raw and not for design but for desires… of my heart.
Great blog. Thanks!
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