I’m not the first person to try and sell you on the idea of a vision board, but does a collage of pretty pictures actually do anything to improve your life? Done incorrectly, the concept of a vision board is just as fluffy and pointless as it sounds but done right a vision board is an incredibly powerful manifestation tool that’s going to propel you towards your dream life.
I’m going to walk you through exactly how to create an unbelievably effective vision board, step by step, BUT, making an effective vision board requires first getting crystal clear on exactly what your goals are. If you haven’t already, read my blog post “5 Steps to Manifest Your Dream Life in 2025”. Steps 2, 3 and 4 are essential before you even think about vision-boarding, which is the last, most fun step in the process of manifesting your goals.
What is a Vision Board?
A vision board is simply an aspirational collage of images (and words and symbols) that illustrate the person you want to be and the life you want to live.
Why Do You Need a Vision Board?
It’s really easy to set goals in the new year only to lose sight of them by the time the Christmas tree has come down. Visually mapping out your dreams and desires and placing that visual somewhere you will constantly see it keeps you focused, motivated and active in pursuing your goals by reminding you of what you’re working towards. The practice of creating the vision board is also hugely gratifying in and of itself; it’s an opportunity to dream big and will inspire you to take action towards your goals.
Should You Create Your Vision Board with Someone?
If you choose to make a vision board with someone else, make sure they are someone you trust and that you don’t mind being fully vulnerable with. You also need to be certain they are someone who genuinely wants the best for you and has your best interest at heart, so make sure they are someone who celebrates your wins and doesn’t ever put you down.
When setting your goals and creating your vision board you need to get really honest with yourself about what you want out of life, regardless of how “delusional” it may seem. Creating your vision board with someone who limits you will really defeat the object of this practice.
How to Make a Vision Board:
I’ve touched on this, but step one is non-negotiable and will help you to avoid the trap that most people fall into when it comes to vision boarding. It won’t suffice to simply open Pinterest and find a few random inspiration images that you quite like without considering what you actually want. Read my post 5 Steps to Manifest Your Dream Life in 2025 if you’re unsure on how to go about setting goals.
Once your clear on your goals, it’s finally time for the fun part. To create a vision board, you need to collect images which represent your dreams and desires, and the best place to do this is Pinterest. Start typing in whatever key word(s) relate to your goals and pin them to a board so they are all in one place.
Tips:
- Try adding “aesthetic” at the end of your key word(s) to find visually appealing pics.
- Really embrace this job – get yourself a drink and some snacks, dedicate a good few hours to the task and allow yourself to become fully immersed.
- Please DO NOT just slap anything on there. Pinterest is a distracting place full of inspiring images, but the ones you choose need to relate to your dreams.
- That being said, if you can’t decide between, for example, which photo of your dream holiday to the South of France is best, you can add a few different options to your Pinterest board.
Once you’ve collated your images, sift through and select the ones you really love, and then download these ones to your computer.
Now I’m going to walk you through the steps to create a digital vision board that you can set as your phone lock screen or computer background.
If you want a physical vision board, you’ll want to print out your final selection of images. You’ll also want some posterboard, glue and maybe some stickers – the rest, I’m sure, is fairly self-explanatory. The key is to place the finished product somewhere you will see it every day.
How to Make a Digital Vision Board
- Go to Canva.com and log in or create an account
- At the top of the homepage, you’ll find several different design templates. Scroll right and click the three dots for ‘More’.
- Choose a desktop/phone wallpaper design template with dimensions that will fit your device. If you’re unable to find one that works, you can also choose ‘custom’ and set the dimensions of your template to perfectly fit your phone or laptop model.
- Once you’ve opened your blank design, click uploads on the side bar. In this space you can drag and drop your downloaded images.
- You can then begin to arrange your images onto the template as desired.
- To change the background colour, click the page and then click the colour wheel.
- To add graphics and symbols search for these in “elements”.
- To add text, (e.g., quotes or significant words) click “text” in the sidebar.
- Once you’re content with your creation, click “share” and then “download” in the upper right corner (if you’re creating a vision board for your phone lock screen, I recommend downloading the Canva app, logging in and downloading your design within the app so that it saves directly into your camera roll).
- Then, all that’s left to do is to set your downloaded image as the background on your device!
In previous years I’ve added text and graphics to my vision board*, but for 2025 I favoured an uncluttered look: a white background, a few photos and enough blank space in between them to keep the whole thing clean and simple. That being said, you have artistic license to go wherever you like with yours. The key is just to make sure that everything on it is meaningful and resonates with you.
*If you choose to go down this route, consider starting a Canva Pro free trial if you haven’t already – this will give you access to more elements.
What’s on your vision board for 2025? I hope you enjoy the process of creating your vision board, and more importantly I hope you achieve everything you set your sights on this year.
Fin
