How to Make a Vision Board in 9 Steps

If vision boards have never worked for you, or they have always felt a little cheesy, try this approach once. A vision board is a set of visual reminders that keep your attention on what you want. It works best when it is specific, when it makes you feel something, and when you see it every day.

What you need

15 to 20 minutes of quiet, and about an hour to make the board
A notebook and pen
A base: cork board, poster board, a notebook or our free digital template
Magazines, photos, printouts, fabric scraps, paint chips
Scissors, glue or pins, markers

1. Set aside quiet time

Give yourself 15 to 20 minutes with no phone, no laundry and no work, and make sure you are not hungry. Wear something that makes you feel good, not your oldest sweats. It sounds small, but dressing for the life you want changes how you think about it.

Sit somewhere that makes you feel supported, with a wall behind you rather than a door or a window. Light a candle or put on music if it helps you settle. Take eight slow breaths and let the day go.

2. Write your vision first

This is the step most people skip, and it is the one that makes the board work. Open your notebook and write, quickly and without judging, about the life you want. Write as if you already live it. Some prompts:

I want more ______ in my life. Why?
When I have more ______, I will ______.
How do I feel, day to day, in this new life?
Where do I live? Mountains, beach, city? What does my home look like?
What does my work look like? Where do I do it, and with whom?
Who is around me? How do I spend a free afternoon?

Keep going until you run out. If a critical thought comes up, notice it and tell yourself, "That is how I used to think." When you are done, read the list back. Cross out anything that does not feel exciting and add anything new. This page is the brief for your board.

3. Gather your supplies

Choose your base. A cork board or poster board is classic. A notebook makes a vision journal you keep adding to. A digital board can live on your phone. Then collect more images than you need: magazines, printed photos, paint chips, fabric, ribbon, quotes. Look for images that match the feelings in your writing, not only the objects.

4. Reread and visualize

Read your written vision again. Close your eyes and picture a day in that life. What do you see when you wake up? What can you smell? What are you wearing? Let yourself feel it. The board should hold that feeling.

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Clear a space for your board

Before you start arranging, join the free declutter challenge: fifteen minutes a day, ending with the spot where your board will hang.

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5. Select and arrange your images

Go through your pile and keep only the images that match what you wrote. Pick one image as the focal point, the thing you most want, and give it the center or the largest space. Arrange the rest around it until it looks right to you. Move things around before you glue anything down.

6. Add affirmations and words

Add a few words in your own handwriting. Write them in the present tense, as facts: "I wake up in a home I love." "My work supports my life." A single word of the year in the center is a lovely anchor.

7. Make it beautiful

You will look at a beautiful board more often, so use a designer's tools:

A color palette. Three main colors and a neutral. It makes even a full board feel calm.
Balance. Symmetry feels settled, asymmetry feels energetic, a radial layout around a center feels focused.
Breathing room. Leave a few gaps. The eye needs a place to rest.
All five senses. Add something you can taste, touch, smell, hear and see, plus one image for the feeling you are after. Spray a perfume you love on the corner, or glue on a piece of fabric.

It does not have to be tidy. My first materials board in design school was twice the size of everyone else's, with sticks and feathers coming off every edge. Follow your own taste.

8. Put it where you will see it every day

Hang it in your bedroom, your office or on the back of a door you walk through every morning. If you made a digital board, set it as your phone wallpaper. A vision board in a closet does nothing.

9. Review it daily and update it

Spend a few minutes each day with your board. Picture the life on it as if it has already happened and notice how that feels. As your life moves, your vision will too. Take off what no longer fits and add what you want now.

A story I love. A client named Rose spent years dreaming of a forest cottage with a little yellow gate. Her board had photos of the cottage, yellow paint swatches and her favorite plant, mugwort. When she suddenly had to move, a friend told her about a rental at the foot of the mountains. It looked like one of her photos, with a patch of mugwort by the path and a small wooden gate. The gate was red. She took the house and painted it yellow herself.

Common questions

How many pictures should a vision board have?

There is no right number. Most strong boards have 10 to 20 images. Choose the ones that give you a real lift and leave some empty space so each image can be seen.

Is a digital vision board as good as a physical one?

Both work if you look at them. A physical board engages more of your senses while you make it. A digital board is easy to edit and can live on your phone, where you look dozens of times a day. Many people make both.

When is the best time to make a vision board?

Any fresh start: the new year, a birthday, a move, a new job or the end of a relationship. The best time is when you feel a pull toward something new.

What should I do with my old vision board?

Look through it before you take it down. Notice what came true and what you no longer want. Keep the pieces that still matter for your next board and let the rest go.