Vision boards have had such a positive impact on my life; they mirror what I admire, and they are a reflection of what I desire. They have helped my dreams become a reality. As a matter of fact, the first vision board that I had ever made was during my freshman year of college at a student-run event. Going to this event empowered me and it honestly turned my life around. I remember I was going through a rocky patch academically and personally that year. I was confused with the whole high school to college transition, I didn’t know much about time management, I was very confused emotionally, I was still figuring out my interests, etc. In my times of struggle, I always glanced at my vision board for purpose. I believe they have made me a more reflective, wise, motivated, intellectual, high-achieving, and well-valued individual. Vision boards can look different for everyone, but I recommend making at least one and to get creative with it!
Here is how I make my own vision boards (these can be both physical and online format):
Step 1: I figure out what dimensions of life I want to foster or improve. Some examples include: career/occupations, well-being, spirituality, school, relationships with friends and family, etc. The perks are that these can be as simple or as complex as I’d like them to be. I then write them down on a post-it note that I keep on the side so that I have an idea of what materials to look for at home or at the store.
Step 2: Next, I purchase colorful construction paper or regular paper, find magazines/stickers or personal photographs, I find scissors and glue to have on hand, and start playing my music playlist to get my dreamy vision started.
Step 3: Then, I set my paper in the center, gather my magazine cutouts or other items that resonate with me. These include quotes like: “My advice is to make connections, especially with people you feel a link to”, keywords like: ‘fresh start,’ ‘carpe diem,’ ‘go your own way,’ ‘be who you choose’ sketches like: a simple brain sketch, mandalas, etc.
Step 4: After that, I play around with the cutouts to get an idea of how I’ll arrange them before gluing them onto the construction paper. I also don’t mind if a magazine cutout hangs a little bit off of the paper because it’s not about being perfect, it’s all about creativity and making it fun!
Step 5: Lastly, I glue all cutouts, stickers, and other decor onto my paper. I make sure they stick well enough since I tend to keep my vision boards over the years just to see where I’m at in life and how much I have progressed since.
To give you a better picture of what my vision boards tend to look like, they always include aspects of psychology/the brain, undergrad expectations, graduation sketches, career field goals, values/character traits, faith, gratitude, organizations that mean a lot to me, and positive keywords or phrases that I know I’d appreciate reading over and over without getting tired of them. Sometimes I put the positive messages twice just so they’ll stick with me all throughout. I can confidently and proudly say that vision boards have truly made my visions become a reality. Every single idea or plan that I’ve added to my vision boards in the past, I’ve been able to achieve! I encourage you all to dream big with vision boards!