Yes, another blog post about vision boards! I am late to the party, I know! Even though it’s nothing new for the most people, it is the first time I actually made one. So I thought why not share a short blog post about how I made my vision board for 2021.
(Also I know it is a bit late to share it because the new year already started but better late than never, right?)
Überblick
What is a vision board?
So let us start with the basics – what is a vision board?
A „vision board“ or also called „dream board“ is a visualization of how you want to feel. However you want to create and design your vision board, it should inspire to live the life you want to live. The idea behind a vision board is to visualize and manifest. You can also see it as a collection of goals, ideas, experiences you want to do. A lot of people put down their work goals or places they want to visit on their board. Others put down like challenges or set a theme for a specific time frame to achieve.
Elizabeth Rider talks about the visualization in more depth in her article „The Reason Vision Boards Work and How to Make One„.
Visualization is one of the most powerful mind exercises you can do.
Elizabeth Rider in „The Reason Vision Boards Work and How to Make One“ (2017)
There are different ways to create a vision board. The most popular one is to create a collage of visuals that is representing your dream life. You can find these kind of vision boards all over on social media. You can go to Pinterest or to Instagram to find some ideas how your vision board could look like. Others also like to just write down their vision in form of a list and pin it somewhere it is visible to see every day. There are endless ways to create your vision board, the best advice I can give you here is to just start creating!
When it comes to the time frame, there is no actual deadline where you need to finish all your goals. It is really up to you. The most people like to make one in the beginning of the new year (just like me) and others make one with a 5-year plan in their head.
Now that we explained what a vision board is, it is time to make one. I will present you the four steps I did to create my own vision board.
Step 1: Thinking
The first thing you need to do before you can make a vision board is to think what would you like to see on this board? For that I asked myself the following questions:
- What kind of life do I want to live?
- What do I want to do this year?
- What am I dreaming of doing?
- What would I like to bring in 2021 from 2020? And what do I want to leave in 2020?
I wrote down my thoughts, goals, things I would like to see and things I would like to change. It can be small things like starting to cook a certain dish or bigger things like finally getting my master’s degree.
After I wrote down everything , I tried to organize them in different groups. For example: work, personal, university, my blog, my (mental) health, etc. Here you can also try to mindmap your vision.
Step 2: Collecting
After that I started to search for pictures, quotes, stills from videos, etc. that represent my vision. I researched a lot of my pictures on Pinterest and just searched for my keyword.
For example, I was looking for a cozy living room to represent my vision of my dream home. I went on Pinterest and searched “living room” and a whole bunch of pictures and videos popped out. I picked a picture of room with a grey velvet couch and huge framed mirror, I liked the vibe and style of it, so I saved the picture for later.
You can also use other platforms to research pictures like on Instagram or websites that offer copyright-free pictures like unsplash.com or pixabay.com. If you plan to create your vision board on Canva, you can also find there copyright-free pictures to use.
Instead of pictures, you can use your own photos, graphics or quotes. There is no right and wrong doing here. Just collect the things you like and that makes you happy!
It took a few days until I got all my materials together. I would recommend saving more visuals than you need because in the next step you will have time sort the things out. After you collected all your materials, it is time to start creating!
Step 3: Making
In this step you can choose how you want your vision to come to life. As I said in the beginning of this post, there are different ways to visualize:
You can do it digitally and save the collage as a wallpaper for your desktop or for your phone. The more traditional way is to make a poster or a literal board and hang it somewhere where it is visible. A lot of people who bullet journal are also making their vision boards into their journals.
If you choose to do it digitally, you can make your board in Photoshop. But there are many free ways to make your collage. I did my vision board in Canva. It is a great and easy way to make your vision board. Canva is a website but is also available as an app. You can choose the custom size you need and also add pictures and graphics for free. Add stickers, symbols and graphics for your own personal style. For example, I added some washi tape to mine because I love the look.
If you plan to do it in the analog way, then you just need to print out your pictures and visuals. Take a poster or a pinboard and stick or pin your visuals the way you like it. You can personalize it more if you change up the texture. Use different kind of materials like craft paper, stickers, different types of tape or even fabric!
Now you just need to create it! Mix and match until you are satisfied with the overall picture. Arrange, sort pictures out and change it until you are happy with the end result.
I think it’s important to design it like you want your life to be. For me it was important to look at my vision board and just feel complete joy and I hope your vision board makes you happy too!
Step 4: Presenting
Now the last and final step is to show off your vision board! Well, you don’t need to post it online or to show it to your neighbours you don’t know, unless you want to! 😋
After you have finished creating your vision board physically or digitally, now you need to place it somewhere where you see it everyday. It needs to be a spot in your apartment or room where your vision board is visible and easy to access.
If you made a wallpaper, set it up as your background for your desktop or for your phone. If you made a poster or a board, hang it next to your bed or your desk. Just make sure you see it everyday. Because if don’t see your vision everyday, how can you visualize and manifest the things you want in your life?
My vision board
Here you can see my board. I created different formats for my desktop and for my phone and also one for my bullet journal. I organized it into four different categories: my Dream Home, my Work Life aka Journal, Me and Get-Away. On the first look I guess you won’t really get the vision what I am striving for.
If you look to the right side of my vision board, there you can see a few pictures of different kinds of rooms. I love the style, the interior and coziness of the space. The pictures represent my dream home. For the new year I actually would like to get my own apartment and kind of set up it as similiar to the pictures. But this goal is something for the future.
In the middle of the collage, you will find flat lays of a laptop, books, coffee and journals. This section stands for my work life and also for my journal. I started bullet journaling in 2019 and now I am already using my second bullet journal. It is an activity that I really love and where I can be creative. I would like to try out new styles and experiment. Also I would like to journal more this year because I think it can help me to stay mentally healthy.
Next to these pictures are photos of the University of Vienna. I included them to remind myself to stay motivated and push through with my master thesis. 2020 was a really tough year and because of the lockdowns and the pandemic I lost track of my master thesis. For 2021 I am manifesting to finally get my degree!
The left side of my vision board represent a lot of different goals I have for this year. On the one hand, I would like to get fitter and healthier and also change my wardrobe a little bit. That’s why you see there a picture of an outfit and my favourite fitness guru Blogilates. On the other hand, I would like to travel again! Down below you see some incredible destinations: Scotland, Santorini and Grundlsee in Austria. It is too early to plan a vacation or to travel somewhere but I am hoping if the pandemic is soon over I would like to travel to theses places.
Here you can see the same vision board as my phone wallpaper:
*No Copyright infrigement intended.
I hope I was able to show you how I made my vision board.✨
If you are planning to do one for yourself, please share it with me!
I would love to see your creations!💛
You can connect with me on my Instagram!
– lots of love, Marilyn💕
