How to Hit a New Year’s Goal with Vision Board Examples

By Sarah Carlson, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®

One of the reasons why people don't accomplish a new year's goal is because they're not specific enough. Generic statements without visualization decreases your chances of success.

Vision board examples can be a powerful tool for motivation, organization, and visualization. A vision board is a collection of images, quotes, or small objects arranged together to help you visualize your goals in a simplistic way. Think of it as a collage with purpose. It isn't just about the aesthetic, but rather one of the various manifesting methods to identify what you would like or accomplish. Having a visualization of what your goals are can help you focus on the steps needed to move toward them.

At a very young age, I started making vision boards, before I even knew what they were. Growing up without a television and limited access to radio, I found creative ways to entertain myself. As a dentist, my father had a collection of magazines for his waiting room. When he would receive the latest editions, he would bring home the old ones for us to read and for me to utilize for materials to create my vision boards. 

Life, Time, Newsweek, Seventeen, and Sports Illustrated gave me a glimpse of the outside world since I grew up in a mountain town in the Colorado Rockies. I loved to clip photos and phrases that inspired me, and would tape them to the double closet doors in my bedroom. I made a collage of wonder out of those images I was curious about and found beauty in the completed project. Some images I distinctly remember were those of Christie Brinkley as a model, Izod and its fashion and of course the introduction to Hello Kitty. I vividly remember Sports Illustrated did a series of rowing, a picture of the  boats, boathouses, rivers, lakes, and athletes. I was fascinated by the way the rowers looked synchronized on the water, surrounded by exciting scenery. Those images were a magnet to me; I cut them all out and displayed them proudly on my door. 

Our minds are powerful tools that can help us reach our destinations. If we give our mind messages of where we want to go; these mental reminders can subconsciously contribute to making them happen. The phrase, "be careful what you wish for" is so true. When I went to college, Yale University, the first day of school, the Novice Rowing coach saw my 6'0 build and immediately came over to talk to me. I had my heart set on playing basketball, yet rowing had a different allure, and I was interested in all the aerobic exercise the rowers did over the winter months. I signed up for the team in my sophomore year, which led to an athletic career in rowing both in college and on the National team. I became a varsity athlete and lettered in rowing and felt I had willed myself toward rowing because of the visual cues I woke up to and went to bed with on my closet vision board.

Making your own vision board is a significant step in finding the path that leads you to your goals.

Turn on some visualization music, open the windows, and find ample space to get creative. This should be an energizing experience, so block out the time accordingly. 

Step One: Gather Materials 

You are going to need: 

• A corkboard, poster board, or some sort of surface to attach your ideas to
• Necessary craft supplies like scissors, push pins, glue, markers, stickers, whatever you are in to

Images/Words: most important are the images, words, or items you want to include on your collage. These can come from magazines, Instagram, Pinterest, or your own personal pictures. *When selecting your images, words or items for the collage, the key is to focus less on the physical aspect of your goals but rather the way you want to achieve it. Maybe you want to start working out more, then focus on the idea of strength or capability rather than the image of a treadmill.

Get creative in the images you find. You can create a color scheme for your board or focus on a specific area of your life. The goal here is to walk by something motivating every day that is also visually pleasing and something you want to look at. 

Step Two: Assemble

Once your things are gathered, configure them loosely before attaching them to your selected surface. There are no rules here. Do you want everything to overlap and look like a cohesive picture? Do you want to leave space to add inspiration later? Go for it. After you are happy with the layout, go ahead and start attaching your items together. Next, find a visible, high traffic area to display your new board. In theory, this is something you should look at every day for inspiration and motivation. 

Step Three: Action

The last and most crucial step is to act on those ideas. Your board is a constant reminder that you could be making changes in your life at that moment to get you closer to that dream. You didn't go through all that trouble just to have a useless piece of art hanging on your wall. 

Conclusion

It's important to view your vision board and take the necessary steps every day until you accomplish your new year's goals. Your vision board is there to help to be your own catalyst, so get to it!

Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.