If you read this blog regularly, you’re probably not surprised that I’m writing about vision board ideas. Right now, I’m feeling especially hopeful about the future, and making a vision board online is a good way to find fresh motivation. Be sure to pin or bookmark this post if you think you might want to try it out later!
What is a vision board?
Usually, a vision board is a collage of images, along with some words and phrases, that represent your vision for the year to come, or even for the rest of your life. It’s a visual representation that reminds you of your goals and serves as a powerful source of inspiration.
One of the most traditional ways to make a vision board is to get a big stack of magazines and go through them, cutting out images and words that inspire you or strike your fancy. You paste these onto a piece of poster board. Some people arrange the elements into categories, and some people just put them together in a way that feels right to them. I’ve done it this way before, both by myself and with my sister, and it’s a lot of fun.
However, there are also drawbacks. You have to spend money on the vision board supplies—and if you have to buy magazines, they’re not cheap, even if you buy them secondhand at Half Price Books like I did. An even bigger drawback is that it can be difficult to find images to represent your specific vision and goals. For that reason, I’ve been looking into how to create a vision board online.
Two Ways to Make a Digital Vision Board
Here are two easy ways to do this that don’t take any special technical skills. See what you think!
Most people’s boards on Pinterest are visible to the public, but you can also create private boards. I have several private boards for goals, gift ideas, and inspiration for writing projects. A Pinterest secret board is a great way to make a vision board. You can pull from anything on the Internet you like, and if you want, you can divide your board into sections for different categories. The advantage of using a Pinterest board as a vision board is that there’s a lot of aspirational content on Pinterest you can grab—from health motivation and strengthening relationships to self-development and travel.
Canva
The other way you can create a vision board online is with Canva, a tool I use all the time for this blog (like the Pinterest-friendly graphic above) and for other images I share on social media. It’s great for people like me who aren’t trained designers.
Canva offers lots of sizes for designs (although you can create designs in custom sizes, too.) I recommend choosing a poster template, 24″ x 36.” There are lots of royalty-free images available for free on Canva (search Photos), and if you’re only using your vision board for yourself, you can upload any images you grabbed from anywhere online.
If you would like a neat grid pattern for your poster, go to “Elements” and search “grid” and all kinds of options will pop up; you’ll probably want to choose one that has a lot of squares.
Otherwise, you can just collage your words and images randomly, sizing each one as you see fit. If you do this, and you have some blank space between the images, you can choose your favorite color for the background. Here’s a vision board example like that, for a man who wants to be a better father, spend more time outdoors, worry less, and sleep better at night.
If you want to overlap images like in the vision board example above, just click on images, go up to “Position,” and choose “forward” or “backward.” The nice thing about making a digital vision board is that you can reposition things as often as you like until you’re happy with how it looks.
If you create a vision board on Canva, you can also order a print of your poster and Canva will deliver it to your door.
Vision Board Ideas
If you’re thinking about your New Year goals (or your life goals), you can check out my big list of New Year’s resolution ideas. You might also get some inspiration from my personal list of 100 Life Goals.
You might also think in terms of vision board categories. Here are some examples:
Personal Development (for all those goals related to personality and the kind of person you want to be)
Family
Friends
Relationship/Marriage
Home
Health and Wellness
Spirituality
Business and Career
Personal Finance
Personal Achievement
Creativity
Education and Learning
You might have different vision board categories for yourself.
You might also like to think of a “word of the year” you want to incorporate into your vision board design. Many people choose a word that encapsulates their hopes and dreams for the year to come. I’ve heard of people using words like focus, serenity, renewal, and completion…the possibilities are really endless here!
Vision Board Party
When you’re creating the kinds of vision boards that involve magazines, scissors, and glue, it’s easy to turn that into a party. But how do you have a vision board party when you make a digital vision board…especially during a pandemic?
Don’t worry! It’s still completely possible. Set up a Zoom party and give everyone instructions for how to create a vision board (you can just send them a link to this post!) Have everyone make their own digital vision board. Then, grab some snacks and a drink and meet your friends over Zoom.
You can take turns sharing your vision boards (use the “share screen” feature) and talking about them. You’ll probably get inspiration from one another to make your digital vision board even better…and you’ll get excited about the New Year or about your life goals!
Are you looking for other ways to get your inspiration back? You might want to check out my journal full of easy (and super fun) writing exercises, The Book of Dreams Come True. It’s a great way to reconnect with your true self and start dreaming big again!
If you make a vision board, please let us know how it goes! And if you have other vision board ideas, please share them in the comments section below.
Be sure to follow the blog for regular doses of inspiration, if you’re not following already—you can subscribe below. Thanks for reading, and wishing you brilliant days ahead!
Thank you for this great idea. It would be fun to use this to display my books and make an author page on Pinterest. You have motivated me.
PS I would love if you would hit me back sometime with a comment on my blog below.
Naomi, I commented–congrats on the second book! Happy almost-holidays!
I create a private Pinterest board for every story I write. I pin architectural styles, pictures of furniture, outfit choices, hair styles, cars, jewelry, food, etc. I spent hours poring over vintage jewelry sites and pinning pictures of engagement rings from the Twenties for scene where a character helps her cousin pick out an engagement ring for his girlfriend.
I have about ten different green velvet couches pinned to one of my boards because the main character and her best friend get their first apartment and someone gives them a vintage green velvet couch.
An online board It helps see a scene in my mind’s eye and translate that to the page.
Hi Rory! You know, I have Pinterest boards for projects, but they aren’t nearly as elaborate as yours…and I think that sounds great! Especially for historical fiction, I bet it really helps get that perfect period feel, which I know I love so much as a reader.
I love that you’ve created so many resources for folks! I look forward to this journal arriving! I’ve needed to start journaling for awhile! I’ll give this a shot!
Hey friend! Aww, thanks. And thank you for getting the journal–I hope you like it! Have a great week!
Great idea!
I always create a vision board on Pinterest for each of my writing projects.
Hi, Denise! Yes, I do that too! Although I haven’t been as much into it lately…and I think it would inspire me to flesh them out more, so I’m glad you mentioned it. 🙂 Have a great week!
I do it on telegram. I just created my private channel and save pictures of my dreams inside there… It’s easier for me to look in to my dreams every day…
I love the idea of doing a digital vision board. I may have to do one and then set it as my background on my computer so I can see it. Right now my is set up across from my bed so I see it first thing every morining.
Thank you, Bryn. I have writer friends who use Pinterest boards for this purpose. They swear by them. Honestly, Pinterest boggles my mind. Too much stuff to weed through. I have boards there but I’m not good at following through, however your post encourages me to try a vision board for my newest novel. I’m starting to put it together now so it’s a good time.
How do you feel about dot journals? I have one I’m going to start for the new year. From what I’ve seen, they’re a good tool for time organization, something I need.
Hi Bryn,
I’ve been doing vision boards for several years (and they have had a positive impact, and many of the items have come true), but this year was a rough one. And due to some continued disappointments, I actually threw this year’s board and my others from previous years away. But my SO found them he pulled them from the garbage and saved them someplace. He reminded me that I might be upset with the outcome of this year, but that throwing my dreams away, literally, would not fix anything. Then he said, once I realize this, he will give them back (haha). I will be making a vision board for 2021, but it might not be until the last minute. I love to make them from magazines and cut things out, as I enjoy the imperfect board and the creative “old school” aspect of cutting and gluing.
I really shy away from “GOALS” it always feels to me a sure way to fail, but “VISION” now there’s a way to make something part of my life. It has a different energy about it. It comes from my core and like a flame, it can grow and reach out with light.
Thank you so much, Bryn, for the inspiration. I am considering a collage picture to put on my Facebook page and possibly on my website. I use my Adobe Photoshop program extensively and plan to create one for my vision for this year! I’m excited!
By way of inspiration, how would I go about getting your permission to use your beautiful red hair in an image for a cover idea for the second (unpublished as of yet) book in my sci/fi trilogy?
I got my Vision Board done and posted on Facebook! My theme for 2021 is Connection. I’m excited to see what happens! Thanks Bryn.
I had been making vision boards for quite a while growing up, mostly using clip art software and then Google image search and printing the images to put on poster board. Then I won a photo printer when I worked at Staples in high school and I made some pretty unique ones. An advisor about five years ago revived the vision board activity for me and I got back at it again, only using Microsoft PowerPoint. Then I turned to Pinterest, though I am pretty paranoid by nature so I use a secure computer running LibreOffice and a stock photo collection for my goals (business and personal) to do it. However, my dream homes, hobbies I’m interested in pursuing, cartoons, general humor, recipes, and a lot of other stuff I regularly post to Pinterest, most publicly. I’ve got like 230 or so boards. Oh, and I have to say I love your Dreams Come True book; every few pages I find a new favorite prompt. I’ve incorporated it into my regular daily journaling and it’s both therapeutic and a lot of fun for me. With my new job, my journaling hasn’t gotten the time it deserves, but I’m looking forward to finding more time for it.
I like this idea; thanks!
All the best for 2021. Let’s hope it’s less of a hit-show.
Awesome, Jac, I’m glad you liked it! Happy New Year to you! I hope 2021 is fantastic for you.
I’ve been searching for this! Thank you so very, very much!
Patricia