What’s is a Vision Board, and do really you need one?
I know you’ve seen them talked about (especially close to the New Year), but what the heck is a Vision Board really? And do you need to spend your precious mom moments (aka freedom to be able to think) making one for 2025?
Vision Boards are visual representations of your goals! You can make them the good old fashioned way by cutting out pages from a magazine (honestly, who has time for that, or…magazines anymore?), or better-yet, create a digital vision board for your phone or computer background!
100% you need a vision board. Why? Because it keeps your goals front and center!
I don’t know about you but… I’ve got a lot in my brain, and I forget things. Like the time I was going to cut out gluten because I suspected I had an issue (spoiler alert, I now know I have celiac disease) but the moment I remembered I was cutting out gluten was while I was biting into a sandwich I just made myself. I quite literally… forget everything!
With the buzz of the New Year, your bound to get excited, do a little dreaming, a little wishing, and then… get back to diapers, cleaning bottles, and wondering where TF that vomit smell is coming from.
A vision board helps your brain constantly see these things you once admired, and hoped for, and has a sneaky little way of bringing back those desires and the motivation when you see them!
Watch the tutorial on how to create your vision board, step by step!
How to Create a Vision Board
First, you need… a vision to bring to life!
What are you wanting to create over the next year for your family (your vision board doesn’t have to necessarily be for a whole year, it can encompass however long you’d like… quarterly, 5 year goals, bucket-list goals, etc. I like to think of a year or else I get too distracted).
What are some categories to include in a vision board?
- Family Specific
- Finances
- Travel
- Physical Health
- Mental Health
How to Break Down the Year & your Categories
I like to go through an imaginary ‘year’ for each of my categories, and write down any memorable images that come up for me (can be big or small moments) here’s what that would look like… don’t forget to include a feeling for each category too! (if feelings play a big role for you) secure, happy, excited, etc.
- Family: Winter… Do you want to get pregnant this year? Are you having a baby and planning your delivery preferences? Spring… Are you celebrating your babies 1st birthday and planning a cute party? Do you want to move in the Spring? Summer… Favorite family activities, community pool, camping, movie nights, etc. Fall… Do you want to install a mudroom backpack locker space in your home for back to school? How do you want to feel overall in the family category this year? Embrace slow living, quality time with your little ones, bring back the connection in your relationship with your husband, etc.
- Finances: Winter… Create a new budget for the year? Start meal prepping to save money? Spring… Reach a certain goal for upcoming travel, birthdays, or holidays? Fall… Open up a high yield savings account (my favorite is Ally)
- Travel: Winter… plan vacation destinations for the year. Spring… Book Summer trip. Summer…enjoy vacations!! Fall… A festive fall in New England? Try to also make note of what you enjoyed/did not enjoy from your vacations, and what would you do differently next year.
- Physical Health: Winter… Any upcoming events or vacations you want to get in shape for? (Not just for vanity reasons! Have you ever WALKED Disney?? My goodness, the pain the next day!) Spring… Get outside and walk every day, eat more fruits and vegetables that are in season, take the kids to the park and do laps, etc. Summer… Start swimming laps, join an aquatic program, etc. Take better care of your skin, wear sunscreen everyday, etc. Fall… Transition to a indoor class when the weather gets cold, etc.
- Mental Health: Winter… start journaling, think of the mental stressors that fall throughout the year and how you plan to tackle them. Spring… get outside, vitamin D, fresh air. Summer… find meditation classes, or sound baths in your area. Fall… observe the season change outside and journal about the things you love with the new season. Go to bed with the kitchen clean every night to wake up with a clean slate (the state of your home can be veryyy tied to mental health).
Creating Your Vision Board (the fun part)
Now it’s time to go through your categories and find an image that encompasses the feeling, excited, or goal that you’ve labeled from above!
If you’ve never used Canva before, I highly recommend (and get ready to be obsessed). It’s a design platform I use in my business all the time, and super handy for mom life! I’ve made invitations for so many family events, Christmas Cards, schedules, had fun photoshopping funny scenarios with the kids lol, it’s really a great program! And they have a free option that should do you just fine!
Canva has a ton of stock photography right inside the platform, but a few other places I like to find images…
- Pinterest (since this is a personal project, you can absolutely use Pinterest images, just don’t go using them for any commercial use)
- Dupe (the BEST real-life stock photo site)
- Pexels
- Unsplash
- Google (sometimes we forget the most simple one!)
Use a Canva Template
Once you have all your images selected (if you’re choosing images in Canva directly, you can just drag and drop them, you don’t need to download them first), jump into Canva and find a collage-style template to drop all your photos in!
On the left side of Canva, choose Templates and then search ‘Vision Board’. I like to also filter down to whatever size I’m planning to use, ex. mobile Ill use IG Story size, or desktop I’ll choose Presentation (16:9) so things display properly! Choose which one fits your vibe best! I personally like to keep it simple, and just have images.
