How To Create A Vision Journal

How To Create Bullet Journal Vision Board

Hello Planning Mashers!

It's a new year and that means extra enthusiasm and determination to make it the best one yet! Well, you can absolutely do it with the help of a vision board!

In this post, we'll talk about why you need a vision board, how to set it up in your Bullet Journal and how to use it to achieve your dreams.

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The vision board is a very popular concept, and I've been dying to give it a try!

I practiced affirmations in 2019 and I thought they were very helpful on my way to achieving my goals, so this year I'm bringing it to a whole new level with a vision board.

You can create your vision boards at any time and for any time period. It can be for the upcoming year, month or maybe even the next 5 years – it's up to you!

Here, I'll be talking about setting up a vision board for a year, but all the tips and techniques are still the same for any period of time you need.

Plus, I prepared some free printables to get your vision board started. You can find them in the Resources Vault.

If you're not a part of Planning Mashers yet, be sure to join us in the signup form at the end of the post.

But wait! before we get to the how, let's talk first about what vision boards actually are.

What Is A Vision Board

A vision board is a visual representation of your goals, dreams, and intentions. It's basically a picture of what you want to become and have in the future.

The whole concept of vision boards is based on the Law of Attraction, which states that positive or negative thoughts will bring positive or negative experiences into your life.

Therefore, your vision board is a place for you to manifest your desires and let the universe start working on achieving them.

How To Create Bullet Journal Vision Board | Masha Plans

It might sound like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo and you might not even believe in the Law of Attraction, but it actually works because of how it affects your brain.

By creating a detailed vision of your future, you prepare your brain for this reality and also give it straight directions on your goals. So, even though you might not notice it, you'll start automatically looking for ways to make it happen.

Even if you're still not convinced by the hard cold facts I just presented you, you might still want to give the vision board a chance, because it's a fun and creative way to brainstorm your goals and put them on paper. Just give it a try and see if it works for you!

Purpose Of A Vision Board

Vision board is a powerful instrument, and even if you don't believe in the Law of Attraction, it can bring you lots of other benefits

Visualize your goals. Writing your goals is, of course, very useful. However, as humans, we understand things much better as visuals, and your vision board will help you see exactly what your goals are. This, in turn, will allow you to analyze better if it's something you really want.
Decision making. Your vision board will help you with decision making since you'll be able to visually check how the decision will align with your goals and make the right one for the future self.
Focus. As the year goes and things happen, it's easy to lose direction and stride away from your goals. However, a visual board is always in front of you and will help you to stay focused and keep working on your goals.

How To Create A Vision Board

Finally, let's look at how you can create your vision board. As a Bullet Journal junkie, I created my vision board in my BuJo.

First of all, I use my planner every day, so I know for sure I'll always be looking at my vision board. If you decide to add yours in your BuJo as well, make sure that the page is specially marked and you can easily open it at any time.

Plus, having it in my notebook means it's a bit of a secret and not in a place where anybody can see it.

Ok, the last one doesn't really apply to me since I'm sharing my board here with you, as well as on my Instagram account (which you should totally follow if you haven't yet!), but I bet it might be useful tip for a lot of you guys.

If you're not too excited to use your Bullet Journal to create a vision board, you can create it literally anywhere else: a huge piece of paper, a corkboard, or maybe just post bits and pieces of your vision board around your door or makeup table.

The important thing about your vision board is that you constantly have it in front of your eyes (or at least once a day), so, really, feel free to use any space you want for it.

With that out of the way, let's dive into creating your vision board.

Step 1 – Set Your Intentions

The first step is to get your intentions and goals clear. I have a detailed blog post about successfully setting your goals, so be sure to check it out.

For an easy start though, ask yourself these questions:

If money and resources weren't an issue, what would you like your life to be?
Where do you want to be?
What kind of person do you want to be?
What do you want to have more of in your life?

Think of your greatest desires, dreams, and aspirations. The key here is to be very specific and as detailed as possible.

It helps a lot if you decide on different areas of your life, different categories you could include in your vision board. Here are a few ideas:

Health
Home projects
Career
Bucket list
Travel
Creativity
Long term goals
Financial goals
Self-care
Self-improvement
Organization or decluttering
General life goals
Something that you want to change

Feel free to add any of these (or other) categories in your vision board, or maybe create separate vision boards for the main areas you want to focus on.

A great technique to set your goals and get into the mood of creating a vision board is by writing. Imagine your future self who already achieved it all and allow her (or him) to tell you about their year and achievements.

It might seem pretty weird at the beginning, but it actually works – it helps you visualize your goals even better and program your brain to strive and achieve it all. Plus personally, by writing this myself, I found that my goals didn't seem that scary and unattainable anymore.

Step 2 – Find Content That Resonated With Your Goals

The vision board is a visual representation of your goals and intentions, so you need to find materials to create that which represent said goals and intentions.

Here are a few ideas on what you can use for creating your vision board and where you can find your inspirations.

Photographs. I use my HP Sprocket to print out different photos I want to include in my vision board. You can find some beautiful pics on Pinterest, We Heart It or Unsplash.
Magazine cutouts. Look for photos that align with your goals, quotes or just words that you think define your intentions (check out how to choose your Word of The Year here!). You can easily add them to your board with washi tape or adhesive tape.
Stickers. If you're into planning, you're likely to have a sticker collection. I know often we don't use stickers because omg they are just way too pretty to use. But hey, your vision board deserves it! So get your beautiful stash and give it some work to do.
Washi tape. You can use your washi to simply decorate your board, to attach photos to it or maybe to create some hidden areas where you want to write something private.
Lettering. Think of some words you want to add to your board, something that motivates you and encompasses your yearly intentions. You might not always find it in a magazine, but you can always add it yourself with some fun lettering styles. Or find a font you like in DaFont for example, write the word and print it out.

Step 3 – Create The Vision Board

Now that you have all the materials, it's time to put it all together. Be sure you pre-plan the page and check out the arrangement of all your elements before you sit down to add them permanently.

A good idea might be to divide your board by themes as we mentioned before. That way, you can have a more detailed picture of each area of your life you're working on.

Step 4 – Check Your Vision Board

The final step is to make sure you have your vision board in front of you all the time. Ok, not all the time, but you know what I mean.

Be sure to check it out at least once a day. Maybe you can even include it into your morning routine. It's really a fantastic way to start your day and charge yourself with positivity.

Step By Step Vision Board Setup

Finally, I wanted to share with you my vision board and how I set it up. There is a Plan With Me video where I set up my board at the end if you want to check that out.

Materials

First, let's walk through the materials I used for my board. There are many things apart from my notebook and the cover.

How To Create Bullet Journal Vision Board | Masha Plans

First of all – stickers. I finally took the leap and decided to use my stash and I have zero regrets! For what it's worth, I think I might be addicted to using stickers now. The ones I used are from Pipsticks sticker subscription and Rosekpaperco Etsy shop.

Next – some magazine cutouts. I had a lettering magazine lying around, so I cut out of these some quotes I liked. In the end, I used just one and I used adhesive tape to stick it to my BuJo pages.

Next is my printer – HP Sprocket. The paper is already a sticker paper, so I could stick it straight on my pages. I did use a paper cutting tool from Martha Steward to cut out smaller pieces from the photos.

Finally, I decided to add some color with my Zebra Mildliner Brush Pens. For the black parts, I used my new love – Pitt Artist fineliners.

Pre-Plan

How To Create Bullet Journal Vision Board | Masha Plans

Of course, I pre-planned the whole page. I made sure I had enough space for both important goals and intentions, as well as some decorative elements.

This was also the step when I took time to think through what I want my next year to look like, what are some important milestones that I want to include in my vision of the upcoming year

What I Included

Finally, the board is done, so let's walk through the things I decided to include here.

How To Create Bullet Journal Vision Board | Masha Plans

First of all, on the left side, you can see Masha's A to Z. It's a simple practice where you write the alphabet and you use each letter as a prompt to write some of your qualities. I used it to write the qualities I want to have or improve on in the upcoming year.

Now, can you see this piece of paper stuck to the page with washi tape? Well, underneath there's a yearly review of Masha from 2021. It's something a bit too private and has some more details I don't really want to announce yet, so I figured it's a great way to hide it… for now. Stay tuned to find out!

Next, there is a little Shiba Inu sticker here and well that's because becoming a doggie mom is my life dream. I'm not sure if we'll be able to do it this year, but it's definitely something I wanted to include because hope is the last thing to die, right?

Ok here is the big one. PlannerCon is where my tribe is and visiting one is one of my biggest dreams. I want to make it come true, if not this year at least next one. I want my brain to direct me there, so I said 2020.

The tattoo part is, well, because I really want to add some more. Even though I have 5 tattoos already, I don't think it's enough! The bird sticker was perfect because of its style, it reminds me of a traditional tattoo style which I definitely want to have. And the hand one is because ever since the hubby said it would look cute and awesome, I've been kind of obsessed with hand tattoos lately.

Finally, happy mail is actually work-related. I want to work with more companies and brands in 2020 and for the Bullet Journaling sector, it usually means a lot of happy mail!

How To Create Bullet Journal Vision Board | Masha Plans

Now to the other page. The first thing there is new skills – I want to improve my brush lettering and master some other skills. Constant learning is my jam and I intend to continue in 2020.

If you're into learning new stuff as well, be sure to check out Skillshare – a learning platform with TONS of classes on practically every subject. You can get 2 weeks FREE if you follow this link.

There is, of course, a health-related goal – I want to get in better shape. It shouldn't be that hard since we have a gym membership, but after the crazy holidays, it really takes a while to get back on track with it.

Finally, there are some business goals hidden there as well, including bags of cash and a bright white office.

A quote I added from the magazine is there to remind me to be happy and grateful every day, because even on my worst day I still have it pretty good, surrounded by family, great friends, and the most amazing hubby.

Plan With Me

Finally, here is me setting up the page and talking you through all the elements, in case you'd prefer to hear and watch it rather than just read.

Free Printables

To help you out with your vision board creation, I created a printable set of stickers. These are power words and little motivational quotes you can stick to your vision board to stay motivated.

The printable is in US Letter size and you can open it with any PDF reader, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader (free and safe download).

Here is how you can print them to use for your vision board:

Open the PDF file
When printing make sure it is set for "Fit To Page"
Print the page on sticker paper or on a usual paper and use adhesive tape to add it to the vision board

Ready to rock your year with a vision board? I hope you do!

Have you ever used a vision board before? Share with us your experiences in the comments!

Hope this post was useful if you find it so, please share! If you enjoy my content and want to show your appreciation, please consider supporting me witha cup of coffee.

And remember: Keep Bullet Journaling and Don't Be A Blob!