Everyone always starts the new year with all these resolutions, but nobody ever keeps them. I mean, who really wants to hold themselves accountable and keep the promises they made – like eating healthier? Getting caught up in the fast movement of life can be hard, and vision boards help to make dreams a reality.

One in five successful entrepreneurs were found using vision boards according to a TD Bank Survey. Of that, 76 percent reported that their vision boards aligned with the progress they had made so far.

I started doing vision boards last year, and as someone who has a hard time keeping their brain organized I’ve found them to be so useful. I forget things a LOT unfortunately, and planners or writing down reminders on my notes just don’t seem to work for me. 

While I dont think there is any specific time people need to create a vision board, I think the best time is probably New Year’s. It marks the beginning of a fresh start, and many people take this opportunity to make resolutions for themselves anyways.

Personally, I made mine on New Year’s just so I could have a set end and start date as to when I want to accomplish these goals by. My vision board has a lot of photos along with a few words just so I can jog my memory when I sometimes forget what the pictures stand for.

The first step to creating a vision board is clarifying your goals. They don’t all have to be extremely difficult, as long as you know it’s something you can try your best on.

One of my smaller goals for the year was to keep my room clean, so to help remind myself I put a picture of an organized room- something I wanted mine to look like. By creating a vision board, goals are broken down into specific categories and can help your brain process what it wants easier.

I feel like since I’ve started doing vision boards I’ve really been holding myself accountable for the things I want to achieve whether it’s something quick or long term. One of my goals pretty much every year is to get all A’s, and I’m a terrible procrastinator so that can be hard for me.

But with the vision board right in front of my face every day, it’s a constant reminder to me that I need to work hard to get what I want.

Visualization is another key component of success and by creating vision boards, you’re literally putting your goals right in front of you, training your mind to believe these goals are possible.

A phenomenon known as neural mirroring also occurs in the brain while visualising something. It activates the same neural pathways in the brain as it would if you were really experiencing the event. 

The most important thing of course, is holding yourself accountable. Visualization of goals is one thing to help, but you really have to have the willpower to go through in order to achieve what you want. I feel like for me, that was the hardest part. But by being consistent in the steps I took, it helped me reach my goals quicker instead of just procrastinating. 

While they might just seem like a craft project to do, vision boards really are so much more than that and I believe they can benefit everyone no matter who you are.