How to Create a Career Vision Board to Achieve Your Goals

Visualizing your success is a powerful tool to help you achieve your career goals. Whether you’re working hard to get promoted, career shifts, or start your own business, Career Vision Board can provide clarity, focus and motivation. This creative exercise is a fun way to make clear your goals and make use of your creative side while also making plans for your future.

Many people decided to create a vision board earlier this year, and you can do this activity anytime. And there is no right or wrong way to design your vision for your career journey.

Before we talk about how to create a career vision board, let’s talk about how vision boards work and why they became so popular.

What is a vision board?

A vision board is a visual representation of your goals, made up of images, quotes and words that inspire you. It will always remind you of what you are aiming for and reinforce your aspirations every time you see it. As the name suggests, people tend to make vision boards as collages of physical boards, using similar materials as posters, foam boards, or blank slates to decorate.

After the release of the famous book The Secret in 2006, the Vision Board became extremely popular. Secrets focused on what is called the Law of Charm. This is a philosophy that suggests that the energy and thoughts you put into the world (positive or negative or not) determine what you are attracted to your life.

It’s something that’s attractive, and it’s based on the idea that if you focus on positive outcomes and believe in your ability to succeed, you’re more likely to take action that creates opportunities and leads to success. The Vision Board is tailored to the Law of Attraction as it can help people visualize their goals early and work to turn them into reality.

While vision boards are generally associated with overall life goals, creating something special about your career is a goal-finding way to focus on professional growth and outcomes.

Why create a career vision board?

There’s more to it than sticking photos on the board. They also help to leverage the psychology of visualization and give clarity. Research shows that consistent visualization of goals is more likely to take intentional actions to achieve them.

Career Vision Board can help you:

• Make your goals clear: There are often ambiguous desires. The Vision Board forces you to get specific about what you want.
• Increase motivation: It’s very motivating to see your ideal career path visually laid out. This is a good idea to use the vision board as a regular or daily motivation.
• Keep focused on you: It’s easy to get off track with short-term challenges. The Career Vision Board serves as a visual reminder of your big picture.
• Creating Accountability: Once you have invested your time and energy in the vision board, it acts as a personal commitment to working towards those goals.

Whether you’re dreaming of a leadership role, moving into a dream job, or building a thriving business, the vision board certainly won’t hurt your efforts.

How to create a career vision board

Well, for the fun part! Let’s talk about creating a career vision board. I have created vision boards in the past, and they focused on the general areas of my life and what I want to achieve, including specific health goals, travel, paying off debts, and more.

If you’re looking to grow or pivot your career over the next few years, we recommend assemble your vision board to meet these career goals. This is what you need to do.

Step 1: Collect the materials

You will need basic consumables to get started. However, first you decide whether to create a physical vision board or a digital board. Tools like Canva can be used to create and design digital vision boards.

If you prefer a more hands-on experience, here are some things you have at hand for the process.

• Corkboard, poster board, or large paper
• Magazines, newspapers, printed materials for images and quotes
• Scissors, adhesive, tape, push pin
• Markers, pens, stickers, or decorations (optional for personal touch)

You can also choose your digital route using apps like Canva or Pinterest if you prefer the flexibility to create an online vision board.

Step 2: Looking back on your goals

One of the most important steps is to understand what you really want in your career. Take your time to reflect on your career goals.

Start the following question:

• What kind of career do you want to create?
• What are my short-term and long-term goals?
• What kind of workplace culture, leadership, or work-life balance is most important to me?

Write down your answers and create a framework for your vision board. Focus on smart goals that are specific, concrete, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-of-day. Instead of saying “I want a successful business,” we visualize metrics such as annual revenue, customer satisfaction ratings, specific outcomes, and awards.

We recommend winning specific industry awards and improving work-life balance in remote locations with good benefits. Maybe you want to reach financial independence and pursue other professional goals, such as serving the community through your workplace. Don’t be afraid to dream, including short-term and long-term goals.

Step 3: Collect images, quotes and inspiration

Once you’ve brainstormed each smart goal, you’ll start putting together your career vision. This should be translated into a vision board in a creative way.

Find photos of professionals doing what you want, the work environment you admire, and symbols of success, such as diplomas, trophies, or graphics that represent financial growth. You can also use personal photos, such as children’s photos, to remind you why you want to improve your work-life balance, or to encourage you to continue when things are difficult.

Collect motivational quotes and affirmations that inspire you or link you to a specific goal. Also, do not limit yourself to photos or words. You can use anything that stimulates positive emotions, such as colors, textures, symbols, handwritten notes, corporate logos, or any other visuals that you think are suitable for your board. If you have a Pinterest account with a digital vision board, you can fill the space by drawing inspiration and ideas from a variety of boards.

Step 4: Create a collage and add a personal touch

Next, lay out the collected images and quotes on the board and organize them in a way that feels cohesive and exciting. They may be grouped by themes such as goals, values, and specific time frames (e.g., six months, one year).

Add personal touches such as your name, positive statements and inspirational words you have written, and unique elements that represent who you are. The goal is to create your authentic self and something that feels like the ambition you have for your career.

Step 5: Use it as a daily motivation

Once done, place your Career Vision Board in your workspace or somewhere. The key is to be a daily reminder on your desk, in the office, or as a phone wallpaper (in the case of digital).

Create a routine that will visualize every morning as if your goals were already achieved and spend one minute each morning. This little habit will stay motivated and focused even in rewarding times.

Step 6: Run the action to implement it

While the vision board is the starting point, action really fills the gap between dreams and achievements. Take the desires from the board and break them down into practical steps at deadlines.

for example:

• If your board includes “Write a Book”, the first step is to create an outline and set a weekly writing schedule.
• If you’re imagining promotions, start by taking on leadership opportunities or enrolling in a skill and reinforcement course.
• Or, Action Step involves enrolling in the school and gaining more qualifications in your field.

Revisit the vision board regularly to reflect on progress and make adjustments as needed. The Career Vision Board should be a dynamic tool, not a static tool. Feel free to update as your goals evolve.

Achieve your career aspirations

The Career Vision Board is more than a craft project. This is a deliberate goal setting exercise that will help you work towards building the professional life you’ve always wanted. By focusing on your aspirations and taking the necessary steps to achieve them, you will find yourself approaching those goals and dreams every day.

Before you do anything (large or small), remember that you need to have a positive mindset and a belief that you can accomplish that task early. So, if you’re on the fence about creating your own career vision board, think of an invitation to start this now.