By Chris Olsen

Self-help gurus define manifestation as focusing your thoughts on a desired outcome using practices like mindfulness, meditation and visualization. Success with manifestation starts with setting your intention, believing it will happen, and taking active steps toward making your ideas and goals a reality.

A vision board—typically a poster with a collage of words and images that represent what you want to accomplish—is a powerful tool for visualization and manifestation. It’s a tangible representation of your goals that you can look at every day. Many people create a vision board as they embark upon a new year, but it’s a great motivator any time you want to reach a goal.

The “Publish Her Vision Board Book” was designed to be cut apart to create your custom vision board. Filled with hundreds of high-quality images and words, the pages were thoughtfully laid out so those with a grid of images are backed by solid-colored or wallpaper pages. That means you can cut out an image without sacrificing an image on the other side.

How to Create Your Vision Board

Engage your creative side and be playful. Don’t overthink the process. You could simply flip through the book, cut out the images you love, and create a collage. For a more structured activity, use this process for creating your vision board:

1. Gather Your Supplies

In addition to the “Publish Her Vision Board Book,” you’ll need scissors, plus foam core, tagboard, cardboard or heavy paper for the board, as well as glue or tape to fasten the media to it. You could also pin the images to a tackboard. Consider any personal items you have on hand and may want to include on your board, such as photos and print materials like cards, letters, stickers, etc.

2. Identify Your Goals

Take some time to clarify what’s important to you. What are your specific goals for the next several months or year? It may be helpful to narrow it down to a couple of goals for your vision board. You could also focus on one larger goal and the benchmarks for reaching it.

For example, some of my goals for the coming year are spending more time in nature, moving my body more, and teaching more workshops.

3. Look for Themes

Are your goals personal or professional or both? Consider how they connect and make a list of specific words and images that represent your intentions, goals and benchmarks. Focus on those that give you the most energy.

My goals are both personal and professional. As I considered themes, I realized my goals fall into three categories: spirit, body, mind.

4. Select Elements That Fit the Themes

Flip through the pages of the “Publish Her Vision Board Book” for images and words that align with your vision and get to work slicing and dicing the elements that will adorn your board. Add your personal photos and print materials as well.

For the background of my board, I selected larger images that, for me, represent spirit, body and mind. The smaller images I selected represent more specific individual goals.

5. Lay Out Your Board

First do a dry layout of all your media on the board. When it looks right, start gluing, taping or pinning everything in place. Continue layering items until it feels complete.

I started by placing the larger images on the board. I added quotes and words that also represent spirit, body and mind. Next, I layered on the smaller images that represent my specific goals. After moving the images around a bit, I cut out specific objects in a few of the images (which you can see on the final board).

6. Display It for Yourself

Once you’ve finished your board, be sure to post it somewhere you will see it often. Remember, it is intended to be a visual representation of your goals that you can look at every day.

7. Share It With Others

Displaying your vision board so friends and family can see it can be a great way to hold yourself accountable. It may also inspire others to create a vision board to manifest their goals. A fun way to show off your board is to turn it into the cover of a “Publish Her Custom Journal” you can carry in your purse or bag.

We’d love to see it as well! Post a photo or video on Instagram and tag @publishherpress.

Enjoy the process of creating your vision board!

About the Author

Chris Olsen is a book designer, publisher, educator and the author of “Whyography: Building a Brand Fueled by Purpose.” The founder of Publish Her and Publish Her Story, Chris has helped thousands of women tell their stories and publish their books.

About Publish Her

Publish Her is a female-founded publisher dedicated to educating authors and elevating the words, writing and stories of women. We are passionate about amplifying the voices of women of color, women with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community. We aim to make publishing an attainable, exciting and collaborative process for all.