A Vision Board Masterclass: The Practice Behind My Biggest Life Shifts

My personal guide to the science, the spiritual, and real-life impact of vision boarding.

If you’re feeling the pull to create your own vision board this year, I’d love to walk you through the process. My Vision Board Workshops are happening in January—join us in-person at my home in Austin or virtually from anywhere. (And don’t forget, subscribers get free access to a virtual workshop when you upgrade to a paid subscription.)

I used to think of vision boards as a fun creative project. Growing up, I was obsessed with cutting up magazines and making collages to hang on my bedroom walls, and I pretty much thought of vision boards as the same thing. I didn’t understand how powerful they could be until several years ago, when I started shifting my approach from making something aesthetic to choosing images and words that reflected the dreams in my head.

When I turned 30, I remember feeling that, no matter how hard I worked, there were never enough hours in the day. I had a two-year-old, a demanding business that required me to be involved with every aspect, and a small team that worked out of my house. I’d burn through my to-do list every day, then collapse on the couch at night, utterly exhausted. My life was full — work, family, friends I loved — and nothing was “wrong,” exactly. But sometimes, I felt like I was sleepwalking through it. I felt like I was working so hard, but not really making progress in the areas where I wanted to see growth. And I couldn’t remember the last time I felt truly present.

I was so busy moving through life that I wasn’t really focusing on what was most important to me. I was saying “yes” to all the external demands and opportunities that came my way, but I wasn’t spending time listening to myself.

It was around that time that I started taking vision boarding seriously—not as a craft project, but as a deeper ritual that required me to slow down long enough to hear what my life was trying to say. And over the years, as I spent time doing this every season and reflecting back on the images and words I’d chosen each year:
The things I put on my boards began unfolding in my actual life.

Not instantly, but slowly and steadily, almost quietly—my choices shifted to align with who I wanted to be. My awareness sharpened so I could see the synchronicities and gifts that came into my life. And perhaps most importantly, my courage and confidence grew. I started moving in alignment with the version of myself I wanted to grow into, and the desires that I was too scared to even speak out loud.

As we close out another year and head into a new one, I want us to start 2026 differently—feeling empowered to dream big and with an actual plan to pursue those big dreams. So today, I’m sharing the how, the why, and the very real outcomes of vision boarding.

Welcome to my vision board masterclass—the science, the spiritual, my full process, and the mindset shifts that have changed everything for me.

The Science: Why Vision Boards Actually Work

Here’s the grounded, psychological explanation behind why vision boards (and other manifestation practices) actually work:

When we consistently look at and think about something, we train our brains to notice it more. And what we pay attention to shapes the choices we make.

In your brain lives something called the reticular activating system (RAS). It filters the world and tells you what to pay attention to so you don’t get overwhelmed. When you clarify what’s truly important to you, your brain starts flagging opportunities, ideas, people, and choices connected to that vision. When I was pregnant, I suddenly started seeing pregnant women everywhere.

Were there actually more pregnant women around? Of course not—it was the concept of selective attention in action. If you’ve ever decided to buy a certain car and suddenly notice that type of car everywhere—same thing.

A vision board keeps your desires and goals top of mind—and trains your brain to recognize the opportunities that support them. And once you see it, you show up differently, and you make different choices. Those choices—sometimes so small you barely notice them—lead you closer to the life you’re meant to live.

Consistency matters more than intensity.

This process is about cultivating daily awareness so your actions naturally shift to match your deepest desires.

The Spiritual: Co-Creating with God

Since my faith is core to my daily practices, I also need to share the very real way that it guides any type of manifestation, goal-setting, or vision boarding in my life. Sometimes, it can feel like there’s a tension between trusting God with the things beyond our control and taking a proactive approach to creating the lives we dream about. I felt this for many years—if I’m manifesting my desires, am I somehow not trusting God by “taking matters into my own hands”? Here’s the realization that finally made it all make sense for me.

God has a beautiful plan for our lives. And He gave us free will and agency to be able to participate in that plan. We get to co-create our lives with God — which, to me, is the most exciting blend of trust and action.

Not by forcing outcomes, but by listening—with intuition, desire, and the quiet nudges that tell us, This is the way.

For me, vision boarding isn’t about controlling the future. It’s about aligning myself with what my inner voice is saying… and trusting God with the timing, the unfolding, and the details I could never orchestrate on my own.

It’s clarity + surrender—not control.

My Vision Board Ritual

When I sit down to make a vision board, it’s a sacred time to go inward and tap into the most authentic version of myself. I make it a ritual by lighting a candle, turning on music that makes me feel expansive (my playlist is here), pouring a cup of tea, or a glass of wine. And most importantly, I give myself time to create in an unrushed way (just like my 10-year-old self did, making collages on her bedroom floor for hours!).

Step 1: Define Your Goals (The Deep Dive)

This step is key to the process. Before you start pulling images and words, you have to get clear on what it is you’re actually dreaming about. I spend some time reflecting on the core areas of my life, and tap into the places I actually feel pulled (not the things I feel like I should want).

A few prompts to guide and spark ideas:

My dream home + lifestyle
• What does my dream home feel like?
• When am I happiest?
• What emotions do I want to experience every day?

My well-being
• When do I feel most aligned and in balance?
• What does “my healthiest self” feel like?
• What am I grateful for in my body right now?

My relationships
• Who do I want to prioritize and nurture?
• What experiences do I want with family and friends this year?

My career
• What does my dream daily routine look like?
• Where am I working? Who am I with?
• What lights me up creatively?

My travel
• Which places call to me?
• What does it feel like to be there?

Vision boarding works when the desires are authentic—not borrowed from society, Instagram, or external expectations.

Step 2: Gather Your Materials

A few years ago, I designed this Vision Board Kit for Casa Zuma, with a workbook that guides you through the entire process and a beautiful board to arrange it all on. This is now what I use every year—it takes the overwhelm out of starting and makes the whole experience feel like a ritual.

The next step is gathering your images. This can be analog (magazines and scissors) or digital (saving images online). My process: Throughout the year, I continually add images to a Pinterest board so that when it’s time to vision board, I have lots of good material to choose from. (Here’s a link to mine in case you want to pin a few to your own board!) Then I save the images to my desktop and send them to a print shop for high-quality color copies in different sizes (most office supply stores have this service).

Step 3: Choose Images + Words That Inspire You

There’s no “right” way to do this—take an intuitive approach and look for visuals that light you up. I choose the ones that make me feel something—a sense of freedom, peace, joy, expansiveness. And I love to incorporate words and quotes that can anchor me throughout the year.

Don’t grab images because they match the “mood board aesthetic” in your mind. Choose the ones that make you feel expansive and give you that internal YES.

Then, arrange it however you’re feeling! Some years, my board is neat and grid-like. Other years, it’s a messier, layered collage. There’s no right way, just trust your instincts and know that you can always change it! Your board is ever-evolving, which is what makes it dynamic and fun.

Step 5: Display It Where You’ll See It Daily

This is KEY. A vision board works when you look at it during your day-to-day life. I keep mine on the wall of my office so that every morning when I sit down to work, I can glance over my board and re-center into what matters and the life I’m creating. Think of it this way:

Repetition -> awareness -> alignment -> transformation.

I like to change up my board at the beginning of each season, along with revisiting my Future Self Vision. I shared more about how I do this seasonally here:

The Summer Glow Up

How my vision board has manifested in real-life outcomes

Please know that as I share these specific examples, it’s not from a place of “look how amazing my life is.” I want to be an expander for you. Because for most of my life, I never would’ve believed this would be my reality now. And I want you to dream bigger for yourself. Here are a few times the images on my board came alive in ways I never expected.

1. Our beach house renovation

For years (maybe my entire life?), my vision boards have included images of sun-washed rooms, ocean air, barefoot mornings. Not because I thought we’d actually buy a home there, but because that aesthetic felt like freedom—my truest expression of calm and creativity.

I didn’t know the “how” or the timing, and TBH, this didn’t feel realistic for me at all. But those images shifted something in me.

They showed me what my “someday” dream was, and made me pay attention to moments that echoed that feeling. They guided conversations with Adam about where we felt most alive, and in 2020, when we flew out to Malibu to look at properties, they gave me the courage to consider a possibility I would’ve dismissed before.

Now, as we renovate our home, there’s not a day I don’t feel awe and gratitude—not only for the house itself, but for the reminder that clarity expands what we believe is possible.

And again — there was a time when I couldn’t have imagined any of this being real. So don’t be afraid to dream BIGGER, and trust that your desires are revealing something important.

2. Shifts in my business

I’ve had seasons where my board was full of images of community, creativity, writing, and deeper connection. I didn’t fully understand why… but I followed the breadcrumbs.

Those images led to:

• Launching Breathing Space
• Building the EDIT magazine with our team
• Creating tools, workshops, and resources for women doing this work
• Saying no to projects that didn’t align
• Pouring my energy into the things that feel like calling instead of striving

The vision board didn’t create these shifts, but it gave me clarity to know what I really wanted.

3. My Healing + Well-Being

When I filled my board with images of slowness, nourishment, sunlight, grounded routines—I didn’t know it would catalyze a season of healing my gut and my nervous system. I just knew that these images were the feeling I wanted to have every day, and I no longer wanted to be weighed down by constant stress and digestive issues (that I believe were mostly caused by stress).

It didn’t change everything overnight—in fact, I went through years of healing and trying every modality under the sun. But the vision helped me stay consistent, notice the patterns, and create daily habits that added up over time.

Healing isn’t linear, but it also isn’t random, and awareness can change everything.

Your Vision Shapes Your Direction

Vision boarding isn’t about predicting the future or forcing outcomes. It’s about tuning out the noise long enough to hear what your life is trying to tell you. When you get clear on what matters—and you keep those reminders where you can see them—you start showing up differently. You make braver choices. You see possibilities you would’ve missed.

And that’s when things start to shift — often in ways you couldn’t have planned.

You don’t need to know the timing or the exact “how.” You just need to trust that your desires are clues—and take the next right step from where you are.

If you’re feeling called to create your own vision board this year, I’d love to guide you.

Here’s where you can buy my Vision Board Kit for Casa Zuma.

Join me in January for my Design Your Dream Year Workshops—available in person in Austin or virtually from anywhere. Paid subscribers get free access to a subscribers-only virtual workshop.

I can’t wait to see so many of you there — and to step into a new year together, grounded in clarity, courage, and intention.