# So apparently "vision boards" are a thing. Do you have one? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093 "2016-10-09T20:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/1 "2016-10-09T20:28:03Z")
I was reading an article that mentioned “vision boards” in a way that suggested everyone in the world knows what a vision board is. I had no clue so I googled it. Here’s what a “vision board” is. Kind of interesting thing to do as a personal motivational tool. So you have one? If you don’t do you think you should make one? [How to Make a Vision Board](http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Vision-Board) > [@](#): > > Getting Started = Make a Vision Board Step 1 of 8 > > Reflect upon your goals. Most of us have some general or vague idea about what we want out of life, what our goals are, and what makes us happy. Nonetheless, when asked directly about our conception of the good life, we may struggle to come up with specifics. To make sure that we’re on track, and that we won’t look back on our lives with regret, it’s a great idea to regularly set time aside to clearly identify our goals and aspirations in as much detail as possible, and to then come up with plans with concrete steps for achieving our aims. Creating a vision board can be one way to help us with this important task. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/2 "2016-10-09T20:51:31Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I was reading an article that mentioned “vision boards” in a way that suggested everyone in the world knows what a vision board is. I had no clue so I googled it. > > Here’s what a “vision board” is. Kind of interesting thing to do as a personal motivational tool. So you have one? If you don’t do you think you should make one? > > [How to Make a Vision Board](http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Vision-Board) I had stuff like that when I was at university. It was kind of tough for me because I knew that no-one else in the world gave a s-t how well I did, and the “vision board thing” helped me remember that there were outcomes that were important at elast to me. But I’m not a very visual guy. I used text. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/3 "2016-10-09T21:03:12Z")
It was a brief “thing” back when learning Photoshop or PSP in my neck of the 'net. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/4 "2016-10-09T21:24:58Z")
Never heard of this. But it wouldn’t have worked for me. My goal changed as my life changed - I started out wanting to be a teacher. Then I dropped out of college and joined the Navy. I thought that would be my career, but after 11 years, I got out, and a year later, I went to work for the dept of the Navy as an engineer. Then after I retired, I got bored and went back to work. Maybe that was a skewed vision, but I have no regrets. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/5 "2016-10-10T01:24:06Z")
Close to 40 years ago, I briefly worked with a reasonably bright fellow hwo would have gone all-in for this. He liked to do the Socialist thing and plan his life in 5-Year Plans. Luckily, he has/had a very common name and it was a big town, so Google comes up with ziltch for him. My thought? If you can distill all your hopes, objectives, and plans onto a poster board, you probably don’t have reason to do so. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/6 "2016-10-10T02:56:43Z")
I’ve never heard it called a “vision board”, but some people I know had “goals posters” they made with poster board and cutouts from magazines in high school or college (late 80s/early 90s). Not really my thing. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/7 "2016-10-10T02:58:50Z")
There are some things I’d like to accomplish in my life, but I’m not sure why I’d want to hang a board on my wall to remind me how much I suck at achieving them. ---
**Author:** ![pidgeon92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@pidgeon92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pidgeon92)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/8 "2016-10-10T03:38:25Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/9 "2016-10-10T06:18:00Z")
This (although not a serious video) is about as honest a description of vision boards as I have seen: There is a related thing that _is_ actually productively useful - Arty types often start a design project with a ‘mood board’ - which contains a bunch of collected photos, swatches, and ideas, mainly just juxtaposing colours, textures, patterns etc to develop a pleasing theme. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/10 "2016-10-10T16:21:29Z")
I have what I call my “Wonderwall” (yes named after the Oasis song)-pics of all of my favorite things (animals) & people in my life (also my favorite musicians/lyricists) on a bulletin board. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/11 "2016-10-10T16:28:01Z")
No. But I have a dry erase pen that I make notes with on the window of my shop. A half-assed “To Do” list, or reminders of what I need at Home Depot. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/12 "2016-10-11T13:53:51Z")
I had a panel from Krazy Kat blown up into a 2" x 3" poster. That’s all the inspiration I need. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/13 "2016-10-11T14:25:12Z")
I guess we’re not talking [Amsler Grid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsler_grid)? Because that’s the first thing I think of when I hear “vision table”. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/14 "2016-10-11T14:36:41Z")
Yyeeeaaaa…no. As noted above, I do “mood boards” for individual projects, but not one for my real life. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/15 "2016-10-11T19:01:51Z")
Somebody at work brought up the idea, and put a big satchel of magazines by a whiteboard for people to peruse and clip flashy things out of. It’s remained untouched for months. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/16 "2016-10-11T21:44:37Z")
I never planned my life, just took one step after the other. Pretty satisfied with the outcome. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/17 "2016-10-12T02:11:45Z")
Not my thing for over-all general life goals, but for the very specific goals here and there, I’ve used them or things similar to help me figure out the best path or the series of distinct steps to achieve them. Nothing ever part of a grander plan though. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-vision-boards-are-a-thing-do-you-have-one/768093/18 "2016-10-12T02:49:07Z")
I’ll make one now. “DON’T DIE”