Do you know when an interviewer asks, ‘Where do you see yourself in the next 5 to 10 years?’ and you try to quickly formulate a convincing answer? Creating a career vision board could help you effortlessly answer these important questions:

“What does my dream life look like in 5 years?”
“If success was guaranteed, what would I pursue today?”
“What are three words that define the life I want to create?”

More importantly, it could motivate you and help you visualize success to reach your big, exciting goals. A career vision board is more than just an aesthetic board, it can be tool that you use to set and achieve your goals. A TD Bank survey found that one in five successful entrepreneurs use vision boards when starting their business. If you made one, how many goals on your board could your achieve?

These boards can help us think long-term and help us visualize and work toward our big goals like becoming an inspiring women in business, a female entrepreneur, or landing our dream career.

If you want to stop feeling like you have no goal or if you have a dream deeply embedded in your brain, it is time to get out a pen and paper and set some time aside on a Sunday afternoon to make a comprehensive career vision board.

Here is a comprehensive guide to making a career vision board that works.

Do Career Vision Boards Actually Work?

A photo of Dr Tara Swart as seen on her website

Dr. Tara Swart is a renowned neuroscientist and former psychiatric doctor who explains why vision boards work, “Looking at images on a vision board primes the brain to grasp opportunities that may otherwise gone unnoticed.”

What happens is that the brain goes through the process of “value-tagging” which imprints important things onto your subconscious and filters out unnecessary information. Anything that you have written down or looked at will be assigned higher value. The more you look at something, the more it will be imprinted on your subconscious.

“And if you look at it right before you fall asleep every night, the images will be imprint even further,” says Swart. The point where a brain goes from wakefulness to sleep is important as it where lucid thoughts, dreaming and creativity occur.

Plus, career vision boards encourage visualization – think about how it would feel to reach you goal and visualize yourself doing what it takes to achieve your goal.

Career vision boards do work and can rewire your brain so that your work toward and identify opportunities that are aligned with your goals.

Here is a detailed guide to making a vision board for your career in 2025.

Everything You Need to Know About Creating a Career Vision Board

A career vision board is not just a collage of pretty pictures and motivational quotes that you find, it is a strategic and visual representation of your life and career goals, whether that is financial freedom, a career that incorporates travel and r emote jobs, or one where you are a leader helping and empowering others.

This board should make you think about your industry, skills, and traits, and where you see yourself flourishing.

A great career vision board can remind you of your goals, and empower you to act accordingly daily and monthly.

Let’s get started.

What Should Be on Your Career Vision Board?

As a rule of thumb, your career vision board should be comprehensive and cover different areas of your career or goals. Similarly, your career vision board should not be too busy as this can be distracting and pull focus from your goals.

Here are the 5 most important elements that should be on a vision board for your career:

1. A personal mission statement

What are your life’s core values and how can they translate to your career? A personal mission statement can help us identify your goals and decision-making is much easier if you have a guiding statement.

Personal Mission Statement Examples

“I define success as creating something that’s bigger than myself. It’s about building a company with a strong team and a lasting legacy.”- Loes Daniels, bold businesswoman and founder of Experiencegift.

“To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.” – Oprah Winfrey

“To use my gifts of intelligence, charisma, and serial optimism to cultivate the self-worth and net-worth of women around the world.” –Amanda Steinberg, Dailyworth.com

Want to read more about living a principled life? Read self-improvement books for women, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.

2. Showcase Your SMART Goals

Think about your previous goals, your values, and what goals you will find meaningful in your career. Do you have financial goals, health goals, or career goals? Pinpoint where you want to improve and how it could help you in your life whether you want more financial freedom, to make a bigger impact as a leader or just to feel healthier and happier. Then make SMART goals, which are:

Specific: Hone in a specific area, skill, or feature you want to improve.
Measurable: Quantify your goals so that they are easy to track and measure.
Achievable: Map out how you can do it (and consider your time and resource restraints).
Relevant: Make your goals feed into a vision, 3-year goal, or mission statement.
Time-bound: Specify your target date or time frame to achieve your goal

Examples of SMART goals:

SMART goal: Complete three communication workshops and receive a 90 percent positive feedback rating on communication effectiveness from team member surveys within six months.

SMART goal: Increase your website traffic by 30% by planning out a blog strategy for the next 3 months with weekly targets and monthly performance tracking so you can optimize your content accordingly.

SMART goal: Enrol in a training course, dedicate 5 hours a week to it, and then apply that skill to a project you do at the beginning of next year.

Recommended Reading: Goal Setting for The New Year (How to Do It Properly)

3. Communicate Your HARD Goals

Smart goals are a great way to stay focused and actually achieve your goals but they don’t get us to think big and push the limits. Often, they also aren’t motivating or challenging enough which is why we also recommend that you set HARD goals.

HARD goals are Heartfelt, Animated, Required, and Difficult.

Heartfelt: Think about your intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (and your personal mission statement)
Animated: Think about how you want your days to look like one, three, or five years from now.
Required: What HARD goals do you need to accomplish in the next 90 days to make this a reality?
Difficult: What are the three to five most important skills you’ll need to develop to achieve this goal?

HARD Goals are important too, and they can light up your brain in the best way possible. Especially if they are communicated to us in an appealing and visual way.

Examples of a HARD Goal:

HARD Goal: I want to start my own freelancing company where I can work remotely within the next year and have 3-4 high-paying clients who value my work.

This goal feels more aspirational and motivating than a smart goal so it is important to include these concepts on your career vision board.

4. Use Affirmations

Affirmations for women can be a powerful tool to boost confidence and self-esteem, overcome challenges, and stay resilient. It is time we foster and cultivate a positive mindset that sets the stage for ambition, confidence, and success. Try to include a few affirmations on your board that speak to your goals.

Examples of Positive Affirmations for Women

1. I am creative and curious

2. I am brave in pursuing my goals.

3. I am always learning

5. Include Personal Aspects

Your career goals are part of your life goals. You can find a lot of joy in your career – community, financial freedom, and purpose. Your personal goals can also feed into your career goals. If you are healthy, you will be happier and more focused.

Work-life balance may be one of your top goals. Sprinkling some personal goals into your career goals can make your board feel more aspirational and cohesive.

How to Make a Career Vision Board

Step 1: Think About Key Concepts

You know have all the different elements that you want to put on your board, and you need to find concepts that communicate this goal.

Examples of how to find images for key concepts:

You might represent your HARD goal of becoming a CEO with a picture of an imposing and beautiful mountain.
You might represent your SMART goal of learning a new skill within the next 6-months with an opening door leading to a new arena.
A seesaw might represent work-life balance.
A bridge could represent collaboration or transition.
An hourglass could represent time management goals or create a sense of urgency on your board.

Step 2: Find Career Vision Board Images

Once you have found what images, quotes, or affirmations you want to use to represent your key concepts, find the perfect images. You may want your board to be bright and colorful or cohesive and neutral – choose images and colors that inspire you.

Step 3: Strategically Arrange Your Board

You can now assemble your board. Try to strategically place your images so that they tell a story or so that your most important features are the most visible. Your board needs to be comprehensive, make sense, and be easy to look at daily.

Career Vision Board Examples That Will Inspire You

If you still need some inspiration, here are some boards that will inspire you and help you to create yours.

Leadership Career Vision Board

Aspiring Female Entrepreneur

Career Vision Board Templates And Tools You Can Use

Get started with these templates and tools.

Try Canvas free Vision Board Templates

Grid Modern Wanda’s New Year Resolutions Vision Board template

Notion Vision Board templates

How to Actually Execute Your Vision

You know have the tools and knowledge to create your own career vision board so the next time someone asks what your 5-year plan is, you know. The hardest part about creating your own board is defining your goals and what is important to you. Once you have done that, you can get creative and create a board that inspires you daily – from self-improvement pictures and daily practices to your big goals, your board can incorporate both.

Here is how to execute your career vision board:

Make it visible and look at it every day
Use a career vision board alongside your own planners and goal-setting tools
Be flexible and change some goals if your priorities change
Believe in yourself and be bold always

By actively engaging with your career vision board, you transform it from a mere motivational tool into a dynamic blueprint for your professional journey.

FAQs: Career Vision Boards

What should I put on my career vision board?

Here are the 5 most important elements that should be on a vision board for your career:

A personal mission statement
SMART goals for the next 3 to 6 months
A big, ambitious, and aspirational goal
Affirmations
Personal goals

Where Can I Find Career Vision Board Images?

Here are the best (often free) places to find aspirational images for your career board:

Should my career vision board be digital or physical?

Both physical and digital vision boards will work well and it is up to your tastes and capabilities. Also, think about how you can display your board so it is visible, so you can also have both a digital and physical version to cover all aspects of your life.

How Busy Should Your Career Board Be?

Your board should be comprehensive and cover both short-term and long-term goals, and affirmations. But it still needs to be visually appealing, cohesive, and make sense so plan it strategically and to your personal tastes.

Do career vision boards work?

Yes, career vision boards can be a great way to stay motivated and focused on your goals. Making this board also requires you to think long and hard about your career goals which is a very beneficial exercise for ambitious women.

What is the point of a career vision board?

A career vision should inspire you and motivate you daily to act by your big, exciting goals, which could change the trajectory of your career and life.

What Is a Self Care Vision Board?

A self-care vision board is similar to a career vision board but it focuses solely on self-care goals and aspirations such as exercise, mindfulness, and work-life balance.

Recommended Reading: The 10 Best Self Help Books for Women Ever

How can I create a self care vision board?

A self care vision board aesthetically communicates your health and wellness goals. Here is how you can create a self care vision board: