Over the last year or so I've become invested in consuming self-help books, podcasts, etc and trying to perfectly cultivate my goals and routines. Quite honestly, throughout the process of developing myself I've become a lot happier in my day to day life. I honestly don't know if it's an illusion or reality or if any of it will actually make my goals more achievable, but I guess all I can do is continue to work hard and try to manifest the life I want to live.

One of the biggest self-help phenomenons and Instagram-worthy aspects of making goals is the infamous vision board. While it's not New Year's so I can't make a board for the year ahead, I've decided to make my first vision board before I go back for another semester at school. Everyone claims that the Law of Attraction proves that envisioning your goals, writing them down, and thinking them into your life you will achieve them. Before committing to it I decided to do a little research into how effective vision boards actually are at helping people reach their goals and if they even provide any benefit at all.

So some people do say that vision boards have helped them with their goals, mostly because it makes them feel closer to their goals and more immersed in the work necessary to get there. Some even claim achieving goals on their vision boards from years past. When you think about it, this does make sense. If you can specifically articulate your goal and look at it daily, it's a constant reminder of what you want. By looking at your vision board, you should be actively asking yourself what are you doing to get to these goals. If the goals are on your mind, you are more likely to make decisions that move you in that direction. Surveys of entrepreneurs who use vision boards have even said that they are affective in terms of achieving business and sales goals.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, some say that vision boards can actually work against you reaching your goals. The claims center on several studies that indeed prove that people who envision achieving their goals sometimes are less successful than those who don't envision their goals. The problem lies in the fact that people assume that all they have to do is envision their goals to make them come to fruition. While vision boards make you feel good in the short term and allow you to see your goals as achievable, they also make you falsely believe that you are closer to your goals than you are. As an alternative, it's suggested that you not only envision completing your goals, but the process to get there. By also envisioning yourself doing the work to take you towards your goals, you are acknowledging how far you have to go to fulfill your vision.

I've decided that I still will be creating a vision board because I love the idea of being able to find specific representations of the life I want. However, I will be more cognizant of envisioning the process and breaking down steps that will get me to where I want to be, rather than relying on my vision board to do the work for me.