According to Psychology Today, a vision board is a collage of images that represent future goals or dreams. They can be used to imagine a positive future, generating self-reflection and self-awareness. In today’s world, people don’t take time out of their days to think about their futures, Vision Partying owner Cathy Gruss said. Life gets away from people, causing them to become more reactive in everyday life rather than proactive.

In 2018, Gruss kick-started her business that makes future goals more accessible by inviting business teams and groups to design their own vision boards together.

Business leaders want employees to understand their vision for the company, but sometimes employees don’t understand, and that creates a disconnect, Gruss said. When leaders create a clear vision, however, they can transform their dreams into a reality.

Before participants begin assembling their boards, Gruss typically distributes a “dream booklet” that is meant to clear their minds before thinking about goals or dreams.

Vision Partying owner Cathy Gruss is pictured at a vision board family reunion in Sewickley, Pa. They created their own vision boards that include quotations, images and drawings. Courtesy photo

About 95% of thoughts are from yesterday, according to Gruss, so it’s important to focus on the present when thinking about future aspirations.

She also provides all of the required material, including foam boards, glue sticks, scissors and magazines, to meet no obstacles when designing a vision board.

During a three-hour session, Gruss said participants “have enough time to go through images, and they’ll see a pattern, and sometimes it can be connected to conscious thought, or it could be something new that came to them.”

It’s also a good idea to display vision boards where someone can easily see them, whether it be before bedtime or in the morning, she said.

“There are benefits of slowly and gently showing you it’s possible because your brain doesn’t put the block up,” she said. “Your brain is like, ‘it’s okay, I’ve seen it a thousand times,’ and you see these things happen and connect to you.”

Courtesy photo At Penn Lincoln Elementary School, fourth grade students hold their vision boards for the new year, filled with words or pictures that symbolize future goals or dreams.

Manifestation and motivation

It’s nice to have visual aids to represent goals to push people into accomplishing them, Emily Mason, owner of Skin and Soul, said.

Partaking in manifestations and affirmations, Mason has been creating personalized vision boards for years.

“It motivates me and keeps me in line with my passions and what I want to pursue and keep doing things that will get me there,” she said.

But several manifestations happened to Mason over the years that she didn’t expect. One year, she glued a picture of a home movie theatre to her vision board, and during a women’s trip with her family, she stayed in a house with a home movie theatre.

Courtesy photo Owner of Vision Partying Cathy Gruss stands with Meagan Reed, founder of Sweet Escape Events in Portage, who holds her vision board.

“It comes in ways you don’t necessarily expect, and even motivates you to do better when you see it,” she said.

She will be encouraging others to make vision boards on Feb. 22 during her first Sunday Soul Circle event.

Designing boards as a group allows people to feed off of each other, she said.

Mason recommends that first-time creators start by thinking about different life categories, such as love, travel, career and family. If someone has a dream to visit Disney World, Mason suggests that they should glue down a picture that relates to the theme park.

When asked about the effectiveness of a vision board, she said it depends on the person’s actions.

“You can place whatever you want on a board, but none of that matters unless you’re doing the work,” she said. “You have to follow through.”

Young kids think big

There’s no age requirement for creating vision boards.

This January, a fourth-grade class of 18 students at Penn Lincoln Elementary School constructed their own vision boards using paper templates, colored pencils and markers.

“The students loved being able to plan out new things they wanted to try for the year,” teacher Logan

Ridenour said.

In boxes resembling a notepad, computer monitor and a Polaroid, students jotted down words and phrases or sketched out pictures that symbolize their hopes for the 2026 school year.

Ridenour said students also worked in small groups while creating their vision boards, helping kids build confidence and creatively collaborate with one another.

“Vision boards are a powerful tool for people at any age, especially for young students who are beginning to understand who they are and what they value,”

Ridenour said.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.