Using Your Vision Board as a Tool for Reflection

Every few years, I pull out one of my old vision boards. Not because I expect every dream to have come true, but because the woman who created that board is not the same woman I am today.

She wanted many of the same things I still want: purpose, travel, meaningful work, financial freedom, good health, and a life that made a difference. However, she imagined getting there differently. Looking back at that board feels like having coffee with an older version of myself and realizing how much we have both learned.

That is why I still believe in vision board reflection. Not because vision boards magically predict the future, but because they reveal how we are growing.

Dreams Are Allowed to Change

One of the healthiest things we can do is admit when a dream no longer fits. Sometimes we hold onto old goals because we announced them, worked toward them, or once believed they proved something about who we were.

Still, changing does not mean failing. It can mean we are paying attention. A dream that felt right five years ago may not belong to the woman we are becoming now.

That connects with the way I think about finding your peace. Peace often begins when we stop forcing ourselves to chase a life that no longer feels honest.

Looking at the Woman I Used to Be

When I look at an old vision board, I do not judge the woman who made it. I smile at her. She was trying. She was dreaming. She was building language for a future she could feel but could not fully see yet.

I remember one board where Tracee Ellis Ross had a special place. Her confidence, humor, style, and freedom spoke to me. She represented a woman who could be bold, feminine, intelligent, funny, creative, and completely herself.

I also smiled at how much beauty lived on that board. Back then, MAC Cosmetics had a permanent place in my imagination, and I probably took more selfies than any grown woman needed to. These days, I still enjoy makeup, but I care more about the woman underneath it. I want healthy skin, a strong body, clear eyes, and a spirit that feels at home in itself.

Some Dreams Never Left

The details have changed, but the mission has not.

I still believe women deserve more opportunities. I still believe food systems can transform communities. I still believe travel makes us more compassionate when we approach it with humility. I still believe storytelling can give people language for lives they have been living quietly for years.

That is why my work through DG Speaks, my consulting, and the Mercedes Parra Foundation still feels connected to that younger version of me. She may not have known every road ahead, but she knew the direction of her heart.

Those dreams also connect with my larger reflections on empowerment through storytelling and sustainable development across cultures. The work keeps evolving, but the purpose remains familiar.

A Vision Board Should Ask Better Questions

I do not think a vision board should only be about expensive houses, dream vacations, or pretty images. Those can be fun, of course. However, the best boards ask deeper questions.

• Who am I becoming?
• What gives me energy?
• What drains my spirit?
• What relationships deserve more attention?
• What have I already accomplished that my younger self once dreamed about?
• What do I need to release before I can move forward?
• What does freedom look like in this season of my life?

Those questions make the process more honest. They help us move beyond decoration and into discernment.

My Next Vision Board Will Look Different

If I made a new vision board today, it would still include travel. However, it would probably show slower travel, deeper rest, meaningful work, creative community, health, time freedom, natural beauty, and rooms where I get to speak with purpose.

It might include a TED stage, a book cover, a walking trail, a beautiful meal, a peaceful home base, and images that remind me to choose quality over noise.

More than anything, it would include the feeling I want my life to have. I want freedom, curiosity, softness, impact, joy, and enough peace to actually enjoy what I am building.

DG Speaks Take

Every vision board captures a moment in time. It tells the story of who you believed you could become.

Looking back at mine reminded me that success is not about checking off every picture glued to a poster board. It is about becoming someone your younger self would recognize and admire.

Some dreams will surprise you by coming true. Others will quietly disappear because you have outgrown them. That is not failure. That is what a life well lived looks like.

So every now and then, pull out your old vision board. Do not only ask whether you achieved everything on it. Ask a better question: do the dreams you are chasing today still belong to the person you are becoming?

For more DG Speaks reflections, explore finding your peace, rest for women who lead, and intentional living for the year ahead.