I created a high-vibe, Law of Attraction-inspired vision portfolio that’s become an integral part of my everyday life. I look at it when I’m having my morning coffee and have taken it with me to cafes and even when I travel.
I wouldn’t be without my vision portfolio—and it’s helping me manifest a life I really love.
“And so, those who are mostly observers thrive in good times but suffer in bad times because what they are observing is already vibrating, and as they observe it, they include it in their vibrational countenance; and as they include it, the Universe accepts that as their point of attraction—and gives them more of the essence of it. So, for an observer, the better it gets, the better it gets; or the worse it gets, the worse it gets. However, one who is a visionary thrives in all times.” —Ask and It Is Given
I don’t know about you, but I want to be a visionary who thrives in all times. And a vision portfolio can help you do just that!
Vision board vs. vision portfolio
Let’s start with the difference between a vision board and what I’m calling a vision portfolio.
A vision board is typically a large piece of poster board or an actual bulletin board where you glue or thumbtack images cut from magazines. You create a collage of your vision.
Now I’ve done vision boards in the past. In fact, one of my favorites was a 4 feet by 3 feet board I created a few years ago. At the time I loved it because it was so big and hung on the wall of my home office.
But this time around I wanted something more portable. I wanted something I could easily take with me to a cafe or even when I travel. Something I could sit in a comfy chair and look at or have out on the table for inspiration.
So I opted for a portfolio instead of a bulletin board. My current portfolio
Variety of magazines
In preparation for creating my vision portfolio, I gathered a bunch of magazines, everything from Dwell to Nordic Living. From Real Simple to National Geographic. From Travel & Leisure to Vogue.
You want magazines with great photography and good quality paper. I suggest getting at least some magazines you don’t normally read. For instance, I had copies of Architectural Digest, which isn’t a magazine I typically look at.
In addition to buying magazines at the newsstand, I asked my sister and a couple friends to donate magazines when they were finished with them that I could then use for my vision portfolio. So that’s a good tip: Ask friends, family, colleagues at work, even your local library to get your supply of magazines.
You want a good number and variety of magazines regardless of whether you’re creating a vision board or a vision portfolio so that you have plenty of images to use for your collages. I had about 30 magazines to do my latest vision portfolio.
Supplies and comfy clothes
You’ll also need scissors, a glue stick, and heavy card stock. Once you’ve gathered your supplies, you’re ready to getting started. Let the fun begin!
Fix your favorite beverage, put on music if that’s your thing or light a candle. Wear comfy clothes. Be sure you have a block of undistracted time. I did my latest vision portfolio over more than a week, a couple hours at a time, so you don’t necessarily have to do it all in one setting.
Alignment and intention
Before you begin, it’s important to get in alignment. You want to get your vibration high. You want the process of creating your vision portfolio to be a happy, uplifting experience, so get in a good feeling, positive place before you start.
Before beginning, I also like to set an intention. I want to thoroughly appreciate the creative experience and creative expression of bringing my vision into being. My intention is to go on a sort of intuitive treasure hunt for things that spark joy and have emotional resonance.
Flipping not reading
Once you’re in alignment and you’ve set your intention, start flipping through the first magazine you’ve randomly selected. Now, you’re not reading this magazine—that’s not your purpose.
If you feel the need to read the magazines, do that a few days before you actually start creating your vision portfolio. Otherwise you’ll get bogged down and miss the intuitive wisdom that rises to the surface during this creative process. I actually didn’t read my stack of magazines ahead of time. I was tempted, but… I wanted my experience of the images to be totally fresh, so I hadn’t even looked at any of the magazines before starting work on my vision portfolio.
You want to flip through the pages, one by one, and see what images or phrases speak to you. Don’t judge, don’t overthink. When something grabs you, tear out the entire page. That’s important. You’re going to get into a kind of rhythm that bypasses your logical, thinking mind.
Later you’ll get more specific with your scissors. But for now, it’s about moving with some speed through the pages of each magazine, tearing out what calls to you.
When I say speed, I don’t mean you have to try to go fast or be in a big rush, but this is about glancing at the page, letting your intuition speak to you, and either tearing out the entire page or moving on.
Don’t get distracted
It’s a very fluid process. You’ll develop a pace that works if you don’t get distracted with reading the magazine or analyzing why you are or are not tearing out a particular page.
You may flip through dozens of pages before you tear one out. That’s fine. Or you may find you’re tearing out several pages in a row, and that’s great too. Just listen to your inner voice. Don’t try to think through WHY something spoke to you, just heed the call, tear or flip the page and go on.
I had magazines where I’d torn out over half the pages. And others where it was just a page here and there. It’s all good!
“The reason visualization is so powerful is because as you create pictures in your mind of seeing yourself with what it is you want, you are generating thoughts and feelings of having it now. Visualization is simply powerfully focused thought in pictures, and it causes equally powerful feelings. ” —The Secret
After I was done tearing out, I recycled the magazines. I didn’t kick the tires and go back through the magazines. I trusted I’d torn out what spoke to me with that first pass.
Use your scissors
Your next step is to get more specific with your scissors. I spent several more hours cutting out images from the magazine pages I’d torn out. You might be cutting out a single small word from an overall magazine page. Or you might be cutting out nearly an entire page of a beautiful landscape or house interior that speaks to you.
You’ll continue to let your intuition guide you in what you’re cutting from the page that you tore out of the magazine. Maybe it’s one thing or maybe it’s several things. Don’t think about it too much or for too long. You know intuitively what on that page spoke to you. So simply use your scissors and cut it out.
Again, anytime I worked on my vision portfolio—since this was over several days, I made sure to get in alignment first. You’ll want to do that too so you’re always creating your vision portfolio from an uplifted, feeling good place.
As Abraham says: “You cannot have a happy ending to an unhappy journey.”
Design your collages
After tearing out pages and then getting more specific and cutting out images from those pages, you’ll be ready to start assembling—to start designing your individual collages. Here’s where it gets really exciting, creative, and just fun!
This is where I definitely think a vision portfolio is better than a vision board. Because instead of creating one overall collage on a big canvas—which I think has some pressure to it—you’re really making several mini ones. There’s a fantastic feeling of freedom and expansion in that.
Here’s how I did mine: I used 9 x 12 heavyweight paper
I had a big overall pile of images and phrases I’d cut out. I intuitively started selecting images and phrases to go together—assembling collages by theme or color or feeling. For instance, one page of my vision portfolio is more about my relationship with my husband while another is more about my desired lifestyle.
Intuition knows all
I let intuition guide me. I didn’t overthink this process and that’s key if you want to stay in alignment. This isn’t some kind of test. You’re not being graded. You’re simply making mini collages. That’s all. Just putting together visually and emotionally pleasing collections.
So design and assemble your vision portfolio with ease. Just do what pleases you. Put together images and phrases that feel good to you. That resonate. That’s really all you’re doing. And since this is your vision, your delight in it is all that matters.
I laid out two or three pages at a time—meaning I would place the images and phrases in a collage on my heavyweight paper—and then use the glue stick to adhere them.
You could do it this way too, where you’re doing a couple at a time. Or you could lay out all the pages you’re going to include in your portfolio and then glue them all at once.
I liked doing a couple pages at a time because I was so delighted with how they were turning out. The good feeling just kept building. Each mini vision board I completed was inspiration for the next one.
Do it your way
Your portfolio size might be different than mine. You might buy one with 12 plastic sleeves instead of 24. Your dimensions might not be 9 x 12. Yours could be larger or smaller. Again, there’s no right or wrong, just personal preference.
And, even if you get a presentation book with 24 sleeves, you could decide upfront to only do a few pages right now and then in a couple months, do a few more. Your vision portfolio could certainly evolve.
Hopefully you’re getting a sense of my overarching advice, which is to do what you want and what feels good. The way I did mine is not the right way, it was just the right way for me. You’ll find the right way for you.
I spent several hours over three days creating the actual pages of my vision portfolio—meaning gluing the images and phrases onto the card stock. And I had so much fun doing it!
I was actually a little disappointed when it was all done. It was so creative and aspirational—and each mini vision board has such good feelings associated with it. And that’s what you want!
So that’s how I put my vision portfolio together. If you’re interested, here are a few pages from my vision portfolio.
