MY 2025 Vision Board
Manifesting 2025: My Vision Board, Goals and April Reflection
There is something quietly powerful about declaring your intentions visually. For me, 2025 began not with a resolution but with a vision board. A curated collage of images, affirmations, and energy that reflects the life I am actively building. Alongside this, I have kept a digital journal to track my progress, stay grounded, and remind myself of the person I am becoming.
Do Vision Boards Really Work?
It might be tempting to think of vision boards as just aesthetic collages, but research suggests they can have a real psychological impact when combined with action. According to a study published in The Journal of Applied Psychology by Gabriele Oettingen, visualizing success becomes far more effective when paired with realistic planning and mental contrasting. The process involves imagining your goals clearly, but also acknowledging the obstacles in the way. That contrast is what pushes people to take meaningful steps forward.
For me, creating a vision board was not just about what I wanted. It was about who I wanted to be. The images on my board reflect themes like growth, knowledge, discipline, power, and freedom. From the glow of sunrise above the clouds to a quiet yoga session in a sunlit room, each photo holds a feeling I want to embody. Books, fresh fruit, candles, gym gear, computers, passports, handwritten notes, plants, and white roses. These are not just things. They are visual cues reminding me to stay rooted, balanced, ambitious, and intentional. They show the harmony between striving and softness, between ambition and peace.
My Goals for 2025
At the start of the year, I didn’t just want to write down things I hoped would happen. I wanted to be intentional, to make sure my goals actually reflected what I valued and where I wanted to grow. So I organised them into four main areas of my life; University, Health, Growth, and Personal Priorities, not to box myself in, but to bring some structure to the chaos that usually comes with goal-setting.
In the university space, I gave myself clear targets, like finishing my Kubicle courses by June and aiming for a strong academic finish with at least a 2.1. But I knew that university wasn’t just about grades. I also wanted to build networks, take on leadership opportunities, and say yes to experiences that would push me out of my comfort zone. Health was more about habits than outcomes. I didn’t aim for perfection — just consistency. Things like getting into a short daily workout routine, being mindful of what I eat, and limiting how much time I spend scrolling on my phone.
For growth, I leaned into learning that happens outside the classroom — committing to read more, engage with content that actually enriches me, and maybe even brush up on my French. And when it came to my personal life, I focused on becoming more self-sufficient and grounded. I wanted to feel confident behind the wheel, learn to cook properly, and make more time for the people who matter most to me.
More than anything, I’ve realised that specific goals make all the difference. They keep me accountable. They give me a way to measure progress without losing sight of the bigger picture. And when I look at my vision board or reread my journal entries, I can see exactly how each intention ties into the version of myself I’m trying to become.
April Reflection
Now that April is coming to a close, I have taken time to pause and reflect. This month felt like my vision board coming to life in small but meaningful ways. I read a few books that both challenged and nourished me. I passed my driving test, which gave me a huge confidence boost and a sense of independence. I was honoured to win the Undergraduate of the Year Award for Future Business Leader, a moment of recognition that still feels surreal. I also got to travel on a union trip to Wexford, something I had envisioned back in January, and it reminded me how refreshing new places and people can be. Perhaps the most unexpected gift of this month was meeting mentors who saw potential in me. That led to an exciting opportunity to begin working part-time with a start-up, something that is already pushing me to grow in ways I had not planned for.
This vision board is not about perfection or ticking off tasks. It is a mirror of the life I am designing one day at a time. April reminded me that I am already living pieces of that vision. And that is enough to keep going.