Vision boards are powerful tools for visualizing your goals and dreams. They consist of curated images and words that represent your ideal life, or desired aspects of your life, as a visual display. Focusing on a vision board is helpful for self-discovery and motivation, inspiring you to work proactively toward achieving your highest aspirations. And they’re not just for “woo woo” types. Vision boards are often used by successful entrepreneurs and have benefits backed up by psychologists.
Vision boards do not need to be actual boards. Nor do they need to be made in a poster format with a scrapbook style. As an alternative, and perhaps more sophisticated approach, consider creating a vision board photo book. A photo motivation book works in the same way as a vision board, but with added benefits of total creative control over the design in Mixbook Studio™, plus top-quality printing and binding.
A custom vision board photo book you can hold in your hands, keep on a coffee table or bookshelf, and flip through whenever you need motivation might just be the key to manifesting your goals in 2026.
Photo by cottonbro studio
Reasons to make a photo motivation book
The benefits of vision boards have little to do with their format—it’s more important to create a tool that’s personalized for you. Making an actual poster board by hand using cut and pasted images is just one approach to this project. An arts-and-craftsy project isn’t appealing to everyone, and nor is the idea of displaying a traditional vision board in the home.
A vision board photo book is an ideal alternative, with all the same benefits as a traditional board, and more. Mixbook’s professionally designed photo book themes are easy to customize, so your photo motivation book can match your preferred aesthetic style. You can also choose custom layouts and arrange the contents of the book into chapters or sections to match different goals or aspirations.
Digital vision boards, such as Pinterest boards, are another popular alternative to poster collages. However, digital media has many drawbacks, including being easily lost or forgotten among overwhelming online clutter. A printed photo book, on the other hand, is a great antidote to screen fatigue and digital overload.
A vision board photo book elevates this meaningful project from a scrappy mishmash to a carefully curated, professionally printed book. It’s a wonderful way to give your goals the level of care and attention they deserve.
Vision board photo book ideas
As a very personal project, the contents of your vision board photo book are totally up to you. You might want to focus on one particular goal or area of your life, such as your career, love life, health, or travel dreams. Or, your book could cover a broad range of dreams spanning every aspect of your life. Here are some categories to consider for your book (or chapters of your book):
- Career and professional
- Relationships e.g. family, friends, or romantic
- Financial
- Travel and adventure
- Mental and spiritual
- Creative projects, hobbies, and skills
- Personal style and fashion
- Lifestyle and social life
- Home and living spaces
For each theme or section you want to include in your vision board photo book, brainstorm some keywords, affirmations, and images that represent specific personal goals.
Try to picture in your mind what you might see, feel, and do when you achieve each goal. For example, instead of “I want to be rich,” think about what “being rich” would really mean for you. What would you do differently in your life? What would you buy, and how would that purchase make you feel? How would you spend your days? And what are the steps that you could take to achieve that goal?
It’s good to strike a balance between aspirational and realistic. Dream big, but live in the real world. You might need to admit it’s too late to become an astronaut, but maybe your goals can include signing up for an astronomy class or volunteering at the planetarium. Your vision board photo book could include awesome galaxy images, quotes about space travel, and photos from a stargazing excursion. (Tip: If this is you, check out our Celestial Everyday photo book theme.)
Also consider the timeframe for your vision board photo book. Will your book serve as inspiration for your whole lifetime or as a proactive to-do list for the next year? Try to clarify the plans behind the goals and keep the contents of the book focused on inspiring you to take achievable steps in your real life.
How to make a photo motivation book
When you’re ready to turn your vision board concept into a photo book, head to Mixbook and work through the following steps:
1. Choose a theme
Browse Mixbook’s hundreds of photo book themes and find a design that aligns with your aesthetic. Pay special attention to the color scheme.
For example, if your main goals include embracing more peace and calm in your life, look for a soothing color palette like the watercolor pastels of Softly Painted or earth tones of Everyday Encouragement.
If you aim to feel more bold and powerful in achieving career goals, consider bold hues and punchy design details, such as the Bold Monthly Year in Review or Color Block Highlight Reel themes.
Anyone seeking more joy, family fun and sunshine might choose themes like Rainbow is My Favorite Color by Ampersand Design Studio or Love These Colorful Days by Laura Blythman.
2. Upload personal photos
Favorite photos from your past are a great way to illustrate goals for the future. There’s a direct correspondence between happy memories and mental health, so photos that make you smile are great for inspiring confidence and boosting your wellbeing.
Browse your collections for photos that make you feel joyful, proud, grateful, or empowered. Place them in your vision board book to represent goals that align with those memories and emotions.
Maybe one of your goals is to spend more quality time with your friends. Find photos of beloved friends and good times you’ve shared in the past. A graduation portrait or photo of you winning an award are great reminders of your potential to achieve great things.
3. Find more mood board images
Images for your vision board photo book aren’t limited to personal photos. Gather photos, artwork, and other digital images from a broad range of online sources such as Pinterest, social media, or news, travel, and lifestyle sites. Scan physical pictures like clippings from magazines or catalogs, illustrations from books, and personal memorabilia such as postcards, greetings cards, and your own doodles and drawings.
4. Add text elements
You don’t have to include a lot, or any, text in your vision board photo book, but written elements can really enhance its power. Options range from simple page headers like “Dream Destinations” or “Beautiful Bedroom” to full step-by-step descriptions and timelines for achieving your goals.
You might include quotes, song lyrics, spiritual verses, or inspiring phrases as well. Your words don’t have to be poetic or precise; you might caption a photo of you celebrating with “More of this!” or write “perfection” next to a picture of some room decor you love.
5. Other content ideas
Mixbook Studio™ tools make it easy to create all kinds of helpful custom content for your vision board photo book. In addition to text and photos, you can customize backgrounds, add stickers, and create charts or checklists for tracking progress toward your goals.
Other ideas include a table of contents, which helps you keep your book organized and makes it easier to skip to particular sections or pages. Also consider Mixbook Maps, an amazing tool for creating totally custom maps. This could be a fun way to plot dream destinations and track travel goals.
Create your own vision board photo book for 2026
In 2026, add “really awesome goal-setting tool” to the list of reasons Mixbookers love making photo books.
Whether your goals are to climb a mountain, publish your poetry, master sourdough, or pull off a total career pivot, achieving them all starts with an idea that you can visualize. Printing those visions on paper—such as the pages of a beautiful photo book—is the next big step. So head over to Mixbook and get started today.
Finally, get out there and make those dreams a reality!
