As we enter a new year, social media feeds are often flooded with ‘vision boards’ that highlight collages of dream cars, exotic travel destinations, and career milestones. While often dismissed as a mere aesthetic trend or a mystical tool for manifesting desires, experts suggest there is a deeper, more clinical reality behind the practice. Far from being magic, the effectiveness of a vision board is rooted in the complex architecture of the human brain.
According to Dr Arun B Nair, Professor of Psychiatry at Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, a vision board is essentially a suggestion technique. He likens this to hypnosis, where a person in a trance accepts suggestions without rejection.
Here, the brain is provided with information in a convincing, repeated manner until it is implemented without internal rejection. When we provide information in such a manner, there is a hundred per cent chance that the suggestion will be sincerely implemented,” says Dr Arun.
He explains that the process relies on creative visualisation and imagery rehearsal. By placing a specific goal, such as becoming a doctor, on our vision board, the brain visualises the outcome as a tangible reality. By repeatedly bringing these images to our senses, the brain engages in “imagery rehearsal,” allowing us to see ourselves achieving those goals.
“It is not magic. When the brain captures the same image repeatedly, we put in more sincere efforts to make that vision come true”.
Central to this process is the Reticular Activating System (RAS), a network in the brain that acts as an alert system. Dr Arun points out that when we present our desires in a visually catchy and attractive way, our brain selectively picks up this information with greater intensity than any other information of surrounding noise. In an era of information overload, the RAS decides what data deserves our attention.
Dr Aiswarya R Nair, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Travancore Medical College, Kollam, agrees with this and further explains that a vision board may help you in three ways. It starts with programming your internal filter. The RAS gives selective attention to highlight people, information and opportunities that align with the goal. The more these cue stimuli are presented in terms of frequency, elaboration, and visual appeal, the more intensely the brain perceives them.
Dr Aiswarya emphasises that the physical act of creating a vision board is just as important as looking at it. When you are involved in creating it, you involve multiple regions of the brain, including the motor cortex, visual cortex and the limbic system. This involves movement, imagery and emotion, sending a power signal to the brain and affecting neuroplasticity, which is responsible for the formation and reinforcement of neural pathways.
She adds that visualisation also primes the motivational circuits of the brain to pursue the behaviour that matches the imagined outcome. Dr Aiswarya also points out the role of emotion in prioritising your goals. The more emotional weight a goal or memory carries, the more brain remembers and tags it as important. Therefore, emotionally charged visualisation, feeling gratitude, and pride create deeper brain imprints than mechanical thinking.
Dr Arun further explains that vision boards help counteract the brain’s natural ‘priming’ for negativity, such as anxiety over the future or past failures. Because vision boards focus on pleasant images, social recognition, and rewards, they interrupt negative thought processes and foster a positive mindset. This repetition eventually influences a person’s ‘philosophy of life’, like how they want to be remembered. If one visualises becoming a kind doctor or a helpful person, those values become crystallised and begin to affect daily behaviour.
For example, helping a stranger with directions becomes an extension of that positive environment, which in turn boosts confidence and effort.
While the psychological benefits are clear, both experts agree that a vision board is a catalyst for action, not a substitute for it.
Dr Arun says the practice encourages reflective thinking. It forces the individual to ask questions like — What should I change? How much more effort is required? By priming the brain’s motivational circuits and reward pathways, the vision board doesn’t just help us wish but rather trains us to perceive the world through our goals, making the path to success visible.