Should you be vision boarding your next date?

Manifest your love life

Our feeds are full of people manifesting their goals for the year with the help of vision boards. So should you be getting the scissors and glue out ahead of your next date?

You may have tried monotonous swiping, announcing your singledom to everyone you know, or praying your ideal date into existence, but what about vision boarding your way to your dream partner? 

As we’re all probably collectively realising, January is a write-off. If you’re anything like me, you’ll have postponed acting on your resolutions for the New Year until February, once the holiday cheer and endless events have wrapped up. The girls online definitely are – throwing out their New Year’s resolutions lists and holding vision boarding nights with their friends to manifest their goals for the rest of 2025. 

Videos of scattered letters in contrasting fonts, cutouts of hot men with money and muscles, holidays and idyllic experiences are filling our feeds, so should you set the table with candles and wine glasses, some scissors and a stack of magazines ahead of your next date? 

“People think vision boarding is about cutting out pictures, staring at them, and waiting for the Universe to deliver”, dating expert Sera Bozza tells Body+Soul. “But that’s arts and crafts, not manifestation. And it certainly won’t help your dating life.”

So how do you vision board with purpose before a date? Bozza has some tips to make sure your boards are much more than a craft project.

Manifesting your best date

“The real power of a vision board isn’t in making it or even looking at it; it’s in stepping inside it”, she says. “When you fully immerse yourself in your vision board, you’re not just looking at pretty pictures, you’re training your brain to believe in and align with the love life you actually want. You’re tapping into the emotions of joy, gratitude, excitement, love and desire until they feel real.”

You may have only heard of manifesting in the context of podcast bros or astrology girls, but there’s some value in it. If you’re regularly reminding yourself of your goals and remaining crystal clear on them, you’re more likely to pursue them.

Dr Joe Dispenza, explains that the brain doesn’t know the difference between a real experience and one vividly imagined. So building a clear mental picture of who you want to be in your dating life and what you want to attract can help to convince it that these things are already real.

The dating expert says “when your brain believes something is real, your body follows suit. You start showing up differently. You stop showing up like someone who’s hoping for love and start acting like someone who already has it.” Image: Pinterest

The dating expert says “when your brain believes something is real, your body follows suit. You start showing up differently. You stop showing up like someone who’s hoping for love and start acting like someone who already has it.”

Bozza believes “If you’re constantly stuck in dating autopilot (swiping mindlessly, settling, repeating the same toxic patterns), chances are, your brain is running an old script wired by past disappointments, bad relationships, and subconscious fears. Vision boarding rewires that script. It primes your mind to recognise and act on what you actually want instead of just falling into the same situations out of habit.”

Ready to set yourself up for a year of dream dates? Here’s what she suggests you should keep in mind while selecting your inspo pics.

Focuses for your pre-date vision boards

Prioritise the experience over the aesthetic

Pretty pictures are nice to look at, but that’s not what this is about. Choose pictures that remind you of how you want to feel in a relationship – whether that’s safe, playful or challenged, build your storyline with some scissors and glue and then make it your reality.

This isn’t build-a-boyfriend, define the type of person you want in your life

While there’s absolutely room on your board for tattooed arms and abs, make sure to include clippings that remind you of the traits you want your ideal partner to possess. If you’re clear about the type of person you want to be with, you’re less likely to find the flakey avoidants you usually go for attractive this year.

Pretty pictures are nice to look at, but that’s not what this is about. Choose pictures that remind you how you want to feel in a relationship – whether that’s safe, playful or challenged, build your storyline with some scissors and glue and then make it your reality. Image: Unsplash

Highlight meaningful moments 

Your board deserves better than stock photos. Pick pictures that feel real to you, whether they show mid-conversation laughter, a day spent in bed together or people sharing your favourite meal. Save space for the future too – how do you want to age together?

Visualise the version of yourself you want

It’s nice to manifest your dream partner, but if you actually want to date better, you need to focus on yourself too. Want to be more emotionally open, confident or sure of yourself? Build a clear picture of who you want to be in a relationship and include that in your vision board. As Bozza says “let’s be real, you don’t attract what you want; you attract who you are and what you embody.”

“Vision boarding isn’t magic. It’s a tool”, she insists. “But if you use it the right way by immersing yourself in the emotions, rehearsing what you want, and showing up in alignment, you won’t just attract better dates. You’ll naturally start choosing what you deserve.”

Originally published as Should you be vision boarding your next date?