Visionboard 26'

A Creative Reset for Hanze Students

As the year is coming to an end, lots of Hanze students take time to reflect and set goals. You look back at your favorite memories, all the projects you’ve completed, all the all-nighters that you swore you’ll never pull again, and all the people who were part of it and made it special. At the same time, a new year full of opportunities and surprises is waiting for you to conquer it.  

Now it's the perfect time to start planning your Vision board 2026. You can include all sorts of different inspirations, goals, ideas, and activities you’d want to pursue in the upcoming year. Whether it's a country you’d want to visit, a new internship or minor to secure, better grades, or to work on yourself - having a vision board will bring you more clarity and help you manifest all the things you want.  

But why does a vision board actually work?

When you turn your goals into visuals, it makes them feel more real and easier to remember. Seeing your vision board every day - on your wall, desk, laptop, or phone - constantly reminds you of what you’re working towards. Instead of procrastinating and losing track of your progress, it helps you stay focused, motivated, and more aware of the choices you make day-to-day. Over time, those small choices add up, and they make you more disciplined and eager to achieve even more.

Step 1: Reflect on your last year 

Before you set all of your new goals for 2026, take a moment to reflect on the year you’ve just lived. It will help you understand what worked and what didn't, and most importantly, what you would want to carry into the new year. 

For example, my 2025 was a lot different from what I had imagined it, but in a good way. I still managed to achieve a large number of my vision board goals but had a lot of surprises on the way that weren’t exactly part of my plan. I had lots of burnout, and I failed a course, but it taught me a lot about time management and how to ask for help. I visited more countries than I had in mind and worked more jobs than I ever imagined. I started going to therapy, and it helped me learn more about myself and how to cope with my struggles.  

Ask yourself “How did 2025 feel?”. Was it too harsh on you, did you see yourself growing as a person, did you achieve most of the things you wanted?  For me, 2025 was a very challenging year (to say the least), but also rewarding in a way. I learned so many lessons, I had love, laughter, and a lot of beautiful memories. 

Think about your personal and academic development. 

  • Did you discover a new interest?

  • Which courses challenged you? 

  • Did you learn a new skill? 

  • What did you fail at, and why? What can be learned from that? 

  • Was your experience at Hanze what you imagined it to be? What made it special? 

  • Did you learn something new about yourself? What would you want to improve? 

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Step 2: Visualize your 2026 future self 

Personally, I always divide my board into sections. It gives me a sense of clarity and organization. I hate cluttered spaces, and that way, I can be sure I won’t miss anything. I start by adding the title of the section first (travel, personal growth, internship, content creation goals, creative activities, etc.). Then I create a board on Pinterest for each section and start adding all of the pictures to the specific section of my vision board. 

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I recommend adding to your board: drawing, knitting, making lots of different DIY projects, exploring new cities in the Netherlands, reading more books, spending more time off your phone, being less anxious, and getting out of your comfort zone. Things that will be part of my 2026 vision board would be graduating (I’ve never manifested something more), more self-care, travelling once again to Japan and to many other places, focusing on my social media, making more time for my hobbies, and most definitely a rebranding of my fashion style. I have a lot on my mind, and I can’t wait to sit with my thoughts and organize everything into one aesthetic board 😊. 

Here, I will prepare some questions you might find helpful: 

  • What do you want to achieve in 2026? 

  • What kind of student do you want to be? 

  • What habit do you want to create? 

  • Where would you want to travel? Or perhaps, what would the perfect internship look like for you? 

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You can create a digital board or a physical one. For a digital, I recommend making it in Canva or Pinterest. It's super easy and convenient. Alternatively, you could also get a cork board and print the pictures instead. That way, you can put it in your room to remind you of your goals every single day. You can even print the pictures on campus using your student card. There are printers in every corner of Hanze! 

Look for images that reflect the lifestyle you want, the mindset you want to achieve, the career direction you're passionate about, the people and energy you want to surround yourself with. Go on Pinterest, Behance, or Dribbble for inspiration. To make it even more meaningful, you can add specific Hanze elements or pictures from your gallery that connect to your goals or even Photoshop yourself at your dream job. Manifest it! 

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Step 3 - Turn your vision board into something you see every day 

Making a vision board alone won't be enough to achieve all of your dreams. In order to do so, you need to make it a part of your everyday life. Make it your phone or laptop’s wallpaper, print it and put it above your desk or create a mini version in your planner. Every time you see it- when you wake up, during a study session, it will remind you why you need to stay focused and disciplined. For example this year I wanted to join a challenge not to eat sugar and exercise for 66 days. Seeing my vision board every day, helped me not to forget the reason why I started, and I succeeded. 

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A small tip from me - your vision board can change. I am a person who is very impulsive, and I change my mind all the time. At the beginning of 2025, I wanted to visit certain countries, and later on I changed the destinations. It’s all up to you. If your goals shift mid-year, update it. What I normally do is to review it every month (or every 3 months), check the progress and check my goals. I can add or remove anything at any time too. If you feel like it would be too overwhelming, that’s okay as well. 

Your vision board doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to feel like you. And honestly, it’s even more fun if you invite a friend over, get snacks, sweat treats, Coke Zero, and build your boards together. If it keeps you a bit more focused or motivated next year, then it’s already worth making. 

Author's info

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    Valeriya Petrova

    Hey, I’m Valeriya, 4th-year Creative Media and Game Technologies student. If I’m not juggling 10 tasks at a time, I would most likely travel, read, draw, or watch a series. My mood swings drive me every day; you never know if I will be doing the most or isolating myself in my room (which is my sacred space). I tend to be quite impulsive. I am very passionate and driven, sarcastic as well, and I love (or at least I’m trying to convince myself) getting out of my comfort zone and constantly challenging myself in any way possible.

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