Marie Malvoisin, Founder of Bohemian Visions Studio & Gallery I manifested my photography studio long before I had the keys. Every morning I meditated, prayed, and wrote the studio's address at least twenty times in my journal. I drew out the layout, created a Pinterest board, filled my Amazon cart with furniture, and visualized even the smallest details. I had multiple dreams, like my assistant grabbing lattes from a local coffee shop before client sessions. When I finally got the key, I walked the block and nearly cried. There was a coffee shop five minutes away, just as I had imagined. From the multi-floor design to free parking, everything I had visualized came to life. I badly wanted to have my own studio. Dragging a 100lb gear bag to every photo shoot motivated me. The vision kept me focused, but pairing it with daily action turned manifestation into reality. https://www.bohemianvisions.com
Before I started, I kept a vision board that had pictures of grills, competition trophies, and a rough figure of what my storefront could look like. Each time I looked at it, I would remind myself, one day I am going to build a place that backyard cooks and competition teams can turn to for EVERYTHING they might need. That visualization put me into action- first seeing if the custom BBQ products I made myself worked, then saving and reinvesting profits until I was able to launch my retail shop. Today DDR BBQ Supply serves both backyard grillers and customers from across the country, through our online store, proving that the visions you see today can become the reality you built with your own hands.
Business Coach & Strategist at Soul Empowered with Lauren Diana
Answered 4 months ago
Five years ago, I was drowning. I was massively burnt out, and my mind and body were paying for it. My business was hemorrhaging money, I questioned every decision I made, and I'd wake up each morning with a knot in my stomach, dreading the day ahead. Some nights, I'd lie awake calculating how much longer I could keep doing this. This was not the life I'd been dreaming of for the past 10 years. That's when I stumbled onto something that changed everything, though it felt ridiculous at first. I honestly can't even remember where I learned this, but I knew something needed to change. Every morning, I started writing out my perfect day as if it was already my reality. Not someday, but today. I'd write things like: "I'm sipping my coffee, genuinely excited about my 10 AM call with Sarah, a client who gets my vision and values what I bring to the table. My course sales notification just pinged... another $500 while I slept." Those first weeks, I felt like I was lying to myself. It was uncomfortable for sure, but so was where I currently found myself. As I kept at it, something started to shift. The more I wrote these scenes, the clearer my next steps became. Instead of chasing every shiny opportunity that came my way, I started asking: "Would my future self do this?" I cut three services that drained me and spent two months rebuilding my signature course. The results? My email list went from 847 subscribers to over 3,000. I started saying no to clients who didn't align with my values and goals (this was a hard one!), and yes to ones who did. I began showing up in places like Entrepreneur and Fast Company, and my course hit $25,000 in sales. Here's what I learned: visualization isn't magic; it's clarity in action. When you've already lived your future on paper, you stop making desperate decisions and start making intentional ones that lead you to those dreams you've always had.
Yes, I've achieved business success through visualization, manifestation, and vision boards. When I first started my company, I created images of an office filled with employees, people collaborating and working together to build something larger than myself. Six years later, that vision became a reality. I won a subcontract opportunity with a New York City government agency to plan and produce a press conference and product launch campaign. That opportunity provided the resources for me to move into my first office on Park Avenue South and grow a team of 10 employees before COVID-19. This experience taught me that manifestation works, but only when combined with action. Visualization kept me focused on the bigger picture, while I consistently worked on building client relationships, pitching, and positioning my agency for new opportunities. Today, I apply the same practice with my clients: when I acquire a new client, I create a vision board based on their wish list and add it to their account as well as my digital wall. This keeps their goals visible and helps align our strategy with their vision." I visualized an office buzzing with employees, and six years later, I found myself on Park Avenue South with a team of 10; manifestation supported by action made it real.
Yes, I've used visualization in my business, but I always pair it with concrete action and achievable steps. In my first year of building my coaching and course business, I set an ambitious goal: a million-dollar launch - a stretch, given that my two previous launches had generated just over $100,000 combined. However, I also knew I had a repeatable launch system, so my goal, although ambitious, wasn't completely unrealistic. To stay focused, I visualized myself in that end result every day, seeing all those Paypal notifications roll in and feeling the excitement as if it were already happening. I even wrote the names of clients I pictured joining my program on post-its beside my desk. That visualization exercise kept me grounded in why I was doing the work: serving my clients. The result? An $800,000 launch - and my business crossed seven figures in its first year.
Forget vision boards! I use the Great Death Question. I picture myself at the end of life and ask if she'll be proud. That clarity - not manifesting shiny goals - drives my boldest business decisions and keeps me grounded in work that aligns with my core values: doing good work, working hard, and having fun.
Hi, I have a vision board filled with clippings with quotes from WSJ, Business Week and all kinds of other articles that I have read through the years. Most are life lessons and good business practices. One that made me change my methods of interacting with my clients and helped me immensely in my business is the quote from Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan on the benefits of meeting clients in person. In an age where the desire to interact in person, instead of through social media or texts, is quickly vanishing, the power of meeting a client at an office or at a Starbucks cannot be replicated and has helped me build stronger and long term customer relationships. The quote by Jamie Dimon goes "I have never been place in this country or anywhere in this world, where just showing up isn't a sign of respect". Jay Srivatsa CEO, Future Wealth LLC
For me personally, visualization at this stage was a way of identifying how to put creativity with a measurable output. When I came on to Davincified, I visualized what our community could be if we shared our learning journey - Entailing our journey of creative expression, and not product. I kept a vision board with images that represented creativity - images of artists painting, family creative experiences, digitization of art blended into tangible work. This daily reminder kept me centered on launching campaigns that felt more human. One affirmation that I had repeated several times over is, "When our community feels content, our brand flourishes." This gave me the potential to create marketing strategies that put customer stories at the forefront, rather than providing polished looking ads we shared user generated content of real customers creating their photos into creative work. This simple shift in strategy produced double engagement and began a process of organic referrals. Visualization was the spark, action was the ongoing fuel. Product design and user experience will only go so far to create touch points all levels across the journey, and my project planning experience was sufficient to keep campaigns manageable. The blended vision with actions, allowed me to evolve our growth engine approach from merely numeric to one of connection.
While starting Influize, I utilized visualization and scripting. I wrote a script, in great detail, of the global clients I wanted to engage with, including industries and areas of projects. I had that script front and center on my desk and I read it every day. Within nine months, we contracted a huge digital transformation project with a large UK retailer, for six figures, that sounded like a verbatim description of my original scripting. The vision did not manifest merely as a result of visualization, I coupled that with outreach, networking, and reinvestment of profits into growth. It was the combination of having a vision and executing actions with clarity, that manifested the vision.
I used vision boards and daily affirmations to manifest my transition from restaurant server to closing 6-8 wholesale real estate deals monthly. In 2018, while working at Bartaco, I created a vision board with images of financial freedom and my goal to close my first wholesale deal within 90 days--I'd look at it every morning and affirm 'I am a successful real estate investor.' After immersing myself in YouTube education and cold calling for months, I closed that first deal with help from my former basketball coach, which gave me the confidence to leave the restaurant industry entirely. The visualization kept me focused during those grueling early days of rejection, and taking consistent daily action--making 100+ calls per day--turned that mental image into my reality. - Jasper Cool, Founder & President, Bright Home Offer
In 2019, I found myself in the state of analysis paralysis with my platform idea. Before going to bed every night, I would close my eyes and imagine users successfully passing through their first algorithm walkthrough. I was able to watch the light in their faces as they finally got the binary trees. I even thought about the moment when they would get the job offers with the best technological firms. I made a comprehensive vision board above my desk of the screenshots of the interface I wanted to develop, the testimonia I hoped to get, and even fake revenue charts. I would spend five minutes staring at it while having coffee every morning. The visualization helped me to overcome the fear of releasing a flawed product. Three weeks later on daily visualization, I released our MVP containing only 12 algorithm problems. The version was primitive the first time, but I had to see success before I had a spine to release it. The most intense was when our first user arrived at Microsoft. He would send me the same thank-you message which I had imagined months before. The fact that that mental image made reality made me believe that visualization is successful when paired with daily action. Mircea Dima, Founder and CEO, AlgoCademy.
Vice President of Revenue & General Manager at IPC Foundry Group
Answered 4 months ago
I've been a big proponent of VISUALIZATION as a leader. I pause often to imagine where my team is going, not just in lofty terms but even down to the details -- new partnerships, increased capability, and optimized processes. I've found this ritual helps me understand what I want, and express it. I also jot down short affirmations daily to align with long-term goals, which helps me stay focused on the why behind day-to-day frustrations. Several years ago, I developed an extensive vision board concentrating on scaling our partner ecosystem. Looking at that board every day motivated me to do little things as a part of my week — like reaching out personally to two potential partners each week. In a year and a half, we had grown our network by more than a dozen partners around the U.S. and overseas. This steady growth provided us with the flexibility to take on larger, more complicated projects and faster turnarounds for our clients. — [Mitch McCaffery,VP @ IPC Foundry Group ]
I'm Allen Kou, owner of Zinfandel Grille and Prelude Kitchen & Bar, and I've used vision boards to guide growth in the restaurant space. A few years back, I mapped out what expanding into downtown Sacramento would look like, from atmosphere to clientele flow. That visualization pushed me to take concrete steps in scouting the right location and building a concept that has since become a local favorite.
I'm Kiren, a systems engineer turned beauty founder. I run Halva Beauty, an NYC based brand focused on brow care. I kept one mental picture for months: my brow oil sitting at the front register at Thread on 33rd and 3rd. Each time I checked out, I scanned the array of brow pencils, gels, and tools and felt the missing spot. I had just launched and dreamed of Halva owning a spot here, in the place where brows are cared for. One day, I took the leap. I carried a few bottles in my tote and gifted them to the threading ladies I saw the most, namely Saru and NC. They were so excited to try it out. Every week when I went to Thread for my weekly threading appointment, I checked in with them on feel, scent, and whether their brows felt softer and nourished. The feedback was amazing. They loved the applicator, the natural ingredients, and the clean scent, and they noticed a difference in their brows. I kept notes. With that proof in hand, I introduced myself to the owner, shared the results, and told him my story. I was nervous, but excited. That steady vision plus consistent follow up became my first retail placement at Thread Salon, at both my neighborhood location as well as their FiDi location. It was the exact scene I had pictured, right at the front register. Kiren Ajrawat, founder and CEO of Halva Beauty
I'm Bennett Maxwell, founder of Franchise KI and Dirty Dough Cookies. A few years back, I literally wrote out a vision where Dirty Dough would scale to hundreds of units nationwide, and I kept reviewing that every morning. The moment I paired that visualization with consistent daily outreach to prospective franchisees, hitting 400+ sold units in less than two years became a reality.
Absolutely--I actually wrote out a detailed script when my brother-in-law and I set out to double the number of distressed properties we helped in a year. I visualized our team successfully closing unique, challenging deals and, more importantly, serving people who truly needed hassle-free solutions. That clarity in my mind translated directly to how we structured outreach and handled each conversation, ultimately leading us to exceed our goal and build a reputation in Baltimore for delivering exactly what we had envisioned.
Soon after my wife and I got married more than 20 years ago, we made the decision to have a large family, and that we wanted our kids to have opportunities to excel in sports, music, and education. As a poor couple just starting out, we understand that accomplishing that goal would require us to increase our earning power to stay ahead of the coming expenses. We envisioned and wrote down in our journals a 20-year plan for having a family orchestra and bluegrass band, and preparing ourselves to drive an RV around the country watching our kids play college baseball. This scenario (our family performing music for an audience) is one that we envisioned as a young couple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuZbuAOST1Q We wrote on a whiteboard and in a Google Sheets spreadsheet our goal of a net worth in excess of $1M within 10 years of being married. We wrote down some of what we thought were the pillars of accomplishing that goal: starting and building an online store, learning how to do internet marketing, limiting expenditures to just the essentials so that we'd have money to put into our 10-year goal. We used a spreadsheet to track our net worth on a monthly basis, essentially project managing our plan to get to $1M in net worth. One night after my wife and I had been married for just over eight years, and having had an exceptionally profitable month on our business, I remember entering our numbers into the spreadsheet, then calling my wife over to look at what I was seeing. Somehow we had eclipsed our target number with almost two years to spare. Name: Richard Robbins Company: RobbinsAthletics.com
In early 2018, I created a vision board with one intention, to achieve international media coverage for one blockchain client within six months. I even marked visuals of a few outlets on the board as if they were locked pathways instead of wishful thinking. That vision board was present in my workspace, and every day I specifically aligned my outreach, research of journalist interests, and personalized pitches to suit their perspectives instead of blasting a blanket email. In month five, we secured a feature within one of the largest business outlets that directly correlated with a 40% increase in investor inquiries. Visualization with no action is simply decoration. The only way I manifest results is by turning imagery into concrete milestones and holding myself accountable by linking every daily action and output to that imagery.
I wasn't a massive fan of shouting affirmations and visualizing success, and I believed that I should channel that energy into growing the business. However, the struggle of the initial years made me believe in the power of mental perseverance. My entry into the moving industry began as a high school side job, which ultimately became my passion and the business I live for today. However, turning a moving business successful wasn't easy in Boston's saturated market, and along with sheer effort, you need mental clarity to succeed in any business. I manifested having my own crew and fleet of trucks branded with logos and headlines of my moving company. When I joined a moving company for some extra cash, I was impressed and visualized the perspective and life of a company owner, managing multiple contractors, teams, and clients. Even to this day, our moving teams shout affirmations before starting a project; it's an unseen energy that forces us to perform our best work on that project! Once you can insert success in your subconscious mind through affirmation, you've already won half the battle.
I'm Yarden Morgan, Director of Growth at Lusha, and I've actually leaned on scripting to sharpen my focus. Before launching an influencer campaign, I wrote down exactly how I envisioned partnerships forming, the type of content we'd create, and how audiences would respond. That exercise not only gave me clarity but also helped us secure collaborations that ended up generating more than 50,000 qualified leads for our platform.