Reflecting on My Vision Board 2025: What I Achieved and What I Couldn’t

When I created my 2025 vision board, I didn’t know what the year had in store for me. All I knew was that I had some goals and dreams, which I put together with the intention of working hard every day and achieving them by the end of the year.

Now, as we are about to wrap up 2025 and embrace another year, my heart feels full as I look back at my vision board and reflect.

“When you want to attract something into your life, make sure your actions don’t contradict your desires.” ― Rhonda Byrne, The Secret.

Let’s take a look at my Vision Board 2025 and what I achieved or couldn’t achieve.

Honestly, I didn’t aim for anything big this year. My primary focus was happiness and mental peace, and I think I nurtured both throughout the year. Yes, there were moments of sadness, days when tears wouldn’t stop, and times when my anxiety touched the ceiling, but those were just a handful of days. Every time I had a bad day, I remembered something my best friend once said: “It’s just a bad day, not a bad life.”

One of the most important things on my vision board was to WRITE MORE.

As a travel writer and blogger, writing is one of the most integral parts of my existence. I know it might sound heavy, but it is the one thing that makes me feel complete. I write when I’m happy, I write when I’m sad. I write to express my love, my anger, my gratitude, and everything in between.

This year, I did write a lot. I tried to be as consistent as possible with my Substack newsletter, along with regularly writing on my blog. I also wrote for publications like Travel + Leisure Asia and Contiki.

While I wrote enough, I couldn’t manage to write my book. I had set a goal to write at least a couple of chapters, but I barely got started. I’m not regretting it, but I am taking it as a reminder to not postpone it any longer.

Meditate. Be calmer. This was another thing I added to my vision board. I did try to meditate regularly in the first couple of months and aimed to sit for at least 10 minutes every day.

Slowly, though, I gave up on it. My work schedule became hectic, some days were longer than others, and eventually, meditation took a backseat. That said, I do think I’ve become a bit calmer than I was earlier. I reacted less and tried to be more empathetic in adverse situations.
I also wanted to learn to drive this year, and I’m happy to announce that I did. I took driving lessons in March, and now I can drive well.

I made it a point to walk more, and I ended up walking 10,000 steps for nearly 200 days this year.

Another major goal was to host a group trip. It was more like a passion project. I wanted to bring together a group of strangers and show them one of my favourite destinations. And I did it 🙂

It took me a long time to curate and plan the itinerary, and then to spread the word. Finally, 5 people trusted me and travelled to Vietnam with me. We hopped from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, and Da Nang. We explored hidden caves in Ninh Binh, learned how to make authentic Vietnamese coffee, and even celebrated a co-traveller’s birthday. It was a week full of laughter, stories, and newfound friendships.

Hard work. Consistency. Growth. These are things that are important for everyone, and I was no different. I pushed myself to be the best version of myself. I tried to stay consistent in everything I was doing, whether it was writing, my job, or building my website and social media. All of this culminated in growth. Nothing drastic, but I definitely took small steps toward achieving little goals.

And then there was TRAVELLING.

As a wandering soul, I feel the happiest when I’m travelling, embracing the world, exploring new cultures, tasting new food, and meeting new people. It makes me feel alive.
This year, I travelled a lot. I took my aunt and nephew to Singapore. I took a short trip to Pondicherry to spend two beautiful days with my best friend at her home. I travelled to Jaipur for a long weekend with a friend visiting from Kolkata. I went to Bangkok with two close friends. I hosted the group trip to Vietnam. And then came the best part. I travelled to Europe, covering Denmark, Sweden, and Italy.

Now let me tell you something really interesting.

When I was creating my vision board back in January, I randomly added three photos: one of the Colosseum in Rome, one of zebras in Tanzania, and a beautiful landscape from New Zealand. These photos didn’t have much relevance then. I just added them because they brought some spark to my board.

Little did I know that the universe would conspire to make one of them a reality!

I had barely any plans of visiting Italy this year. But in September, when Sourav, my partner, mentioned his conference in Sweden, I decided to tag along. Even then, Italy wasn’t part of the plan. Around the end of October, he mentioned that he had to meet one of his professors in Rome, and I got goosebumps. I could feel the magic the universe was sending my way. In November, I was standing right in front of the Colosseum, the very image I had added to my vision board.
Last but not least, I wanted to spend enough time soaking in love. And I did that too 🙂

I learnt the fact that relationships need to be nurtured. They need time, effort, and little gestures to make each other feel good and comfortable. I ensured that I spent a lot of time with my partner, doing little things together – like cooking, watching old movies, reading, cleaning the house, etc. And often, just spending time with him made me happy.

You are where you need to be.

Sometimes, we don’t have to try too hard. We just need to put in our best efforts, and the rest falls into place. Sometimes, we need to take an extra step to fulfil what our heart calls for.

Related: How to create a vision board – A step by step guide

Here’s why creating a vision board and writing your goals are important:

You’ll be surprised if I tell you that setting New Year’s resolutions might never really help you achieve them. But writing your goals down, or even creating a pictorial representation through a vision board, can help ingrain those thoughts, keeping you motivated and encouraging you to work hard toward them.

Research shows that we remember things better when we write them down. Writing your goals also helps you set a benchmark for yourself. For instance, if you write down five goals and manage to fulfil two of them, you generally feel good and motivated to push harder to achieve the rest. It creates a sense of self-accomplishment in its own way.

Writing down your goals can also help you set priorities. For example, when I added “Write More” to my vision board, I initially thought my goal was to write a book. Over time, I realised I first needed to write more generally and get better at articulating my thoughts into words before taking the leap to write a book.

In short, creating a vision board and writing down your goals can give you clarity, a sense of purpose, and immense motivation.

Now that 2026 is just around the corner, I can’t wait to sit down and create my vision board for the coming year with new goals. But before that, I would love to know what you managed to tick off from your Vision Board 2025.

Now you can create your own vision board by using this easy Canvas Template.

So, let me know about that in the comments below.