How to create success in your studies…

To Create Success, you Must First Start with a Vision… 

“Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion”

Bill Hybels

One of the first #GrowthHacks which we cover within the Semester Planner is a Vision board. Essentially we ask you to start your academic year with a vision in mind of what you want to achieve. And there is no need to be conservative with this…that would be a disservice to the world.

Now for some people a vision board can be one of those ‘woo woo’ personal development tools, but here at Semester we believe it is an essential component of your academic journey.  

In simple terms it is defined as…

“A collage of images and words representing a person’s wishes or goals, intended to serve as inspiration or motivation.”

And as the opening quote states, it’s about creating a vision for your future which produces passion, and for us… it is about creating excitement. 

Here at Semester, we believe that you should be waking up every day and chasing your goals and dreams. This belief encourages us to keep moving forward and growing with the view to support you the student to the best of our abilities.

We certainly are moving towards our vision, and we want you to do the same, creating a vision board gives allows you to understand what your compelling future looks like and provides you with a daily visual reminder of why you are making the effort each and every day to reach your ultimate goals.

For example:

As yourself some of the following things…

• What is your dream job?
• Or what would your side hustle look like?
• What countries would you like to visit?
• What is your dream home or car?
• What is your biggest goal?
• These are just a few examples but there are so many! 

Let us make an important point, simply creating a vision board is not going to magically make you achieve all these goals; this is achieved by continuous action. However, creating a vision board plants the seeds of what you want to start working towards. This subconsciously creates action and leads your mind to constantly seek the actions it needs to take to reach these goals. This very much links in to the “Law of Attraction” and manifestation…but more about that in another blog in the next few weeks where we will unpack that idea a little more.

We believe that creating a vision board Is vital because it creates more intention. Whatever you have put on your vision board you have put it there for a reason, therefore you can start planning steps and putting in daily action to achieve it.

A vision board also keeps such goals fresh in your mind. Your vision board should be placed somewhere in which you can see it regularly, to remind you of your desires and try and create motivation and a determination to succeed.

Bonus Tip: A little tip that I (Nathan) use for this is to change the background of my laptop and phone to one part of my vision board. This means that every time I look at my phone (something we all do far too much) or laptop, I get an instant reminder of what I want to achieve.

Vision boards should also hold you accountable to yourself, if you walk past your dreams every day but you are not putting in the work to achieve them, then this should be a wakeup call. 

Our vision at Semester is to be “The number one personal growth brand for students”, this serves as a reminder for us daily, and I feel at present we are putting in everything we possibly can to achieve this goal. And that target is not an egotistical target. The ultimate aim to become the number one, is so that we can say that we created the change that was required in how students Personal Growth and Mental Wellbeing is supported, with the ultimate goal that no student should have to suffer with their mental health whilst on their university journey.

There is a reason companies write vision statements, and this is so they can ensure their work is in alignment with the goals they set as a company, and it also ensures they are on the right path. You can write a personal vision statement, which allows you to do the same for yourself, this only needs to be a sentence, but you can make it longer if you wish.

Everyday when you look at your vision statement or vision board, you can ask yourself…

Am I doing enough to work towards the vision I have created for myself?

As stated, creating a vision does not mean you will do the work, that comes down to you, but there are most definitely benefits to creating a visual imprint of the life you desire and here at Semester we are massive advocates.

If you have not yet done so, get creating your own personal vision board and vision statement. You can also download our FREE vision board template from our downloadable resources on our website.

If you want further to support on your vision board and how to set yourself up for future academic success, reach out to and we will be happy to help. There is also a downloadable resource available online to help you plan your own vision board. If you found this article useful, or you are a fan of vision boards please let us know in the comments!

In addition to this you can share you vision board with us using

#LetsGrowTogether and let’s build a community of goal-getters.