Screw the Vision Board

… and I do believe in Manifestation.

Have you ever tried those “magic” vision boards to manifest your future or visualize your dream life? You know, those glossy cutouts of tropical islands, luxury cars, powerful quotes, and big ambitions neatly pinned on a corkboard or pasted in a notebook? Did they work for you? Did they help you focus and call in your dream life?

I have. Countless times. In many different ways. From elaborate poster boards to digital versions. From handwritten affirmations to meditative visualization exercises. But no matter how often or how sincerely I tried, they never really worked for me. And for a long time, I blamed myself. I used to ask: Am I doing it wrong? Am I not visualizing clearly enough? Am I too distracted, too unfocused, too stupid?

But here’s what I’ve come to understand—and it changed everything: it’s not that I’m broken. It’s that I’m wired differently. Some people can see their 5-, 10-, or even 20-year plan in crystal-clear detail. They know the house they want to live in, the kind of partner they want to attract, the goals they will accomplish by a certain age. Their minds paint vivid mental movies that pull them forward.

I can’t.

And still, I do believe in manifestation. Deeply. I do believe in quantum physics, in energy fields, in the reality-bending power of thoughts. I’ve read countless books, studies, and articles about the quantum field, brain-heart coherence, frequency alignment, and how our consciousness interacts with reality. It all resonates with me. It makes sense. I feel it.

So how do I reconcile that belief with my apparent inability to visualize and manifest like others?

The answer is in my Human Design.

I’m a Builder. And Builders, especially those with Sacral Authority like me, don’t make decisions with their minds. We don’t rely on long-term projections. We respond. Right here. Right now. Our bodies guide us through gut responses. Subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) sensations that tell us yes or no, forward or backward, engage or walk away.

I experience these responses every single day. When something feels right, there’s an upward-forward movement in my body. Sometimes it’s even accompanied by a kind of humming. It’s as if the body is saying, “YES! This way.” When it’s wrong, it’s like a deflating balloon or a backward contraction. A loud, visceral “äääääh.” And when there’s no signal? That just means I need to wait. The answer hasn’t arrived yet.

So when people ask me to visualize my future, my mind goes blank. Always has. Back in school, when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I had no idea. Choosing between university, an apprenticeship, or joining the tax office or bank like my parents suggested? No spark. Nothing. Later in life: what job I wanted in five years? Where I saw myself in ten? What kind of retirement dream I was working toward? Same story. My mind simply doesn’t process those long-term visions. They’re too far off, too disconnected from the present moment, too abstract to feel real.

Even something as mundane as picking a vacation destination used to paralyze me. Ask me to plan six months ahead and I freeze. Ask me now if I want pizza or pasta, and I still struggle, unless you phrase it as a yes/no question. “Do you want pizza?” Then I can tune in. Boom. Gut says yes or no. This is how my decision-making process works. It’s binary. Responsive. In the moment. Real-time.

So no, the standard manifestation tools don’t work for me. Not because I lack discipline. Not because I don’t believe. But because I’m designed to live, decide, and lead in the present. I am built for responding, not for projecting. I don’t build castles in the sky. I respond to the bricks on the ground. I follow the impulse that arises now, not the image I might fabricate for five years from now.

And what does that have to do with leadership?

Everything.

We often assume that good leaders must be visionaries. That they must articulate big dreams, set bold goals, and paint detailed roadmaps. Most leadership frameworks, business strategies, and coaching programs are built on this premise: that leaders must forecast, predict, and strategize far into the future.

WRONG, not all leaders are designed that way.

Some of us are designed to respond. To sense what is emerging in the moment. To read the room, the team, the energy. To notice what is ready to unfold now. And to act decisively, based on an internal yes that doesn’t come from the mind but from deep within the body. This isn’t reactive. It’s responsive. And it can be powerful beyond measure.

For Builders like me, leadership isn’t about scripting the whole play before the curtain rises. It’s about listening, feeling, and knowing when to take the stage. And when to wait. It’s about tuning into the hum of alignment and making the next right move. Not the next 50. Just the next one.

This isn’t a limitation. It’s a design feature. And once I embraced that, my decisions became very clear.

So if you’re a leader struggling with vision boards, strategic goal-setting, or long-term plans that everyone else seems to expect of you, consider this: maybe you’re not broken. Maybe you’re not behind. Maybe you’re not lacking vision.

Maybe you’re just wired to lead differently. Maybe your genius lies in the now.

Want to find out how YOU are wired to make decisions and lead?

Visit my website and explore your introductory chart. It’s free, no strings attached.

Your body holds a unique intelligence. It already knows what’s aligned for you. And if you want to dive deeper into your own design and learn how to lead from your core, from the Inside Out, I can help you uncover it.

Let’s stop trying to fit into someone else’s leadership mold. Let’s start leading from who we truly are.