The Power of Vision Boarding for Coaches

As a coach, whether you’re guiding a 6-year-old through their first rally or leading a team at a major training center, you spend your days helping others reach their potential. But as the new year arrives, there’s an opportunity to pause and focus on your own growth. According to Natalia Pedroza, USTA Senior Director, Leadership & Development, one of the simplest and most effective tools for doing that is a vision board.

Why Coaches Should Make Time for Vision Boarding

Coaches are busy. Courts fill, classes stack up, seasons overlap. So why carve out time for something that seems, at first glance, like a craft project?

 

Because, Pedroza says, vision boards create clarity – and clarity fuels progress.

 

A vision board becomes an artifact you can look at daily, a visual reminder of the commitments you’ve set for the year ahead. Whether you’re aiming to strengthen your business, grow as a leader or build balance between coaching and life outside the sport, seeing those intentions every day nudges you toward action.

 

Pedroza has used this practice throughout her career. Before each new year, she outlines the professional responsibilities she wants to grow into, often before there's even a job title attached to them. Having the vision articulated and visible has helped her confidently discuss future opportunities with leaders because she had already done the internal work.

 

“It primes you,” she says. “You’ve already thought about what you want, so the conversations become easier.”

What Makes a Vision Board Effective

According to Pedroza, the key isn’t the artistic technique or the materials – it’s the thought that comes before anything is glued or designed. Vague intentions like “be a better coach” or “grow my program” are too broad to guide real progress. Instead, she encourages coaches to spend the first part of the process asking sharper questions:

 

  • What do I want my season to look like?

  • Where do I want to be financially?

  • How do I want my family life to feel?

  • What professional milestone do I want to reach by December?

 

Pedroza uses the “five W’s” – who, what, when, where, why – to drill down until each goal becomes concrete and actionable. Even though she frames her board around three categories – family, finance and professional growth – each one has a single clear action that can be repeated weekly. For example: save a set amount each paycheck, schedule one hour of development per week, or block family time with the same discipline as practice time.

 

That simplicity, she says, keeps goals achievable. 

How to Build a Vision Board (In Less Than Two Hours)

A vision board doesn’t need to take all day. Pedroza recommends setting aside one to two hours, no more. The steps are simple:

 

1. Reflect Before You Create

Use the first 20–30 minutes to define what success looks like at the end of the year. This is the mental heavy lifting, and the part most people skip.

 

 

2. Gather Your Materials

If you enjoy hands-on creativity, grab magazines, scissors, markers, glue and paint pens. Those tactile elements, Pedroza says, create a stronger mind-body connection that enhances motivation.

 

If digital is more your style, try a platform like Canva, which lets you build a polished board quickly with online images. What matters most isn’t the medium but the intention behind it.

 

 

3. Build the Visual Story

Search for imagery that reflects what you want to feel and accomplish – coaching milestones, leadership aspirations, financial goals, family priorities or personal well-being. Add words or phrases that anchor those goals.

 

 

4. Put It Somewhere You’ll See It Every Day

A board only works if your brain encounters it often. Coaches can:

 

  • Print and post it in their office or home workspace

  • Make it their laptop background

  • Save it as their phone screensaver

 

Daily visibility is what transforms a collage into a compass.

Final Advice for Coaches

Above all, Pedroza encourages coaches to enjoy the process.

 

“When’s the last time you sat down with glue and scissors, or let yourself play online?” she asks. “There’s no way to mess up a vision board unless you don’t know what you truly want from your year.”

 

Vision boarding becomes a rare hour of quiet intention, a chance to step out of constant service to others and reflect on your own direction. For coaches who spend their days inspiring athletes, this practice can reignite their own motivation and purpose.

 

As you head into the new year, consider giving yourself that time. One hour. One board. One clearer, more intentional path forward.

 

Need more inspiration in the new year? Follow USTA Coaching on Instagram.