Manifestation techniques have always been popular and in demand. There are countless methods that can help you fulfill your desires and bring your intentions to life.
Let’s take a look at a very interesting, unique, and unusual method called the Vision Board. This technique was created by American author Danielle LaPorte. Her method is based on working with the psyche and emotional states.
This is a truly effective Vision Board. It not only helps you manifest your desires, but also offers a bonus: a deeper awareness of your inner needs, feelings, and emotions. While doing these practices, your emotional intelligence can also grow.
If you’ve ever practiced visualizing your goals, written out a wish list, or made detailed plans, you might have noticed a recurring pattern. For instance, while describing your goal, you may feel as though you’re already living that desired life. However, this process can sometimes come with feelings of emptiness, disappointment, or a lack of something — like inspiration, energy, or belief in the realization of your dream. You may even feel like someone’s mocking you, or that your goals are just fantasy and won’t come true.
Danielle’s technique offers a different approach: instead of focusing on external goals, you turn your attention inward. Rather than thinking about what you want, focus on what you want to feel in different areas of your life.
This shift changes everything — it’s not just another to-do list or goal sheet, it’s an invitation. Instead of writing out specific achievements, you write down a few positive emotions and states you want to experience. Then, ask yourself: What can I do to feel this way? This question helps you look at your entire life from a new perspective and redefine your goals and daily actions.
Over time, this can lead to significant transformation. You might change your worldview, feel more energized, and sense that you’re moving toward something meaningful.
When you focus on desired emotions rather than specific goals, you’ll start to notice that you’re experiencing those emotions more often. This method of setting intentions is deeply motivating, flexible, and can be a powerful alternative to traditional planning.
Start by listing 4 or 5 emotions or feelings you want to experience regularly. Then find a way to visually remind yourself of them — this is where your Vision Board comes in. Create a board that reflects these emotional states, so you’re constantly reminded of what you truly want to feel.
Once you’ve identified those feelings, ask yourself: How can I achieve this? What actions can I take to experience these feelings? You might align your intentions with these feelings — or realize that your original desire already fits them perfectly.
This method invites you to look at your goals from a new angle. Imagine you’ve already moved to a new country, or you’re already doing what you love. What would you feel in that reality? Your task is to write down those emotions now — these are your desired emotional states.
Even if the goal hasn’t manifested yet, the emotions connected to it can already be felt. And when you begin to feel those states in the present, your dream begins to materialize. Interestingly, your goal might even shift, based on your deeper understanding of what you actually want to feel.
Let’s say I have a strong desire to travel to California.
I imagine I’ve already bought the tickets, I’m taking photos at the Golden Gate Bridge, I’m strolling through the streets of Los Angeles. What am I feeling in that moment? A sense of freedom, euphoria from speaking English, delight in meeting new people, inspiration from new ideas, and a creative boost.
Here are my five desired feelings and emotional states: freedom, euphoria, delight, inspiration, and creative energy. In this moment, I understand what I truly want to feel with all my heart. My intention to travel to the U.S. came from the mind — but what it actually reveals is that I want new friends, to communicate, to express myself freely, and to find a creative hobby.
I don’t necessarily need to cross half the world and go to another continent to feel all of this. I can form a new intention — for example, to start hosting creative workshops. That way, I’ll experience all the feelings I long for, even though the desire sounds different, and it will manifest much faster.
Through this practice, I discovered what my soul truly wants to feel. I filtered out goals that weren’t right for me and found the real, soul-aligned desire — one that resonates with both my heart and my mind.
You can begin working with this practice even without a specific desire in mind. Just choose an area of your life and write down 4–5 feelings you want to experience. Then craft a desire or intention that will lead you to those states.
The Vision Board helps you ignite your inner light, uncover your deepest desired feelings, and make the right choices while living in the present moment.
This method encourages conscious choices — ones made by the mind, body, and soul. Many manifestation techniques overlook the most powerful driving force within us: our deeply desired emotional states. That’s why this Vision Board practice centers around emotions and feelings.
Very often, we unconsciously adopt other people’s goals without examining this part of our lives. For example, you might aim to get into a prestigious university because your father expects it — and because you think that once you graduate, you’ll finally feel successful. But maybe what you really want is your father’s approval, not the degree.
Or maybe you dream of owning a beautifully designed house. But what’s really happening inside? Perhaps it’s not about the house at all — maybe what you actually long for is a feeling of peace and stability.
These examples show that we might be chasing goals that don’t align with the emotions we truly want to experience — and that’s a crucial insight.
The Vision Board practice helps bring those core emotions to the surface and reveals whether your current goal is actually aligned with the feelings you wish to live out. In that sense, desires themselves become a powerful practice of self-awareness and personal growth.
Through this inner exploration of your emotions, you’ll become more grounded in reality and naturally drawn toward what truly matters. You’ll uncover your shadow aspects and habitual patterns, but also the light within your desires.
Because without goals, we stop evolving.
Desire can arise from a place of fear — when we long for something because we’re afraid. But it can also come from intuition, from the soul. Either way, our desires push us to move forward, to explore ourselves, and to feel whole and connected to life.
To truly analyze your desires and emotions might take years of meditation, therapy, or self-inquiry. But in reality, you can start this practice today, without waiting for some future enlightenment.
To help with this process of emotional discovery and connection to the unconscious, we can turn to a powerful tool — the Tarot. Combined with your Vision Board, Tarot can guide you in exploring and understanding your feelings here and now.
A sheet of paper
A pen
A Tarot deck
You might also find Danielle LaPorte’s book helpful: “The Desire Map: A Guide to Creating Goals with Soul.” It includes expanded versions of all the techniques used in this practice. I highly recommend it if you’re drawn to this method. One particularly useful part of the book is the list of desired positive feelings—it can help you define and name the exact emotions and states you want to experience. It’s a great resource to use alongside your Tarot practice.
If you don’t have the book, don’t worry! Just search online for “150+ positive feelings” and you’ll find a list from the book that you can use to guide your process.
You might also want a piece of cardboard or a vision board where you can place your Tarot cards and your desired emotions to create a more visual, intuitive experience.
Start by identifying a life area where you’d like to see positive change—such as love, career, or health.
You can also get more specific. For example:
“I want to find my dream job.”
“I want to create a warm, loving relationship.”
“I want to buy a cozy home.”
At this stage, any goal is fine—even if it’s not crystal clear yet. The important thing is to start.
This is the most important step. Write down four or five feelings that you want to experience more of in your life. Think of the emotions you’ll feel once your desire has already come true.
For example:
What will you feel when you’re in that loving relationship?
How will it feel to live in that new country?
What emotions come with finally landing your dream job?
Maybe you’ll feel confident, fulfilled, joyful, inspired, or calm. Choose the feelings that resonate most with you.
Here’s where Tarot can become your intuitive guide.
Draw 3–5 random cards from your deck. Look closely at each one:
Do any characters resemble you or inspire you?
What emotions do these figures seem to be experiencing?
Imagine stepping into the scene—how would you feel if you were that person?
There are no wrong answers here. Your interpretation may change depending on the deck you use or your current mood. You can draw from traditional meanings, but your intuition is your greatest ally in this practice.
Tarot is a beautiful way to deepen your self-awareness, and this method can help you discover the exact emotions your soul is longing for—and live them, here and now.
The main principle behind the Wish Map (Desire Map) lies in asking a question that connects you with your desire:
“How do I want to feel, and what emotions do I want to experience?”
We often ask others this question in passing: “How are you feeling?”—without truly wanting to hear the answer. But this question is incredibly important, and it’s worth asking not others, but ourselves, especially in difficult situations. This question becomes most powerful when you’re feeling confused, emotionally stuck, or resisting something. In such moments, it’s meaningful to pause and ask yourself: “How do I want to feel?”
Instead of getting upset about the situation and reacting emotionally, pause for a moment and ask:
“This is how I feel right now, but I don’t want to feel this way. How do I want to feel?”
This simple act opens us up and helps us regain control over our lives.
When you ask yourself, “How do I want to feel?”, you become honest with yourself, slow down, and truly listen. That’s where the magic happens—this is the heart of working with the Wish Map technique.
In this way, the Wish Map helps remove the layers that block your path to self-connection. It’s like peeling an onion—layer by layer, you get closer to your true inner self, your real feelings, your authentic desires. You begin to listen to your intuition because all the answers are already within you. As you clear away these layers, you reach a point where you can finally hear yourself. From that point, you can start shaping your goals and understanding how to bring your desires into reality.
You’ve likely used this technique intuitively. Think back to a time when you were overwhelmed by your own emotions. Maybe you’ve been feeling tense and stressed lately, overwhelmed by everything you have to finish at work. In that moment, you can pause and tell yourself:
“I’m stressed, but I’m stressed only because I’m telling myself that I’m stressed.”
Then you stop and ask:
“I don’t want to feel this way. So what do I actually want to feel?”
You might realize that you want to feel in flow, calmly and confidently handling things, feeling peaceful, focused, and full of energy.
It’s at this moment—when you become aware of how you really feel and what you’d prefer to feel—that a shift happens. Nothing external changes: the stress, the to-dos, the deadlines—they’re still there. And honestly, you can’t control most of them. But you can regain a sense of control over your inner world.
The most important thing we can truly control in life is this:
How do I want to feel? And how do I feel right now?
If you can honestly answer these questions, you’ll begin to take back control over your reactions.
The challenge is, there are often many inner layers to move through before we get to that clarity—before we reach the place of knowing how we really want to feel and where we truly want to be. These layers, which you may not even notice, can cloud your judgment.
This is where Tarot becomes a powerful tool for self-discovery.
Often, our feelings are shaped by the mind—they’re assumptions. For example:
“I think I want to feel healthy.”
That might be only 50% of the truth. We don’t always have direct access to our subconscious or intuition to uncover the exact answer to:
“What do I truly want to feel?”
But Tarot can help us gain insight.
The first step is recognizing that we often ask questions from our logical minds. For instance:
“I want to feel loved.”
That’s a lovely sentiment, but what does it actually mean to feel loved? What is the core emotion we’re truly seeking? What do we really want to feel compared to what our mind—or our ego—thinks we should feel?
Here’s an important distinction:
When you say, “I want to feel loved”, you’re in a passive position.
But if you say, “I want to feel love”, you’re taking an active role—you’re taking responsibility for your feelings.
There are countless ways to feel love: through relationships, connecting with animals or children, doing something you’re passionate about. Love is everywhere. So when you say, “I want to feel love”, you begin to step into your power—you regain a sense of control over your experience.
Always express your desired emotions from an active standpoint.
Now, let’s talk about how Tarot comes in. We use Tarot to connect our conscious mind with the subconscious—to uncover how we truly want to feel.
You can draw one card with the intention:
“What do I want to feel?”
For example, if you’re asking, “I want a relationship. What do I want to feel when I’m in a relationship?”—and you draw the Queen of Cups or the Two of Cups, it doesn’t mean the card dictates your emotions. Instead, it’s a hint toward the emotional flow moving through you right now. It’s a guide to go deeper and explore your true feelings from within.
So, that was our second step.
We create a list of the feelings and emotional states we want to experience. We write them down, clarify and specify them with the help of Tarot, and we formulate exactly what we want to feel. We also check to see if there are any blocks or obstacles preventing us from becoming aware of these emotions. Then, we move on to the third step.
In this step, we recall moments in our life when we have already experienced these feelings—times when we’ve already felt what we now desire to feel.
You can think back to when you’ve felt love before. What are your warmest, most heartfelt memories of love? What role did you play in those experiences?
How did that love enter your life? How did you receive it?
What was the other person like?
What did it look and feel like?
Allow yourself to dive deep into those memories. Sometimes, you may run into inner conflict here—for example, you want to feel love in your life, but your mind reminds you of past disappointments, telling you that since it didn’t work out before, it won’t work now either. This inner conflict can create confusion and prevent you from connecting with the feelings you truly desire.
But this is where reflection becomes powerful.
Ask yourself:
When was the last time I truly felt this feeling?
What was it like? What made it real?
Writing your answers in a journal and immersing yourself in those positive memories can be deeply healing. Use these past experiences as evidence—proof that you have felt this way before, and therefore, it is possible again.
Later, you can return to these emotional states with the help of Tarot and journaling as tools to recreate and reconnect with those feelings.
Next, take your Tarot deck and go through the cards. Choose one or two cards that visually represent each of your desired feelings.
You can do this intentionally (choosing openly) or intuitively (drawing randomly from the deck).
For example:
Four of Swords — calmness and rest
The Star — inspiration and hope
The Magician and Eight of Pentacles — creativity
The Chariot — drive and motivation
Place your list of desired feelings along with the cards you’ve chosen somewhere visible. You could take a photo of the layout or even create a vision board with these cards. Keep it near your workspace, in your planner, or on your computer—anywhere you’ll see it often.
This creates a constant visual reminder of how you want to feel and helps you stay aligned with those emotional intentions throughout the day.
Now it’s time to scan your entire life and observe:
Where do your desired feelings already show up — and where are they missing?
We’re looking for blind spots, areas where you either don’t experience the feeling at all, or you do — but aren’t fully aware of it.
A simple and powerful tool you can use here is the “Wheel of Life” exercise, often used in coaching.
Draw a circle and divide it into several slices like a pie — each slice representing a key area of your life (career, relationships, health, creativity, spirituality, fun, finances, etc.).
Now ask yourself:
Where am I fully experiencing my desired emotion, and where am I not?
Shade or rate each area based on how much of that feeling is present. You’ll create a visual map that reveals the emotional balance — or imbalance — across your life.
For example:
Let’s say your desired feeling is passion or inspiration, and it’s connected to your career.
But when you do this exercise, you notice all your energy is going into family life, and your career slice feels disconnected from that emotion. That insight is huge — it reveals a gap between what you long to feel and where your energy is flowing.
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Choose one of your desired emotions (like love) and explore these journal prompts:
Where do I want to feel this?
Where do I already feel it?
In which areas of my life do I truly allow myself to feel it?
Where am I acting with an open heart — and where am I closed off?
This awareness can be a revelation. You might realize you only associate love with romantic relationships — but it’s also present when you’re cuddling your pet, creating art, helping a friend, or pursuing your soul’s purpose. These are all valid and powerful forms of love.
Now that you’ve mapped out your life, take your Tarot deck and pull cards to uncover any emotional blind spots.
Ask:
“Which area of my life contains a blind spot around this feeling?”
Draw a card and observe your immediate reaction. Don’t overthink it.
Start with associations.
What does this card make you feel? What thoughts or images does it trigger?
Let the card speak to your intuition — even if the answer doesn’t come right away, trust that the insight will surface in time.
In the previous step, we revisited the past to connect with our desired emotions.
Now, we’re anchoring those feelings in the present.
The goal here is to nurture and expand those feelings into new areas of life.
For example, if you desire more love in your life, start recognizing and cultivating love everywhere — in your work, hobbies, family, and even your morning coffee ritual.
As you begin to feel and express that love in more places, you start broadcasting it into the world — and like a boomerang, it returns to you.
✨ When you start living your desired emotion, you begin attracting more of it — not by force, but by flow.
By now, you’ve done some deep inner work.
You’ve identified the feelings you truly want to experience, and you’ve done a full audit of your life to see where those feelings are flowing — and where they’re blocked.
Now it’s time to gently move into goal-setting. But not in the traditional, rigid way.
Here, you ask yourself:
“What do I need to do to bring this feeling into my life?”
“Who or what can help me get there?”
This is where Tarot becomes your greatest ally.
The cards connect you directly to your soul — to the deep wisdom that lives within you — and help you see the archetypes, the energies, the paths that are most aligned with your truth.
You can pull cards intuitively (at random) or consciously (by choosing the imagery that resonates most). Either way, the card you land on will reflect the energy you need to embody or the action you’re being called to take.
Let it guide you. Let it speak to your feelings.
Once you’ve pulled a card that represents your goal or desired feeling, use it as a daily focus.
For example, let’s say you’re exploring the desire to feel more love, and you pull The Empress.
That card whispers: indulge in beauty, sensuality, creativity, and self-care. So you:
Take more time for skincare rituals
Make art or cook with love
Dance or move your body mindfully
Surround yourself with softness and beauty
✨ These daily actions become sacred. They anchor you in the feeling of love, again and again, until it becomes your new baseline.
And when you drift out of alignment (as we all do), come back to the card. Repeat the ritual. Reconnect with the feeling. This is how you root your intention in reality — and allow it to grow.
Here’s a powerful tip:
If you already have a clearly defined goal, use Tarot to check in.
Ask:
“Is this really my goal?”
Then draw a card.
Let’s say your goal is to make a million dollars. But you ask yourself:
“What will I feel when I achieve this?”
You pull The World — a card of fulfillment, wholeness, and freedom.
Aha. The truth reveals itself:
It’s not the money you want.
You want to feel free.
From that clarity, you’ll discover many ways to feel free — and one of them will be truly yours. Maybe it’s time freedom, emotional freedom, or creative freedom.
And maybe your original goal wasn’t aligned at all.
There are infinite ways to experience your desired emotion.
And when you choose a path aligned with your soul, it feels light, alive, and expansive — not heavy or stressful.
When you ask:
“What do I really want to feel?”
You unlock the true purpose behind your goals — and release the pressure of how it all has to happen.
You let go of control and open up to the magic of the Universe.
✨ Your desires are sacred.
Your feelings are the map.
And Tarot is the compass that guides you home.
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