In my vision board, I included pictures representing some goals I had in four different categories. Health, education, happiness, and relationships. I have many goals in general, some more short-term, others long-term, and I am currently working hard to try and achieve these goals.  

First is health. In general, my physical health is not the best. I have some eating habits I am proud of, so I need to start including more fruits, vegetables, and water in my diet, which I have shown on my vision board. Normally, I eat a lot of unhealthy foods, especially recently. I have constantly snacked on unhealthy foods and I am not as conscious of my diet as I should be. I have been doing a sufficient amount of exercise, mainly getting it through gym at school, but I want to start doing exercise outside of school and build some muscle. Running is one way I will get my exercise, which is shown on the vision board. Not only that,I would like to start swimming more often and go to an actual gym where I already have a membership.  

The next category is relationships. I have a strong relationship with my family, thankfully, and I hope to be able to keep this connection strong as I grow older. Making sure we stay in contact is a big thing to keep our relationship strong. Three main things I plan to do to keep our relationship strong is to have dinner together occasionally, call and text each other often, meet up and have a picnic, and shop together. My family are the kind of people that can keep a relationship strong, even if we do not talk to each other every day. But, we still need to spend time with each other because we are family.  

The third category is education. I do not have a set university I am planning to go to yet, but I may possibly go to UBC. I do know that I love science and math. I find learning and discovering things in science very interesting, so I am planning on pursuing a career related to some kind of science. I might go into the medical field, so I am planning many of my goals based on that. Because of the possible career options I am thinking about, I need to continue to have good grades in school. I will do this by studying harder, learning as much as I can, developing good habits, and using my time wisely.  

Another goal I have education-wise is to be fluent in Japanese by the end of high school. So far, I am taking Japanese classes in and outside of school and I have made great progress. I believe that with some more effort than what I am showing now, I will be fluent around 19.  

Finally, the last category is happiness. I believe that all the goals in my other categories will also eventually lead to happiness as well, like spending time with my family, doing well in school, and being healthy, but there are some hobbies I have for my happiness too. I have always enjoyed drawing since I was young, but I have not been able to do that recently because of school. Whenever I am free though, I like to draw. Reading is also a way I bring happiness into my day. Reading is a great way for me to spend my time, and I enjoy it a lot. Finally, volleyball is one of my favourite things to do. I am not great at it, but it is a great way I like to cheer up my mood. Sometimes I can play with a friend or multiple others, and that really helps me feel amazing. 

       After having a discussion with my parents, we have decided together on set amounts of time to spend on certain things each week. Originally, we had planned that on weekdays, there would be little to no devices used between the hours of 3:10 pm and 6:10. For weekends it would be 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Adjustments have been made since then because of certain factors. Instead of set times, it will be a required amount of time during any time of the day when no devices will be used. 

Health 

       Health is a very important thing for us. With all this social media and technology, people would rather go on their phones than exercise. Every week, I will try to spend a minimum of 210 minutes (3.5 hours) doing some kind of exercise for my health. It can be cardio, lifting weights, or stretching/yoga. 

       Mental health should also be a focus. Each night before bed, I have decided to start journaling and reflect on my day for at least 5 minutes. I will write out my feelings, things I regret, things that I did, and things I will do better the next day. I believe that journaling will help me let out bottles up feelings without needing a second person.  

Education 

       I currently have a terrible habit of procrastination. It is something I developed in middle school, and I have not been able to get rid of it since then. The main cause of my procrastination is my phone. If I try to spend 1 hour each day dedicated to my education, my grades will greatly improve, and the quality of my work will be much better. A stopping cue will be in place, which will be an alarm dedicated to starting schoolwork. In total, I would like to spend 7 hours each week after school on school-related subjects.  

       In class, I may also get distracted on my phone which will make me lose valuable time and will not allow me to learn as much as I should be. In class, I will put my phone away in my bag, making sure it is on silent, and not take it out during class to decrease the chances of me reaching out for my phone and start scrolling through Instagram.  

Social Bonds 

       Though covid is making it harder for all of us to meet with loved ones, spending time with people is crucial. It helps with our mental health, reduces stress, and can improve our overall mood. A great goal for me is to spend a minimum of 30 minutes each day (3.5 hours each week) spending time with somebody, like having a conversation. It can be on the phone, or in-person with a family member. I will also try to eat dinner more often with my family. Dinnertime is great for spending time with your family and getting a closer relationship.   

Stopping Rules 

Stopping rules are very important. With today’s social media, a person could endlessly scroll for hours, not even realizing how much time has passed. Stopping is also difficult, as technology such as phones is like drugs to the brain. Stopping rules are needed, even if it is forceful.

School 

       I will set up screentime on my phone. What this does is it does not allow the person to go onto certain apps during scheduled times in the day. If I set this for school, it will be great for stopping and reducing distractions. If I can’t use screen time because I need my phone for class, I will put it somewhere I cannot see when I am not using it.

Home 

       My first stopping rule to insure I will not overuse devices is an alarm. Each day, I will set an alarm around 5:00 pm. I will then turn off my phone, put it away where I cannot see or hear it, and work on something productive (most likely homework.) Another stopping cue could be my very own mother. She agreed to be my stopping cue, giving me little check-ins and telling me to get up and do something better. I also agreed to her taking my phone away forcefully if she needs to.  

Family and Friends 

My first goal for this category is to help my sibling with his school work. I would like to sit with him for at least 30 minutes a day. if I can then every other day is sufficient. I want them to be able to understand what they are learning in class to the best of their ability since he is struggling with his work. By the end of this year, I hope his grades will improve in comparison to his previous years at school. I have this goal because I love my sibling a lot and I don’t want them to struggle, be stressed out, or be worried and upset all the time because of their grades.

Second, I want to spend more time with my dad when he comes home from work. He stays in a city a few hours away and we visit him occasionally during the breaks. Otherwise, i barely see him. My goal is to spend most of the time he is here with him.

Finally, i want to meet new people in school and build good relationships. it can be classmates, teachers, and team members. by the end of this year i want to have a few friends in each class i go to and to be on good terms with my teachers.

Education

This year, I want to keep school as one of my top priorities. In class, I want to work hard and do my best and try to get the best grade I can. My goal is to pass each class with an A and do well on all of my tests, getting more than 86% each time.

When I was younger I took a few lifeguarding classes you could take at a young age. I learned many things about both first aid and saving a drowning victim but it’s been a while since I last went to one. This year I would like to take these classes again and learn/review the things I may have forgotten.

This year I want to learn many new things, both school subjects and being a better person in general. One thing I want to start looking into and learn about is leadership. I realized this in middle school and I want to properly start this year. My goal to improve this is to participate in many different things and put myself out there. I want to join leadership this year and hopefully, start volunteering as well so I can improve myself and learn about different kinds of people.

Health

Starting in October, I’d like to start swimming again. I did it a lot when I was younger but stopped for a few years. Swimming has a lot of health benefits and I have always wanted to start again when I had the chance. by grade 10, id like to have the same stamina I used to have and maybe even more than before. I would also like to be able to swim for at least 30-40 minutes without taking major breaks.

Another goal is to work on my diet and watch what I eat. My diet is very imbalanced at the moment. I’m not getting enough of certain vitamins and minerals. I want to start eating a more balanced meals with the proper amounts of each food group. I want to eat a proper breakfast every day as well and finish my lunches at school.

My final goal in the health section is to drink water every day. For the first few days i will start with at least two cups a day and slowly build up. By the end of grade 9 I want to be able to drink 5-7 cups of water every day like I’m supposed to.