For the past couple of years, I have been making digital vision boards on Canva at the beginning of each year. I have wanted to make one I can put above my bed, but I don’t have the time. So, making one on Canva is perfect if you want new habits but do not want to spend forever thinking about the idea of changing. I always include a couple of top priorities in my life and goals having to do with those priorities. This year they were academics, relationships, health, and mental health.Â
Get Outside
I have a couple of subtopics on my vision board that surround the topic of traveling and just being outside. One is taking more spontaneous road trips. Even just doing a quick weekend getaway to Big Sur and car camping would be perfect after a stressful week. I did a couple of spontaneous trips over 2024, and they brought me so much joy so I knew I had to make this a priority in 2025.Â
My next vision board idea was spending more time in nature. Prioritizing being in the sunlight and around the trees makes my life so much less stressful. Even sitting down on the lawn to study for an hour or so is perfect for me. I also have going to the beach at least once a week on my vision board. I have never lived by the ocean until now, and I feel like I don’t take advantage of it enough. I plan to go for 20 minutes to take a second and breathe or watch the sunset—something that is fast if I’m busy so it doesn’t feel like a huge commitment to go to the beach. Being outside and being in the wind is SO good for your mental health and I urge you to add something nature-related to your vision board for 2025!
Reclaiming my Academic Weapon title
For me, this year and specifically the next two quarters, I want to get really good grades and change my mindset about college coursework. I’m reminding myself how lucky I am to be at college, let alone Cal Poly, and how lucky I am to even have homework and be getting such a good education. I GET to do schoolwork, not I have to. So I put on a lot of studying and trying to understand the material rather than just coasting by on my vision board. Late nights and early mornings and whatever it takes to get good grades this year. I struggled with caring about grades in 2024, so I thought it would be a good idea to get myself back on track, push through, and help change my mindset about college.Â
Healthy Body=Healthy Mind
Last year there were times I wasn’t in the best mindset, and I didn’t have good coping strategies for those times. So something that is on my vision board is going to the gym and trying to eat cleaner. Food is fuel and food that is good for you is even better fuel. So I am trying to eat cleaner, more natural, unprocessed food. For hitting the gym, I am trying to find a schedule that works for me, so it’s currently a work in progress, but it’s still on my vision board!Â
Around the same topic of having a healthy mind is screen time. My screen time in 2024 was so excessive for no reason. I would be averaging 6-8 hours A DAY. That to me is crazy and unacceptable for the lifestyle I want to live. So I got an app (Opal) that helps cut down on my screen time and locks apps like TikTok and Snapchat, which I spend too much time on sometimes. I have been attempting to do 3 hours or less a day of screentime and it has cut down a lot but I am not at my goal yet. This ap has helped me be more mindful about the time I use on my phone.
Living to the Fullest
I remember seeing this quote a while ago, “Being alive, but not living.” When I read this I knew I couldn’t ever be in a state of mind where I felt like that. I want 2025 to be a change, I want to take risks and be scared, and not know what is coming next. I think last year I also used to get caught up in tangible things like clothes, jewelry, and makeup, which is fine and I still love all these things. But this year I am prioritizing experiences over things. So if I have extra money, I will spend it on concerts, trips, etc. instead of buying trendy things that I’ll regret buying in a month. I love concerts and I forget they exist until I go to one then I am planning my next one because I love them so much. It is such an out-of-body experience to see one of your favorite artists live and hear their voice in real-time. So all my extra money will be going to future Noah Kahan and Phoebe Bridgers tickets.Â
Some quotes I added and why
“Just found out nobody cares, what a relief” This quote is so real; in college it seems like everything is so superficial sometimes. I always stress about what I look like and how my body looks in my outfit, but in reality, nobody cares what I look like cause they’re stressing about the same things I am, but about themselves.Â
“Offline is a new luxury”
This corresponds with parts of my vision board where I said I wanted to prioritize less tangible things and lower screen time. This quote brings those two ideas together and basically says that the richest you can be is to be out in the world rather than addicted to your phone.
“You’re handling things better than you used to”
This quote just helps remind me to handle conflicts with grace and compassion even though it is so hard sometimes. I try to remember that nothing is too serious and to take life lightly!Â
Making goals for myself helps me in the new year. It helps me to have something to strive for and look forward to. This doesn’t mean I succeed at all these “resolutions” or visions of how I want my year to look. In reality, there are going to be days when I am going to be on my phone for 8+ hours and don’t want to get out of my bed, and that’s fine. These goals aren’t meant to make you feel bad if you have a setback. Take time for yourself, and tomorrow try even more to accomplish even just one of these goals. Growth isn’t linear, it’s a constant process that you have to work at little by little every day.Â