On the project launch day, we were given an ebook called ‘The 7 habits of highly

effective teens.’ This book was tough to get into for me, but I really have adapted to it and have started to take in the information. Using Sean’s methods and working through the workbooks has really opened up my eyes to how my world could look like if I follow these habits.

Habit 1

The first habit is ‘Be Proactive’. Being a proactive means that you get things done, and you don’t wait for things to come your way. It means taking action BEFORE your problems occur, not after when it’s too late. A good example of being proactive is studying for a test well before it is going to happen instead of waiting for the night before. 

The opposite of being proactive is being reactive. Having a reactive mindset means you  wait for problems to come about before you give attention to them, and reacting to things, and situations as they happen, in the moment. 

Habit 2

Habit number two is ‘Begin with the end in mind’. To begin with the end in mind can mean multiple things. If you begin with a clear vision of what you want your outcome to look like, it’s easier to make steps for yourself to get there. For example, if you want to become a lawyer as your full time job after university, you need to pay attention today, such as taking specific classes and getting good grades. You need to pay attention to things every day to make sure you are on track for the end goal you want to get to. 

Habit 3

The third habit is ‘Put first things first.’ This is mostly self explanatory, although you can really go into depth with this one. Prioritizing the most important things in your life, and then do them first! Making time for more important things is something everyone should get into a habit of, because stress can be saved over so many things due to this. If you struggle with time management, then you should use this habit every day. 

Here’s an example: One night you have a ton of homework. Instead of getting right to work, you get distracted and end up not getting everything done. What could have changed? 

I think that getting the most important things done first is an important skill to develop, because the farther and deeper you get into school the more work you get. So, by doing work first and fun second, you manage your time better, bus you also save that extra stress!

Paradigms

Looking through glasses at the world can show your worldview. You have a different perspective on the world than other people because each person is unique.

In Sean Coveys words, ‘it’s the way you see yourself, other people, and the world.’ When you were younger did you learn about everyone’s buckets? Filling them, and dipping from them? Essentially, everyone has their own buckets, and when you bully or hurt someone you dip from their bucket. If you are kind to a friend, a stranger, a teacher, you add to their bucket and lift their mood. 

If your paradigm is, ‘I’m not good at soccer,’ you might not try as hard at practice. If your paradigm is ‘people are always looking to find a way to bully me,’ you may end up with a angry or defensive personality. A paradigm shapes how you think, act and feel. Like looking through glasses, or having a worldview. That’s exactly it!

Being Principled Centred

This is one part of sections 1-3 that really spoke to me. Being principle centred means that you are acting on some baseline values that never change. To me, a few of those values are; respect, kindness, honestly, trust, and perseverance. These values I have for myself and others will never change because this is what I believe a person should have and value as well. Sean Covey believes being principle centred in better than being friends centred, family centred, or sports centred, because you are well rounded, and your principles never change, where as your friends, or sports could change as you go. I agree with Covey on this, being principle centred is the best way to be.

Habits Short #1

For this short, we got to choose our groups! I am with tyler for this project. This video is one of 3 shorts we are going to create over the next few weeks. Here it is!

Conclusion

In this first post I have recapped the first 3 habits. I have also spoken about paradigms and their importance. These habits are an important thing to add into my daily life, and I have been trying to do so. This book can be life changing if you use it in the right way. I have 2 more posts coming to talk about the coming parts of the book. Thanks for reading!

This time around, we were at provincials! In my group I had Esther, James, Quin, and Gemma! Throughout this post, I will be talking about my journey throughout DI this year. Enjoy!

Creative Process

The biggest hardship our group faced was that two of our members were in Edmonton for a bad and choir trip! This was a problem and we all knew it. Those two members built the machine, therefore they were the only ones who could run it. After a few tries, Esther got the hang of it, and so we then had to shift our story and characters to fit with our new roles within the team. Running our story with three people was quite a change, and not an easy one. We developed scenes we could perform with only three people, and practiced a LOT before our performance. 

And then, right before we were going into the room to perform, one of the worst things that could’ve gone wrong, went wrong. Our machine broke! A soccer ball was kicked right into our machine (it had been placed on the ground briefly while we set up our props for practicing). This was really quite frustrating because we spent so long trying to perfect our performance, actions, and the machine carrying the weights across the cord.

Story Finding

Our challenge was called the High-Wire Act Engineering challenge. We had to create a transporter that could carry weights across a tournament provided cord. We also had to make a story and present it in the style of contemporary circus and show off a daring display. 

Finding and creating our story all started with our love for the Greatest Showman. Read my regionals blog post here to find more out about it. 

Skills and Reflection

This year was quite different than last year. I felt as though my group was way more organized and on time with our tasks. Say one night I said I would finish making a backdrop. I had it done for the next day. Every member of my group was accountable for their own learning, which is what made this year so great. 

In grade 8, we were so stressed the whole time, from the day one right until the night before. We could’ve think of a story, or a song, or anything really! 

I’ve grown so much from last year, it blows my mind to think about! I have expanded my way of growing and learning by practicing a few things to keep me on track and focused while working. The first thing our group did was try to get to know each other and make sure we knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses so we could navigate them all together.  

Although we came second in this tournament, I felt as though I learned more this time around rather than when we came first and won the whole thing. I learned to keep an open mindset about things such as when our machine didn’t work. Instead of saying ‘our transporter didn’t work, we are so doomed, we are never coming first now…’ I kept an open mindset and said ‘that’s really too bad our transporter didn’t work this time around, I’m sure we’ll get it next time! Great job guys we put a lot of effort into this and it really payed off in a positive way.’ The difference between these can make a big difference in how I feel, and the impact I make on others.

Instant challenge

I can’t reveal certain details from my instant challenge, but I can say that I do not think it went well at all! We were all over the place, and NOT working together. I expect better of us, and we need to change for next time.

Conclusion

Overall, I think that we did a solid job working as a team, figuring out how each other works, and adapting to take in all ideas, and having an open mindset about what’s to come and what has happened. Thank you to the teachers for supporting us along this journey of DI, and thank you to all my team members for putting in effort and wanting to win! 

How might I tell a story about who I am and where I’m going?

I believe a story can be told in so many different ways. They can be conveyed by speaking, dancing, artwork, singing, and really any way you want. This is what is special about you, no person has the same story, you are one of a kind. 

In this project we explored the importance of organizing your life. With so much going on, it is hard to stay accountable and focused, but this project has focused me on setting goals and using organizations tools. 

What do you really want?

This was the name of the book we read. To make sure everyone was taking in information, our teacher asked us to complete the activities within the book while reading it. I chose to do the activities in my bullet journal. I have been bullet journaling for a long time, and it really helps me express my thoughts onto paper, while doing it in a fun and creative way. The book really got through to me because I sometimes struggle with what I want to achieve in life. It made me see that making goals, short term and long term help, and they help with what you want to achieve in the long run.

What is a SMART goal?

A Savvy, Measurable, Active, Reachable, Timed goal is a SMART goal. This is a great way to help set and achieve goals. An example of a non smart goal is “I want to improve.” This is not specific and it doesn’t follow any of the criteria of setting a SMART goal. An example of a SMART goal is “I want to improve at shooting in soccer, because now that the goalies are better my shots need to be low and hard. To show my improvement I want to score a goal in a bottom corner by the end of the month.” This goal follows all the SMART steps. When goals are this specific, they are easier to track and make for yourself.

Staying Organized

In addition to reading this book, we learned in depth about the apps Things, and Calendar. I have been using Things since the beginning of grade 8 and it has kept me on track and made sure I don’t hand in any assignments late. We learned to start time blocking in calendar. It tells you when events start and end, and you can even categorize them by colour and name! Once these 2 skills were set it was time to be set free, although for them to work you need to keep up with adding things to your calendar and assignments to Things. 

Final Video

The driving question for us to answer was ‘how might I tell a story about who I am and where I’m going?’ 

In the video, we included keynote animations which we had created beforehand. This was fun because in the video the pictures moved, and I thought it was fun to create them. We also included some goals we made and our plan to achieve them in the future. Although my final career decision hasn’t been made, I want to become a lawyer of some sorts. If I set myself up for success then I should give myself choices in the future, which is incredibly important.

Conclusion

Staying organized comes in many shapes and forms. You can be a messy person but have a base organizational person. You can also be a neat person and input events and scheduling right away! Do whatever works for you, but remember to stay on track and focus on the end destination, the final place you want to get to.

As my future is incredibly important to me, I want to set myself up the best I can. That starts now. This project has walked me through goals, organizational systems and really learning about who I am and where I’m going. These things all matter but the second I’m not organized it gets thrown away. So, I need to keep up with the systems I’ve put in place, and keep on track.

Thanks for reading!