Choosing a Goal and Sticking To It

"This one step - choosing a goal and sticking to it - changes everything." Scott Reed

These final weeks in my speech classes represent what I believe is the ultimate goal for Education….A change of behavior in the students.

We just finished up the persuasive speeches.  The students used their personal goals (created at the beginning of the semester) as topics for their presentations.  We heard speeches that urged us to make changes in our life; eat healthier, exercise more, save money, and get better organized.  But most importantly, we were persuaded that making a decision to do something was the first step in making it happen.

Gloria’s goal was to be able to run 8 miles.  She said she was at 5 miles now, but feeling so proud of herself.  She excitedly told us how she had raced back to tell her mother, squealing and jumping around.  “I did it, Mom…I ran 5 miles without stopping…I did it…I did it!”

Sherry showed us pictures of her newly homemade chicken coop, along with a convincing story to get us thinking about getting into the egg business. 

Christopher serenaded us with his Ukulele, and urged us to enrich our lives by learning to play a new instrument.

Mary told us about her newly started up dog grooming business. She asked us if we thought it was time to stop our dreaming…and just do it. 

Bill introduced his speech in Spanish and suggested that we too take on the challenge of learning a new language.

Patricia lost 15 pounds.  She shared a lot of facts and research about the benefits of eating healthy.  She talked about how good it felt to lose the weight, but more importantly how proud she was of losing her self-defeating attitude. 

Juan’s mother brought him to the United States at the age of two.  He talked about some of the challenges he faced as an illegal alien.  He urged us to embrace our country and all the rights and opportunities we take for granted. As  as held out his newly acquired citizenship papers, Juan’s eyes  weren't the only ones that filled with tears.

We heard Brandy tell us about a new sport that had helped her overcome her past abusive scars and self-doubts.  She had tried out for and won a spot on a local roller derby team. “Don’t knock it till you try it,” said this tall thin woman who had not only found a new sport to play, but she’d also acquired a new attitude. 

Beto passed out his business cards as he we watched and listened to an awesome music video he and his business partner had created. 

 And my dear student Violet finally selected a major and encouraged us also to follow our heart and raise our self-esteem. She talked about her past of living in the shadows; with low expectations, fearful and depressed. One student asked her, “What was the thing that got you to start working on your self- esteem?”  Violet responded in her quiet, princess voice, “I had been thinking about it for a while, but this class convinced me.  I finally realized that my low self-esteem, no doubt had come as a result of external things that had happened to me,  but if I wanted to feel better about myself…the answer came internally; it had to come from inside of me. I just told myself, ‘self, things are about to change around here….and they have.”  Her speech brought us all to our feet.

We heard inspirational story after inspirational story. The persuasive words were full of pride, of promise and of conviction with the changes they had made in their lives.  They were determined to keep setting goals and sticking to them.  

Oh yes…and did I mention; my students also got better at public speaking!


I'd love to hear from me.  You can email me at: Smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com