Abstinence, Goal Setting, and Making The Best Decisions

From the Desk of . . .

Collin Hall, Educator, SRAS

Goal

/ɡōl/

noun

plural noun: goals

the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.

"going to law school has become the most important goal in his life"

The kick-off lesson to our Choosing the Best curriculum is always about goals and decision-making. The abstinence message is a true and powerful message, but it unfortunately can fall on deaf ears if the listener does not understand why it is that the message is so important. These students have a present and future that

needs to be protected. Learning how to set goals and stay focused on them, along with decision-making skills, are some ways that will help them preserve their future and

reach their goals without detour or delay. We start our program by turning their attention away from focusing on a sex-saturated world and onto their goals, dreams, and desires. We ponder on how commitment to these things affects their future. What they do now truly matters in the long run. I wish I had more people in my life demonstrating that truth when I was their age!

Goals are like GPS coordinates to help you arrive at your destination. Every turn, road, and highway of life is leading you somewhere. We want students to

think critically about where they are headed in life so that they choose their actions carefully. Without knowing where you want to end up (and the desire to move

forward), you tend to move backwards or not move at all. Students may not always know exactly where they want to go to college or what career field they want to

pursue, but we point them to the importance of goal setting and how even the smallest of goals can help make the best decisions. Our program is filled with

medically accurate and up to date information that provides students the means to make well-informed decisions about sex, but it also provides a glimpse into the tools necessary for setting goals, fighting for them, and sticking to them. We believe that having strong goals can help them make wise decisions for the

betterment of their future. A lifestyle of abstinence is not just about the decision not to have sex until marriage, but also one filled with fighting the good fight of

setting goals and making the decisions necessary to achieve them!