White Belt: Initiative

Time to complete: 30 days

Initiative is the power you have to take action. What does that mean? In any situation, you have a choice. You can assume you are powerless. Or you can say, “I have power to make this situation better.” For example, if you’re not starting on your basketball team, you can blame the coach or make other excuses. Or you can focus on the things that you can actually do, such as: practice harder, join a different activity, ask your coach what it would take to start, or just choose to have fun anyway.

To earn your White Belt, you must show initiative three times. Please do not just do what other people did. Think hard about what you want to do and do it.

If you cannot think of anything to take initiative on, just ask yourself the following questions:

• Is there anything I can do to make my life better?
• Are there any dreams I can pursue?
• Do I have interests that I can develop?
• What can I do to solve problems I have?

Here are examples of how two teens earned their White Belts:

Examples

Example 1: Mary
Mary took the following three acts of initiative to earn her White Belt:

1. Started her own baby-sitting business
   Mary wanted to earn money so she called ten of her parents' friends and told them she was available to baby-sit.


2. Found a guitar
   Mary wanted to learn how to play the guitar but she didn’t have one. So she asked all her friends and all her parents’ friends if they had a guitar she could borrow.


3. Learned more about China
   Mary always had dreamt about visiting China, so she went online and researched student study abroad programs that she could do someday. She found three programs she liked.

Example 2: Tyrone
Tyrone took the following three acts of initiative to earn his White Belt:

1. Created a workout plan
   Tyrone wanted to improve his ability to dribble a basketball with his left-hand, so he set up a plan for himself to dribble his basketball with only his left hand for 20 minutes every day.


2. Found summer program
   Tyrone wanted to travel to a different state over the summer, so he went online and talked to his guidance counselor and found five summer programs he could apply to.


3. Helped his mother
   Tyrone saw that his mother was tired, so he cooked dinner and washed the dishes.

.