To Begin with the End in Mind means to start every endeavor with clearly defined outcomes. This relies on our ability to envision, see potential, and create with our mind what we cannot presently see with our eyes.

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You Are the Leader of You

Begin With the End in Mind gives you the confidence to make goals based on what’s important to you...not to someone else.

Activity #1: The Missing Piece

Give child a new puzzle without the lid. Ask him/her to put the puzzle together without having the End in Mind, or any sort of plan (or picture). Knowing the end result, or goal, allows us to design and set the path to get there.

Activity #2: I’m Board...

Set out a new board game without any directions. As a family, try and figure out how to play, possible rules, and how a winner is determined. Not having a goal to reach, or steps to get there, results in confusion and no direction.

Activity #3: Stopping for Directions

Have one child write directions for a specific task such as making a PBJ sandwich or reaching a destination. (Destination could be turned into a Treasure Hunt!) He/she reads those to a sibling or parent who follows exactly what is said. It is likely that steps have been forgotten. For example, if child says, “Get two pieces of bread,” but he/she doesn't tell you to open the bag that holds the bread, then stick your hand through the bread bag to remove the two pieces. If child says, “Put peanut butter on one side of the bread” but he/she forgets to tell you to open the jar, then set the jar of peanut butter on top of a slice of bread. If child says, “Open the jar of jelly,” but he/she forgets to have you use a knife or spoon to spread it, then dip your hand into the jar, take some out, and spread it by hand on the bread. The point of this exercise is that if you make a good plan in the beginning, it is easier to follow when working to achieve a goal. Kids will love seeing the mess you get into during this demonstration!

Hopefully your child will be able to understand and explain that mental creation (the plan) should precede physical creation (the action).

Activity #4: Bucket List

Give each child a Bucket. Have him/her write goals on strips of paper he/she would like to accomplish in the next month, season, year... As goals are reached, collect the strips, mount, display...

Activity #5: Family Mission Statement

Businesses and universities have these...families should as well. Brainstorm important values, ideas, words, phrases... What does our family want to be known for? How do we treat each other? What unique contributions can we make? What big goals do we want to achieve? What unique talents or skills do we have? Choose the 3 most important. Mission Statement should reflect what you want your family to stand for.

Create family slogans: No Empty Chairs, We will come after you with LOVE...
Don’t live day-to-day, week-to-week. Make a plan for your life and your family.

Book List

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown
Jackie Robinson: Justice at Last by Geoffrey Ward & Ken Burns
Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats
Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin
Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams
The School Story by Andrew Clements
Pancakes, Pancakes by Eric Carle
Where do you think you’re going, Christopher Columbus? By Jean Fritz Lucy Mastermind by Alan Feldman
Eddie, the Incorporated by Phyllis Naylor

Bobby Baseball by Robert Kimmel Smith
The Very Clumsy Click Beetle by Eric Carle Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr.Seuss
There by Marie- Louise Fitzpatrick
The Wartville Wizard by Don Madden
Dream Big Little Pig by Kristi Yamaguchi
I Can Be Anything by Jerry Spinelli
When I Grow Up by Sean Covey