Life Skills and Leadership Manual - Peace Corps

Life Skills & Leadership: Unit 3, Session 3: Steps for Action | Page 33 of 67

A. Getting from Here to There
Participants make a preliminary plan of action to achieve a long-term goal.

1. Distribute flip chart paper and markers or crayons to each person. Ask each participant to make a “map”
   to achieve one aspect of her or his dream. Say:

“In previous sessions, you identified several things you would like in your future. For now, I would like

you to choose just one that you would really like to have. It can be something intellectual, emotional,

social, physical, or spiritual but choose something that you would be very happy to have and that you

can imagine achieving in one or two years.

Note: You can refer to Flip chart 3: My Dream (from Unit 3, Session 1, “Goal Setting, the Basics”) if needed.

“Imagine that you are going on a journey to achieve the thing you have chosen, which will be at your

final destination. What would your own map to that destination look like? Write a word or draw a

symbol on one edge of your flip chart paper to represent that thing in your future that you would like to

achieve. Write ‘Today’ on the opposite edge.

“Next, think about all the things that would have to happen for you to ‘travel to’ or reach your future

goal. What would be the challenges? (e.g., Not having the education, not having support of parents,

not having money, etc.) How could you represent those challenges on your map? Would you represent

the challenges as rivers, difficult mountain passes, or dangerous roads?

“Think, too, about what would make it easy to undertake such a journey. (e.g., Having knowledge,

decision-making skills, friends who can help, etc.) How would you represent the things that might help

you? Would they be sign posts, fellow travelers, or a bridge over a river?

“Make a map similar to the one on Flip chart 2. You can make your own obstacles and your own path to

a destination in your future. What is most important is to show the challenges and opportunities in

reaching your goal.

2. After participants have had a chance to work for about 10 minutes, point to Flip chart 4: Problem
   Solving Steps and say:

“This flip chart shows the steps of problem solving that we talked about during one of our earlier

sessions. We used these steps to determine the best, most creative solutions. You can use it now to help

draw your map. Steps 1, 2, and 3 will be the most helpful now.

“Specifically, you can try to guess or anticipate what problems you might encounter (Step 1) or who you

might include as helpers (Step 2) on your way to achieving your goal. Again, find a way to show these

on your map.”

3. Depending upon group size, ask individuals to share their maps with the whole group. With a very large
   group, just ask for three or four volunteers. For a smaller group of 10 or fewer, you will probably have
   time for everyone to share her or his map. The discussion questions below are what is most important,
   however.