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I'm gonna talk to you today about coasters, triers, and achievers.
Now, there's certain kind of person who just coasts through their life.
They see challenges and opportunities everyday,
but they don't take them because they are afraid they're gonna fail.
They survive life,
but nothing that they do impacts the world.
These people are coasters.
Then, there are triers.
They set goals and go for them,
but as soon as they get knock down the first time,
they are too afraid to get back up and try it again.
So they progress a little bit,
but essentially stay in the same place.
And then we have our rare achievers.
They go into life with the attitude,
"that I can overcome anything."
No matter what obstacles stands in my way,
I'm gonna overcome it until I can be the best person I can be.
I've already decided that I am gonna be an achiever.
I challenge all of you to as well.
So, how am I gonna do it?
Well, picture for a second,
a little six year old girl.
She's watching the Olympics for the first time.
She's amazed with the pole-vaulters
who can fling themselves so high in the air.
And she loves the swimmers who can cut so fast through the water.
But what intrigues her the most are the gymnasts
because they can flip and fly all over the floor.
But she notices that there are only six Americans on a team.
And her mom has told her that the Olympics only come on every four years.
"I can't do this," she thinks, "I can't be one of them
I'll never be that good."
So she goes through life.
And every four years she watches those gymnasts.
But every four years she has a different excuse
why she is not one of them.
She coasted.
Now picture another little girl with the same Olympic experience.
When she sees Nadia Comăneci scoring so many perfect tens,
she begs her parents to sign her up for classes.
No, no! She didn't have the pixish little body of every other little gymnast.
And she was ridiculed for it from coaches.
But she took that challenge and overcame it.
This little girl achieved her Olympic dreams.
This little girl turned into Mary Lou Retton.
The first American gymnast
to ever win the gold medal in the Olympics.
She did this by setting goals and overcoming challenges.
Now I'm not gonna say we're all gonna be Olympians,
but we can apply that goal setting to other things as well.
Like academics.
Now, I know there are whole bunch of seniors this year
that will be applying to colleges.
My sister did it a few years ago.
But I bet anyone of them can tell you
that that journey didn't not start in their senior year.
It started when they ware my age, in middle school.
This is where we create our study habits.
We decide if we're going to study a little extra for that test or watch TV.
Are you gonna be an achiever or are you going to coast?
If you get a bad grade do you go to the teacher
and ask why and how to fix it?
Or do you give them the impression that you don't care.
Sometimes, it's just about being a better person.
You sit with new people a lunch.
If someone is being bullied you stand up for them.
For you it may be a 30 second intervention,
but for them it may be the highlight of their week.
My mom had a quote in college: "See it, say it, support it."
You have to see it.
Write your goals down on a piece of paper,
hang it up on your locker, on your bedroom door.
You need to see it every day.
Know what you wanna accomplish.
Say it. Tell the world.
I want to get my black belt in Karate before I graduate form high school.
There, I just told a whole auditorium of people my goal.
And yes, right now I am in the class
of a bunch of six year old little boys
who don't know how to listen.
But that's OK with me because there's a bigger picture.
And I'll get better. It's just another challenge
that I'll have to overcome.
But that not enough. I have to support it.
I have to stay a little late,
I have to do extra push ups and sit ups.
It's OK. I want to be an achiever.
Be the best person you can be.
I challenge all of you to be an achiever every day of life.
Thank you.
(Applause)