Samantha's story

"I wanted to swim faster in my favorite event -- the 50 meter breaststroke -- so I set a goal of going under an All-Star time that is set by our local swim league. I told my coach, my family and my friends about my goal, and my parents said that I could earn an iPod if I achieved this ambitious goal. I listened carefully to my coach when she suggested how to swim this race faster, I practiced the tips a lot, and I visualized myself winning races and doing this time. I even had a dream that I was swimming and I turned into a pink iPod and the girls next to me turned into ugly iPods. Last week I went under the time goal I set for myself (I dropped five seconds) and I got my iPod the next day! The most important steps in achieving this goal were having a specific time goal, having an incentive that was something I really wanted, telling all my friends and teammates about my goal, and believing that I could actually do it."