07/27/2026
If you've ever lived with us, my guess is the room inspections have stuck with you. Why in the world do we have to make a bed? There is a method to the madness. Here's to hoping this task is a reminder that completing a simple task leads to something greater. Finish what you start. It is the secret to success.
Make Your Bed
A Simple Lesson for Girls Learning to Begin Again
By Susan Worsley, PhD
In his 2014 commencement address at the University of Texas at Austin, Admiral William H. McRaven shared lessons he learned during Navy SEAL training. His first lesson was remarkably simple: If you want to change the world, begin each day by making your bed.
For girls living in a residential program—particularly those with histories of poor choices, disrupted relationships, trauma, or placement instability—that message carries special meaning.
Making a bed will not erase the past. It will not repair a broken relationship, reverse a court decision, or immediately restore trust. What it can do is create one small, successful beginning.
Many girls entering residential care feel that their lives are controlled by adults. Someone else has decided where they will live, which school they will attend, when they may see family, and what rules they must follow. Some arrive believing they are powerless. Others have heard so many negative descriptions of themselves that they begin to accept those labels as their identities.
McRaven’s message offers a different starting point: You may not control everything that has happened to you, but you can control what you do next.
Making the bed represents personal responsibility. It is a small promise made and kept. The task requires no special talent, money, or approval from another person. When completed, it provides immediate evidence that the young person can bring order to one part of her world.
That matters because lasting change rarely begins with one dramatic decision. It grows through ordinary choices repeated over time: getting up when the alarm sounds, attending school, speaking respectfully, completing an assignment, telling the truth, following a safety plan, apologizing sincerely, and trying again after a difficult day.
McRaven’s broader message also emphasizes perseverance, teamwork, courage, and the importance of refusing to give up. He reminds us that failure is part of life, but it does not have to be the end of the story. His lesson is not that mistakes do not matter. It is that people can learn from them and choose a different response the next time.
Girls in residential care need accountability, but they also need hope. They must understand that they are responsible for their choices without being convinced that their worst choice defines who they are.
Residential programs can use the “make your bed” lesson to help young people build confidence through achievable daily goals. Staff can recognize consistency, effort, honesty, and improvement—not only major accomplishments. Each completed responsibility becomes another piece of evidence that change is possible.
At the end of a hard day, the neatly made bed also offers a quiet reminder: Something was accomplished today.
Tomorrow will bring another opportunity to begin again.
For a girl who has experienced chaos, disappointment, or repeated failure, that may be the most important lesson of all. A better future does not always begin with a giant leap. Sometimes, it begins by straightening the sheets, lifting your head, and deciding that yesterday will not control today.
Source: Admiral McRaven’s 2014 University of Texas at Austin commencement address
Susan Worsley, PhD
Executive Director/CEO
North Georgia Angel House, Inc.
