Do you know what GBH means? These three letters stand for the foundation of success for Itzel Vargas-Bravo.
A Good, Better, How, review or GBH, is a structured strategy designed to focus on positive reinforcement and continuous learning, identifying areas for improvement and decision-making. As a long-time participant, Itzel learned how to make decisions and weigh her choices through activities like Would You Rather, board games, golf, and GBHs. Each activity helped create a foundation of skills needed for decision-making like introspection, judgment, and balance. These skills were further developed when Itzel became a coach. As a coach, Itzel learned how to work through GBHs with a team, ultimately teaching her how to make responsible decisions for the greater good: providing youth of all backgrounds an opportunity for a brighter future.
In one of Itzels’ favorite examples of a GBH, she and other coaches worked together to create a better rotation schedule to increase the impact of First Tee programming on the kids. “Overall, we recognized the underlying need for consistency and reliability. If we could get things consistent, we could develop a reliable daytime rotation process.”
The team decided that the most efficient solution was to assign a timekeeper and a set direction of rotation: A solution that has been in place since.
“It is okay to take the time to work out an answer.”
Itzel Vargas-Bravo, involved with First Tee – Monterey County for 16 years
The long-lasting effects of decision-making have left Itzel with a powerful life lesson: “It is okay to take the time to work out an answer.” She often wanted to make decisions that create short-term fixes rather than creating an environment that fosters long-term solutions. As Itzel developed her decision-making skills, she grew vital introspection, judgment, and balance skills, creating the foundation for her success today. Had it not been for the continuous learning and decision-making instilled through the GBH process, Itzel does not know if she would have ever learned the value of responsible decision-making.
First Tee — Monterey County could not teach vital life skills like responsible decision-making without our supporters and advocates. If you’d like to invest in your community’s Game Changers, please click here. To make a pledge, please email Mitch Massey at [email protected]. To follow our journey of Building Game Changers, stay updated on Instagram and Facebook @firstteemontereycounty and visit our website firsteemontereycounty.org.