"Good With Me" Foundation
Policy and Position Statements
Changing Thoughts. Saving Lives.
For over 30 years, the founder of the "Good With Me" Foundation has been transforming lives through its innovative programs and global humanitarian movement.
Our Origins
The "Good With Me" Foundation began with a little girl’s dream. Growing up on a dirt road in the country with an alcoholic mother and a hardworking father, she often gazed at the sky, sensing there was more to life.
That little girl was me, Patricia Noll.
Despite excelling academically and creating classroom skits to fit in, I struggled with a deep sense of inadequacy. Like many, I turned to alcohol, hoping to feel as happy as others seemed. It didn’t work.
Seeking help changed everything. I embarked on a journey to discover how to feel genuinely good about myself—not through external validation but by finding happiness within.
This journey led to earning degrees, establishing Focus One™ (a state-licensed outpatient substance abuse treatment program), and authoring Good With Me: A Simple Approach to Real Happiness from the Inside Out.
A Global Movement is Born
The "Good With Me" Foundation started as a book but quickly grew into a global movement.
A pivotal moment came when I met a journalism intern from Afghanistan who shared that the challenges we face in the United States—low self-esteem, discontent, addiction, and violence—are universal. This chance encounter confirmed that the work of "Good With Me" could have a global impact.
Milestones:
- Mayoral Proclamation: September 21st declared "Good With Me" Day in St. Petersburg, FL.
- International Recognition: Celebrations in 12+ countries during virtual events.
- Annual Festival: A city co-sponsored community event.
- 501(c)(3) Foundation: Formalizing our mission to reach even more people.
Our Vision: Changing Thoughts. Saving Lives.
Our vision is to transform how people think about themselves, empowering them to recognize their intrinsic value. This shift not only changes lives but also saves them by reducing:
- Anger and violence
- Substance abuse and addiction
- Domestic violence
- Suicides and mass shootings
Our Mission
To empower individuals worldwide to:
- Recognize their inherent value
- Celebrate their unique selves
- Live with dignity, regardless of circumstances
Guiding Principles
The "Good With Me" Foundation operates on these core beliefs:
- Thoughts Create Reality: Self-esteem should come from within, not from external validation.
- Simplicity is Powerful: As Steve Jobs once said, “Simple can be harder than complex, but it’s worth it in the end.”
- Self-Dependent Esteem: True self-worth is independent of others' opinions, achievements, or possessions.
Our Approach
We provide a simple, practical, step-by-step solution for achieving lasting happiness from the inside out. While all people have value, true transformation begins when individuals recognize their own worth.
Positions and Evidence
The "Good With Me" Foundation is rooted in science and empirical evidence, proving that change is always possible—yes, even for "old dogs."
We advocate for a world where:
- All people are valued and respected.
- Education and community leaders drive lasting change.
- Volunteers and donors support a global movement for happiness and dignity.
Join the Movement
Your support makes a difference. Help us:
- Change Thoughts. Save Lives.
- Spread the message that every person has inherent value.
Together, we can create a world where everyone is "Good With Me."
The "Good With Me" Foundation and global humanitarian movement started with a little girl who grew up poor, lived on a dirt road in the country, with an alcoholic mother and a father who worked day and night in the foundry.
This little girl loved to be outside and spent much of her time looking up to the sky with an inner knowing that there was more than this.
Help Us
Change Thoughts
and Save Lives
She had a feeling on her first day of school that continued through much of her life: she felt different. Even though she thought she was not as good as her schoolmates, she aced academics and loved creating classroom skits to be good enough.
But the feeling of not being good enough was very powerful and stayed with her throughout her. She eventually became very good at faking to be okay.
Long story short, she began drinking alcohol as a young adult to be part of the popular group...it was supposed to make her feel as happy as everyone else seemed to be. But it didn't work.
She reached out for professional help and her whole life changed.
Her lifelong quest to feel good without being dependent upon alcohol or a relationship partner or anything else to make her feel good began.
She went back to school, earned a couple of degrees, and began to teach others what she had learned about how to feel good for real.
This little girl was me, Patricia Noll.
I established Focus One™, an outpatient substance abuse treatment program licensed by the state of Florida in 1989. I wrote a substance abuse treatment manual that received endorsements from Deepak Chopra, Larry Dossey, Jack Kornfield, and Jacquelyn Small.
Time passed quickly and after nearly 30 years of interacting and counseling thousands of individuals, I wrote the book Good With Me: A Simple Approach to Real Happiness from the Inside Out. I wanted to share what I had learned for myself with as many people at possible.
The "Good With Me" global humanitarian movement began with a bookl and a chance meeting.
At the exact time the book was published, I met an individual who was in St. Petersburg as a jounalism intern for the Tampa Bay Times Newspaper from Afghanistan. He told me they have the same issues in Afghanistan as we have in the United States...no real self-esteem which I found to be responsible for our society's widespread discontent, unhappiness, addictions, envy, anger, rage, violence, criminal behavior, suicide, and much more.
It was then that I realized I could have an effect on the world. This chance meeting was not an accident.
Next was the mayoral proclamation of "Good With me" Day on September 21st of each year in the city of St. Petersburg, FL.
"Good With Me" Day has been recognized and celebrated internationally by people in over 12 foreign countries during virtual celebrations of "Good With Me" Day.
"Good With Me" Day grew into an annual "Good With Me" Festival, a co-sponsored event by the city of St. Petersburg, and a community celebration of all citizens.
AND NOW, it is more than a little girl looking at the sky and knowing there was something more. It is more than a book, a day, a festival, and a virtual celebration. It has grown into the "Good With Me" Foundation, a 501(c)(3) oeganization.
It has become a global humanitarian movement based on the premise that all people have value. It presents a revolutionary approach to improving the happiness of people throughout the world by providing a simple, practical, step-by-step solution to achieve lasting happiness from the inside out, regardless of circumstances, by recognizing their value, celebrating who they are, and living life with dignity.
The vision of the "Good With Me" Foundation is to change the way people think about themselves in order to recognize their inner value. This change then changes the way they think about others and the world. This change in thinking saves lives by reducing anger and rage, deaths from alcohol and drugs, domestic violence, violent crimes, mass shootings, and suicides.
The "Good With Me" Foundation mission is to empower all people around the world to recognize their inherent value by providing a simple, practical approach to improve quality of life by changing the way they think about themselves, to celebrate who they are, and live life with dignty, regardless of circumstances.
The "Good With Me" way teaches that the thoughts we have create our reality. It is guided by the belief that very few seem to understand that what is considered to be self-esteem has nothing to do with self and that we're teaching other-dependent esteem and wondering why we don't feel good about ourselves and others.
When the esteem we have for who we are is dependent upon someone or something outside of ourselves, it comes and goes. There's never enough validation, kudos or accomplishments to last.
Steve Jobs, the late CEO of Apple Inc, adds clarity to our guiding beliefs when he says, "Simple can be harder than complex. You have to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains."
According to founder, Patricia Noll, "Simple doesn't always mean easy, especially in the beginning when you still think it's hard."
We are guided by the importance of presenting a simple, practical, step-by-step solution to achieve our vision that every life in every community around the globe has value.
While the "Good With Me" Foundation recognizes that all people around the world have value, change happens when each person recognizes their own value.
We are guided by knowing that reaching our vision will require education, community leaders, volunteers, and donors who support the benefits of people around the world becoming "Good With Me."
The "Good With Me" Foundation believes that all people everywhere are entitled to be valued and treated with respect. When we learn to respect ourselves, we are able to respect others.
The "Good With Me" Foundation positions are based on empirical evidence and supported by scientific research that establishes you can, in fact, "teach an old dog new tricks."
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