THE POWER OF GOALS Poor sweet Eliza Doolittle, once referred to as a gutter snipe by Mr. Henry Higgins, was a woman full of goals. Eliza was nothing but an ordinary flower girl until Mr. Higgins planted an idea in her head. All Eliza wanted was to work in a flower shop instead of peddling flowers in the street. She wanted a room with a chair away from the cold night air, lots of chocolate, and a husband to take good care of her. We soon figured out that Eliza’s “Personal Integrity Account” had enough in it that she was able to march herself over to Mr. Higgins’ house and demand that he make good on what he said about passing her off as the Queen of Sheba. She had confidence and courage but at the same time when she was shown her new room she said she couldn’t stay there because it was far too good for her. Her bank wasn’t completely full.
Eliza used creative imagination to visualize the things that she wanted and the independent will to go to Mr. Higgins’ home to put the ball in motion. She had a good sense of self-awareness; she believed that with help she could one day be lady enough to sell flowers in a shop instead of on the street. Her self-awareness lacked in that she hadn’t yet accepted responsibility for her own growth and she blamed Mr. Higgins for her inability to properly say her vowels. She knew what she wanted, why she wanted to do it, and how she was going to do it in a general way and so she was able to set a midrange goal of learning to speak proper English to reach her long term goal of working in a flower shop.
I don’t think that Eliza was fully connected with her conscience. In the beginning she was driven by all the chocolates she could eat and the beautiful room that was all hers and thought less about the hard work she needed to put in to reach her mid- term goal or what reaching that goal would mean to her once she got there and how it might affect her long term goal. Mr. Higgins was something all together different. He behaved as though his “Personal Integrity Account” was full because he showed great confidence; he was educated, and accomplished. You soon figure out that he lacked self-awareness and a conscience and so his “Personal Integrity Account” was only about as full as Eliza’s though he had much bravado. Poor Ms. Pearce was the closest thing to a conscience that Mr. Higgins had.
Higgins set a specific goal. He said that in six months time he could pass Eliza off as a Duchess or the Queen of Sheba. Higgins knew the What and the How he was going to accomplish this goal but other than his ego there didn’t appear to be a Why.
His self-awareness was greatly lacking. He had no conscience, he told Eliza that if she learned to speak like a lady and behaved she would get to sleep upstairs, eat chocolates, and ride in taxis but if she misbehaved she would sleep in the kitchen and be walloped by Mrs. Pearce. According to Covey, “… we choose the best thing, for the best reason, and we plan to do it in the best way.” I don’t think having Eliza walloped was in anyone’s best interest.
His personal goal of living an ordinary life and doing what he wants without a woman around, whose heads are filled with cotton, hay, and rags by the way, seems perfectly acceptable until the introduction of Eliza into his life causes the situation to change and his integrity to be challenged.
Higgins exhibited knowledge of daily goals when he told Eliza she would learn her vowels before the end of the day but it would seem he may have set a goal that was too high and that in its self would cause both of them to lose some of the balance they had built into their “Personal Integrity Accounts.”

I feel like maybe Higgins had his ladder against the wrong wall. He seemed so focused on the single goal of parading her around in front of the King that I think he wore blinders to everything else.
Alfred Doolittle, maybe the single funniest self- deprecating character ever. His honesty about his undeserving-ness was hilarious. You would think that he had no goals but he did. Alfred wanted money that he didn’t have to work for so that he could buy beer. He wanted to be poor and undeserving so no one would expect or want anything from him. He wanted a very simplistic life, which I suppose was his long term goal.
He really had very little conscience or integrity but he had confidence and courage- that could have been the beer though.