The College Success Program

Unbelievable Opportunity for Aspiring Actors

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:43:00 +0000

Breaking News!!!

If you are someone that is pursuing a career in acting, I have some very special important info just for you.

How would you like to learn the insider secrets for REALLY breaking into show business...the smart way from someone who did it with no initial industry connections?

How would you like to cut your learning curve in half and find out exactly where the good gigs are, how to impress casting directors and how to put your best foot forward in every audition so everyone remembers YOU!

As part of my efforts to raise money to fight global poverty, I just got word that April Lee Hernandez, of the Mega Hit Showtime TV series "Dexter" has agreed to host a special teleseminar with me answering all of YOUR questions and giving you insider tips you've NEVER HEARD before on how to make it into the business.

You may remember April from her roles on the hit TV shows ER or Nurse Jackie or 30 Rock or The View or the movie "Freedom Writers" or maybe you remeber her from the Yao Ming Visa Commercial

She really believes in what we are doing to help fight global poverty and for the first time ever has agreed to share how she went from the Inner City of New York City with no connections to being part of the elite few who actually make it in Hollywood. Would you like to learn how to really make it in Hollywood the smart way? Then you have to be on this call.

If you would like to gain access to this call and ask any question you like and get her professional advice, all you have to do is donate at least $20 to my fundraiser http://www.optinnow.org/fundraisers/arel

As a thank you for your donation, I will invite you to join this exclusive call.

All donations are 100% tax deductible, so not only are you helping a good cause and saving money on your taxes, you are also going to learn how to access amazing info to sky rocket your acting career.

Please tell all of your friends who you think could benefit from this.

http://www.optinnow.org/fundraisers/arel

*The time, date and access information will be sent only to individuals who have donated. The call will take place in late February/Early March.

PS- I'm holding this call for the sake of all things good. To raise money for people in poor countries and to give you access to info to better your life. I am not making ANY profits on this whatsoever. I'm doing it solely as a way to give back to the world. I hope you will join me in my efforts

How to REALLY Keep your New Year's Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:37:00 +0000

Here we are, two weeks into the New Year and one thing I can promise you about your New Year’s resolutions:

You Have Definitely Bitten Off More Than You Can Chew!

That might seem like a bold claim considering I don’t know what your specific goals are for this year; but if you’re anything like me, when the New Year rolls around you set these really big, idealistic goals that you want to hold yourself accountable to achieving.

The thing is, holding ourselves accountable can be really, really…REALLY tough over the long run. Yes, it is possible to do it for the first week, even the first month. Take this example as evidence: every January I can barely fit into my gym because it’s so over-packed.

Yet slowly but surely it becomes less and less busy every single week. By February, the gym is back to the usually swing of things.
Now, let me be clear, I’m not wishing that you or anyone fail at staying consistent with their goals. It’s just a fact of life that most people will not… and it’s sad.

Have you ever wondered why people really fail? I put some thought into it. I don’t think it’s because we don’t really care about our goals, or that they aren’t clear enough. It’s something else.

Let’s take the gym example. During the first few weeks of January the gym is packed, then like clockwork it eventually empties. Who is usually remaining in February? Generally speaking, two types of people:

Type 1: The person who has always frequently gone to the gym.

Type 2: The person who hired a personal trainer.

Let’s examine the two types. The first type has been going all along, and keeps going. The New Year doesn’t change anything about their habits.

The second type paid to have someone hold them accountable to their goals.

Let’s look deeper into this and why it’s so powerful. Having others hold us accountable to our goals is crucially important to maintaining them over time.

Think about this: If you wanted to go running 3 miles at 6am every day, chances are eventually you will fall off because you feel tired or, it’s raining, or, [fill in the blank with whatever excuse you tell yourself]. But if you have someone waiting for you outside at 6am, you would get up even when you didn’t want to. That’s what accountability will do.

Now let’s look a little deeper.

The person who pays for a trainer will probably be there at a higher percentage than the two people who just became gym buddies. Why? There is more skin in the game. Having a gym buddy is great. If both of you are so dedicated you never bail, then chances are it will work really well.

But it’s important that both people are dedicated. If one falls off too much (or even once), you will always be able to justify your not making it…just this once. It’s infectious.
The person who pays for a trainer has a lot of skin in the game. There’s a whole lot to lose if no action is taken. If they don’t show up, they’ve lost money. And it’s the trainer’s job to show up so they always will. And the person will have to deal with the trainer calling and checking in on them, and the social pressure of letting someone else down. There’s a lot to it.

I think this concept applies to starting a business, growing a business, or whatever else your New Year’s goals may be. You have to be held accountable to your goals and you have to have skin in the game to make reaching your goals worth it.

To make accountability work, there has to be a system. Over the past few years we at Extreme Entrepreneurship have put a lot of work into researching and testing accountability methods that work. We’ve created an accountability software program for organizations to use to hold aspiring entrepreneurs accountable to successfully launching their business.

The JourneyPage Virtual Business Incubator uses a system of accountability that connects students with mentors who hold them accountable to their goals. You can see the 8 principles that make the JourneyPage system work here http://journeypage.com/philosophy.php

If you are serious about 2011 being better than 2010, you should use an accountability system to take you to the next level.

And you can hold me to that statement!

You're Awesome!
-Arel Moodie
JournePage, Virtual Business Incubator

JourneyPage is a virtual business incubator for usage inside the class to increase engagement or in the community to increase business formation www.journeypage.com

Yes, It Does Take Time

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:00:00 +0000

You’re in the home stretch. You’re almost done, and you’re just about ready to properly begin your journey to success in the most effective way possible. However, please understand that

Success is a journey, not a destination.

You will go through many failures and setbacks and at first feel like you just aren’t cut out to make it. It’s normal. Everyone reacts to change that way. You just have to walk through the fire, get over the hump, and knock down the obstacles. My mentor once told me every “overnight” success takes at least five to seven years. Most people will never see all of the hard work and self-discipline that goes into becoming someone of great substance and character, but it’s there!

You are on the journey of a lifetime, and though I may not be able to predict the length of your life, if you stay on the path you started with this blog, I’m sure you will be able to have a depth to your life many people will wish for. You are more powerful than you know, and I wish you true success and happiness in this life- time.

The ball has been passed to you now. What are you going to do with it? What specifically are you going to do RIGHT NOW that will move you toward your goals?

Make this minute Your Starting Point. Begin by applying the principles in this blog to your life until they become part of you. Your next step is to continue to invest in yourself, to learn, and to grow.

Advanced Reading

You can go to www.yourstartingpointonline.com for a list of other recommended readings as well as to sign up for our free Starting Point for Student Success newsletter to get the info you need to keep you on path during your journey.

One last thought before we go: this journey isn’t really about trying to find out who you will become. It is about discovering who you already are.

In the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

“Take the first step in faith.
You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

And Yes, It's Possible for You

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:00:00 +0000

You can do this: you can be more successful than you have ever dreamed of. It’s possible for you to achieve your goals and wildest dreams. You have to start stretching outside your comfort zone and do the things others won’t so you can have the things others don’t.

There is a great three-step process to achieving a goal that you want, and here it is:

Step 1: See someone who did it.

Step 2: Believe you can do it.

Step 3: Commit to doing it (then actually do it!).

As fitness guru Tony Little says, “See It, believe It, achieve It.”

It’s simple but powerful, as most things are in this world. Whatever another person can achieve, so can you. So if someone you admire has achieved success as a student or as a person, it’s possible for you to achieve that same or greater success. You just have to believe it’s possible. Nothing can ever happen until you can first see it in your mind. It’s called having a vision.

And finally, you must commit to doing it. How do you know you’ve truly committed to your success? It’s very simple. Your commitment to something can be measured by one thing, and one thing only: action.

Commit to your goals by taking action so you can achieve them.

The journey may not be easy and it may be long, but it will be worth doing every step of the way.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

The Tools Won't Work Unless You Use Them

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:00:00 +0000

What you’ve just read are your tools to create your starting point for student success. But the tools won’t work unless you use them. A hammer lying on the floor can’t do anything by itself, but in the right hands, it can help build a home. The hammer is useless unless it is used. That is why this blog is your starting point for success.

This blog gives you a new lens to see your life through. I hope you are ready to take the journey to success and do something every day to become better than yesterday, whether it’s reading, taking action, or stopping activities that are unproductive in your life.

And here’s another success principle you can add to your war chest:

Pareto Principle 80/20 Rule
The Pareto Principle states that roughly
80% of the effects come from 20% of the cause.

Another way to think of this is to say the results we achieve are the result of about 20% (and sometimes less!) of the stuff we do.

In our case, the 80% is you taking the time to read this blog. It has taken you time and focus to spend time learning about these life-changing pillars of success. The 20% represents your application of these principles to your life. The 20% is making that one uncomfortable phone call—it’s the action it takes to move you toward the goals you want to achieve. Just reading this books means absolutely nothing unless you actively apply the principles to your life.

This blog wasn’t created just to be a form of entertainment (however, I do hope you’ve enjoyed spending some time with me). This blog was meant to change your mindset and help you to take the necessary steps forward in life and in school, right now. If you just wanted to veg out, your time would have been better spent looking up stupid videos on YouTube.

But since you’ve come this far (assuming you just didn’t skip ahead to this part!), you are a person of action and greatness—and not of future greatness, by the way. You are great right now, in this moment. Not just great... you’re awesome!

Completing this blog serves as a milestone along your journey. It’s a point of reference so you can say: “This is my starting point. Today, I am in control of my life. Yes, I am successful. Yes, I am an awesome student. Yes, I am smart. Yes, I will start today truly living the life I know I deserve and I demand from myself.”

We started with a congratulations, and I’d like to end with one, too.

Congratulations! The real fun starts now, wherever you are in this journey called life. The satisfaction is in fulfilling your dreams, goals, and aspirations. The fun is in the work it takes to live as the true success you know you already are.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

Find a Mentor

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Finding a mentor is a huge key to success. Tapping into the brain of someone who has already been there and done that and wants to help you is an amazing way to start surrounding yourself with positive influences. Every single successful person you have ever heard of most likely had a mentor. A mentor could be a family member, a friend, teacher, or maybe even someone you have never met, but you’ve read their books before.

Mentors serve as your compass on this journey. They can see the mistakes you might make before you make them, and they can help you when you just need someone to talk to. Mentors help you become the best you that you can be.

I hope you consider me a mentor, and I’d love to help you in any way I can. Please feel free to stay in touch with me. You can find my most up to date contact information at www.arelmoodie.com.

Advanced Learning

If you want to learn a really cool technique to recruiting really successful people you have NO connections to as your mentor, go to www.yourstartingpointonline.com.

There, you will learn the same technique I learned from my mentors, neither of whom I knew before I contacted them: a millionaire and a young entrepreneur who is a best-selling author.

You will succeed or fail based on who you let into your inner circle. You will become the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Your time is the most precious asset you have because you can never get it back. Make sure you are investing your time wisely in yourself and others.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

How Do I Find the Right People to Be Around?

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Now that you have made The List and have figured out who you need to spend less time with, you may be wondering how you can find the right people to be around if they are not currently in your life. You should start looking for new people who will add value to your life and make you step out of your comfort zone to grow as a person.

So where can you find these people? Here are a few recommendations:

Fraternities/Sororities
Student Leadership Groups
Professional Associations
Orientation Leaders
Executive Boards of Student Groups
Pre-Professional Organizations

Students are told to get involved on campus for a very specific reason: because there is a correlation between students who get involved on campus and those who succeed academically and as professionals. If you are involved in a student group, take a leadership role. If you are not involved yet, get involved with something.

It doesn’t matter what you do, just do something!

A good place to start is with your interests. What is it you like to do? Another question to ask is who is the type of person you want to be? Do a Google search with that interest and the name of your city or town. Or you can go to your Student Activities Office and get a list of the organizations that exist on campus. You will be amazed at what you can find.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

Use "The List"

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Here is an action step you should take right now. This is going to be a tough one, so you may want to do it alone where you can feel safe and open with yourself and not worry about people wondering what you are writing.

Make a list of the people you spend the most time with. Next to their names, you will add a plus sign, “+,” or a minus sign, “-”. The plus sign represents people who have values similar to yours or values that motivate you to move forward in life—those people who are supportive and those you know will help you on your journey to success. They add value to your life. Put a minus sign next to those who fall under the category of EPs. These are the people who you feel aren’t helping you along your journey of success. Keep spending time with the people with pluses, and start distancing yourself from the people with minuses.

This can be very emotional and very hard to do, so I recommend doing it when you have a free afternoon or don’t have to worry about having to do anything in particular for a few hours. Again, it may be tough for you, but it will be one of the best decisions you make for your overall sanity.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

Okay, But How Do I Actually Do It?

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:00:00 +0000

There is no single way to start firing EPs from your life, but this one technique has been very helpful for many people, and I’m 100% confident it will work for you too. Instead of making it obvious you do not want to spend time with these EPs anymore (because that can be very socially awkward), simply choose to fill your time with activities that involve the people you want to be around and the activities that move you forward.

Here’s an example. You are ready to begin your journey to success, and you identify that building your leadership skills will help you in your endeavors. So you join a club that does community service on weekends. When your EPs invite you to do something wrong like drinking or smoking, you can easily say, “I’d love to, but I have to be up in the morning to go volunteer at the soup kitchen. Hey, do you want to come with me?”

One of two things will happen.

The EPs will change their attitude and want to be part of all of the new things you are doing. Or they will stop hanging around you, and you will be free. By the way, another reason you ask them to come with you is due to something called the law of reciprocity. Because you said no to them, by giving them a chance to recipro- cate and say no to you, it allows you to turn someone down with no one’s feelings getting hurt.

Deciding to fire people who are sucking the life out of you is defi- nitely not the easiest choice to make, especially when the EP in your life might be a family member or a loved one (yeah, I know that one is rough). But remember, what’s hard is often what’s the most fulfilling.

So if you find your EPs are family members, be there to support them and love them as best you can. Just share your goals and dreams with someone else.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

Liberating Yourself from Energy Parasites

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:00:00 +0000

As you begin your journey to success, you have to be around people who will support you and will move you in the right direction. As W. Clement Stone says in his book The Success System That Never Fails,

“You are subject to your environment. Therefore, select the environment that will best develop you toward your desired objective.”

What that means is you are going to have to fire some people from your life to create the best environment for your success. That may sound harsh, but it’s true, and I want to help save you years of stress, heartache, and pain. To start achieving your goals and dreams, you have to get rid of the dead weight that is going to hold you down. You have to get rid of the “friends” who will try to make you drink instead of study: those who will have you do activities that don’t represent who you are or who you want to be.

The good news is you don’t have to invite the people you will be firing from your life into a boardroom Donald Trump-style and yell, “YOU’RE FIRED!” And you don’t have to completely eliminate anyone from your life who you may truly love but now realize is toxic to your well-being.

Firing an EP does not mean you don’t love that person or think you are better than him or her. It just means that if that person wants to have a messed up life, that’s not your problem. You have complete control over who you choose to spend the most time with.

Choose to spend more of your time with people who support you and who you want to be like, and less time with EPs.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

Why People Want to Hold You Down

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:00:00 +0000

If you find someone who believes he or she is perfect and the whole world is the problem, that is a good sign you are dealing with an EP. If everywhere that person goes there is a problem, there is good chance they are actually the problem.

Have you ever seen crabs in a barrel? You can put live crabs in a bar- rel without a lid and not worry about any of the crabs escaping. Why? Because if one does try to climb out, another crab will be there to pull it back down. A lot of people are just like those crabs in the barrel. But why would someone choose to be an EP? Why would anyone want to be a crab in a barrel? Well, most of the time, EPs do not realize they are EPs.

The deep psychological reason why others hate to see you succeed is because if you succeed and they don’t, you’ll serve as a reminder about their untapped potential. You will show them they have no excuse not to succeed, and they don’t want that because it is a lot easier for them to not try and complain why they don’t have anything than it is to take action in their life. By seeing you fail, they can feel good about themselves. This is the only way for them to feel important. EPs will be your downfall if you choose to consistently subject yourself to their psychological assault.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

Beware of Energy Parasites

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:00:00 +0000

As you decide who to spend most of your time with, beware of those who will sabotage you. Right now in your life, there are people who probably are toxic to your journey toward success. I call them Energy Parasites or EPs. Every time you are around these people, they suck your energy dry. They do it through their pessimistic view of the world and their desire for their problems to be your problems.

Everything seems to always be in chaos for them, and they want to make sure you are in the same chaos. Energy Parasites are the people who are quick to shoot down your dreams and the first ones to find what’s wrong with a situation instead of what’s right. They are the people who will make you feel like you can’t accomplish your goals.

Have you ever had a friend like that? When an EP calls you, your first thought after looking at the caller ID is “Damn! I really don’t want to take this call.” Every time you share good news with an EP, he or she looks for a way to rain on your parade. Tell an EP you are excited you got a new job, and the EP says, “Well, make sure not to mess up like you did at your previous job.” No matter what is going right, an EP will find something wrong.

And the EP always wants to burden you with his or her problem, and it’s probably not even a big deal. EPs will call you crying and screaming because their shoelaces are untied! The littlest things set them off.

Who needs it?

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

The Rule of 3: You Really Only Get Up to Three Friends Wherever You Go

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:00:00 +0000

The rule of three states that in whatever situation you enter, high school, college, summer camp, a job, internship, and so forth, you’ll be lucky if you stay in touch with more than three people from that situation.

Think about it. How many people do you still keep in touch with from elementary school? Junior high school? High school? And not just a random Facebook message or saying “hi” if you happen to be in the same place at the same time, but true friends you will call on the phone to just talk with or you will plan to go somewhere with to chill outside of the normal setting in which you would ordinarily see them. If that number is really small, congratulations, you are cool.

No matter how cool or uncool we think we are, if we just have one person, just one person we connect with, then we are cool because that is as good as anyone else has it. This concept of “cool” becomes more and more a myth the older you get.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

Trying to Fit a Round Peg in a Square Hole

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Growing up, I spent too much of my time trying to fit in, trying to be someone I wasn’t. You may know what that feels like too, as I’ve found a lot of people have dealt with this challenge. I can vividly remember the night before my first day of college: I felt such trepidation and excitement about attending college. Would college finally be the answer to my prayers? Would I fit in? Would I be cool or just a loser all over again?

Sitting there in my room packing my clothes, I remember looking up and glancing at my reflection in the mirror and locking eyes with myself. I looked into my eyes and promised myself I would be willing to grow to become the man I wanted to be. And at the time, the man I wanted to be was just someone who was accepted. So whatever I had to do to be cool, I was going to do.

When I got into college, I met a group of guys who were all definitely cool and popular. I figured when you first meet people, they can’t tell if you are cool or not, so I would sneak my way in under the radar and just kind of be the satellite friend. I was lucky to have a roommate all the girls liked and all the guys wanted to be like, and he brought me along whenever he would hang out. I felt I was now cool through association.

Everything was good except for the fact that a lot of the new cool people I was hanging out with drank and smoked weed a lot. That was never my thing. I tried hanging out with them while everyone else was stoned and drunk and I was the only sober person, and I remember not wanting to seem like a loser (and thinking I needed to get messed up too because being sober and hanging around drunk people isn’t fun at all), so I decided to give in to peer pres- sure. It seemed like this was the only way to finally get what I thought I wanted, which was to be cool and have a bunch of friends.

Drinking underage and smoking weed were not things I would have been proud to tell the world I was doing. In fact, if you want the simplest way to know whether what you are doing is right or wrong, just ask yourself this simple yet powerful question:

“If what I am about to do were to be put on the front page of every newspaper and on every website for everyone and my mama to see, would I be okay with that or would I feel ashamed?”

That one question alone will completely change your life for the better, even if that is all you take from this book (remember the power of the slight edge?).

The real challenge to living a shameful lifestyle is called our conscience. It’s the little voice that helps us know what’s right and what’s wrong. I call it our “internal pitchfork.” We have an internal vibration inside of us that lets us know what is good and what is bad. And my internal pitchfork kept going off like crazy saying “WARNING, WARNING” because what I was doing was not consistent with the real image I wanted for myself.

I wanted to be cool, but I didn’t want to sacrifice my personal beliefs of what I was sure was right. My internal pitchfork kept telling me what I was doing was not right.

What’s funny is the more I tried to fit in, the more I felt like I didn’t want to fit in. I wasn’t happy. I was trying to be someone and something I wasn’t. One night when I was hanging out with everyone while they were drinking and smoking, I looked around and asked myself, “Are these the people I really want to be like?” Would I feel proud being on the front page of every newspaper showing me drinking and smoking? The answer was no.

I felt really conflicted because I wasn’t happy hanging out with the cool kids, and I wouldn’t be happy if I weren’t cool. What was I to do? I wanted to be accepted, but what I didn’t understand back then was the rule of three.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

The Proof is in the Pudding (or I guess in this case, the GPA)

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Still need some more proof you will be the average of the five people you spend the most time with? Try this little exercise on for size, and I bet you will be astounded.

Take out a piece of paper and write down the names of the five friends you spend the most time with who are students.

Find out what their GPAs are and write them next to their names.

Add up all of the GPAs, then divide that sum by five.

The result? I bet that number is right around where your GPA is.

Go ahead, test it out. This equation works with a lot of other things too. The amount of money you make is probably about the average of the five people you spend the most time with. If the five people you hang out with the most don’t take school seriously, you probably won’t take school seriously. If the five people you hang around with the most are on the dean’s list, you are probably on the dean’s list. If the five people you hang around with work out regularly, you probably work out regularly.

Your goal is to find the people on the wavelength you want to be on. You have to be true to yourself. If you are a vegan, it will be hard for you to hang with a bunch of hunters. Because eventually you would have to go out and shoot Bambi! How would you feel about yourself at that point?

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

The Fifth Pillar: The Single Most Important Determining Factor to Your Continued Success

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

“You will never catch an eagle flying with seagulls.”
-Arel Moodie

Do you want to know the single most important determining factor to your continued success in school and in life? You can have all of the ingredients to be wildly successful on the inside — all of the knowledge and skills — but this external factor could lead to more chaos and destruction than you can handle. All of the previous pillars can be destroyed if this one pillar of success is not properly attended to. The Fifth Pillar is “The Average of 5,” which states:

You are going to be the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

My best friend and former business partner Bert Gervais introduced me to the idea that if you’re hanging out with five knuckleheads, you are going to be the average knucklehead, and if you’re hanging out with five millionaires, you’re probably going to be an average millionaire. Who you spend the majority of your time with will reflect how quickly or how slowly you move toward success. The people around you will either motivate you or drag you down; they will support you or cause you to fail.

Those surrounding you will greatly influence everything you do.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

The Biggest Mistake People Will Make With the Pain-Pleasure Principle

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

But wait, what about those people who give to the point of burnout? If all I do is give and give, won’t I get worn out, tired, and stressed? As I teach in my seminar “The Secrets of Exceptional Student Leaders,” you have to make sure you are not drawing water from an empty well. To give fully, you must first have something to give. You probably have heard of the saying “It is better to give than to receive.” That saying has been altered over time from the original statement. If you trace that adage back to its origins, you’ll find the proverb actually says “It’s better to be in a position to give, than a position to receive.” Changes your whole concept of the phrase, doesn’t it?

Too much giving doesn’t make you feel bad; it’s the taking from yourself when you have nothing to give that makes you feel bad. Trying to spend five days straight with no sleep and no food so you can volunteer your time to help the homeless is noble, but foolish. You and I are humans, and we have needs that have to be met. As you start your journey to success, giving will bring you the greatest joy in the world. But the knowledge that to give, you must first have something to give is the true key to unlocking this pillar’s potential.

And while you should always give to others, be sure to give to yourself as well. Many times it’s much easier to give to others before we give to ourselves, but there is nothing selfish about making sure you are well taken care of. You are the only person responsible for yourself, as we talked about in the First Pillar. Therefore, if you haven’t joined a group or created something personally fulfilling yet, now is the time to start.

Believe me, you can contribute more to the world than you have already. It’s amazing how much we can stretch ourselves if we need to. Just remember that if you stretch a rubber band too far, it will eventually snap.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

Get in the Habit of Wanting to Help Others

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

It is a known principle of success that if you help others get what they want, you will get what you want. It starts from wanting to truly help others for the sole purpose of helping. If you want to have a really great experience in college, and not just a normal experience, you need to get involved in something. It’s not just about what the group can give you; it’s also about what you can give to it.

What will you do to make your campus and your local community better than before you attended?

Giving and helping others provides meaning in your life. If you want to know whether your life has had meaning when it’s all said and done, don’t measure it by the number of dollars in your bank account. Measure it by the number of people’s lives that are better off because you existed.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

Isolation Equals Unhappiness

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

If you have ever felt depressed or sad (and yes, we all have at some point), then you probably have isolated yourself from those around you. When you start feeling a little unhappy or you are feeling detached, you’re most likely moving away from being a part of something. Isolation can lead to depression faster than anything else. Why do you think they put the hardest of criminals in solitary confinement while they are in prison? Being lonely is akin to torture.

When we get stressed out about life, we often choose to detach ourselves from others in an attempt to feel better. However, prolonged isolation will eventually make us feel worse. It is okay to spend some time alone, and sometimes it is the best thing to do. But you must make sure you don’t spend so much time alone you forget how to function normally in society.

That is why it is so important to get involved in activities on campus. Becoming a student leader, volunteering your time, or joining a social club like a fraternity/sorority is extremely important to help you feel fulfilled and happy in your collegiate career.

You don’t have to believe me right now, but I challenge you to test me by asking a question that will prove this is true. Find someone on campus who is having a blast, who is living the best life he or she possibly can, and ask that person this question: “What groups are you involved with on campus?” I’ll bet that person rattles off an entire list of things he or she is part of on campus and in the community.

Then find someone who is having a horrible time in college and who just hates everything. Ask that person the very same question: “What groups are you involved with on campus?” I’m pretty confident that person will respond by saying he or she is not involved with anything; everything sucks, so that is why he or she doesn’t join anything.

The bottom line is this: for you to begin your journey to success in the right way, you have to feel fulfilled. You start this process by get- ting involved with groups that give back, be it through community service, fundraising, education, and the like.

Many people will agree they enjoy helping others. It is something that offers a universal feeling of true happiness. You can never get sick of seeing the joy on someone’s face that you helped; you will never have that gross feeling of eating an entire carton of cookies when you help someone. And if you have been reading this far into the book, that means you are truly dedicated to creating success and happiness in your life, so I’ll give you a bonus right now.

The secret to wealth is providing value to other people’s lives. The more value you give to others’ lives, the more you will get in return, and money will be a byproduct of the value you add to others. If you are good at making a difference, you won’t have to worry about making a dollar.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

What Is the Greatest Feeling of Happiness?

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

By definition, the greatest feeling of happiness can never make you feel bad. So the greatest pleasure that you could ever bring into your life, is not smoking, drinking, eating, or anything like that. The ultimate pleasure is being part of and contributing to a larger community, something greater than yourself.

Have you ever been to a live professional sports event, like an NFL game, before? It’s an experience like nothing else. But why in the world would anyone want to go to a game live? Think about it.

At a live game, it could be snowing wildly, causing people to huddle together freezing their tails off! But in your house, you’ve got climate control. You can make it as warm or as cool as you like. At a live game, a $2 hot dog will cost you about $8 bucks, a $1 drink might run you $10 bucks! In your house, you have a comfy couch, but at the game you are hunched over on a bleacher without proper back support. At home you get to see all the angles of the game perfectly with instant replay, and you can listen to commentators help guide you along the game. Everything you need and more is in your home... so why in the world would anyone want to actually go to a live event?!?!

It’s the energy of being there, that’s why. When you are at the game, you are surrounded by thousands of other people who are rooting for the team with you. You are part of something massive, and electricity is in the air. It’s amazing to be part of 50,000 people doing “the wave,” yelling at the opposing team, and high-fiving each other when you are winning.

When the team wins, you win, we all win. So it’s worth it. It’s worth the long drive, the cold, the overpriced ticket, and the overpriced food. It’s all worth it to be there live, part of a larger community.

This applies on a larger and smaller level too. Would you want to play and win the championship game with none of your family or friends with you, or would you rather win the championship game with all of your closest family members and friends in the audience rooting you on? That’s a no-brainer, isn’t it? We all have a unique desire and want to share our experiences with those around us. We are social creatures by nature.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

Whoa! Slow Down and Don't Get it Twisted

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

So you may be saying to yourself right now, “SWEET! He just said happiness is the best thing, and feeling good is what it’s all about. Awesome! I’m going to go drink, smoke, and party like a rock star! WOOOO! Yeah, this book has given me the excuse I needed to act a fool.”

Let’s be clear: that is NOT what I’m saying. Let me repeat that: it is not what I’m saying at all.

The problem most people face, unfortunately, is they have a false understanding of what true happiness is. The problem is most people don’t find happiness in things that temporarily make us feel good but that are extremely destructive in the long term.

If I eat one cookie, it makes me happy. Yes, I believe in healthy living, but I love me a cookie every now and again... especially those Thin Mints the Girl Scouts sell. Mmmm. (Sorry, I got lost in a memory.)

But have you ever eaten an entire package of cookies? They may taste good going down, but you probably felt pretty gross afterwards. You can only eat but so many cookies before you hit the coma-inducing “I Can’t Eat One More Cookie” point. So clearly something like junk food can’t bring ultimate happiness, even though in the short term it makes us feel good.

Other people searching for happiness turn to drugs and alcohol. In the short term, these drugs seem desirable because of the temporary euphoric feeling they give their users. But any rational person can see the horrific effects these drugs have on the human body and mind over time. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a crackhead I wanted to be like. I’ve never seen an alcoholic I would want to model. Over time, drugs and alcohol literally destroy our bodies and minds, so using these false stimulants cannot be the greatest happiness.

A physical pleasure cannot be the greatest form of happiness.

And yes, that includes ALL forms of physical pleasure (I think you know where I’m going with this).

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

You Don't Really Want the Car and the Money (HUH!?!)

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

If I said I were taking you to a car dealership right now to buy you any car you wanted and it won’t cost you a dime, you’d probably be okay with that. But the truth is you really don’t want the car. If I said I were going to give you a million dollars, you’d probably be pretty okay with that too. But you really don’t want the money.

Now before you write me off as crazy, hear me out. You don’t want a million dollars. Why would anybody just want a stack of green paper with pictures of dead presidents on them? But that stack of green paper can buy you a lot of nice things, can help your family live a better life, can help you attain your dreams and goals, and it can help you better the world.

What money BUYS is the “why” you want it.

In Tony Robbins’ course Get the Edge, he explains we really don’t want any of the things we think we want. What we really want is the feeling those things will give us. Why do you want that brand new dream car? Because it will give you status and make you feel really cool. Why do you want more money? Because it will make you feel free and successful. So what we are truly going after is never the thing, but the feeling that thing will give us.

Our ultimate goal is to improve our emotional state to simply feel better.

Our mind connects having that new car with feeling successful. So what drives us is the feeling we attach to things, not necessarily the things themselves. We condition ourselves to believe we first must have X before we can feel Y. In other words, once I have a million dollars, then I will feel like my life has worth. It’s not the money we really want but the feeling of worthiness (by the way, to build a strong self-worth reread The Second Pillar.)

Are you getting this? Our goal is to start creating as much joy as we can in our lives.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

The Fourth Pillar: The Mystery Behind What Drives All of Our Actions

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

We are all unique and different in so many ways, but this next principle is what unites all of us. Regardless of what religion you are, where you were born, your skin color, height, weight, or gender, this principle is the driving factor in all of us. It is the one thing that guides every decision we make, whether it’s done consciously or subconsciously.

This universal attribute is known as the Pleasure-Pain Principle. What the principle states is:

Everything we do is either to move toward

things that make us feel good

or away from things that make us feel bad.

We’ll start with a very simple example of the principle, and then we’ll go into much deeper levels of how it applies to you and the choices you make. We all want happiness in our lives, so if we were hungry and saw a delicious, free sandwich, we would move toward it. Hunger makes us unhappy; therefore, a tasty sandwich would satiate us, and that would make us happy.

On the flip side, we all want to avoid things that make us feel bad (pain). If a crazy man wearing a hockey mask swinging a chainsaw were running in your direction, you would move away from him, right? I should hope so! No rocket science yet right?

Well, don’t worry, it doesn’t get that much more complicated. Every single one of us wants to feel good. It’s as basic as that. We take actions and make decisions because we hope they will bring us toward pleasure or away from pain. So our decision making process is based on what makes us feel good.

But the funny thing about it is we expect things to give us the most happiness. Where did we get that idea? Because you know what? All the things you want in life... you really don’t want them.

Could everything you thought you knew be wrong?

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.

Putting It All Together

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

So here is how you will set and reach more goals than ever before:

First, know what you want. What is the goal you want to achieve?

Set a deadline.

Know why you want the goal and what the motivation behind achieving this goal is.

Use reverse engineering to start at the end goal and work your way back to where you are today, setting up mini-deadlines to achieve the goal.

Determine what the toughest part about your project is and tackle that first before anything else.

If you find yourself not knowing what or how to do something, seek the advice of people who know what they are doing and ask for help

Know that the conditions do not have to be perfect before you start.

And then actually do the work!

Secret #8: Avoid Analysis Paralysis

noreply@blogger.com (Arel Moodie) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Analysis paralysis is a huge mistake many students make that stops them from achieving what they want. Analysis Paralysis happens when people spend so much time waiting for the perfect time to do something they never actually do it! There is always something else to research or something you’re not 100% comfortable with yet. No matter how much planning and research we do on anything, we will never know everything about it—that’s literally impossible.

Don’t get me wrong—research and planning is crucial for your preparation to success, but taking action is what will actually make you successful.

You can read every book on how to swing a baseball bat, watch every baseball game, study videotapes of a home run hitter’s swing broken down frame-by-frame, and it won’t mean anything until you actually get up to the plate and swing at a few pitches. The late

business guru David Sandler really summed it up with one of his book titles: You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar. One step in the right direction is more valuable than years of thinking about it. This means if you want to be a leader, you need actual experience leading. No matter how much preparation you do, you won’t be good at it until you actually do it.

So whatever it is you want, ready or not (the truth is we never truly feel ready), go after it. You’ll learn a lot more from doing, failing, and regrouping than from just thinking about it.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.