Reflections on a historical night

As the phone calls and text messages came pouring in shouting in victory of what is truly an amazing night in history. I feel myself impacted in a way that is somewhat hard to explain. I'm sure just like you, there is a feeling coming over you right now. I feeling of hope, a feeling of what will be able to be accomplished and seen in our lifetimes.
Think about it, we were all alive before the Internet, text messages, cell phones, facebook, and many of the things that have become part of our daily activities that are now common place to so many.

Now we are all around to experience the first president of color take the most coveted position in America.

I have one important message to leave you with as you high-five your neighbors and do the running man cabbage patch victory dance (don't act like you didn't do a jig).

The worst thing about success is a little bit. My biggest fear is that too many people will feel like, yes we made it, we have succeeded and then think the real work is done. What is the worse thing for us to do right now as a people is to feel like "We made it". The truth is, now is the most important time for us to look deep within ourselves and start taking the action that we know we should be taking to better our lives and our country.

What do I mean the worst thing about success is a little bit? What I mean is that so many times when the first sign of success hits, we want to bask in all of its glory. We want to kick back and marvel at what has happened. Yes this has its time and place but when you rest too much, and get too lazy that is when you lose your edge and begin to live in a habit of failure. It's easy to fall back into old habits and it's hard to stay consistent with positive change when the old habits seem so appealing and "easy". It may be easy, but trust me it is not fulfilling.

One thing I bet, is that you won't see Obama letting up, he will move forward and keep his presence and his message strong. I ask that you do the same. If you are reading this right now, I believe it is for a reason, I believe that there is something great inside of you that you feel swelling up. Don't rest, don't ignore it, don't sit back too much and watch. Stand up, make this upcoming year, this upcoming month, this upcoming day the most important of your life so far. Live every day knowing that you have the power of unlimited potential in you.

So...how will you be remembered?

Getting back into the swing of things

Will you stop putting that off already!?!


So, if you started reading my blog posts awhile back you might have noticed that it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. And it made me realize something about consistency and how we go about doing things in our lives.

I once heard that we actually don’t forget to do things, we don’t want to do them, and that’s why we forget.

I have something to admit, I don’t enjoy the writing process that much.
I LOVE speaking, just ask anyone who has ever seen me at one of my speaking engagements (done over 300 so far) that when I get into a groove I can talk for hours (and sometimes I do!). But when it comes to writing, I really don’t like to do it.

There is some kind of disconnect between my brain and my fingertips, I think the synapses in my brain can only reach to my lips, but not all the way down to my fingers, that’s what I’m hoping my chiropractor will help with, among many other things :)

But I find something to be very interesting, that once I get over the initial hurdle of writing, I actually really like it. I feel this tunnel vision come over me and I just start going… and keep going . It’s not always good, but at least I’m doing it.

Then I started thinking about other things in life that are similar to this. I don’t enjoy the act of working out too much, especially since I started doing the H.I.T workout . So I think about going to the gym and I wince, but once I’m in the gym, I feel like staying there forever. Just one more set, let me do just 10 more push ups etc.


So here’s my belief. Most things that we know we can do, but we don’t love to do seem a lot scarier in our minds than in actuality. The fear of going to your professor for help when you are falling behind is a lot less scary than the actual act of talking with him. The fear of asking out that special someone is a lot scarier than the actual act of asking.

So here’s what I want you to do. Think about that thing that you know you have been putting off because it seems like a HUGE daunting task. You know what I’m talking about. That thing that you have already started but is just sitting there unfinished waiting for your kind return. And promise to stop worrying about the anticipation and get it done.

But here’s the deal, if you really want to get back into the swing of things, tell a friend, you can even tell me (just send me a FB message and I’ll hold you accountable, for real, test me). Because there is absolutely nothing more important than accountability (The explanation of why accountability is the ONLY real way to get things done will be for next time, and trust me you will want to read this next post)

And please leave some comments below on your thoughts on the following statement, “we actually don’t forget to do things, we don’t want to do them, and that’s why we forget.”


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It's my life's purpose to make the lives of others better and more richer. That why I created The College Success Program, the most complete event existing today to help college students succeed in life and in school. Help bring CSP to your school by Clicking Here

Getting comfortable with yourself and having a paradigm shift

The Little Known Secret of the Successful

I heard of this amazing concept the other day and it has just stuck in my head since I’ve learned it so I wanted to share it with you.

So I heard this very interesting concept about what separates successful people from everyone else. Is it some magic skill or gift from birth? Nope. It actually is so simple you might not believe me. It’s called the “slight edge”.

What makes us successful is not the HUGE once in awhile things we do, but the little consistent things we do everyday. Think about it for a second, I want you to really think about this.

There is no one action you could do ONLY ONCE that would make you successful. But one small action done over and over again definitely can lead to success.

The real secret to continued success is to get in the habit of doing successful activities daily. And don’t make it big things. When we make it to big then it seems like a huge task/burden and we don’t do it.

Here’s a personal example. Awhile back I wanted to get back into great shape. And with my busy travel schedule, it’s really hard to hit the gym as consistently as I want. So I made a goal of every day doing just 10 pushups as soon as I woke up. No matter what, just 10 pushups so if I didn’t hit the gym that day at least I got something in. I mean that’s not hard to do right? Well with little extra effort I’m up to 100 pushups in the morning and to be honest with you it never really seemed hard to get to.

By just doing one simple thing everyday over time will give you the slight edge in success. To really understand the power of the slight edge, Jeff Olson broke the math down like this: If you were only to improve 3/10 of one percent a day, a very Slight Edge-and you kept that up for the next five years, here's what would happen to you:

The first year, you would improve 100 percent (you would already be twice what you are today The second, you would improve 200 percent. The third year, 400 percent. And the fourth, 800 percent. And by the end of year five-by simply improving 3/10 of one percent each day-you will have magnified your value, your skills, and the results you accomplished 1,600 percent. That's 22 times more than you are today.
So how does this apply to you? Think about what you want to obtain, in school, your professional life, relationships etc. And think about one so simple, so easy, so quick, that you wouldn’t even think it was a big deal but would move you toward some of your goals.

Some examples could be 1. Reading 10 pages of your textbook every day 2. Drinking 8 glasses of water 3. Write in your journal for 5 minutes. 4. Calling one person a day to say hi… it could be anything


My company delivers the necessary principles of success to change the mindsets of how students approach school and their lives. We help students understand their life's biggest goals and how to obtain through the College Success Program
The most complete event existing today to help college students succeed in life and in college but most importantly find their purpose before graduating. Could one event completely change your life the better? Find out at www.arelmoodie.com

This inspired me...

So I was watching the Democratic National Convention last night (two quick side notes, I have never really cared about politics until this election, I think this election really is bringing younger people into politics and two the picture quality of the online stream from was insanely crystal clear, I was really amazed).

Okay I’m back from my digression. I was watching the convention to hear Michelle Obama. I was really interested to know what she had to say and more about her. As she finished her speech, which was very very good, I youtubed Barack Obama’s 2004 Convention Keynote. That speech really inspired me.

What I took away from it and what I want to share with you is the idea of what greatness means for you. We all have goals and things we want to achieve, but are they great? Are they worthy of us? It’s real easy to get blinded by the daily tasks that we have to do and forget about the bigger picture. What are our lives really about? That purpose, that driving force in you that will make you get up when you are down. That will make you walk over broken glass and then swim in a pool of alcohol. That drive. That feeling that will make you move ferociously toward your goals.

What are you doing? What are you waiting for? What are you letting stop you? If a “skinny boy with a funny name” can go from absolutely nowhere to the next possible president, what can you achieve?

And here’s a little insight for you to sit and think about. Do you want to know why people fail in life? It’s not because they aim to high and miss, it’s because they aim too low and hit it! (take a second to think about that line again). Think and act big. However here is my one caveat. This is the point that most people miss. Celebrate the journey.

The problem with big goals is that, at points the journey there will be hard. And you will fail a lot, it’s normal. But if you don’t celebrate the journey, if you don’t acknowledge what you have achieved, your goal will beat you down because “you’re not there yet”. You’ll always focus on what you don’t have and what your missing instead of realizing what you’ve already accomplished.
Set big goals, think big, take action, celebrate the journey. That’s It. You’re Awesome

Your Action Step:
Acknowledge where you were last year today to where you are this year today. Notice what you are proud that you’ve done and what you need to work harder doing. Enjoy the journey

My company delivers the necessary principles of success to change the mindsets of how students approach school and their lives. We help students understand their life's biggest goals and how to obtain through the College Success Program
The most complete event existing today to help college students succeed in life and in college but most importantly find their purpose before graduating. Could one event completely change your life the better? Find out at www.arelmoodie.com

Completing a Life's Goal...

What is something you've ALWAYS wanted to do?

The plane takes off and starts creeping skyward a few hundred feet per minute. The higher I get the more everything below looks surreal. When we get to the point where cars can’t even be seen, I know that we are at the point of no return, and that’s when Juliano says, “5,000 feet, we still got 5,000 more to go” I’m thinking WTF, we are going higher than this!?!?!?! The plane gets to the highest point and reality is really starting to sink in when the plane door unexpectedly flies open and the wind is whipping into the plane like a screaming banshee and then the unthinkable happens…

Whoa whoa whoa, let me back up. I think I’m getting ahead of myself. Like you, there are things that I want to do in my life time to make sure I live life to the fullest. After following my own advice some time ago, I made a list of all things I want to Be, Do, and Have. Making that list was really exciting for me and what has been more exciting is being able to cross things off of the list (YES!)

I’ve always wanted to go skydiving, but really never thought I would actually do it. It was always one of those “Yeah, I should do that someday” However last time I checked someday is not a day of the week! The thrill of conquering the fear of falling. knowing that I looking potential death in the face has been on my list of things to do since I was a small boy (some people might think this to be crazy, be hey, what are you gonna do?). But actually when I would do it never really struck me.

At the beginning of the summer I was looking at my list and then the thought struck me, what am I waiting for? What is stopping me from doing this now? Well, where would I go, how much would it cost, could I get others to go with me? (Trust me, not something you want to do alone, it’s a group outing) Well with some help I was able to answer all of the above questions in about 1 hour. This again proves to me that the things we procrastinate on the most because they will take so long really aren’t that bad.

With all things lined up, I had my two best friends and my brother committing to jump out of a plane with me. Some of the best guys in my life right now. Is this really happening?

Fast forward to the door swinging open. My legs get sucked out of the airplane and get pressed up against the side of the plane. Without any 1-2-3 JUMP or anything, Juliano, my skydiving instructor, pushes me out of the plane and I commence to scream like Michael Jackson. After doing a few flips in the air I was able to orientate myself and feel the amazing rush and beauty of the world from a perspective I have never had before. There really is no way to explain the feeling of free falling at over 350 mph. It’s intense.

The whole time I was trying to think of the most profound life changing thoughts but all I could think or say was “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
Then the parachute opens and I realize where I am, in mid air floating and drifting in the beautiful sky.

And that is when the epiphany hit me. Sometimes life isn’t about the planning or saying the right words or being perfect in action, life is just about committing and then making the jump. Sometimes things can’t be put into words because words are too limiting to express them fully. But when you feel it, you know it’s amazingly awesome. And I can rest assure knowing that I will never be one of those people who said “You know I always wanted to go sky diving”. By far regret is the heaviest weight to bear.

I’d like to challenge you to think of something that you’ve always wanted to do in your life and commit to doing it this year. And when, not if, but when you do it, just experience it and let it soak in.

Life really is beautiful.



My company delivers the necessary principles of success to change the mindsets of how students approach school and their lives. We help students understand their life's biggest goals and how to obtain through the College Success Program
The most complete event existing today to help college students succeed in life and in college but most importantly find their purpose before graduating. Could one event completely change your life the better? Find out at www.arelmoodie.com

You Can't Control the Outcomes, Just Your Behavior

So I don’t know about you but sometimes I can get frustrated in certain areas of my life when things don’t go “according to plan.” Can you think of a time when things didn’t turn out exactly how you expected? I’m sure you can think of many.
So what happens? You do something expecting a certain outcome and then BAM, not what you want, and then you get messed up. We all know we are suppose to “bounce back”, how does the old adage go, “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again” right? But what is the truth?

When you don’t succeed it takes some wind out of your sails and you have to regroup. So what happens you start getting less and less productive and then you find yourself in the vicious cycle of feeling like you are not productive and becoming unhappy.

Here is the secret to overcoming that wind that gets taken out of your sails. You have to understand that you cannot control the outcome of anything; all you can control is your behavior. Before you say yeah, yeah, I know that, take a minute to really think about what this means, it could be the most important thing you do today toward your life… You cannot control the outcomes, you can just control your behaviors.

So what does that mean? Well let’s say you want to ask out that special someone. You can’t make them say yes. All you can control is asking. If you ever had to do sales, you can’t control whether your potential customer will buy your product/service. All you can control is how you present what you have.

When you focus just on the outcome, you get caught up, lose motivation and then when things don’t go your way you might say “Well, I guess I’m not just cut out for this” That’s bull doo-doo. You are awesome!

Okay now what? This is why this is so important. When we go through fixated on controlling the outcome we lose site of what we really have control over. Our behaviors. So the best way to move toward your success is to focus on what specific behaviors you have to do every day to help move you toward your goals. If you study any successful person, there’s a good chance they do certain things everyday that moves them toward their specific goals. They don’t succeed every time but they do these activities, whether it be exercising, making cold calls, studying. It has to be a commitment to yourself.

It’s much better to do a little everyday consistently then to do a lot once in awhile. The first thing to know is exactly WHAT you should be doing everyday and then do it. With my program, the College Success Program, we focus on exactly what makes a student successful and what steps they need to be taking daily to ensure victory in college. You have to figure out what is right for you.

Since it’s still the summer, how do you apply what you want to do when you don’t have a test to study for or paper to write?

Here’s your Action Step Assignment:
Think about the goal that you really want to achieve right now. What consistent steps can you take every day no matter what to reach those goals? For example, if you want to lose weight but hate working out, Commit to doing 20 pushups everyday and eating at least one carrot. That’s it. If you commit to doing those little steps, you will get in great shape and lose weight (the real key is that once it becomes a habit you want to do more…and even if you fall off the horse, you know you still did your daily commitment to yourself). So go ahead, think about what success step you need to take daily. Do it, and focus on your behavior not on the outcome. And of course WRITE IT DOWN in your calendar!

My company delivers the necessary principles of success to change the mindsets of how students approach school and their lives. We help students find their purpose with the College Success Program
The most complete event existing today to help college students succeed in life and in college. Could one event completely change your life the better? Find out at www.arelmoodie.com

Why Bad Things Happen to Good People?

The Question: Why does bad things happen to good people?

This story might help shed some light on the answer.

So there once was this really rich king who lived a long time ago. He spent his entire life living a life a luxury. One day something horrible happened to him and he couldn't figure out what he had done to deserve it.

Needing answers, he went far and wide to find the wisest sage to discover the answer.

He came across a humble farmer who was known as the most brilliant man in the land. He told him about his tragedy and asked him the question "Why does bad things happen to good people? and all the man replied was, "Have you ever made bread before?"

Now the king was a little taken back by the question because 1. a king would never do such a menial thing as make bread and 2. it had absolutely nothing to do with the king's question... or so he thought

The farmer said, I will give you the answer you seek, but first to get the answer you must help me make some bread.

The king was willing to pay any price to find out the answer so he thought, if all I have to do is help him make bread, I'll gladly do that to find out such a meaningful answer.

(Mind you, the king has never done any type of farm work or any laborious work ever, so everything about farming was new to him.)

So this is what preceded to happen...
1. The farmer shows the king a beautiful field then thrashes it with a rake to aerate the soil.
The king freaks out, "What are you doing!?!?! that was a beautiful field why would you smash it up like that?"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

2. After the farmer is done beating up the soil, he then starts pouring water all over it.
The king yells, what are you doing!?!?! Now you are turning this great earth into a soggy mess!!!
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

3. Then the farmer takes out a beautiful burlap sack filled with perfect looking seeds. The king sees this and thinks it looks beautiful.
The farmer then takes many handfuls of the seed and throws them, scattering all of the seeds all over the land.
The kings says "WHOA! why would you just throw away all of that good seed? What's wrong with you?"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

Then a few weeks go by and the king gets nothing else out of the farmer and is just completely confused by why the farmer would do such horrible things to his land.
Then the farmer takes the king to the field so that he can see how beautiful the grain has grown. So the king thinks he finally gets it, he thinks to himself "Oh, so we did all of that crazy stuff to get this beautiful field of grain.

4. Just then the farmer takes out his sharp scythe and begins to cut down all of the crop that just took so long to grow.
The king is now convinced the farmer is completely nuts. The king says "Okay I thought I got it, but why cut down what took so long to grow?"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

5. Then the farmer bundled up all grain into nice piles and then began to run a course sled over the grain separating the top of the grain from the long stem.
The king says, "Wait, you put it all into nice piles just to separate them like that so roughly?"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

6. Then the farmer took his pitch fork and picked up the grass and threw it into the air. The long stems blew away and the grain fell. The king was perplexed, "So now you are throwing away all of that crop to keep just that little bit on the top?!?!!"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

7. Then the farmer took the grain and began grinding it down into a fine powder.
The king FLIPPED! "why crush the grain like that? it has taken us so long to cultivate it"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

8. Now the farmer begins to add water and other strange ingredients to make some weird mixture turning the grain into a doughy gross feeling thing. The king is disgusted and confused and before he can open his mouth to say anything the farmer says "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

9. Then the farmer takes this mixture and heads to throw it in the oven. The kings screams, "NOOO, you are going to destroy weeks worth of work by putting it in that fire!"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

Finally, the farmer opens the oven door to show the most delicious looking loaf of bread the king has ever laid eyes on and then says to the king.

"We go through life not truly understanding why things happen the way they do. Life seems to thrash us, break us down, smother us, and when we finally think we have figured it all out we get cut down, separated from ourselves, ground up, turned into mush then subjected to the fire. But we have to have faith that the Man in charge knows what He is doing. So when bad things happen, you may not know why at first, but in the end know that it is going to be okay and it is for the best"







My company Arel Moodie International (AMI) delivers the necessary principles of success to change the mindsets of how students approach school and their lives. We are proud to bring you the College Success Program
The most complete event existing today to help college students succeed in life and in college. Could one event completely change your life the better? Find out at www.arelmoodie.com

The power practice of focus...this is tough

So I don't know if you are like me, (I'm thinking we are similar if you are reading this) but I always have about 30 billion thoughts going through my head at one time. I'm thinking about a movie I just saw or I have a song stuck in my head (currently it's Moving Mountain by Usher) or what next project I have to do or my to do list tasks, I mean the list just goes on and on.

So focusing has always been one of my biggest challenges. It's hard for me to focus on the task at hand.

So I tried something really new to me, I tried meditating. And let me tell you, it was a HUGE challenge

I went out to a national park near my house and went to a wooded area and picked one spot on a branch of a tree and focused on it. I've been told to focus on a flame or what have you but I liked the nature feel. The goal is to stare at one spot and make that your total focus and block out all thoughts that come into your mind. Just be there with out being there, make sense?

Well for the first 30 seconds I felt like I had it, then as if of no control of my own thoughts just starting jumping at me and I had to make a huge effort to cancel them out.

The funny thing that happened was that after about 30 minutes of this I felt a calm come over me, I was able to focus for a good portion and then when I came out of it I really felt peaceful and "still".

So I challenge you to spend 20 minutes sitting in a room and trying to block out any thoughts, just think nothing. See how you feel, it's really hard to put into words but I kind of digged it a lot. I am clearly not a mediation guru but after just doing it once I can appreciate what meditation has to offer.

Use "Blocking" to Take Back Control of Your Day

Let me ask you a few questions...

Do you feel like there is never enough time in the day?

Do you feel like you have a million things running on in your head and it's stressing you out?

Do you feel like you have so much to do, but at the end of the day you feel like you haven't accomplished anything?

Well, the good news is that you are not alone and the better news is that there is a simple and EXTREMELY effective technique you can use that will get you back in the control of your life. (You're gonna show life who's boss!) I've adapted this concept from Tony Robbins, he is da' man.

Here is the 3 Step Formula
1. Change your perception from what you have to "do" to what you want your outcome to be. This alone instantly changes how you will perceive the task at hand.
2. Block similar things together
3. Block out distractions

Step 1.
When you think of all of the million of things you have to do, it will freak you out! Honestly, who likes doing research? or other tedious jobs. If you think about it as just the tedious job at hand, you'll likely want to punch yourself in the left nostril. But if you focus on what doing that tedious job will get you (finished project, more money, etc) it becomes much more exciting.

Step 2.
So this is what you do, think about ALL of the things that you need to accomplish right now. Yeah, this is probably going to be frustrating to see ALL OF THE THINGS you have to do.

But you'll probably notice multiple things that all focus under a similar category. Such as a particular topic, phone calls, emails, etc. Put all of the things that are similar together. Why? Because the first thing doing this does is that it puts everything under one block so it seems less daunting. The second thing, it allow you to focus on the main task at hand and move forward. For Example, if you had to apply for an internship, work on your resume, & send follow up emails. All of that would fall under the block of "Getting the Experience I need to get my dream job" Doesn't that sound more exciting?

Step 3.
Block out distractions. What this means is YOU MUST LOG OUT OF FACEBOOK! you must turn off your email (unless it is your task at hand), you must not have YouTube open, you must turn the TV off, you most remove all distractions while you are doing your Blocking. Trust me, nothing beats pure focus.

Try it out and let me know how it works for you :)

Arel Moodie is the founder of Arel Moodie International (AMI) which created The College Success Program, The most complete program out there to help students succeed in college and in life. Programs focusing on students of color and men of color in higher education, it's about time this was created.

The Best Peice of Advice That You Can Get...

I was on the phone with a friend from college, Adam Gilbert, and we were talking about a current project that I'm developing for my speaking company. While we were talking he said something that I've heard many times before, but I think it sunk in with me a little deeper than usual, and I probably needed to hear it again.

Here's the advice, it comes in many forms and has been at times overused but spend some time to reflect on what I'm about to say.

It's safe to say that if you are reading this you are serious about taking control of your life and reaching certain levels of success. I'm sure you read a lot of self-help books, (you've probably bought a bunch of books that you haven't opened yet and are sitting on your book shelf collecting dust, we all have done this, there's a reason people say "Shelf-help", don't feel too bad as long as you commit right now to opening one up and finishing it!) and you've probably seen movies like "The Secret".

The best piece of advice is this, you really won't ever become successful if you try to be someone you are not. Being authenticate or being yourself is the best piece of advice out there. Now before you say the four most dangerous words in the English language "I already know that" (I'll touch upon why this is the WORST sentence in the English language on a later post) think about this.

Success is a recipe, yes. This is true, to be successful you just have to do what other successful people do and you will get there. (Most of us are following habits of really unsuccessful people unknowingly). However for you to really get to that "level" that I know you want to reach, you have to let your own voice and personality shine through. I know, I've read hundreds of books and sometimes I find myself wanting to be like the people I read about so much that I start losing myself. I so badly want to "make it" that I'm willing to sacrifice, study, learn, grow, but the key, the real key to sealing the deal is to use the information you learn to be more of who you are. Not to change, but to become more of who you are.

So as you are going through this journey (it never really ends) pick up things here and there that you like from others, learn skills and habits that will propel you forward, but make sure you are being yourself. I think the true balance is when you can stretch your comfort zones, feel uncomfortable, but know you are doing it your way. There is nothing, I repeat NOTHING more freeing than spending every second of your life being who you really are and not pretending for others (read my post, "The Rule of 3", if you need more clarification on why.)

So here's your action step. For the next two minutes (we all have two minutes), do not check your email, facebook notes or anything. Just be quiet with yourself and ask yourself: "Am I living my life the way I want to, saying how I feel and feeling free, really living genuinely to my core principles?" Sometimes the answer is not as important as the question itself.

"Be Yourself, Because Everyone Else Is Taken"
Visit Arel at www.arelmoodie.com
What is CSP?

You only have two choices when you wake up everyday...

Every morning when we wake up, we have two choices to make, and no I'm not referring to "hit the snooze button or not hit the snooze button".

I'm referring to how you start you day and really how you live your life.

So what are the two choices? It's actually not as mysterious as you may think, but unfortunately it's quite overlooked and not paid attention to as much as it should be.

So here it is, when you wake up you can either choose to feel happy or feel sad...
Think about it, when the alarm clock rings and you have to get up and face the day you can either say to yourself "This is going to be a great day!" or you can say "DAMN! Why did this alarm clock have to mess up my sleep, I hate waking up, I just want to stay in bed".

So if it is that simple why don't we all just make the decision to be happy first thing in the morning. Well there is a couple reasons I can think of, not including lack of sleep, most anyone who only sleeps for 2 hours might be a bit grumpy.

You are not looking forward to the day you are about to go to. Now you may not be in complete control of what you are about to do, but you do have full control over how you look at what you have to do. Look at today as a challenge to live the best day yet, yes even if you have to go to a job you hate or whatever. Look at the fact that you are lucky enough to wake up... a lot of people dont have that opportunity. My dad always told me, everyday when you aren't outlined in white chalk is a good day.

So here is your action step for tomorrow morning. Wake up and clap your hands and say something like "Today is going to be an awesome day!". And then plan one nice thing you want to do for someone, call a friend, write a hand-written note to someone. Get a bowl of ice cream to treat yourself. Look forward to that one thing and be grateful you have another day...word. So we only have two choices, how do you choose to live your life?

The Rule of 3

So I was speaking with a friend of mine from high school the other day and I had an a-ha moment.

He was one of my first friends from high school, we actually met the first day of school. As we were catching up it hit me like a Kimbo Slice punch (MMA reference here, youtube him to see what I mean).

So do this right now, think of how many people you still talk to from your high school...go ahead I'll wait.

Okay, now that it is the summer time, how many people are you REALLY going to call/hang out with from your college (or if you have graduated, how many people do you still stay in close touch with it?)

So your answer is what I call the Rule of 3. No matter what arena you are in or leave, you really only leave with between 1-3 friends.

Think about it, out of all the people you would say hello to in passing and hang out with in school, you will probably leave anywhere with at most 3 close friends.

So what does that mean? The concept of having to be "cool" or "fit in" really is a myth. There really is no cool as long as you have at least one other person to play Xbox with or shoot some hoops with on a Sunday.

Many times we try so hard to fit in and be accepted that we sometimes catch ourselves doing things that we don't need to (think about the 21 shots you took on your birthday) because it is seen as "cool".

When you can break free from that need to fit in and have others like you, you really start mastering your life. I once heard Dr. Demartini. say that when the voice from within is stronger and more pronounced then the voices around you, you have mastered your life. Take a second to read the aforementioned line again.

I know I was there, I was never really the "cool" kid, but I tried really hard to satellite around them, until I let that go and really appreciated those who are close to me and I genuinely enjoy. I kept trying to be someone and something I was not. Once I really started truly being me, my life became so much more freeing.

So here is your action steps, think of the 1-3 people that you really consider to be your good friends. Pick up the phone right now, yes RIGHT NOW! and call them and just say something to the effect of "I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate all that you have done for me in my life and who you are to me, and I just wanted to say thanks for that, it means a lot to me" If you do this your friendship with that person will automatically triple in one phone call.

Action step two, if you are feeling down and out because you think you don't "Fit In". The good news is that you can finally let that go, because now you realize along as you have one friend, then you are cool.

First new post for my new blog

So this is the first blog posting for my college success program blog.

I never really got into blogging before but I realize how much fun writing can be when you are actually writing about stuff that really interests you.

This blog is intended for college students, administrators and professors to use as a resource for creating success in college.

Now am I aware that today is June 2nd which means most colleges have already finished their Spring semester, but you know what, that leads into my first blog entry

There is never a perfect time to start!

I thought it would be appropriate to start off like this because one challenge I know a lot of us deal with is "timing". I have to make sure the timing is right before I do something, anything. You know what I'm talking about, I'll start planning my career later, I'm just a (fill in the blank excuse you would use) I don't have to worry about that stuff now.


What I've seen happen is too many people think like that and then all of a sudden find themselves 50 years old looking around asking themselves "how the heck did I get here, I haven't accomplished anything with my life". What's funny is that this used to be a "Mid-life crisis" thing but now I'm sure you've heard of the "Quarter-Life Crisis" which basically means those under the age 25 freeking out about what to do with their lives.

So here is the advice. If you do this next exercise, congrats you are part of the 2% that actually take action. Go ahead and grab a piece of paper, write the biggest thing that you've been procrastinating on doing. Break it down to as many small chunks as you can and get 'er done!