Less is More

Taking action toward your goals in school and in life every single day will be the difference between actually creating the life you want and just dreaming about it. The problem most people face is they stop taking action before they achieve their goals, or they quit soon after starting because they’ve lost the motivation to continue.

It happens every year, all over the country, right around January 1st. Does the term New Year’s Resolution ring a bell? I once heard top-selling author and motivational speaker Tony Robbins break it downperfectly. He mentions how people say to themselves that every single morning, they are “gunna” wake up at 5 am and run three miles.

So here’s what happens. The first morning, they get up, jump out of bed at 5 am, and run like they are training for the Olympics! They start telling everybody they see about their “accomplishment” that they are making things different in their lives and they are in the “habit” of running three miles every morning while everyone else is still sleeping.

Sooner than later, the excuse monster starts rearing its ugly little head. “Man, it’s a little cold outside, I didn’t get enough sleep last night, and plenty of sleep is part of a good health regimen, isn’t it?, I don’t want to push myself too hard, let me just get a few more minutes of sleep.” Then you start rationalizing that tomorrow will be different, and when tomorrow becomes today, the task gets put off until tomorrow again. People start rationalizing all the reasons why they can’t do whatever it is they promised to do.

The funny thing about the word “rationalize” is when you break it down into its syllables, it sounds like the words “ration-lies.” What most people are doing when they rationalize is just “rationing lies” to themselves about all of the reasons they aren’t accomplishing the goals they want for themselves. This process can be avoided. Most people try to do huge things all at once and fail. Most people try to run before they learn to crawl, and that is a recipe for guaranteed failure.

It’s better to take small baby steps to make consistent change. Less really is more.

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.