Secret #7: Ask the Experts

At almost every campus I visit or student leadership retreat I speak at, a student usually asks me this question: “But Arel, what if I know what I want to do but I have no idea how to do it?” My answer is usually one and the same:

Find someone who has done what you want to do
and ask that person how you can do it too.

If you want to climb Mount Everest, you could go it alone (not rec- ommended), or you could get an experienced guide who has climbed to the mountaintop plenty of times before who can show you how to do it.

As a student, you have access to so many resources that people out- side of school have to pay a pretty penny to access. Your professor are some of your most important resources. As a student, you can go to office hours and get help on various subjects. In the real world, that kind of help is called “consulting” and could cost up to a couple thousand dollars an hour. But as a student, all the million- dollar guidance is yours... FREE. Don’t underutilize your resources, especially for your actual schoolwork.

Advanced Learning

Go to www.yourstartingpointonline.com to find out how to dramatically improve your GPA by just asking your professor one simple question.

You’ll be surprised who will help you simply if you ask for help. All you have to say is “Hi (person’s name), my name is (your name) and I would love to learn how to do X better, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind helping me figure out how to do it?”

Think about it: experts are people who have already made all of the mistakes and can show you the quickest way to succeed in a field. Why try getting through a wall by banging your head against it, when you can ask someone on the other side where the door is and how to find it? And if you can’t get face-to-face access to the experts you need, try another expert, www.google.com. You’d be amazed what questions you can type in and get answered through articles and websites.

A problem cannot exist without a solution. Do yourself a favor and seek the answer from someone who knows instead of trying to do everything yourself. If you need help finding a job, ask a professor if he or she has any connections. Need help managing a project for a school organization? Ask a management professor. Need help working out your budget? Ask a finance professor. The list goes on and on. All you have to do is ask for help.

Do you want to know how to easily get more out of life? Just ask for what you want and ask for help when you need it. You’ll be surprised how this little technique will bring so much into your life.

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.