Beware of Energy Parasites

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.