Yes, It Does Take Time

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

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

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

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?

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"

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?

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.