[INFOGRAPHIC] Is Social Media Ruining Students?

Georgetown’s College Course on Jay-Z: Good Idea or Bad Idea?

An article on USAToday.com—Jay-Z provides the blueprint for college course—has rekindled the polarizing topic of whether or not author, radio host, and Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson‘s course on the hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur is a good idea or bad idea.

One thing is for sure: It’s brilliant marketing and publicity. The class has been mentioned in the news plenty of times. Critics and supporters have been quoted in major news outlets. And here I am writing about it on a blog that’s mainly about soft skills, personal development, and youth empowerment.

So…

Good idea or bad idea?

It’s not that simple.

[VIDEO] Duncan Nugget® #149: The Aspects Of What You Expect To Accomplish

Recently, a friend of mine gave up on his business.

“Al, I wasn’t prepared for the financial aspect of running a business.”

He’s not alone. Many people fail to reach their goals because they lack understanding about aspects of what they are trying to accomplish.

Plenty of great musicians have been taken advantage of because they didn’t understand the business aspect of the industry. There are leaders who expect to be successful, but become demotivated because they weren’t prepared for challenging aspects of leadership.

Regardless of what you expect, ask yourself questions like: What do I have to sacrifice? Time? Money? What problems could arise? What additional knowledge and resources do I need?

Answers to those types of questions will help you to master the aspects of what you expect to accomplish.

Million-Dollar Question:
How well are you prepared for the various aspects of what you expect to accomplish?

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ACTION STEPS AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

High School Dropout Factory

Recently, I was reading How to Identify a High School Dropout Factory (U.S. News and World Report). I haven’t quite decided how I feel about what was presented—need to do a little more research—but the article was interesting. It suggests 5 main areas of concern:

[VIDEO] Duncan Nugget® #190: Fire Hazards And Flammable Material

People spend way too much time putting out fires in their lives. I’m talking about preventable, avoidable problems that end up becoming a raging inferno of destruction in your life.

It makes no sense.

If you want to spend less time putting out fires then get rid of the fire hazards and flammable material in your life.

If all of your friends are idiots…duh! That’s a serious fire hazard.

Spending money you don’t have, procrastination, and other bad habits like those are flammable materials. They can cause your dreams and opportunities to go up in smoke.

If you spend a little more time getting rid of the fire hazards in your life and keeping flammable material away from your goals and aspirations, you’ll spend less time putting out fires.

Million-Dollar Question:
How soon are you going to remove the fire hazards and flammable materials in your life?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What are the top 3-5 little problems that become big problems because people don’t take care of them right away?

2. What steps do YOU take (or should you take) to prevent little issues and bad habits from becoming major problems in your life?

3. What you do when a person is the problem in your life? What would you suggest to a friend who was trying to keep “people” problems from messing up his or her life?

3 Expensive Myths About College [MSN Money]

Great info in these two articles. I see way too many parents and students falling for this stuff.

MSN Money: 3 college myths that will cost you

MSN Money: Costly college myths, part 2

[VIDEO] Duncan Nugget® #197: Protecting Your Momentum

There are few things harder than starting.

Starting what?

Anything that is a worthwhile endeavor.

It takes a lot of energy to get started. The Space Shuttle uses the most fuel during take off. Your car uses the most battery power when it’s starting up. Think about that. It recharges when it’s running.

Getting started in school or starting a new job, exercise program or business, is challenging because you’re creating momentum and fighting inertia: the natural tendency of an object to resist a change in motion.

Be careful. It’s the start-up phase that breaks a lot people. But not you, right?

You want to take at least one action step, daily, that will help you build and protect your momentum because one thing that’s harder than starting is starting over.

Million-Dollar Question:
What are you committed to doing to
build and protect your momentum?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Have you (or someone you know) ever been doing really well at something and then just stopped working on it? What happened? If it could be done all over, what would you do or suggest the person does differently? How will you use this knowledge in your future endeavors?

2. In your opinion, what are the 3 main reasons people have a hard time getting started on their goals? Have any of those things ever affected you? How? What did you do about it?