ELC Santa Barbara student Mohammad Majoub recently published a book titled 99 Ways to Become a Better Person. Mohammad is from Saudi Arabia and has been studying English at ELC for six months. He wrote this book as a series of sayings that are guidelines to inspire you to live a better life. Congratulations on this amazing accomplishment Mohammad!
To motivate people! If I can write a book and accomplish something great with my life, then anyone can.
It took me nine months but with editing, one year and four months. It was challenging to write it in English but every time I had an idea of something I wanted to write I would record myself on my phone and then later I would write it down and make sure the grammar was correct.
Anyone can read it but it is mainly written for young adults between the ages of 15-26. This is an important age because young people need the motivation and the direction. When you are young you are creating a base for when you grow up and the rest of your life you will live off of that base. We have a saying in Arabic that kids are like small trees. When they are young you can influence them but once they grow up the foundation is set so they are harder to move and shake. It’s like that with people too.
When I was younger I was really lazy and got into trouble and was surrounded by negative people. I had a lot of crazy dreams and ideas in me but I just didn’t know what to do with them. It felt like there weren’t a lot of positive people around me. Even when I first told people I was writing a book they thought I was crazy. Then I started doing athletic training on a team and I was surrounded with positive people. My athletic coach was American. He was really big on positive thinking and taught me a lot about it and helped me to improve my English. I decided that every time I faced a challenge in life or in my training I would write down a piece of wisdom or advice in order to help get me through it. People didn’t think I had any problems because I was young. Everyone has problems even young people and they need ways to overcome it. I wrote the book from these obstacles I faced during training. The advice in the book is for all of life not just athletics.
Yes! I hope to write another book in the future. In order to write a good book though you have to have something that shakes you and inspires you, it has to be about something that you are really passionate about. I hope to write another motivational book before I go to college, which would be in the next two years.
I want people to realize that their lives have a purpose. Only you can do what you are made to do. A lot of people are trapped and don’t get to become the people they can be in their lifetime.
Yes! The book 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow by John C. Maxwell’s is amazing.
Go home and be by yourself and sit quietly and play soft music and then write your dreams down. It’s important that you know yourself and know what you want. Then make sure you work hard everyday to achieve your goals. If you want to be a follower then just be like everyone around you. But if you want to be a leader you have to really fight for it. Especially if the people you are surrounded with are negative it’s going to be hard to achieve what you want.
