A Personal Development book like no other…

I had the privilege of hearing Steve Pavlina speak two years ago at a NSA conference and have been following his work every since and invested in one of his services. Steve possesses a rare authentic voice on personal development. His new book Personal Development for smart people hit the shelves this week (you have to get a copy).

What you will find in Steve’s book is a simplistic and powerful road map to maximizing your personal growth. He lays out seven straightforward principles: Truth, love, power, Oneness, Authority, Courage, and Intelligence.

The two principals that really hit home with me were truth and love. So often we go through life in denial and lying to ourselves about what we really want to extract from life and the success we want to experience. Instead we opt to force ourselves into a box of someone else’s perception and plans. The second principal of love also struck an accord with me. So much of our success is limited or never happens because we try to travel this journey alone and down a selfish path. The amazing impossible can be achieved when you align yourself with a truly supportive network of people that you are willing to receive from and give even more. I personally call this group my Branding Board of Advisors. This board of friends and supporters help and challenge me to create my best personal brand, which allows me to maximize my success.

Personal development for smart people (Steve Pavlina) helped me to further validate a core belief of mine- In order to achieve maximum personal or professional success you must be willing to truly work hard, have a laser focus on your self discipline and the courage to be different, think different, see different, and take risk.

Be skeptical of any book, person or guru who tells you that you can achieve substantial personal growth and success without some combination of the above. Instead, I would recommend you get a copy of Steve’s book Personal development for smart people.

Another reason why I have really enjoyed this book is because it aligns with many of the principles I talk about in my signature work: Fresh Passion (Get a Brand or Die a Generic ®). Which basically challenges us to really figure out the competitive personal brand that we want to be and work hard to make it a stand out brand that will yield the personal and professional success that we desire.

www.TheMichaelDBrown.com

What about the 26,000 Lehman Brothers’ Employees?

The fire sale at Lehman Brothers has begun.

It didn’t take long for British bank Barclays to step up to the plate after Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday. They are wrapping up talks today to purchase some of Lehman’s U.S. assets (brokerage and asset-management businesses) for about $2 billion dollars, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

So will this sale protect the 26,000 employees? Well not really, the WSJ reported that about 10,000 would remain if Barclays bought the firm.

The bleeding for the employees will likely continue as this gets sorted out. As if seeing their hard earned wealth dissipate in a matter of days wasn’t enough.

Something needs to be done to help these employees who likely have been very loyal to Lehman and given decades of service.

What do you think?

www.TheMichaelDBrown.com
www.FreshCustomerService.com

Lehman Brothers’ employees exit the building with some sad faces

What a sad site at the Lehman Brothers’ headquarters on Sunday night. You could see scores of employees entering and exiting the building with boxes, bags, personal items and suitcases. Lehman Brothers announced that it is filing for bankruptcy after all potential buyers declined to participate in a buyout.

We have seen three powerhouses : Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch crumble as a result of their shaky home lending portfolio.

Though I am concerned about the distress that this will cause to the overall economy; I am equally concerned about what will happen with the 26,000 employees at Lehman Brothers who had to walk away Sunday.

Do you think the government should offer assistance to these employees?

www.TheMichaelDBrown.com

Will Breakfast save Starbucks?

In an effort to get more people to walk through the doors- Starbucks offered five new breakfast items this Wednesday.

Oatmeal
Chewy fruit and nut bar
Apple bran muffin
Berry Stella (multigrain pastry)
Protein Plate (hard-boiled egg, whole wheat bagel, peanut butter, cheese and fruit)

All of these items are touted as having no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners or corn syrup.

I am just not sure if these items will make we want to visit Starbucks more, what about you?