Spring Training is Fresh PASSION in Action

Baseball Offers Lessons in Staying Laser Focused on Your Aspiration

Although the ice, cold and snow will unfortunately be with us for some time to come, the annual return of Spring Training reminds us that warmer weather is, in fact, on the way. Baseball players are emerging from their off-season hibernation spots and starting to work off the rust as they physically and mentally prepare for another long, grueling season.

Beyond trying to bring a smile to your face with the promise of spring, I bring up spring training because the dedication of baseball players is a perfect example of Fresh PASSION in action. Say what you will about baseball players’ bloated salaries and/or egos, these guys approach their jobs with an intensity and focus that is nothing short of admirable.

More than any other professional sport, baseball demands discipline and dedication. The season lasts 162 games and is played during the hottest months of the year. Even the most vocal fans will admit baseball games can often turn into long exercises in tedium, yet the players must remain completely sharp and focused throughout. Staying on top of the game’s fundamentals requires even its biggest stars to spend endless hours performing dull, repetitive drills.

Sadly, professional baseball also serves as a reminder of how critical maintaining personal and professional integrity is to maintaining your brand’s value. Some of the game’s most popular and successful players have sustained irreparable harm to their reputations by using steroids and other banned performance enhancing substances. Time will tell, but there is a possibility that some players who would otherwise be no-brainer additions to the Hall of Fame will be denied entry because of their link to illegal performance enhancers. Remember, even the shiniest brand can quickly lose its luster if it is not properly maintained and protected!

For most of us, playing professional baseball is nothing more than a dream we abandoned as kids. But even if you can’t match the athletic feats of professional baseball players, you can match their intense preparation, aspiration for success, laser focus on their jobs, and high level of vigor. So take a break from your brand-building efforts this spring and summer to take in a baseball game or two. If anyone questions why you’re “slacking,” just tell them you’re picking up a few brand-building tips by watching Fresh PASSION in action!

Fresh Passion-Get a Brand or Die a Generic® is Michael’s signature work that is credited with helping him and thousands of others gain exponential personal and professional success.

www.TheMichaelDBrown.com

The More Things Change…..

We’ve Taken This Journey Before – And Fresh PASSION Got Us Through!

An unpopular president replaced by a charismatic visionary with strikingly different ideals. Russia and Iran creating havoc on the world stage. Unemployment figures reaching levels unseen for a generation and food prices shooting upward. Yes, early 1981 was an uncertain time in U.S. history!

Despite all the talk of “historic” unemployment, economic recession, security threats, etc., the fact is we’ve been here before, folks. Russia was a larger nation known as the U.S.S.R. and the country was politically moving left to right instead of right to left, but overall we’re looking at a scenario today very similar to the one we were looking at in 1981.

As anyone who remembers the early 1980s knows, the tough times lasted quite a while. But anyone who remembers that era also knows that when those tough times ended, they were followed by an historic boom period that lasted for the rest of the decade, followed by a recession in the early 1990s, followed by another historic boom period, followed another recession….you get the idea!

By no means am I making light of the hardships so many people are suffering due to the current recession, which is at least as bad as any the country has faced since the 1930s. What I am trying to do is remind everyone that unfortunately, history tends to move in cycles. We alternate between bad times and good times, with occasional mediocre stretches in-between. The people of this country have faced tremendous hardships in the last few hundred years and always survived them, coming out better and stronger than ever.

And they have survived, and even thrived, in the lean years by following the principles upon which I have built the concept of Fresh PASSION – dedicating themselves to achieving their personal best and making their dreams a reality despite any adversities that come their way. Fresh PASSION followers know they cannot control the larger world events which unfold during their lifetimes. But they can control how they react to outside events, or better yet, act in the face of them. So maintain your laser focus on your aspirations during the challenging days that lay ahead. Even if you do not achieve all your aspirations now, you’ll be far ahead of the victims and whiners who choose to sit back and complain while times are tough when the inevitable recovery finally occurs.

www.TheMichaelDBrown.com

Gordon Gekko Got It Wrong

Greed Is Not Good – Fresh PASSION Is Much Better!

In the classic 1980s film “Wall Street,” the ruthless financial tycoon Gordon Gekko memorably states, “Greed is good.” As anyone who has seen “Wall Street” knows, Gekko ultimately winds up in disgrace, exposing the fallacy of these words. I don’t know if today’s real Wall Street titans have seen the film, but perhaps a special screening should be arranged.

Every time you turn on the news, it seems there is another report of a Wall Street institution that has accepted millions or even billions of dollars in federal bailout funds spending hard-earned taxpayer dollars on things like Super Bowl luxury suites, lavish executive retreats, corporate jets, and seven-figure executive bonuses. Rather than pump this money back into the general economy through loans or investments, many Wall Street firms seem content to hoard it for selfish uses. This type of short-sighted greed is the antithesis of everything Fresh PASSION stands for.

Fresh PASSION ® (a phrase coined and trademarked by Michael D. Brown in his signature work Get a Brand or Die a Generic ®) is all about finding what you truly love and are best at doing, and then totally applying yourself to succeeding at it. The “A” in PASSION stands for “Aspiration,” but aspiration and greed are two very different concepts. Aspiration means having particular ambitions and then setting out to achieve your goals. Greed means blindly pursuing personal gain without any thought to the broader impact of your actions.

Beyond any ethical considerations, greed is also a poor long-term business strategy. In the short term, greedy people and corporations often do achieve success. But keep in mind that everything you do and say becomes part of your personal brand. Build your brand through lying, cheating and stealing and eventually you’ll be surrounded by liars, cheaters and thieves – not the kind of colleagues who can take you very far!

Wall Street firms who greedily squander bailout money will soon find themselves looking for more handouts from a decidedly less sympathetic federal government. Wall Street firms who use bailout money to help jumpstart the economy will profit from loan and investment interest, as well as build a positive brand reputation. Which firms are better positioning themselves for long-term success? If you honestly aren’t sure, maybe it’s time to rent a copy of “Wall Street” – all you really need to watch is the final scene.

www.TheMichaelDBrown.com