by David Michie

If meditation was available in capsule form, it would be the biggest selling drug of all time. It has been scientifically proven to deliver highly effective stress relief, boost our immune systems and dramatically slow the aging process. It has also been shown to make us much happier and more effective thinkers. In this partner recording to Hurry Up and Meditate, David Michie takes the novice meditator by the hand, and provides four guided Buddhist meditations to help you experience for yourself the benefits of these time-honoured and powerful techniques.

The Meaning of Life: Making Every Moment Matter

by Guy Finley

All who were there for these five days of groundbreaking dynamic talks were inspired, enriched, and deeply touched by the revelations Guy presented. In all, Guy presented seven powerful talks that built one upon the other to reveal the entire explanation of how we can discover and live the meaning of our lives. In addition, Guy gave two talks on meditation based on the theme, Start Letting Stillness Organize Your Life.

Every moment of these revealing talks was recorded, and the result is a seven-hour album that will open your heart and mind to new vistas of possibility and provide practical techniques you can use to make those possibilities your new reality.

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity

by David Allen

In today’s world of exponentially increased communication and responsibility, yesterday’s methods for staying on top just don’t work. Veteran management consultant and trainer David Allen recognizes that “time management” is useless the minute your schedule is interrupted; “setting priorities” isn’t relevant when your e-mail is down; “procrastination solutions” won’t help if your goals aren’t clear.

Allen’s premise is simple: our ability to be productive is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve stress-free productivity and unleash our creative potential.

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

by Roger Fisher, William Ury

Getting to Yes is a straightorward, universally applicable method for negotiating personal and professional disputes without getting taken – and without getting angry.

It offers a concise, step-by-step, proven strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict – whether it involves parents and children, neighbors, bosses and employees, customers or corporations, tenants or diplomats. Based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals continually with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution, from domestic to business to international, Getting to Yes tells you how to:

• Separate the people from the problem
• Focus on interests, not positions
• Work together to create opinions that will satisfy both parties
• Negotiate successfully with people who are more powerful, refuse to play by the rules, or resort to “dirty tricks”

Get over $1000 of Personal Develop Products (Including The Power of Fear) for just $97 for the next 48 hours only!

Hello 2012!

How are you going to bring in the new year? Like a lamb or a lion?

Do you struggle with your relationships? Your weight? Your health? Your career?

Maybe it’s simply about finding out who you are and what truly makes you happy.

A lot of times these new year’s resolutions ultimately become lofty ambitions that slip further and further away from your grasp – not from lack of want but from lack of direction and a great support system.

That’s why PickTheBrain along with 24 other AMAZING personal development bloggers and experts have teamed up to give you all the help you’ll need for making 2012 your BEST YEAR YET!

So for the next two days you’ll be able to get 34 of the top personal development guides, courses, videos and e-books at a 90% discount.

All these products usually cost over 1000 dollars but you’ll be able to get this whole package for just 97 dollars.

This Empowerment Pack includes the abridged version of PTB’s own “Power of Fear” Summit – a special version called The Ultimate Blue Print for Courageous Self Growth. You also have many of my own favorites participating like Barrie Davenport (a PTB blogger!), Dirk de Bruin (another  PTB blogger!) and Steve Aitchison and products I really want to check out like Katie Tallos “7 Week Life Cleanse” and “True Self” by Jonathan Wells in this bundle.

And as soon as I have sent out this post I am purchasing a copy of my own of this package.

Click here to learn more about this awesome deal and to get your own copy

These products at this price will never be available again.

After Thursday, January 19, at 9:00 am EST (that’s 2:00 pm GMT), this offer will be gone for good.

Be well and good luck!

Erin

By: Stephen R. Covey

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, has been a top seller for the simple reason that it ignores trends and pop psychology for proven principles of fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity. Celebrating its 15th year of helping people solve personal and professional problems, this special anniversary edition includes a new forward and afterword written by Covey that explore whether the 7 Habits are still relevant and answer some of the most common questions he has received over the past 15 years.

2. One Perfect Word: One Word Can Make All the Difference

by: Debbie Macomber

In the tradition of One Simple Act and God’s Guest List, perennial best-selling novelist Debbie Macomber reveals in inspiring, moving stories that the simplicity of one perfect word can become profound. When Debbie took the time to intentionally focus on a single word—such as prayer, trust, or surrender—for a whole year, this act changed not only herself, but those around her.

3. How to Be a Gentleman: A Contemporary Guide to Common Courtesy

by: John Bridges

Nearly every man wants to be a gentleman. He may not know exactly what that means, but his true desire is to be respected and admired in the way only a gentleman can be. He wants to be prepared and confident, certain that his judgment is shrewd and his behavior appropriate. A gentleman considers the weight of his words and the impression he is leaving. He knows when to ignore his iPhone in favor of a face-to-face conversation, and he understands that sometimes he should simply say nothing at all. He knows what to do with his sport jacket at the end of the day, and what color shoes he should never wear to a funeral. Snapping at a telemarketer calling from some far-flung place? A gentleman realizes that’s no way to communicate with anyone. He knows the difference between “I’m sorry” and “Excuse me,” and he doesn’t use them interchangeably. Being a gentleman is timeless; these are ideals that will never be obliterated by technology, the latest social ideology, or protests from men who are content to do less.

4. It’s Never Crowded Along the Extra Mile: 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace

by: Wayne W. Dyer

Recorded live at the Miraval Life in Balance® Resort and Spa in Arizona, this lecture features Dr. Wayne W. Dyer as he shares what it’s like to go the extra mile and lead a deeper, fuller life. Drawing upon the lessons of great teachers such as St. Francis of Assisi, Viktor Frankl, Jesus Christ, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and Buddha, Dr. Dyer helps you discover that you can achieve true inner peace and success by integrating ten powerful “secrets” into your life that can transform your everyday existence into a path for spiritual enlightenment.

5. The Last Lecture

by: Randy Pausch , Jeffrey Zaslow

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” (Randy Pausch)

A lot of professors give talks entitled “The Last Lecture”. Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave – “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” – wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

To our friends all around the world,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I look forward to continuing our journey to ‘grow ourselves’ in the New Year to come!

All the best and be well,

Erin

Dear PickTheBrain Community,

Everyday I am given dozens of reasons to be thankful that you are part of this wonderful, ever expanding self improvement community – a group of people that are intent on growing yourselves as well as making the world around you a better place. Whether it comes in the form of lovely emails to my inbox, insightful comments on blog posts or, of course, the extremely generous donation of your intelligent, thoughtful and highly impactful content, you have all been key parts to the success of this blog and the millions of people it reaches every month.

Even though this is an American holiday (I’m Canadian!), PTB has readers in over 200 countries and I would like to extend, from the bottom of my heart, a serious thanks to each and every one of you, today, no matter where you’re reading this from.

THANK YOU!

Be well,

erin

Peter G. James Sinclair has this past year been a prolific contributor to Pick The Brain, and his articles always attract a lot of great comments from our readers – so please allow me to share a little bit more about him with you.

But before I do that, Peter recently asked me for an endorsement and this is what I wrote:

‘Peter is one of the most passionate and intelligent self-improvement bloggers I’ve had the pleasure to work with. He tirelessly aims to produce compelling and thoughtful content and he succeeds, whole-heartedly. He is an inspiration to me and most definitely to his ever-expanding audience. If Peter created it, I endorse it. It’s just that simple.’

For many years Peter was his worst enemy.

Any success that he ever pursued was sabotaged by his own mindset.

His own brain declared – who are you to think that you can have ever experience true success? What right have you to succeed? Success happens for everyone else but it’ll never happen for you. You’re too young. You’re too old. You don’t come from a successful family. And on and on and on it went relentlessly.

That’s when he decided that he needed to change – and when he started to partake of motivational and inspirational books, listened to personal development speakers and signed up for courses that would help him take charge of his limiting thought processes, he positioned myself for future success.

It worked!

Then as he started to interview other people about their challenges – they came back with the following questions that harassed them:

• Why am I not getting success?
• Why do I struggle with being motivated and staying motivated and focused?
• Why do I struggle with disappointment and failure?
• Why is it so hard for me to stay motivated when I feel so overwhelmed by different directions and possibilities?
• Why do I battle with self-doubt, lack of discipline, previous setbacks and knockdowns, and lack of reward for effort?
• Why do I struggle with my own self worth?

This inspired Peter to help others. For if it could work for him, then he knew that it could definitely work for them.

So for well over two years he put together a program that was specifically designed to help individuals to overcome their own self-sabotaging thought patterns and assist them in breaking through the success barrier that may have resisted them to that point in their life.

Called Self Development Mastermind and consisting of 6 modules, 24 videos, 24 audios and 24 text presentations (over 12 hours of instruction) along with 6 Positive Action Sheets that allow the participants to apply what they learn immediately to their lives, it is a powerful tool for anyone who wants to initiate positive change in their life.

In Module 1 – YOU INC. you will learn how to clearly define and position yourself for your own personal success and begin to discover and identify your uniqueness, along with the true value of who you are and what you can become. You will learn how to cast off the chains of restriction that may have held you back to date, and be freed to be yourself; to tap into the enormous resources available to you in your own brilliant mind.

In Module 2 – YOUR PASSION you will learn how to define and discover your passion. You will dig deep in the pursuit of your passion and be provided with the keys to living a passionate life. In addition this module touches on how you can begin to turn that passion into a financial resource if you wish. For there is nothing better than to live your days doing what you love, and to be paid for it. Work is no longer work – but rather a joy if you have the courage to pursue your passion.

In Module 3 – YOUR MOTIVATION looks at the motivational foundations required to build a motivated life. Building blocks are provided along with powerful strategies and tactics designed to assist you in living a motivated life 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. In addition you’ll learn of the motivational fortifications that you need to put in place so that others, who may not be as motivated as you are, will not be able to derail you from achieving your exciting future.

In Module 4 – YOUR SUCCESS focuses on your success – the discipline, the development, the determination and the destiny that is yours if you apply the principles taught throughout this powerful course. Everything you are taught in this program has been birthed in the real world. This is not theory. These are tried and tested principles that have allowed people to live successful lives throughout the generations. Do as they have done, and then you can be all that you were created to become – magnificent.

In Module 5 – YOUR LEADERSHIP it makes it very clear that in order for us to lead others, we must first and foremost lead ourselves. The lessons and the qualities of leadership, as presented in this module, will equip you with the ability to use the power of leverage in your life to create momentum in all that you pursue, while at the same time position you to experience leadership longevity. Not a flash in the pan leader. But rather a leader filled with integrity and one who commands the respect and admiration of their peers.

In Module 6 – YOUR ACTION instructs you on the power of developing ‘do it now’ action, how your life will be defined by your actions, and how you can begin to demand from yourself successful actions that will make a massive difference in both your life and in the lives that you touch in the days ahead. By applying the principles taught here, you will become renowned as the one who gets things done.

Along with this Peter is adding 8 incredible bonuses – Daily Motivational tools, books, motivational posters for your desktop along with some amazing interviews with some extremely successful people (and I’m honored to be one in this auspicious company of people) – all designed to reprogram you for success.

If you’re wanting to effect positive change in your life, then may I encourage you to check out what Peter has on offer today at Self Development Mastermind.

I feel grateful everyday that you choose to come here to find inspiration, to share your thoughts, stories, knowledge and love.

Being part of this site is such a wonderful part of my life and thanks to you  I believe it is, at least in small part, a bright spot in many, many daily routines. Knowing that gives me endless joy.

Whether you are in America or not, know there is someone here giving Thanks today, to all of you!

PickTheBrain wouldn’t be here without you!

Happy Thanksgiving and Be Well!

erin

In case you missed them, here are some highlights:

You’re Making Yourself Fat, not Happy: Here’s How To Dump Your Artificial Lover: The title says it all, Lori Taylor’s humorous post about how to take back control of your bad habits, nails it!

Can’t Keep Up? 10 Reasons To Take a Well Deserved Time Out: Cindy Platt’s piece on the importance of taking time for yourself in order to increase productivity and joy, is a great refresher on a subject that is so easy to forget.

Do This and People Will LOVE You, Even If They’re Suspicious!: There is no such thing as an act of kindness that is too small. In fact most acts of kindness have an impact far greater than we think. Find out why, with Sean Platt’s great post on giving.

Be sure to check these inspiring articles and more! (You will find them under the 90 Days tab) And for daily inspiration, sign up for our FREE 90 Days email program!

Be well,

erin

A couple of weeks ago, we did a ‘soft launch’ of a new program we have been working really hard on, called 90 Days to a Better You (see new tab in nav ’90 Days’). After reviewing everybody’s survey responses a couple of months ago, a handful of key answers were repeated over and over, and so we thought it might be a good idea to try and put together a complimentary program that addresses these points of interest. Before launching outright, we wanted to get a feel if there would be any interest/traction.

Less than two weeks in and the response so far has been outstanding…overwhelming even. Reader feedback has been terrific and it seems as though we’re already making a big difference for our audience – which makes me proud! One of the comments I keep getting is that readers are finding that these posts are really helping inspire their inner confidence. Because of this we’ve decided to change the name of the series to “The 90 Day Confidence Booster.”

If you’ve not yet joined the community – membership is completely free, we’re just getting started and still have plenty more growing to do (about 75 more days to be exact!) Every day there will be a new post in the 90 Days tab and in case you missed them or found yourself too swamped during the week, I’ll be doing a weekly round-up every Sunday.

This past week of 90 Days posts were not only powerful, but also really fun – from the power of laughter to the importance of learning how to ‘Say No!’ I was very impressed by how much I learned!

To catch everybody up, here are some highlights from the past couple of weeks:

8 Ways to Stop Feeling Indifferent – a fantastic post by Sean Platt that really snapped me out of a numbness that I was in this week (and didn’t even realize it!!)

6 Reasons You Need To Be Touched – something we probably don’t often think about, Tracy  O’Connor’s article really opened my eyes!

You’re Doing It Wrong – 3 Simple Steps to Anger Management – a very personal and effective guide to recognizing and dealing with our emotions, by Lori Taylor, is a great guide even if you think you are always in control.

A Guaranteed Way to Feel Better About Yourself – Cindy Platt reminds me that it’s not always all about me! And I loved it!

The Best Way to Lose That Lethargic Feeling Once and For All – by David Wright, was full of great tips that genuinely helped me feel more energetic this week!

This program is a labor of love that I hope will help unleash your confidence! Click here to check it out, get real time updates and most importantly have a helping hand as you look to becoming a more confident, successful person!

As always, I would love your thoughts, feedback and comments!

Be Well,

Erin

Wanted to thank you again for all of the notes and comments on our 2 design choices a couple of weeks back and hope you like the final product!

Coming up we will still have all the great content you’ve come to expect from us along with a new newsletter program and more…

So stay tuned…and ENJOY!!

Be well,

Erin