🍀PBP News #4 | GDPR & The Strength of Combining Brain and Heart!

Dear friend,

We’ll start with HOUSEKEEPING:

This is our first newsletter since the European data protection rules GDPR came into force on 25 May 2018.

We’ve updated our terms to ensure compliance. And we urge you to manage your subscription to 🍀PBP News – opt out or stay in as you prefer, by clicking the link in your emailed copy of 🍀PBP News.

Of course, we hope you will stay in because we have lots we want to share with you, today and going forward…

This issue #4 of 🍀PBP News is about the strength of combining brain and heart:

1. FOOD FOR THOUGHT 🥦 – Make an effort to be kind to yourself
2. THE MENTAL FITNESS ROOM 🏋️‍♀️ – See yourself through other people’s eyes
3. CATCH OF THE DAY 🐟 – Video from our summit meeting “Big Brains Meet Big Hearts!”

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 🥦 – Reflections on career and life

*** MAKE AN EFFORT TO BE KIND TO YOURSELF ***

In his latest blogpost, Stephen explores a constraint that many ambitious and successful people are prone to:

• They are more friendly and positive towards others than towards themselves.
• They demand more from themselves than they do from others.
• In their inner dialogue, they are more critical towards themselves than towards others.

This is ironic because they are typically really strong and good people. Oftentimes, their brain and heart are just a bit out of sync. Their heart tells them to be submissive and stand back a bit, even if they know in their brain that they actually excel and stand out against others.

Does this pattern apply to you? And do you want to change it?
Then, try changing your habits and perspective by completing the following exercise daily for a while.

First, look at this CRITICAL – FRIENDLY list:

Then, look into yourself and ask yourself: Are You Kind to Yourself?

Make an effort to add a lot of the FRIENDLY words to your perception of yourself, because

• You are worth it.
• You will be better for it.
• Your surroundings will benefit from it.

Thank you – and Good Luck with your attitude transition!

THE MENTAL FITNESS ROOM 🏋️‍♀️ – Piece of advice

*** SEE YOURSELF THROUGH OTHER PEOPLE’S EYES ***

Another effective way to get a new and more correct (=objective) perspective on yourself, is to ask other people what they think! It sounds obvious, doesn’t it? And yet, how often have you done it?

In Stephen’s book The Personal Business Plan – A Blueprint for Running Your Life (Wiley 2013) we have a nice little exercise, which can help your brain avoid getting confused by your heart. It’s very simple, just a list of questions you can ask people who know you in various settings.

The exercise goes like this:

• Identify 3-5 people whose opinions you value. It can be your partner, another close family member, a couple of people from your professional life, and a good friend.
• Tell them that you’ve been wondering whether your own perception of yourself is realistic.
• Ask for their help by answering some questions about you. Questions about what you’re really good at, what they see as your driving force, and what makes you stand out. See the whole list of questions here.

Remember, FEEDBACK is a loving act. These people will do it for you, because you ask them for help, and because they appreciate you.

For you, it will be a revelation to get to know yourself from other people’s perspectives!

CATCH OF THE DAY 🐟 – Miscellaneous

*** VIDEO FROM “BIG BRAINS MEET BIG HEARTS!” ***

The video from our summit meeting “Where Big Brains Meet Big Hearts!” in Copenhagen, Denmark, on April 12, 2018, is now live. We’re happy to share it.

The leadership summit was about

‘Polarization and ‘The Movement from the Middle’.

We’re proud to say that we actually managed to

• UNITE PEOPLE around the theme of
• COMBATTING POLARIZATION by
• DEMONSTRATING LEADERSHIP AND
• RESPONSIBILITY EMERGING FROM THE MIDDLE.

The grounds for this achievement were the many clever and exciting people who participated in our summit: business leaders, politicians, entrepreneurs, students, consultants, lawyers, neurologists, psychologists, strategists, philosophers, professors, and specialists in time, digitization, disruption, big data, organizations, communication, and behavioral design.

Bjarne Corydon (CEO and editor-in-chief, Borsen business newspaper, former Danish MP, finance minister, and McKinsey partner) said it best from the stage:

People of the middle take responsibility. This is where the leadership lies.

Enjoy our video, highlighting the best parts. For more details, read the full story of “Where Big Brains Meet Big Hearts!”.

Once again, thanks for reading!

Warm regards,

Mette and Stephen Bruyant-Langer
Founders of The Personal Business Plan

thepersonalbusinessplan.com