WITH OTHER LEADING ENTREPRENEURS AND PROFESSIONALS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Sarah E. Brown, Ph.D., is leading the charge to revolutionize the self-help industry through the power of personalization. An expert on using the results of personality assessments and the author of the Book of You™, available at: www.bookofyou.com, she has created a way to generate a completely personalized book for each reader based upon the results of a quick, but world-renowned, personality assessment. A subsequent book, Let Your Personality be Your Career Guide is available on Amazon.com. This book contains a wealth of stories and exercises to help an individual quickly determine the key personality components that should be

considered in choosing a career.

Following a very successful career in Corporate America, she retired as Managing Director at Accenture to devote herself to personalizing self-help advice in the form of customized books. With a Ph.D. in PsychoEducational Processes, 15 years of Talent Management experience, and skills and experience in scaling complicated operations, she is uniquely qualified to do so.

In addition to her writing, Sarah is available to speak or lead workshops aimed at building the self-awareness individuals need to be happy, successful, and understood in their various pursuits.

A native of Virginia, she now resides in Wilmington, Delaware, with her husband and standard poodle, Maharani. When not writing, researching, or speaking, she can be found rowing on the Christina River or chasing Maharani through the woods.

You can contact Sarah at:• sarah@bookofyou.com• www.bookofyou.com• 1-302-521-9739• www.facebook/bookofyou.com

SARAH E. BROWN

JACK CANFIELD & SARAH E. BROWN

JACK CANFIELDMARIE BAÑUELOS

DANNY KHURSIGARA GARY DUVALL DAVID AUER

VICTORIA COLLIERTIFFANY BALLARD

MICHAEL LEVINMARTA ZARRELLA

MARIO MAZZAMUTOJW DICKS

NICK NANTON JOSEPH A. CARPENTER

JONATHAN LAHEY CHANDRA WORTHINGTONDR. DRAYTON PATTERSON

ALGIRDAS KARALIUSJOSEPH P. MIELE

ANGELO M. VALENTE ALYSSA AUBREY

CATHY WAIDELICH LYNN KRUSE

MICHAEL RIEDMILLER MARGARETA KULL

RODRIGO HURTADO SARAH E. BROWN

VICTORIA CUPETMARY MESTON

NIK NIKIC PETER HIBBARD RENATE PRANDL

MARY ELIZABETH MCGUINN LEWIS DENBAUM

IRENE TITERA KYLIE HAMMOND JEWELL SIEBERT

KRYSIA BROUGHTONFAI CHAN

GRACE CHIVELLCHANTELLE L. MORMAN

DEAPHALIS SAMPLE CHRIS MYNETT

BILLUR SUUISABEL HARKINS

LARRY MCANARNEY LINDA EVENHUIS

LINDA J. LEVESQUE REGINE C. HENSCHEL

RICHARD DEAN MELISSA VEESER

DR. SHIRLEY WATSONLOUIS KRAML

To take a road trip to Success, we will need a destination as well as a GPS. Success is described here as the achievement of a goal. The goals we adopt may be the result of experience, vision or desire. They crystallize our desire to get to a better place.

Having picked a goal for success, how do you get there? What drives you on? Some more popular goals include amassing wealth, gaining recognition and a desire to improve the lifestyle of others. It is also interesting to note that both philosophers as well as successful travellers on this road to success tell us that the journey is the real prize, not merely arriving at the destination.

So what route does your roadmap follow? Whatever route you choose, the CelebrityExperts® in this book can mentor your trip. They have completed this trip before, and they know where the potholes and the dead-ends are. These successful people have traits in common including creativity, risk taking, planning, perseverance and they are action-takers. Without taking action, The Road To Success is merely a mirage. So read, learn and enjoy. Safe travels!

A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.

~ Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.The Authors in this book have donated all royalties to Entrepreneurs International Foundation.

For more information, please visit www.entrepreneursfoundation.com

DESIGNED AND PRODUCED BY CELEBRITYPRESSWWW.CELEBRITYPRESSPUBLISHING.COM

Printed in the USA

TheRTS Vol1_COVERS_V10.indd 23 7/20/16 8:09 PM

EXCERPT

The happiest I can remember being vocationally was the year I worked on my master’s degree in mathematics and taught college-level courses. It was also one of my most productive times. I completed my thesis in record time, solving a mathematical problem that had languished unsolved for years. I taught undergraduate-level calculus, inspiring a few others to love math the way I did. I had a real sense that I had made a contribution to the field of mathematics and to real people (my students) all at the same time.

My career then went off on one tangent after another, until I came full circle to understanding what I unconsciously knew about myself that year in graduate school. In the process, I came to a different definition of success. My Road to Success took over 30 years. What I learned could make your Road to Success a 30-day journey.

I have always had an affinity for numbers, and I always did well in math at school. I planned to earn my Ph.D. in mathematics and teach at the university level while doing theoretical mathematics research. So I was thrilled when, at age 21, I got a fellowship to work on my master’s degree and began teaching introductory calculus classes. I rode my bike approximately two miles onto the campus at Wake Forest University every day, rain or shine. I can still feel what it felt like to have the wind

BY SARAH E. BROWN, Ph.D.

HOW TO BE HAPPY,SUCCESSFUL, AND

UNDERSTOOD AT WORK

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on my face, and I remember that I was always a bit rosy-cheeked when I arrived at my own little office. I imagine that my hair was pretty crumpled from my helmet, but I don't think that ever bothered me. I do vividly remember how filled with energy I was at that point each day.

I had total control to plan my days. I know now that freedom and control over my time is critically important to me. I spent an hour or two bouncing ideas off my thesis advisor, like a conceptual ping-pong game, strategizing various approaches to this unsolved mathematical conundrum. This gave me my “fix” of just enough human contact to then retreat to my private little office, where behind closed doors, no one bothered me as I researched, thought on my own, and wrote papers on the results.

About noon, I would stop and go for a run. There was a big, beautiful park with wooded trails, and I would run several miles all by myself. These runs cleared my head and got my energy going again. They also served to help me shift gears for the rest of the day.

In the afternoon, I taught calculus. This is a subject I knew extremely well, so preparation was a breeze. I loved interacting with the students, all of us focusing on what to me were fun puzzles to solve. I doubt all those students thought the subject was as fun as I did, but I know my passion for the subject came through to them and made the class more enjoyable.

My days that year were filled with activities I loved: research, writing, and teaching; a limited amount of time interacting with others; and lots and lots of exercise outside. I was in my zone—setting challenging goals, structuring my time with great discipline to achieve them, and interacting at an intense level with one or two people at a time. I cannot recall feeling any stress that year, so I know my underlying needs were met.

This was sheer bliss for me.

And that was the last time I was to feel that for more than 30 years.

In 1977, when I was completing my master’s degree, I learned that the market was flooded with Ph.D. mathematicians. Many were “waiting” on tables while “waiting” to get academic appointments. I did not think

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I needed a Ph.D. if I were going to wait on tables. And I did not have the competitive drive that I felt would be needed to compete with others for the few academic positions that might be available. This latter point, not having the competitive drive, turns out to be an important component of my personality, but I was oblivious to that at the time. I set challenging goals and compete with myself, but when it comes to competing against others, I shy away.

I did have a basic need that I was well-aware of: I needed money. I was unaware, however, about what was behind that need for money and why I felt such anxiety when the source was unknown. I assumed everyone had this need for security, but I was to learn that is not the case. In any event, I decided to scrap my plans for further graduate school and get a job where I could earn steady income. I settled on a job with the former Bell System as a telephone systems engineer in Charlotte, North Carolina. While it satisfied the need for steady income, the job was not a good fit for me. The work was very hands on, and I soon became claustrophobic as I was working inside central offices where there were no windows. I never saw the light of day. But I slogged through, did my very best to perform well, and just pushed deep down inside me just how unhappy I was doing this kind of work.

Was I successful? To the outside world, the answer was yes. I found niches where I could excel. I got recognition from my superiors and frequent promotions. But I was not interested enough to find ways to develop deep maintenance skills and knowledge. So when the Bell System broke up by court order in 1984, I looked around for someplace else to work, eventually moving north to work in the IT Department at DuPont. I worked there for close to 14 years. I had some good jobs, had some bad jobs, got steady promotions, but did not do much that I was hugely passionate about one way or the other. When DuPont outsourced its IT to CSC and Accenture, I joined Accenture.

One thing that I will never forget about my time at DuPont was a training course I was sent to in Hershey, PA. This training was designed to help new and mid-level female managers get in touch with their passions and strengths and to embrace them with more confidence. What I can remember vividly from that session was that I came face-to-face with the fact that I had no idea who I was. I had no idea what my ideal job was. I had lost any sense I may have had about what I was passionate about. I

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had no idea what my strengths were. When I felt stress, I assumed I was just not up to the task. Unfortunately, I failed to gain any clarity in that training. I went away quite depressed because I did not have anything to “unleash and embrace with confidence.” So I quietly pushed it all down and continued to try to do what I could in whatever job I was in. I was not miserable. But I was not happy either. I was not a failure, but I knew I could have been more successful. I did feel stress often, but I was not about to let anyone at work see that.

So fast forward many years. Following another series of career decisions that were logical but based off no knowledge of my interests, strengths, or needs, I find myself managing large Business Process Outsourcing engagements for Accenture. Here is what I started observing. I was not the only one that did not know him or herself well. Many of my clients were less than happy at work. Some, like me, were just getting by and not focusing much on the fact that they were not happy. Some were flat out miserable. But I saw something else. Some of the unhappy majority were making changes to become happier with the assistance of coaches. What were the coaches doing? They were helping their clients get in touch with what made them uniquely happy and what their innate strengths were. Then they were supporting these clients in making a change to better pursue their interests and use their innate strengths. And here is the real kicker. Those that were becoming happier were also becoming more successful in their own eyes and in the eyes of those that observed them.

It was time I sorted this out for myself once and for all. What did I really love? What were my unique strengths? I still did not know. Did I need a coach? Fortunately, I was in a position that I could afford a coach, and so I got one. But the hard work of articulating the uniqueness of me was still to be done. With the help of a really good personality assessment, I was able to zero in on my unique interests, my strengths, my needs (and what stress I am going to feel if these are not met). With this knowledge, my coach supported me in making the career decision to retire early to focus on research, writing, and teaching. This is what I knew to be passions and strengths well over 30 years prior. My days now are much more joyful, and certainly, less stressful.

But a lot of people cannot afford a good coach. What can they do? I have learned that it is still possible to find out what is unique about you by following a simple 3-step process that I call the Know Thyself Process®:

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1. KNOW. Get a little bit of information about your interests, strengths, and needs.

2. TEST. Share this with someone who knows and cares about you and who can help you think through what you can do with this information to increase your happiness, success, or sense of being understood.

3. GO. Take some action with this TESTed KNOWledge.

The trick, of course, is coming up with that little nugget of knowledge about your interests, strengths, and needs to get this process started. I think a good assessment is the fastest way to go about generating this knowledge, but here are a few things you can do on your own:

1. Your interests. These are the things you love to do on a day-in and day-out basis. Do you like the outdoors, as I shared about me? How much activity do you want? Do you like to work with your hands? Do you want to spend time directly helping or influencing people? Things like this. The best source of this information is yourself, and you can make a great start at this by just spending an hour writing down what you were doing when you believe you were the happiest.

2. Your innate strengths. What are you really good at? I find that the best way to answer this question is to ask someone else. My experience is that many people have a very jaded view of their own gifts. So ask someone who knows you, “When I was at my best, what was I doing and what strengths did you observe?” Keep quiet and just take notes.

3. Your motivational needs. I think this is the hardest component to do without an assessment, but you can start by examining every time you felt stress. What did you need when you felt that stress? For every answer you write down, ask “why” five times. You will begin to get at the underlying motivational need. (Example: To stay out of stress, I “need” a guaranteed income of $75K/year. Why? Because I need to live in a safe house, drive a reliable car, and get routine healthcare. Why? Because I worry about my personal safety and I will focus on that if I feel there is any risk to it. Why? Because I am not good at last minute problem solving and I need to do everything possible to prevent problems rather than solving them when they arise.)

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With knowledge about you, your Road to Success can include satisfying the components of happiness and being understood as well as being successful. As I observed with my clients and experienced myself, when you get in touch with these three things that are unique to you, you will know what gifts you have to serve the world. And following this process can take more like 30-days than the 30 years it took me.

There is a reason they say on airlines, “Put your own mask on before helping others.”

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