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  #1 (permalink)  
Old 05-03-2007, 08:27 PM
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Arrow Who is Your PD hero ?

we hear success stories all the time about people managed to develop regardless the circumstances they have... people who faced very difficult moments in their life. we get influenced by their life and they become our Champions...

do you have a Personal development hero ? who is he/she ... can you share
with us his/her story and why it inspired you
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Old 05-03-2007, 08:48 PM
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Oddly enough, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are two of my PD heroes, though not PD-related directly. Buffett did say to invest in yourself first, though. They don't have any sad story of pulling themselves up by their boostraps or ending up in bad situations and then recovering, rather, they worked consistantly and rationally to get where they are.

The things I love about them include their rationality, their strength of character and integrity and their wisdom. I know you don't hear "Wisdom" much anymore, but they really do have it. Their ability to stick to their opinions in spite of what many, many, many people think is the wrong thing to do. And of course, their success is also inspiring.
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Old 05-03-2007, 08:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RT Wolf View Post
Oddly enough, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are two of my PD heroes
although my question will sound silly but who they are ? what do they do i dont know them honestly
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Old 05-03-2007, 09:14 PM
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Warren Buffett = second richest man in the world = about to make the largest donation to charity ever = greatest investor ever = CEO of Berkshire Hathaway = very frugal man, especially for being so rich.

Charlie Munger = long time partner of Warren Buffett = a very large shareholder of Berkshire = billionaire, too = very wise man.

Warren Buffett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charlie Munger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikipedia is our friend.
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Old 05-03-2007, 09:41 PM
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aaah that is the man who appeard on prime time show about the cheapest people and he was criticizing the wealthy famous people because fo their small donations right ?
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Old 05-03-2007, 09:49 PM
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^ Heh, yea. He's also the guy who thinks his and other rich people's tax rate should be higher.
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Old 05-03-2007, 09:53 PM
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in this case yeah ... i think it is a little bit strange that these are your personal development heros but everything is possible
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Old 05-03-2007, 10:09 PM
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^ Actually, no, not strange at all. The erason why he thinks that is because the uber rich pay less, percentage wise than the middle/working class. He believes the uber rich should shoulder of the burden, because they got rich because of their society and one should give back to those who helped them get rich, such as society at large. He pays less in taxes now, %-wise than his secretary, or he did many years ago when he was an employee for Benjamin Graham, he's said. He's in for progressive taxation, is all. But i really appreciate that his sense of morals and duty are such that he can effectively say what's right even though he'll lose more money.
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Old 05-03-2007, 10:18 PM
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I dont know if he makes these donations to get rid of taxes or for doing good to society but at least regardless of the intentions ... the society benefits from such big donations right ?
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Old 05-03-2007, 11:00 PM
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So guys any more PD heros ? 53 viewers and only two heros posted
lets hear some more stories
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Old 05-03-2007, 11:38 PM
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Well I guess for the record I will say Steve Pavlina. He has devoted his life to PD. Who could be better?

Erock
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Old 05-04-2007, 12:25 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aabukar View Post
I dont know if he makes these donations to get rid of taxes or for doing good to society but at least regardless of the intentions ... the society benefits from such big donations right ?
I'm not 100% sure on this but I am reasonably sure. You see, most of his wealth is tied up in berkshire hathaway stock. He will be donating this stock. Now, you only pay taxes on stocks when you sell them (called a capital gains tax). His income from berkshire hathway is 100,000 dollars a year, and he probably has a number of personal investments in stocks and might sit on the boards of other corporations. My point is this, that he does not pay a lot in taxes, so he's not exactly going to be getting rid of millions in taxes, as far as I know.

I'm betting that he will be donating a LOT more (around 38 billion) than he would owe in taxes, probably for the rest of his life. The economics don't make sense for me to just say that he does this just for tax purposes. That, and it seems out of character to me. Sure, its an added incentive that you get tax deductions, but, hell, if you're donating that much money, I'm ok if you never pay taxes again, as long as the taxes that woulda been owed are reasonable (say, less than even a billion).

I hope I explained myself clearly, I'm not all here right now.
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Old 05-04-2007, 01:44 AM
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Without the shadow of doubt, my PD hero is Anthony Robbins… I have studied intensively his book, “Awaken the Giant Within” for about two decades… I have made a resume of it that I have on my PC and in my Palm for almost daily references…

I have done the firewalk and attended one seminar conducted by Tony himself and about twelve conducted by some of his associates… plus, I have given well over one hundred conferences on his material… and it was also an integral part of a TV show that I hosted for five years…

In another forum I have over 9000 posts… and a good share of those was about Tony’s material…

What can I tell you… I like his work…

.
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Old 05-04-2007, 02:42 AM
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My husband is my PD hero. He came from a poor family. He's the oldest of four siblings and his father was military. His mother was the only one who encouraged him and all of his siblings to get their educations. She used to say, "An education is the only thing that cannot be taken away from you." He and his two brothers worked from the time they were five years old. They shined shoes, weeded the neighbors gardens, chopped wood, delivered newspapers, set up pins in a bowling alley before the days of automation, etc. When he graduated high school he wanted to continue to work, live at home and go to the local community college. But his dad said no to that idea, gave him $10 and took him to the bus stop where he left to join the Navy.

After 2 years in the Navy, he worked -- and I mean he really worked -- his way through college for his bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees in public administration. He's nearing retirement now and has had a very successful career and when he leaves he will be leaving at the top of his game and the top of the salary curve for his field.

But what I admire the most is that he has always been honest, caring and compassionate. He takes the time to encourage young people who are just starting their careers. He has been passionate about hiring and promoting minorities and women and encouraging and even pushing his employees to better themselves and continue their educations. He crafted tuition reimbursement programs for employees. And he rewards hard work because he remembers from whence he came.

I guess you can tell I'm very proud of him
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Old 05-04-2007, 02:51 AM
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A very inspiring post Ree... thank you for sharing that with us... you are one lucky lady... and give my best to your man...

.
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Old 05-04-2007, 05:47 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shamou View Post
Without the shadow of doubt, my PD hero is Anthony Robbins… I have studied intensively his book, “Awaken the Giant Within” for about two decades… I have made a resume of it that I have on my PC and in my Palm for almost daily references…

...

In another forum I have over 9000 posts… and a good share of those was about Tony’s material…

.
hey, could you share with us your resume? and how about a link to the forum?
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Old 05-04-2007, 05:58 AM
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I've had different heroes...

In high school I looked up to a senior who was very athletic and got good grades, I'd repeat to myself that I was him.

I've also just read lots of biographies of different successful people. I just basically look at elements of different people and incorporate their identity into mine.

I look up to my dad for his trait of just pure bull headed hard work no jacking around attitude. I look up to my mom for her growth on her spiritual side.

I look up to my sister for being a waste in high school to changing her life around to become a physicists like me.

I look up to the poor people in Asia who are happy with their simple lives. A reminder that you don't need ************ to be happy.

I look up to my friend who was able to help me see her viewpoint on religion so that I could translate her viewpoint about how god works in my viewpoint of science.

I look up to my best friend for just pure brilliance and not wasting it like some lazy geniuses do. And for a role model on how to be good with the girls.

I look up to Einstein because of the way he took on a simple job as a patent clerk so that he could have free time to derive the laws of the universe from his own creative mind, and for not caring about going against the popular science of the day.

I can see a little bit of myself in Steve since he studied computer science and a good example of what it means to have a creative personality.
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Last edited by Sunnybayes : 05-04-2007 at 06:02 AM.
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Old 05-04-2007, 05:59 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunnybayes View Post
hey, could you share with us your resume? and how about a link to the forum?
My resume has 40 pages in Word (104 KB) and is copyrighted material... so I could only send it through personal e-mails... if anyone wants it... they would have to PM me their email address...

As for the other forum... I don't think I should advertise it in this forum... I don't think that Steve would appreciate that...

.
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Old 05-04-2007, 07:01 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shamou View Post
As for the other forum... I don't think I should advertise it in this forum... I don't think that Steve would appreciate that...
There must be a reason that you post to this forum instead. You could post on that other forum a link to this forum to balance out the traffic flow.

I don't think that Steve would be afraid of one link to another forum. After all, Steve advertises many other PD blogs every time he post a new article to his own blog.

I am interested in what you have posted.

OR if you are still uncomfortable, could you please message me the link?
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Old 05-04-2007, 07:55 AM
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Default Not a person, but....

Whenever I am downhearted I remember the example of the Spartans in the Peloponesian War between Athens and Sparta. The war was a stalemate because the Athenians could not be beaten at sea, and the Spartans were invincible on land.

To break the deadlock, the unseamanlike Spartans built a fleet, even though they had to practise rowing on land because the Athenians control of the sea was so complete.

I don't think I would much like the Spartans generally, but this example of spirit and determination has always inspired me.
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Old 05-04-2007, 10:06 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shamou View Post
I have made a resume of it that I have on my PC and in my Palm for almost daily references….
I am interested too can you please message me the link and thanks alot for sharing
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Old 05-04-2007, 10:09 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunnybayes View Post
I've had different heroes...

In high school I looked up to a senior who was very athletic and got good grades, I'd repeat to myself that I was him.

I've also just read lots of biographies of different successful people. I just basically look at elements of different people and incorporate their identity into mine.

I look up to my dad for his trait of just pure bull headed hard work no jacking around attitude. I look up to my mom for her growth on her spiritual side.

I look up to my sister for being a waste in high school to changing her life around to become a physicists like me.

I look up to the poor people in Asia who are happy with their simple lives. A reminder that you don't need ************ to be happy.

I look up to my friend who was able to help me see her viewpoint on religion so that I could translate her viewpoint about how god works in my viewpoint of science.

I look up to my best friend for just pure brilliance and not wasting it like some lazy geniuses do. And for a role model on how to be good with the girls.

I look up to Einstein because of the way he took on a simple job as a patent clerk so that he could have free time to derive the laws of the universe from his own creative mind, and for not caring about going against the popular science of the day.

I can see a little bit of myself in Steve since he studied computer science and a good example of what it means to have a creative personality.
Wooow that is great post thanks for sharing yup i beleive that if we looked carefully we can find many heors around us and taking something from each of them to us will add more value to our own PD
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Old 05-04-2007, 10:12 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beautyscientist View Post
I don't think I would much like the Spartans generally, but this example of spirit and determination has always inspired me.
that is a really nice example thanks for sharing but what about people that you knew personally in your life do you have a pd hero among them ?
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Old 05-04-2007, 11:28 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Erock View Post
Well I guess for the record I will say Steve Pavlina.
I wonder who is Steve Pavlina's PD hero ?
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