I don’t know about you, but I love “Rags to Riches” stories. They excite and inspire me. I think it’s because the get in touch of that part of me that knows that I CAN DO ANYTHING and I get reminded that I have than within me when I read about others who have triumphed over extremely difficult situations.

Isn’t that what Personal Development is all about?

There are so many people who have risen up to beat the odds and become all that they could be. Some true ‘rags to riches’ personalities include such folks as Ronald Reagan, Sam Walton, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton and Thomas Edison

One “local” rags to riches story that comes to mind for me today is that of famed restauranture Al Copeland. As a native New Oleanian, I grew up being exposed to many of Al’s entrepreneurial projects. He of course is probably best known for his founding of Popeyes Chicken franchise. He went on to amass fortunes with that company and other restaurants that he created. Mr. Copeland lost is battle to cancer this past Sunday at the age of 64.

While Al Copeland was not by any stretch of the imagination a perfect man, he was a financially successful man. He did not graduate from high school yet he was able to attain multi-millionaire status. He understood that working smart had nothing to do with working hard or being smart. He understood the value of making his money, no matter how much or how little he had, work hard for him.

May I recommend that on your quest for personal development, you consider studying the lives of people that you admire. If your idea of personal development includes business success, then go study the life and times of successful business people. If your idea of personal development includes spiritual awareness, then go out and study the writings, thoughts and behaviors of the great spiritual thinkers. If your idea of personal development means living a lifestyle of impeccable physical and mental wellness, then go out and study the lives of the most successful health educators and practitioners of health and wellness.

Personal development is in the eye of the beholder and means so many different things to so many different people. Decide what it means to you and then go out and learn from as many people as you can how to achieve your personal goals!

Here in New Orleans and elsewhere, Al Copeland will be missed. But what he leaves behind for those of us appreciate all he has done, is a rags to riches life worth studying. A life in which we can learn from his successes and from his errors.

Thanks for stopping by and please visit again!

-Dr. Graf

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There is a tradition in academia known as “The Last Lecture.” A professor would give “the last lecture” under a situation in which he or she knew that tomorrow or maybe sooner, they would be dead. The professor would have to carefully consider many questions:

What would I talk about?

How would I say it?

What is most important?

What effect may my words have on others?

What effect do I want to have on others?

Just to name a few…

I would like to invite you to listen to “The Last Lecture” of Dr. Randy Pausch, an engineering professor who REALLY is giving his last lecture. Dr. Pausch, like all of us, will die. The difference is, Randy knows his death is days, maybe weeks, at best, months away.

Not very long ago, he gave his “Last Lecture” to his students at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. The talk was video taped and because of the internet, it estimated that it has been viewed over 6 million times. Recently, Oprah invited him on her show to reprise the lecture.

I don’t know how else to introduce this video. Just spend 10 minutes and watch it. Trust me.

To learn more, visit Dr. Randy Pausch online at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/.

Thanks for stopping by and please visit again!

-Dr. Graf

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