Personal Development

The 3rd key area of support related to Support Friends™ is “Personal Development!”

Continuing to develop yourself on a personal level is something that can be very valuable to you and others.

Knowledge, values, purpose, intention, attitude, motivation, inspiration, encouragement, recognition, gratitude, appreciation and believing in yourself are all very important as it relates to your personal development.

So if you're interested in supporting yourself on a personal level, we hope you find the links, resources, inspiration and information on this page to be helpful!

A Personal Development Message From
David Bryant aka Mr. Support Friend!

As many of you know I enjoy being "Mr. Support Friend" and being positive, supportive and maintain good intentions in whatever I do.

Having a positive attitude and not allowing the obstacles in life to get you down is something my parents taught me at an early age and something I always try to keep in mind.

So I'd like to share a story with you, and a few things that have been helpful to me along the way in my life, in hopes that perhaps some of these things can be helpful to you as well.

Early on in my music career I had the privilege of having one of my songs recorded by Melissa Manchester and produced by one of my musical heroes, legendary record producer Arif Mardin.

Although many of you may not be familiar with Arif, you have certainly heard his productions over the years including Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings", Barbra Stresiand, The Bee Gees, Aretha Franklin, Phil Collins and most recently Norah Jones, for which he won the 2002 Grammy Award For Producer Of The Year.

I remember one day I went to visit Arif at the hotel he was staying at in Los Angeles with my friend Mark Stevens who is Chaka Khan's brother and the person who introduced me to Arif. Arif produced many of Chaka's records and at the time he was working on the amazing arrangement he did for Chaka of "Night In Tunisia" the Dizzie Gillespie classic.

During a break I remember asking Arif if he had any words of wisdom he could share with me on how to be successful in the music business.

I was in my early 20's at the time and Arif told me 3 things:

Be prepared and make sure your talent and skills are in order.
Avoid the temptations.
And 3rd and most importantly, if you can not accept disappointment and rejection, you need to find another career, because it's going to happen no matter what level of success you achieve!

I have always remembered those 3 things, especially the last statement about the ability to accept disappointment and have often relied on that statement when things have not worked out in my life as I thought they would.

I guess I'm a GLASS HALF FULL kinda guy!

So what does your glass look like to YOU?

Is it HALF FULL? Or is it HALF EMPTY?

If it's HALF EMPTY, what can you do to make it HALF FULL?

Here are a few things I've found to be helpful in my life in keeping my glass half full:

Believe in yourself!
Be prepared!
Make good choices!
Have realistic expectations!
Don't be afraid to ask questions!
Don't take rejection personally!
Take advantage of TIMING!
Stay open minded!
Be willing to try new things!
Listen to the Dream Makers, not the Dream Killers!
Network, Network, Network!
Surround yourself with positive people who support you and share similar dreams and goals!
There's God's plan and your plan. And your plan doesn't matter!
And finally, don't let your past effect your future!

I hope you find the information, links and resources on this page to be helpful and inspiring. 2 of my personal favorites are John Wooden's The Pyramid of Success and Hay House.

Have a wonderful day!

Peace, Love, Support & Friendship!
David Bryant aka Mr. Support Friend