The Real Bling: How to Get the Only Thing You Need

Brian McClellan
Sherian Incorporated Publishing (2007)
ISBN 1419657577
Reviewed by Thomas Gabrielli for Reader Views (3/07)

With proficient use of Hip-Hop, Brian McClellan motivates the reader into securing Freedom: Freedom from our restricting jobs, phony friends, false sense of values, and misguided goals. Excellent motivational read.

With a rudimentary knowledge of Hip Hop and its language, when first presented with this book, this reviewer thought this would be a tough read. Maybe even an incomprehensible one at that. How wrong my first impression was! This turned out to be an outstanding read.

The author Brian McClellan, a former rap singer and current career counselor, puts together a treatise on how to gain Freedom – or “The Real Bling” -- in many aspects of one’s life, particularly in one’s professional endeavor. Systematically, he explains in easy-to-follow and logical steps how to make progress in achieving these goals.

He first defines what he calls the “Institutional Man,” the person who slowly and almost imperceptibly becomes lost in the Company’s policies, no matter how skewered they may be. In short, the “yes” man; one who becomes part of the corporate flowchart of nonentities. He shows that the way to real Freedom is to break away from this environment to go it on your own.

He then delves into detail just how to accomplish this. His system includes surrounding yourself with the right supportive team of coworkers, training your mind to focus on your goals and to be passionate about them, eliminating people around you who prove false and detrimental to your agenda, and a concept he calls “reciprocity,” acknowledging the good people around you and rewarding them accordingly.

Throughout, McClellan uses strong metaphors to illustrate his ideas. Although I may not understand fully all of the quotes he borrows from the rap and hip hop genres, enough sunk in for me to be impressed. Ultimately, McClellan proves he is a terrific motivational speaker. His teachings jump through the printed page. I can’t help wonder if he’s this good in his writings, how great he must be live in an auditorium. I highly recommend “The Real Bling” to anyone who has every experienced the feeling of “stuck.”

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