[VIDEO+ACTIVITY] Duncan Nugget #330: Blame Is Lame

Here’s a cool little story about blame. Maybe you’ve heard it before.

“This is the story of four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody knew that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it.

Consequently, it wound up that Nobody told Anybody, so Everybody blamed Somebody. And nothing got done.”

Unfortunately, there was a time in my life when I blamed anything and anyone else, except for myself, for my lack of success. Not cool.

You cannot blame your way to success.

Personal responsibility is required. Blame is the arch enemy of personal responsibility. Therefore, blame is lame.

Million-Dollar Question:
Do you choose blame or personal responsibility?

_______________________
ACTIVITY AND DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR DUNCAN NUGGET #330

MCC students attend fall leadership conference – Al Duncan Keynote Speaker

DENVER, Colorado — Nine students active in Phi Beta Lambda at McCook Community College recently attended the National Fall Leadership Conference in Denver. The keynote speaker was Al Duncan, an award-winning youth advocate, publisher, and internationally recognized authority on soft skills.

Read the rest: McCook Daily Gazette: Features: MCC students attend fall leadership conference (11/27/12):

The Young And Exceptional™: Taylor Sarman

Taylor Sarman, a freshman at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, has had a passion for serving others since an early age. This passion has led him to pursue a degree in Political Science, which he hopes to use to improve the lives of those around him.

Taylor was extensively involved in Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) in high school, where he served the association as National President. Since graduating high school, Taylor has been an active member of the Oregon FBLA Board of Trustees, and he continues to fulfill his passion of serving others with the March of Dimes as a member of the National Youth Council.

Recently, I met Taylor when I was the keynote speaker at the FBLA-PBL National Fall Leadership Conference. Awesome guy.

_________________

Al Duncan and Former Atlanta Mayor Shirely Franklin speak at the Power Over Prejudice Summit

ATLANTA, GA—October 9-10 over 700 students and 140 counselors from 75 middle schools in Metro Atlanta participated in the 17th Annual Power Over Prejudice Summit. The summit is an event foocused on dealing with prejudice and discrimination that raises student’s awareness about cultural, racial, ethnic, socio-economic and physical differences. Summit attendees will listen to dynamic keynote speakers and participate in workshops on bullying, prejudice, and discrimination.

This year’s keynote speaker was Al Duncan. Special guest speakers included former Atlanta mayor, Shirley Franklin, Bill Nigut—Southeastern Director of the Anti-Defamation League, and Doug Shipman—CEO of the Center for Civil and Human Rights. For more information visit www.poweroverprejudice.org

[VIDEO] People To People on WSB-TV/Channel 2  Power Over Prejudice

[VIDEO] Duncan Nugget® #344: Your Strategy For Dealing With Failure

A professor once asked me, “Al, in your opinion, why do students cheat?”

“Because they have an ineffective strategy for dealing with failure.”

Think about that. When people don’t know how to deal with failure they’ll do anything to avoid it.

Nobody wants to fail, but exceptional people aren’t afraid to fail. They develop a strategy.

Here’s mine:

1. Forgive yourself. The Duncan Nugget® that I probably quote the most is #21: Failure is only permanent if you quit. I might get sad. I might get mad. But I refuse to beat myself up about it.

2. Master the lesson. Analyze what went wrong and don’t do it again. Duh!

3. Work hard to get better. Learn and practice what you learned. If you don’t know how to improve then ask someone who knows what s/he is talking about.

That’s my strategy.

Million Dollar Question:
What is your strategy for dealing with failure?

_______________________
ACTION STEPS AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Washington State Prevention Summit – Al Duncan – Youth Keynote Speaker

The goal of the Washington State Prevention Summit is to provide an enriching and culturally competent training and networking opportunity for youth, volunteers and professionals working toward the prevention of substance abuse, violence and other destructive behaviors as well as integrating such prevention efforts with primary health care.

This year Al Duncan will be the keynote speaker for the youth track. He will also emcee the adult track and deliver a 90-minute workshop for the Adult Youth Advisors.

The Young And Exceptional™: Adora Svitak

Adora Lily Svitak is an American child prodigy and internationally published author, known for her essays, stories, poems, blogs, and full-length books. In 2010 Adora spoke at the prestigious TED Conference and she is one of the organizers of TEDx Redmond.

Recently, I interviewed Adora and her answers (below) were insightful. And some were funny too!

____________________________