How To Tell Your Story In Professional Settings

Over the last ten years or so, personal branding has become one of the “new”, hot and sexy topics in the world of personal development. (It’s one of my most requested topics.)

As people scurry all over the place looking for a competitive advantage in a crowded market place, personal branding experts and advice have been popping up everywhere.

Deliver value. Promote your uniqueness. Be consistent and authentic. Get yourname.com. Get a blog. Develop an online presence and please don’t post anything stupid online. Do those things and you’ll be able to develop a strong personal brand.

Is that really all there is to it? Eh..not quite. There’s something missing.

[VIDEO] Duncan Nugget® #108: Smarter than the Average Bear

“I’m smarter than the average bear!”

For weeks, every since he saw the Yogi Bear movie, my son, Mekhi, has been running around saying that quote. It makes him LOL. And he’s making me LOL. But he also brought to mind a nugget I wrote a few years ago:

You can’t build an extraordinary life with ordinary effort.

Think about it.

Yogi was talking about more than brains. He was talking about effort. In order to get what he wanted, Yogi put in waaaaay more effort than your average bear.

In order to have more than the average bear…uh…person has, you must DO more than the average person does. (But keep it legal!)

High achievement and lasting fulfillment are the results of extraordinary effort. So, be smart enough and disciplined enough to put forth extraordinary effort. The pay-off is huge.

Million-Dollar Question:
Are you smarter than the average bear?

 

National Mentoring Month: Be a Mentor

It’s not too late to do some more good during
National Mentoring Month.

The Spitting Image

(revised from the Al Duncan Archives 2006)

As I travel around the country speaking and mentoring there is a question that continuously comes up.

“What’s wrong with these young people today?”

Grrr… That question drives me bonkers!

The same thing that’s wrong with young people is the same thing that’s wrong with adults: detrimental values. Think about it.

Duncan Nugget® #189

Young people are a reflection of adult values.

You might be thinking:

Give Back Day – Volunteering on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Allstate)

This is cool. In honor of MLK Day Allstate helps you find volunteer opportunities and highlights Give Back Day Heroes. It’s all about service.

Give Back Day Volunteering on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Remember…

Work Ethic and The Magic Number 10,000

Keep in mind that work ethic is a vital key to goal achievement. Whatever you do requires a great deal of effort to master. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes about research that shows that it takes 10,000 hours to master something. In that case, you better love what you want to master. It’s a lot of work, but it shouldn’t be too much work.

Million-Dollar Question:
What do you love to do so much, you would do it free, but you do it so well that they will pay you?

(Adapted from Get ALL Fired Up! About Living Your Dreams – Excuse #19)

[VIDEO] Duncan Nugget® #343: Your Ego vs. Your Bank Account

If you let it, your ego will kill your bank account.

Recently, I witnessed someone have a major idiotic episode. This young guy, fresh out of grad school, buys a new, fully loaded BMW trying to show off to some woman. I’m sure you can figure out the rest of this story.

Crazy car note. Jacked up credit.

Hiding from the repo man.

No girl.

People do it all the time. “Makin’ it rain, baby”, but they can’t afford to pay the water bill. They allow their bank accounts and credit to be ruined by the clothes, cars, jewelery, gadgets, big houses, etc. that they want to impress other people.

There’s nothing wrong with having nice stuff. I’m just saying…don’t let your ego lead you somewhere that your bank account can’t follow.

Million-Dollar Question:
When it comes to your ego vs. your bank account,
which one wins?