The Young and Exceptional™: Iman Victoria Wilson

Iman Victoria Wilson is the 2012 national winner of the Blacks In Government Information Superhighway Student Competition. An honors student in the 11th grade at Monroe Comprehensive High School, Iman has received the Girl of the Year Award from Girl’s Inc. She epitomizes the organization’s mantra: “Strong, Smart and Bold.” Iman is also the Sunday School secretary for Institutional First Baptist Church in Albany, GA.

Iman enjoys reading, meeting new people, listening to music, and spending time with her family. Her positive and polite attitude is magnetic. She aspires to attend Spelman College. Her post graduate plans include attending Harvard School of Law and eventually becoming a successful criminal defense attorney. Let’s take a quick peek inside the mind of this young leader on the rise.

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[POSTER] Duncan Nugget® #240: Purpose Called

Purpose called. But…
She was sent straight to voice mail.
She didn’t leave a message. 
But Purpose is persistent so…
she will call again.

Million-Dollar Question: 
Will YOU answer the call?

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

[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?

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ACTIVITY AND DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR DUNCAN NUGGET #330

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.

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[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?

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ACTION STEPS AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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!

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[VIDEO+ACTIVITY] Duncan Nugget #60: Present Yourself In High Definition

High Definition (HD) videos and images are clearer, sharper, and more vivid than normal videos and images so, they’re worth a premium.

The same thing goes for high-definition people—exceptional individuals who have an accurate internal definition of who they are, what they bring to the table, where they are going, and how they plan to get there. This helps them to come across as clearer, sharper, and more vivid the than competition. They’re worth a premium because they present themselves in high definition.

If you are coming across fuzzy, start with your self-definition. Who are you? What’s most important to you in life? What do you want to do? Once you have clear answers to those questions, create a plan and learn how to articulate your plan. Then you’ll be able to come across in HD.

Million-Dollar Question:
Are you determined to take the necessary steps to present yourself in high-definition?

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ACTIVITY AND DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR DUNCAN NUGGET #60