[VIDEO] Duncan Nugget® #223: Under Your Control?

After a setback, many people spend too much time agonizing over things they have little or no control over. So, when you are preparing for your next opportunity, do a little inventory.

Identify what is and isn’t under your control.

Make a list of everything that must happen in order for your opportunity to be a successful endeavor. Next, label each item on your list as “under your control” or “not under your control.”

Now, take action on what’s under your control.

For example, being well prepared for an interview is under your control. Being the most qualified and experienced person for the job isn’t under your control. Chances are, you cannot do anything about who else is being interviewed for the position.

WARNING: Be careful of passing the buck or playing the blame game.

[VIDEO] Duncan Nugget® #53: Soft Skills Make All The Difference

Hard skills—technical skills—might get you an interview. They could land you a job. They might even get you some business.

But hard skills combined with great soft skills such as: communication skills, leadership skills, teamwork, Emotional Intelligence, self-motivation, customer service, and conflict resolution—will put you in an entirely different league.

Soft skills will get you the job and the promotion. Soft skills will get you the business and a relationship that keeps them coming back.

So, read a book, take a class (like public speaking), or join an organization. Better yet do all three.

Work on your soft skills. They make all the difference.

[VIDEO] Duncan Nugget® #221: Never Convict An Innocent Person

Setbacks and failure can leave a person wallowing in the mud of past misery. Unless you are a cute, little piggy you have no business splashing around in the mud!

Humans are the only creatures on this planet that willingly live the same misery over and over again.

You imagine it. You experience it. You remember it.

Too many people continuously convict themselves for past mistakes and mishaps. It makes no sense to constantly punish yourself in the present for an honest mistake you made in the past

“I made an honest mistake. Now I know better, so I’ll do better.”

If that statement is true for you, then you need to give yourself a pardon. Otherwise, you’re convicting the new and improved you (an innocent person) for something that the old you did.

Never convict an innocent person.

[VIDEO] Duncan Nugget® #222: New Opportunities. Old Wounds.

New opportunities heal old wounds.

Has anyone you ever known been in a relationship that ended on a sour note?

Perhaps the person was a little depressed; not really doing anything, just sitting around eating, watching TV, or listening to sad love songs and nursing his or her wounds. Finally, someone tells that person that he or she needs to get out of the house and go meet somebody new.

And just like that, life starts to become fun again.

It works the same way with temporary setbacks. So, when you experience a letdown, find a new opportunity (or an old one that you’ve been blowing off)  to pursue as soon as possible.

[VIDEO] Duncan Nugget® #68: Minor Situations. Major Catastrophes.

Continuously making bad choices in minor situations can lead to major catastrophes.

In situations that “aren’t a big deal” people tend to make quick decisions that they regret later. We’ve all done it. We’ve all felt like idiots.

Here’s a super-simple way to help you decide whether or not to take a particular course of action.

Before you make a choice or take any action…PAUSE. THINK. And ASK yourself:

1. How could this help me?
2. How could this hurt me?
3. How could this help somebody else?
4. How could this hurt somebody else?

Obviously, buying a house, choosing a college, or any other major decision would require you to consider many other factors. You may be surprised, however, with how much this little process will help you make better choices in minor situations.

[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?

 

[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?