Thought for the Day - Les Brown Week - Fall on Your Back

"If you fall, fall on your back. If you can look up, you can get up."


-- Les Brown




So true. Many of us face setbacks in life but if you keep looking up and forward and with determination you can get up, move forward and turn it around. 


-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - Les Brown Week -Accept Responsibility for your Life

"Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else."

-- Les Brown


This is crucial in life that you take 100% responsibility for your life.


-- John Duffy

Sunday's Eclectic Music Video - Halo

Saturday's Motivational Video - Robin Sharma Week - Best Year Ever

Thought for the Day - Robin Sharma Week - Measure Your Actions

“What gets measured gets improved.” 

― Robin S. Sharma


This is very important. It might be the clearest with your fitness goals. I keep track of my workouts, my goals, my projects and everything I do. I still have a way to go in this area but you need to measure your goals, accomplishments and activities so you can keep raising your standards and becoming better in all areas of your life....


-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - Robin Sharma Week - Write About Your Life

“If your life is worth thinking about,it is worth writing about.”

― Robin S. Sharma

I have kept a journal for over twenty years. I suggest you start and use a journal to capture the moments in your life, set goals, analyze and write the story of your life, the past, present and future.

-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - Robin Sharma Week -Your I Can Not IQ

“Your "I CAN" is more important than your IQ.”

― Robin S. Sharma

There are a lot of very smart unsuccessful people in life. Sometimes if not most of the time your attitude is more important than all the other factors.

-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - Robin Sharma Week - Become the Architect of Your Future

“We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future.”

― Robin S. Sharma

Our challenge is to find our purpose and mission in life and to share our gifts and talents with the world. Create and build your future...

-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - Robin Sharma Week - Leaders Provide Solutions

“Victims recite problems, leaders provide solutions.”

― Robin S. Sharma

I always say, okay you told me the problem now what is the solution? Chose to think and act like a leader in life not as a victim.

-- John Duffy

Sunday's Eclectic Music Video - Pogues

Saturday's Motivational Video - Jim Rohn Week -

Thought for the Day - Jim Rohn Week - Set Your Sails

"It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go."

-- Jim Rohn

Thought for the Day - Jim Rohn Week - Wish You Were Better

"Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better."

-- Jim Rohn

i love this one. Wish you were better, stronger, bigger. The stronger the wind the stronger the tree. Wish for strength.

-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - Jim Rohn Week - Ask Empowering Questions

“You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”

-- Jim Rohn

A series of more empowering questions. I suggest you choose to always ask yourself questions that the answer to will empower not disempower you.

-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - Jim Rohn Week - What Could I Do?

“To solve any problem, here are three questions to ask yourself: First, what could I do? Second, what could I read? And third, who could I ask?”

-- Jim Rohn

Some empowering questions that lead you in the direction of the solution and away from the problem. Always you empowering questions to help yourself solve problems you face.

-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - Jim Rohn Week - Let Others Lead Small Lives

“Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you.”

-- Jim Rohn This is one of my favorite quotes. I strive to live my life by these suggestions.  It's a call to empowerment, a call to raise your standards and to be a bigger person. -- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - Martin Luther King Day

Honoring the life of Martin Luther King


"Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."


-- Martin Luther King

Sunday's Eclectic Music Video - Ray Charles

Saturday Motivation Video - American Dreamers Week

Center for the Study Of the American Dream

http://www.xavier.edu/americandream/programs/young-american-dreamers.cfm

Thought for the Day - American Dream Week - American Dreamers

My American Dreamers website and American Dreamers Facebook page.

American Dreamers Website: http://planetkor.com/AD/

American Dreamers on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=107427119288220

-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - American Dream Week - Mel Martinez

"Forty-two years ago, I came to America from communist Cuba so I might have a better way of life, a freer way of life - a more democratic way of life. I wanted to live the American Dream where if you worked hard and put your mind to the task, anything was possible." 


-- Mel Martinez

Thought for the Day - American Dream Week - Bono

"When I was a kid in Dublin, I watched in awe as America put a man on the moon. We thought, you know, this is "mad." Nothing is impossible in America. In America, they can do anything over there."


-- Bono


When I was a kid in the South Bronx I was in awe of the moon walk as well. But for too many and for too long we have forgot that nothing is impossible in America. We have the chance to make the impossible possible and and as Walt Disney said it's fun to make the impossible possible. He did it with Disney Land and so have many others with their dreams. 


-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - American Dream Week - Archibald MacLeish

"There are those, I know, who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American dream."


- Archibald MacLeish

Thought for the Day - American Dream Week - The Road Ahead

This week my blog is about the American Dream. What is the American Dream? Is it real? The American Dream hasn't been talked about so much and debated so much since the late 1970's.

Is the American Dream over? Will our future be worse than our past and present?

My American Dream came full-circle on New Year's Day 2012 when I made my first trip to Ellis Island. Four years ago the idea of visiting Ellis Island and and reconnecting with my roots and Irish relatives were the last thing on my mind. Yet a surprise or really a miracle was about to shake up my life. I had grownup with no connection to Ireland and no knowledge of my family there. Due to a conflict between my mother and her sister in America i also grew up with no contact with any relatives. My family consisted of only my mother and my brother. Then in a New York minute everything changed.

My niece called me and said my cousin in England had emailed her and was trying to find her family who came to America. After some back and forth communication I discovered my mother's youngest sister was alive in Ireland and was 93 years old. A new door opened up, something I would have never imagined in my wildest dreams. A few months later on St Patrick's Day i attended a reunion of my family in Foxford, Ireland. It was truly a magical trip. I walked through the houses my mother and father grew up in and discovered about their six week journey to America and Ellis Island in 1929 to find the American Dream. The year they came to America in 1929 was a very hard time all over the world but they persisted and gave me my American Dream.

Sailing in the harbor towards the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island I could only imagine how they felt. I was personally in awe and overwhelmed by it. My boat ride gave ea more personal, intimate and powerful appreciation of my families journey and the American Dream.

My life has come full circle. I have visited Ireland three times and have reconnected with my family in Ireland, England, America, Australia, Canada and Germany. I believe that no matter how difficult a period we are going through it was much harder when my parents came here and that we will come through this ride even stronger.

The American Dream is still alive and as the Statue of Liberty remains a beacon of freedom, the American Dream still persists and offers hope to all those willing to create their American Dream. I have a project I am working on called "American Dreamers". It stories of people who against all odds have achieved the American Dream.

So I am a believer in a brighter future and the continuation of the American Dream. Having visited Ireland I am truly grateful for the difficult journey my parents made and for the American Dream I have come to truly appreciate.

I hope you are an American Dreamer too....


-- John Duffy

Sunday's Eclectic Music Video - Something More

Saturday's Motivational Video- John Duffy's Life's Journey

This was my 1st "Icebreaker" speech at my local Toastmaster group. I share a very condensed small sliver of my life story.

"Life is a Daring Adventure"

-- Helen Keller

Thought for the Day - John Duffy Week - Step Up, Step Up

2012 and what are you going to do to Step Up your life and your game? 


   Time Magazine declared 2011 the Year of the Protester or the 99%. Well that concept doesn't work for me. I don't want to be part of the 99% or the quote, unquote "masses".  My goal is to step up my game in every area of life and strive to keep improving so I am part of the top 10% or the top 5% or even yes the top 1% in all areas of life.


So I suggest you look at all the key areas of your life, prioritize them and strive to step up your beliefs and actions in each area so you make constant and never ending improvements in all areas of your life.


I look forward to 2012 being my Best Year Ever and making breakthru's in all areas of my life as I strive to be world class and the best I can be. 


Hope you join me...


-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - John Duffy Week - Maybe Yes, Maybe No

"Maybe Yes, Maybe No". That's a saying that I came up with whenever someone would come to me with a problem and a negative attitude about the situation. They would say something like "this situation is really bad" and I would respond Maybe yes, maybe no. A director I was working with even put up the sign with those words on my wall because he said that was always my answer. 
An example of this was when our lead actor dropped out two weeks before shooting and the director got depressed and expressed that this was horrible news. Of course I said maybe yes, maybe no. We cast another actor in time to begin filming and the 1st week of the shooting the actor who dropped out was arrested going through the airport with guns. So it turned out good that he dropped out. 
Only from a distance and time can you tell if something is good or bad news. I always look for what might be good in what on the surface seems like bad news.
So if you ask me if something is bad news expect me to say "Maybe Yes, Maybe No."


-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - John Duffy Week - WWJDD? & DADD

Note to Self: Life Lesson DADD &  WWJDD?
Recently I coached a friend through a situation that was turning into a big conflict with someone into finding a positive resolution. He did and used it again the next day in another situation successfully as well.

He coined the acronym "DADD" or "Do As Duffy Does" to remind himself to apply some of my philosophy of finding solutions and resolutions, focusing on your outcomes or keeping your eye on the prize, attempting to turn everyone into your friend and avoiding emotionalism and reactivity and staying proactive, taking full 100% responsibility, going the extra mile and being willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your desired outcome.

Another associate of mine had already came up with "WWJDD?"What Would John Duffy Do? to use as a similar solution orientated approach. Anyway both of these sayings are endearing and humbling and as my friend said he now has me in his head when he approaches these difficult inter-personal situations. That's a compliment I hope.

Now here is the note to self; I realized as he was telling me this and thanking me for coaching him that I was in the same situation in my life and I was forgetting to ask my self "WWJDD? and acting as DADD. Instead I was being emotional and reactive. So this situation put a mirror in front of me and reminded me that no matter how hard it is or how much I want to be right and stay stuck I need to be bigger, braver and the solution not part of the problem. I need to ask myself "WWJDD?" and do it.

Thought for the Day - John Duffy Week - 15 Rules to Master Your Life

To kick off the New Year 2012 . Here are a slightly revised version of my rules to make your life the best it can be.

John Duffy's Fifteen Rules to Master Your Life

1. Solutions, Solutions, Solutions. Okay, I heard the problem

now what’s the solution? There’s always a way, an answer and a solution.

Your job is to find it.

2. Daily Improvement (DI) - Decide – Resolve – Act. Everyday do

just 1 more thing to improve.

What if you improved 1 thing every day?

3. Take Action and then takes some more. Get in the game. Play your heart out 

and leave it on the court or field of live.

4. Never Ever Quit. - Promise yourself you will never give up.

5. Be A Leader. Step Up. Life needs more leaders not followers.

6. It’s all about Choices. You always have choices, make the right ones.

7. Gratitude, Gratitude, Gratitude and then some more Gratitude.

We all have so much to be thankful for.

8. You can either get Results or make Excuses. You can’t do both. Your choice.

9. Put everything in Perspective. Things can always get better and

they can always get worse. So no whining, just make it better.

10. Laugh at life, laugh at yourself. Life ain’t all that serious until it is.

11. Celebrate Success. Don’t follow the culture and the media and knock the successful. Choose to be successful

12. You are responsible for your life, so take responsibility. 100% Responsibility.

13. Go for your Dreams. No, I mean REALLY go for them.

14. Understand Life is not Fair. So What? Just more challenges

to overcome. The stronger the wind the stronger the trees.

Be Strong. No Whining, No Excuses.

15. Master the 3 F’s (Family, Fitness &  Finances) and the 1 C (Career)

and you”ll get an A at Life. Life will reward your effort.

So, Just Do It!!!!!!

-- John Duffy

Thought for the Day - John Duffy Week - Reasons to Cheer

     It's 2012 and the New Year brings mixed blessings. There are those who say we are in a Depression, there are others who say the American Dream is dead, and there are new threats of war and terrorism on the horizon so one could find many reasons to be pessimistic and depressed but I suggest that there are many reason to cheer. 
    I read an old letter from the editor of Fast Company magazine that was published in Mar 2009 entitled "One Hundred Fifty-Nine Reasons to Cheer". They talked about looking in the direction of the creativity, new breakthroughs and new start up companies that will eventually lead to a turn around in the business environment. 
     I would suggest you find reasons to cheer in your life, in your family, in your community and in your country.  Choose to be part of the solution to life's challenges. Choose to be a leader not a follower. Choose to be a winner not a whiner. Yes we are going through a tough time in the world and in America but adversity offers advantages as well if we look for opportunities. Step up, make this year your best year ever. 
Join me as I choose to cheer the New Year and express gratitude for all my blessing and yes even all my challenges and obstacles. 


-- John Duffy