Motivational speaker seeking more engagements for his message

By Robert Williams

Editor

Author and Motivational Speaker Nick Furey, a graduate of Frazee–Vergas High School’s Class of 1986, has a unique gift he uses to help people rethink their lives and in turn motivate their worlds.

Hence the name of his business is “Motivate Your World.”

Furey has a knack for turning words into inspirational acronyms. Aside from speaking engagements where he utilizes his list of more than 200 acronyms, he has also created a 2025 block calendar titled, “365 Days of Motivational Acronyms and Quotes.”

“It might be the one thing that someone might just say, ‘I was just having a really hard day and I read that and it made me think differently for the day,’” Furey said.

Furey has a wide audience demographic. He is able to tweak his presentation for the benefit of those different groups.

“I speak to businesses, churches, schools, men’s groups, women’s groups and kids too,” said Furey. “The kids, when they hear my name are all, ‘Oh! The Avengers!’”

“Nick Fury” is a fictional character portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe media franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name.

An example of how Furey has integrated acronyms into his message is when speaking to a group of kids and bringing up a singled-out individual or group and the connotation that this person or the group are weird.

“The word WEIRD came to me: When Everything Is Really Dynamic; do you want to be normal like everybody else? Or dynamic, living who you really are—not caring about what everybody thinks and being who you are?” Furey said.

Furey has come up with a very unique way of diffusing an insult or negative implication and flipping it to something constructive.

“That’s my main message, he said. “I have 200 acronym words that are bound to change a life. I’m going to give them a different outlook. A balance on that. People tell you – you should be normal, like everybody else. Well, NORMAL is really Noting Our Regular Mundane Average Life.”

Furey’s acronyms fly off his lips like it’s his own language. In a sense, it is and the meanings are deep, difficult to refute, and create a state of contemplation.

“They end up being powerful,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me, whether it’s in school, sports, work, whichever it is. We’ve learned the word TEAM before. Together Everyone Achieves More. It makes sense, but more what? You could probably get more done. To make it more sense, say, Together Every Achievement Matters. Whether it’s the waterboy on the football team to the quarterback, the coach, the management. Everybody matters to that team. No matter who they are.”

Furey had people in his youth that created a “lighthouse moment” aiding in making him realize his own worth.

“You do matter,” he said. “That’s the kind of mindset I look at for people, no matter who they are or what upbringing they had. What their parents are or are not? They matter. Coming back to Frazee, I was kind of what I call a ‘midrovert.’ Right in the middle of everything. I wasn’t a jock and I wasn’t a loser. I didn’t know where I fit. I was trying to find my place in this world and you can get lost in the bullying. Then you become that and you fall into whatever.”

Furey found himself struggling financially in 1999 when he got this “hair-brained” idea.

“What would everyone in the United States, 356 million people, what would they pay one dollar for? Would you pay a dollar for a word that could possibly change your life? It started with a few and then God would just give me a new one and a new one and now I’m up to about 200 words.”

Furey was encouraged to use his “hair-brained” idea, of which he stoutly describes as his “gift.”

“At first it was financial and then it became a labor of love,” said Furey. “I get people asking me words all the time. I had one…toddler. It’s not a word I would normally think of making an acronym for because it’s a long word.”

Furey paused for a second before recollecting the acronym: Trying Out Daily Discoveries Learning Everything’s Remarkable.

He will also use his gift on the fly when meeting people in public.

“I just use them for the benefit,” Furey said. “I can tell you many times I’ve been walking down the street and I’ll talk to someone about hope these days. We’re without hope a lot with the way it looks. I tell them Have Only Positive Expectations. They go, ‘That’s fine for you. I prefer to have low expectations—that way I never get hurt.’ So I say, here’s the balance. Guess what you felt? Have Only Low Expectations. What did you spell? They think and they say, ‘HOLE.’ They’re hard to get out of, aren’t they? Once you dig yourself in there you’re digging deep. After a while, you’ve got to get out.”

Furey’s speech is simple and complex at the same time. It allows for an expansion of meaning that is consistent in changing perspectives to the positive.

“The majority of them say, ‘I never thought about that before,’” said Furey. “One of my slogans is ‘You can’t change where you’re headed until you’ve changed the way you think.”

Always ready with the other end of the scale for balance, “You only fail if you stop trying,” Furey said.

Furey also hosts his own podcast. His 2025 Motivational Acronym Calendar is for sale for $15.95. Links are available on his homepage. He is currently seeking opportunities and accepting invitations to speak to groups. For booking information and contact info visit Furey’s website: motivateyourworld.net/ or call: (701) 429-8553.

There is more information available on Furey’s social media: Facebook.com/nick.furey.92