What if I told you that 10 years from now, your life would be exactly the same? I doubt you’d be happy. So, why are you so afraid of change? – Karen Salmansohn

In order to get to the next step we have to move from where we are. Things have to change.

The beginning of the year is a great time to imagine what could be different if we were to change.

To imagine a future better than our now.

To move towards something of interest and appeal.

What needs to change? (And what needs to stay the same?)

Make it a great day.

Jake

I read an article the other day that had the idea of shortening your resolutions to a month.

Instead of trying to do something permanent or for the whole year or…..fill in the blank, just focus on a month.

Don’t worry about permanent or even what will happen after the end of the month, just commit to one month.

Is there anything that has been lingering on your list?

Something that’s made it on the New Year’s resolution list a couple of years in a row?

Find a small step forward in that direction and commit to making progress for the month.

Commit to tracking all your expenses for the month.

Commit to writing down every single piece of food you eat.

Commit to waking up 30 minutes earlier.

Commit to 10 minutes of reading time.

Make something up that works for you and the commit to it. Just for the month of May.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Below is an excerpt from a book titled “Life Begins When You Do.”

What a great way of looking at things.

Make it a great day.

Jake

An excerpt from

Life Begins When You Do

by Mary Anne Radmacher

Nearly everyone postpones one grand thing or a collection of mighty hopes and dreams.

Between the quote marks of our lives are phrases like these: "When things slow down…when I finish my degree…when I get certified…as I acquire a deeper knowledge base…when I have kids…when the kids are grown…when I get well…when I marry…when I divorce…when I retire…when I get that promotion, that raise, that job, that house, that whatever the fill-in-the blank is for your specific postponing of life…"

Your Life Begins When You Do.

You may think you are postponing the longing of your soul until life aligns itself with your vision, until elements conspire to be more favorable…but as it happens, life just lolls along at the same remarkable consistent and disinterested cadence. Life is impartial. YOUR personal, subjective life (dreams, satisfactions, contentment, achievements, vision, fullness, passion, aspirations) begins when you begin.

From my teens into adulthood, I said, "I want to be an artist." One day I changed the sentence to, "I am an artist." My view changed. Life began. I looked behind me and saw that I had been accidentally living as an artist. I had been laying down a path that was only now visible to eyes that had begun to see. Beginning my life as an artist made my heart’s longing and the small, tentative labors of my hands – visible and tangible. I began by opening the door and simply believing that I could live my dream. I began living that dream by seeing that I could.

Your purpose, that thing that among the many to-dos of your days, is what you must do. Embrace the truth of your purpose each minute of your precious life…for how very true it is that life begins when you do.

If you would dream it

BEGIN it.

If you have an idea

OPEN it.

If there is longing

ACKNOWLEDGE it.

If there is mission

COMMIT it.

If there is daring

DO it.

If there is love

SPEAK it.

If there is resource

USE it.

If there is abundance

SHARE it.

https://youtu.be/QWXFMYqEFuc

Next year is going to be better than this year.

What a great way to end the year.

Had a great year in 2021? Next year is going to be even better.

Had a rough year in 2021? Next year is going to be better.

Let’s do this!

Make it a great day.

Jake

Pray with your feet.

I read this in a book once and thought it was appropriate for around the New Year.

It is important that we all learn to work through our worries, concerns, dreams and goals in some form of prayer.

But it is also important that we take action.

We can’t just pray, we need to be moving forward as well.

Take action today. Move forward on one of your prayers.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CX9iuUDFp2m/?utm_medium=share_sheet

David Goggins is good at challenging people in a unique way.

Basic premise – the number of times you are going to be doing something you would rather not do is going to be greater than the number of times you are doing what you want to do – this is your new normal.

Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

There are no “off days”, “cheat days” or “me days”. There are only days where you are being disciplined or not.

What does this look like for you today? Forget about getting started on January 1 – start today. Pick something hard and do that instead of what you would rather do. Get going.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained." – CS Lewis

Love is a central theme of the Christmas season.

We are reminded of the importance of the loving relationships in our lives and are inspired to love mankind in a way that seems to elude us the rest of the year.

CS Lewis has some great thoughts on the subject of love and this quote is a great reminder.

Love isn’t a feeling – it’s an action.

Either in how we think about and consider someone or better yet in what we do and say in response to those consistent and steady wishes for a loved one’s ultimate good.

Feed the flames of these thoughts and actions that Christmas inspires.

Keep it up through the New Year and on to next year.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.” – C S Lewis

CS Lewis always seems to get me with his challenges to humility.

This one in particular seemed a particular challenge.

I’m hoping that Christmas will inspire me to take on this challenge this year. To be focused on the glory of my neighbor. To put others always above myself in my daily to dos.

At Mavidea and Maxlider we’re lucky enough to have customers and coworkers to work with. They provide a daily opportunity to work towards the ideal described above.

The end of the year will go quickly. It will be easy to slip into ego, pride and selfishness as we go about our work.

Don’t fall in to the trap. Don’t let your back be broken with pride.

Make it a great day.

Jake

One of my favorite Christmas books is “The Grinch Whole Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss.

Here are my favorite few lines:

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?

It came without ribbons! It came without tags!

"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"

And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn’t come from a store.

"Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!"

Maybe I’m just a little bit of a sap, but I think that there is some magic to Christmas. And that it doesn’t come from a store.

As we make this last push towards Christmas, let’s focus on more than the packages, box and bags.

Merry Christmas.

Jake

A central message of Christmas is Hope.

In the Northern hemisphere Christmas happens near the darkest day of the year. Christmas symbolizes this hope that even when things are at their darkest, hope remains.

Hope that in spite of all of our imperfections, humanity is worthy of a hope that we can and will be better in the future.

Christmas reminds us that we are worth saving – there is hope for us yet.

In spite of all of our imperfections and idiosyncrasies and those of everyone close to us – we are capable of moving towards something better.

In spite of COVID and all of the other physical risks and heartaches – we are capable of being made whole.

In spite of all the hate and evil in the world – love will win out in the end.

In spite of even death itself – we have the opportunity to live on in the memories of others and together in Christ in Heaven.

Be full of hope this Christmas season – you are worth saving.

Merry Christmas.

Jake