Hi! This is Meaghan standing in for Jake today. Isn’t he the best, taking some time to send out some encouragement every single workday? His daily attitude of gratitude continues to amaze me. He lives this out in our daily life. No matter what is going on around us, he looks on the bright side and helps me to do the same. I am definitely still learning, so I look forward to opening my email every morning to see what he has to say, and Fridays might be my favorite.

While today’s toe tapper is a little on the twangy side, I think the sweet message is worth the listen!

Try not to take the lyrics too literally, but they resonated with me because so many of us are encountering heartbreak and worries, being given our own extremely sour lemons, and feeling like "the house" just keeps on winning. When I heard the chorus, I loved the idea of keeping a light on in my soul (the Spirit is within us!) and a bluebird in my heart (reminds me of the Zip-a-Dee-Doo Dah song, often sung by my cheery and postive grandfather, my Boompa). Even when things are not going our way, when the whole wide world seems to have stopped singing, we can remind ourselves and encourage each other that there is still, always, that pretty little bluebird flutter of hope to be rekindled! Keep going, keep giving, and keep that light on in your beautiful soul.

– Meaghan

Miranda Lambert – Bluebird (Lyrics)

Miranda Lambert – Bluebird (Lyrics)

BONUS Toe Tapper to bring you back to your childhood!

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah (Original)

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah (Original)

Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. – Robert Louis Stevenson

The person who plants the most seeds get the most harvest.

Quantity and quality are both important.

What kind of seeds are you planting?

How well are you planting them?

We must be diligent both in our efforts and in our discretion.

Wonder how are you doing so far? Look at the harvest you are reaping now. Look at the next 3 years and guess at the harvest to come. Read books and study and compare that to what you are doing.

The bounty of harvest is available to us all. There is no shortage. There is enough for everyone.

Too philosophical for you? Think of some seeds you can start planting today.

Exercise.

Save and invest some money.

Call an old friend.

Buy your wife some flowers.

Take a friend out to lunch.

Read a book.

Read the Bible.

Pray.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Found this email from a while back when I first started following David Goggins a few years back. Not sure about you, but I’ve spent a lot of time in the uncomfortable zone this year. Time for me to reflect on what I should be learning and growing towards through all of this.

"I said not long before that work and weakness are comforters. But sweat is the kindest creature of the three – far better than philosophy, as a cure for ill thoughts." – CS Lewis, Til We Have Faces

This line really stuck with me as I am reading through this book.

If you ever find yourself down, get sweaty.

Just find something to do that gets you sweaty.

Walk around the block.

Do a million pushups.

Lift weights.

Get your mind off of what is troubling you and onto to something else.

Often our worries and troubles overtake us because we allow them to dominate our thoughts. But it’s hard to let them dominate your thoughts when you are busy doing something challenging.

Plus, exercise is like good for you or something.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"You should never be proud of doing what’s right. You should just do what’s right." – Dean Smith, former University of North Carolina basketball coach

A long time ago I read a biography of Dean Smith. What has stuck with me from that book was that he had a few simple rules and stuck with them.

It seems to me that part of his success was built by having unwavering discipline on certain things but flexibility in others.

Think about your own life and what is most important.

Maybe you make a rule limiting the amount of work hours each week so you can spend more time with your family.

Maybe you make a rule around physical activity or diet.

Maybe you make a rule to never let a month go by without doing a budget.

Whatever your rules, stick with them. Pick just a few, but don’t let them slide.

If you are having a really hard time with discipline, pick just one. Make just one simple rule and stick to it. Just for a day to start. Then for two, then for a week. Just get started.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/tF9ESdfwV5o

I think the point of this one is to wonder where the dreams have gone once you wake up in the morning.

Most of us have experienced that. Wondering where our dreams have gone.

Wondering if we should stop dreaming of big things, fun things.

Wondering if we should just give up, move on or accept things as they are.

Of course not. We should get up and get started on making them real.

We should listen to a happy upbeat song and go to work on building our dreams.

What dream have you given up on?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Found this email from the past. Seemed particularly appropriate this year.

Let’s not let our hearts be hardened by the events of this year.

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

In particular lately, I’ve been thinking about how this quote applies to our work.

At Mavidea and Maxlider, we are in the service business. We work for our customers.

And they break our hearts all the time.

By not taking the good advice.

By cancelling and switching to another provider.

The same with our coworkers and teammates.

But these relationships are what make our work so worthwhile.

Only when we make ourselves vulnerable and open to the relationships around us do we get to experience the joy of our work.

At the risk of being a little sappy and corny, I’m going to ask you all to do something.

Open your hearts. Step into the scary situations and be yourself.

Lean in to the special place reserved for you in this world.

With our customers, with your teammates, with your loved ones.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”

― Laura Ingalls Wilder

2020 hasn’t gone how many of us expected.

Many of us are scare and confused. Like this might last forever.

The real things haven’t changed.

Faith, family and friends are still more important than money, stuff and entertainment.

The kind of person we are and aspire to be still matters more than the circumstances we’re experiencing.

We are experiencing unprecedented times.

A solid foundation still exists.

Make it a great day.

Jake

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can’t buy. – Zig Ziglar ​

This just a friendly reminder to count your blessings today.

Spend a few minutes counting them, writing them down or just focusing on them.

It’s easy to forget how lucky we are.

Make it a great day.

Jake

If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him, for you are worse than he thinks you to be. – Spurgeon

Sobering reminder for a Monday morning, I know.

When I read or listen to something that reminds me of just how imperfect I am, it is a bit disheartening at first.

It’s a clear reminder of the imperative of humility over pride.

It’s also a clear reminder that nobody’s perfect, but we all have value.

We can wallow in our imperfection or lean into that inherent value, always trying to add more.

Let’s humbly work towards a better version of ourselves as we start this week.

Make it a great day.

Jake