https://youtu.be/AxcM3nCsglA

Friday after Halloween deserves a Halloween song.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween.

Make it a great day.

Jake

When we work for a bigger purpose, we find an endless supply of happiness at work. — Jon Gordon

I liked how he said “bigger” in front of purpose in this quote.

It’s easy to get stuck on finding our one purpose and the biggest reason we are here. There’s a lifetime of work for most of us on that one.

But a bigger purpose is pretty easy.

Instead of working for a paycheck we can be working for the team or serving the clients.

Instead of working out we can be losing some weight or getting more energy.

Instead of making lunches for the kids we can be packing up some love.

Find a way to add some more purpose into the mundane today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Today at Mavidea we’re have a lunch and learn and discussing the QBQ.

The book is about asking better questions that lead to personal accountability and action oriented thinking.

My favorite is “How can I help?”

So many of life’s little issues and problems could be solved by asking this one simple question.

Today I encourage all of you to find someone or some situation where you can honestly and sincerely ask this simple question.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

In order to find, we must look.

We must actively work towards finding what we desire for our lives.

It doesn’t just come to us.

We must find the relevant information.

We must ask others who might know where it is.

What are you looking for?

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/2AB9zPfXqQQ

“Sounds like somebody’s got a case of the Mondays.”

It’s funny to me that Monday is the day of the week that is supposed to be the worst day. Seems to me that it should be the best day of the week.

It’s the start of a new week. A clean slate.

Everything is in front of you. Anything is possible.

Think of this week as a trial run. Think of it as a week full of possibilities and new beginnings.

What is the one thing you would like to get done?

Get on it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/LrT7sqV14_E

Made to love.

Simple, great thought for the day and weekend ahead.

Make it a great day.

Jake

No one has ever become poor by giving. – Anne Frank

What a great way of explaining a simple truth – you can never be too generous.

I can’t explain to exactly how or why it works out but I’m sure that it does.

When we give generously, we end up better off.

In fact, I’ve come to believe that more joy lies on the giving side of the equation.

What are you holding on to that should be given away?

What part of your life could use some more joy?

Find a way to give more.

Make it a great day.

Jake

A while ago I watched the series “The Pacific”. The series was about the experience of a group of Marines during WWII.

At the end of the show they gave a brief “update” on each of the soldiers and their experiences after the war.

Next to one of the names it said “Sold cars for 46 years”.

That really struck me as an interestingly different experience than participating in WWII.

Think about it. You go from participating in one of the greatest battles and moments in human history (saving the world) to selling cars.

Not that selling cars is bad, I just have a hard time imagining waking up in the morning to that as compared to the significance that must have been felt at moments during war.

But as I thought about it, I wondered if there isn’t an interesting lesson in there somewhere.

Maybe the lesson is that the same kinds of things that led to success in WWII would allow someone to be successful and enjoy a life of selling cars.

Courage, integrity, responsibility, grit, humility, positivity.

Just some examples, but you can easily imagine how they would lead to success in whatever endeavor the possessor pursued.

Most of us are lucky enough to not have to test our character in the crucible of war.

Instead, we must test it in daily interactions with coworkers, our families and ourselves.

As I reflect on this whole picture, I am eternally grateful for those that have faced sterner tests on my behalf.

And I am inspired to do the best I can with the opportunity they have created for me to test myself against the smaller yardsticks I face each day.

Make it a great day.

Jake

In the Bible it says the meek shall inherit the earth.

It’s hard not to bristle a little when you hear that.

We hear words like meek and humble and think of the perennial doormat that doesn’t think enough of themself to stand up for what they believe in.

I went in search of something around the topic of humility and found this short excerpt:

One of the most powerful prayers in the midst of suffering I have read was uncovered from the horrors of Ravensbruck concentration camp. Ravensbruck was a concentration camp built in 1939 for women. Over 90,000 women and children perished in Ravensbruck, murdered by the Nazis. Corrie Ten Boom, who wrote The Hiding Place, was imprisoned there too. The prayer, found in the clothing of a dead child, says:

O Lord, remember not only the men and woman of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all of the suffering they have inflicted upon us: Instead remember the fruits we have borne because of this suffering, our fellowship, our loyalty to one another, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown from this trouble. When our persecutors come to be judged by you, let all of these fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.

I think that is the kind of behavior the Bible is talking about.

The kind of humility and meekness it takes to write something like that is hard to imagine.

It’s easy to read something like this and feel bad. Hard to live up to those kind of standards, so why even try?

Why try? Prayers like this one are proof that better is out there. We are capable of amazing things.

Use this as inspiration to get started on your own amazing thing.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves – to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by our today. – Stewart Johnson

When we look at our todays and how they are spent, comparing to others is not the benchmark.

Our benchmark should be the inherent possibilities and opportunities that lie within ourselves.

One of my favorite things about sports was the process of finding out that I was actually capable of more than I thought.

I could always run faster or play better than I thought I was capable of.

I’m sure there were points in time where I thought this was because I was so special and talented, but a little maturity and age has cured me of that.

We ALL are capable of so much more than we can imagine.

Make it a great day.

Jake