"Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves." – Dale Carnegie

Short and sweet.

Find something on your list that you have been putting off because it is hard or seems impossible.

Work on that first today.

Even if all you do is commit 10 minutes to it.

Don’t let the sun set again before you work on it.

And then spend 15 minutes on the hardest thing tomorrow morning.

And on and on.

Make it a great day.

Jake

A lot of people quit looking for work as soon as they find a job. – Zig Ziglar

Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.- Sam Ewing

One of my favorite scenes from Bruce Almighty is when God and Bruce mop the floor together.

Bruce has finally gotten to the end of his rope and goes seeking help, and God gives him a mop and then they mop the floor together. The sheer simplicity of doing some hard, good work together produces clarity of thought and purpose for Bruce.

There is something almost cathartic about doing some plain old fashioned hard work.

Hard work is also one of the keys to creating and transferring value to others (which in turn determines our rewards). Applying hard work to solving the problems of others can be our unique way of delivering value.

Is there something in your life that just needs some good old fashioned hard work?

When can you start?

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/BKLVpDTZOPQ?si=b68SyJB4U1y_qXch

I know it’s not the message of this song, but every time I hear it I think that a lot of us just need someone to “sit next to me”.

In our grief.

In our joy.

When our heart is broken.

When our heart is full.

When it all looks dark.

When the sun is shining.

Make it a great day.

Jake

One of the many blessings in my life is getting to work with a great group of people. A group I call my friends.

CS Lewis writes a lot about friendship in “The Four Loves”. Below is one of my favorite quotes:

A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

The instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.

In our silliness and goofy meetings. Our jokes and awkward moments, we are shown the beauty in God’s creation of another person who is on our side.

We stand side by side and look out at the world and work to make it better. We work to show the beauty of those special relationships in a way that brings light and crowds out the darkness.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Came across this old post and thought it was worth sending again:

Last night Maggie picked one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, “Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are”. That led to another Dr. Seuss inspired email.

Here is the quote to start the book:

“When I was quite young and quite small for my size, I met an old man in the Desert of Drize. And he sang me a song I will never forget, at least, well, I haven’t forgotten it yet. He sat in a terribly prickly place, but he sang with a sunny sweet smile on his face…”

“When you think things are bad, when you feel sour and blue, when you start to get mad… You should do what I do! Just tell yourself, Duckie, you’re really quite lucky! Some people are much more…Oh, ever so much more…Oh, muchly much-much more unlucky than you!”

The book is another classic example of Dr. Seuss. Only by being absurd and entertaining can he so pointedly remind us all that we are truly lucky.

No matter how bad you may think you have it at any given point, you are truly lucky.

But this isn’t an exercise in sending everyone on a guilt trip…..

When I am reminded of how lucky I am, I become more motivated to do something with it. I become even more focused on using what I have in order to make the biggest difference I can in the lives of others.

For whatever reason, we are the lucky ones. It is our job to do something about it. It is our job to help others move into the lucky column.

And like my email on the 51% rule, this one is the same. The good guys have already won. More people in this world fall into the lucky column than the unlucky one. All we have to do is find the unlucky ones and help them move to the lucky side.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. – C. S. Lewis

In the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” Steven Covey talks about having “integrity in the moment of decision” when it comes to managing our time.

What he means is that when it comes time to make choices about how we spend our time we must choose with integrity to our values and vision for our lives.

The quote about courage explains this well. Courage is making the hard decision right now to spend our time with integrity to our goals and vision.

If you wrote down or decided on some important goals for this year (or this week), I am guessing this integrity has been tested.

You have been tempted to watch TV instead of exercising.

You have been tempted to spend some money that wasn’t in the budget.

You have been tempted to check your FaceBox at dinner.

Whatever your resolution or goals, your integrity and courage will be tested.

Stick with it. You can do it. You can make the courageous choice. Because you were built for greatness. You weren’t built to give in easy and to let your life pass you by.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/Uc_HxKMKB_E?si=FoP3uVWG34CvrnZ2

This one popped up in my feed again yesterday.

Hope everyone can have a good day today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter.” —Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Something I’ve noticed about a lot of the epic movie or novel series is that they touch on some of the important truths of life.

That being brave is better than being cowardly.

That being honest is better than lying.

That love and truth will win out over evil and tyranny.

That friendships and relationships matter more than our selfish desires.

That good is worth fighting for and will win out in the end.

And this quote above – that we are more than just a bag of chemicals that happens to be able to walk around and think a little. We are in fact, a soul. We just happen to inhabit a body right now.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Francis of Assisi

Get started.

Whatever your goal.

Whatever is nagging at you.

Whatever your reason for wanting something different.

Just get started. Do what’s necessary to get the train headed down the tracks.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Prayer of St. Francis

Wow. The world sure needs this right now.

The level of maturity required to live this out is beyond me most days, but it’s still worth trying.

Even if we just got one or two of these right today the world would be a better place.

Pick a couple to work on this week. Watch what God does with your step of faith.

Make it a great day.

Jake