You must be the change you wish to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi

We all wish for a better world.

We all see room for improvement in the world around us.

Monday morning is a great time to renew your focus on being the change you want to see in the world.

If you want to see more love, be more loving.

If you want to see more service, serve more.

If you want to see more selflessness, be less selfish.

If you want to see more courage, be more courageous.

A lofty goal, to be sure. But one worth striving for.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/Wl8yDRJSiHs

I’m sure it wouldn’t work lyrically but I would change the sentiment of this song, just a little.

I would change it to “Don’t stop believing the future can be better”.

I wouldn’t make it in the music biz.

All of us need hope and faith.

Hope that tomorrow can be better.

Faith that it will all work out in the end.

Tomorrow can be such a source of anxiety and worry. Living in the present is the key.

We must learn to live in the present with faith and hope for our future.

It’s a balance to be sure, but one worth seeking.

Make it a great day.

Jake

In response to yesterday’s email asking everyone to find a small way to get started, Mr. Cluney replied with an interesting article he had recently read.

https://www.davidwolfe.com/japanese-technique-defeat-laziness-1-minute/

It’s a good idea about the concept of Kaizen.

A simple takeaway to start with is the idea of setting a timer for 1 minute to get started on something.

Want to start exercising? Set a timer for 1 minute.

Want to start doing a budget? Set a time for 1 minute.

Want to start reading more and turning off the TV? Set a timer for 1 minute.

Just one minute. Anyone can do that, right?

Pick something you want to get started on and spend 1 minute on it today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – Thanks Mr. Cluney for sharing. For those of you who don’t know, Mr. Cluney sends insightful responses to me in response to daily attitude emails pretty frequently. He is super cool dude.

"Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement." – W. Clement Stone

We all know that when we have a purpose and motivation everything seems to be so much easier.

It’s the finding of the purpose and motivation that is sometimes the hardest part.

The words “starting point” gave me an idea.

What if our only purpose was to get started?

To get started on our search for purpose.

To get started on our weight loss plan.

To get started saving money.

To get started, that’s it. Just to find the first, smallest step and take it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

A smile is the universal welcome. – Max Eastman

Start today off with a smile.

Whatever that thing or whoever that person or whatever the activity, make yourself smile to start today.

And then try to pass it on.

Get someone else to smile too.

Try to see how long you can keep it going.

Try to see how many others you can get to smile today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

In honor of President’s Day, I thought I would resend this past daily attitude email:

Jim Rohn has a speech entitled “I am a wealthy man because….”

One of the reasons he considered himself wealthy was his heritage.

President’s Day is today and it reminded me of the wealthy heritage we enjoy.

We enjoy the fruits of hundreds of years of great men and women working on our behalf. They have put the infrastructure in place for us to live and enjoy our lives the way we do.

They fought wars we don’t have to fight.

They fought evil we don’t have to face.

They stood for something we now get to stand on.

We will also have our battles to fight, our evil to face and we must choose something to stand for. But we get to do so from a position of strength because of our past.

Today is a great day to be thankful for our heritage and our presidents.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/h24_zoqu4_Q

It seems appropriate for everyone to do the Cupid Shuffle today in honor of Valentine’s Day.

This song reminds me of weddings. When a bunch of people are dancing together and having fun.

Have some fun today.

Get a little silly.

Let loose a little.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“Busy is the new stupid.” – Ed Baldwin

(Forgive me ahead of time on this one. I just came off of listening to Essentialism and then read the article below on LinkedIn.)

This is the title of an article I read recently.

Over the years I have become more and more convinced how “busy” has become a meaningless throw away word.

Something that just gets put in the place where another word should be instead, like good or nice or stuff or like or …..

The interesting thing about this one though is that at some point a lot of us bought into it. We bought into the idea that more busy equals more better.

We fill our time (and our homes and our cars and our….) with more and more busy until we feel like we are “winning” the busy contest.

Only to find out later that we are all the same amount of busy. 24 hours passes at exactly the same rate for us as it does Bono (or someone else who you think is really important).

Today I give you permission (ignore the fact that I have no actual power over you) to let go of busy. Let go of trying to cram it all in. Decide on what is important and do that. Make a top 5 list for the day (or a top 1 list to start).

And then do it again tomorrow.

Do it enough days in a row to build a habit.

Make it a way of life.

On second thought, maybe there is a way to win the “busy” game. Stop playing it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/busy-new-stupid-ed-baldwin-sphr-gphr?trk=hp-feed-article-title-like

It’s the world, dear. Did you expect it to be small? = Mrs. Beaver from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Annie and I were watching this movie again the other day and this line stuck out to me.

Peter had just been complaining about how far they still had to go on their journey.

Mrs. Beaver’s quote is a great reminder – changing the world isn’t easy. It’s not small.

As you seek out purpose and the place where you can be of greatest value, don’t expect it to be small.

There is greatness within you.

You were built to change the world.

It’s going to be tough, but you got this.

Make it a great day.

Jake

If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love. – Maya Angelou

Valentine’s Day is a great reminder to show and tell those around us how much we love them.

This quote is a great reminder of a simple way to show it.

Too often we give the best of ourselves to those outside our immediate circle.

We use nice manners and smile at the strangers in our lives but can be demanding and impatient with those at home.

We treat clients and coworkers like kings and treat loved ones like the hired help.

Let Valentine’s Day be a reminder to change things up.

If you only have enough nice in you for a few interactions a day, make sure they are with those you love the most.

Make it a great day.

Jake

A little inspiration for ya…. https://youtu.be/pahij2ZMkMw