Yesterday, one of you decided to make my day.

It seems that Mikie was thoughtful and caring enough to send out an email asking you to send a thank you my way for sending these emails every day.

It was (and continues to be) a humbling experience.

I received messages full of sincere appreciation from people I have never even met.

I received messages speaking of the difference the emails have made in the lives of others.

I was reminded that we each have the ability to make someone’s day.

Mikie did it for me by sending out that email.

You can do the same for someone else in your own way.

Do something today to make someone’s day today. Just like you did for me yesterday.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – In case it isn’t clear – THANK YOU to all of you who sent me messages yesterday. Thank you to all of you for reading and letting me in to your life each day.

JD – Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we

grow up. Pablo Picasso

JW* – “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” Andy Warhol

JR* – “ In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

MS* – “A Good artist has less time than ideas.” Martin Kippenberge

EB* – “Creativity takes courage.” Henri Matisse

I’m not particularly gifted when it comes to “art”, but I am amazed by those that are.

I grabbed a few of these quotes and shared them to remind us all of the creative part of us.

Whether we express it through painting or business, writing or parenting, sculpture or friendships is not the important part.

The important part is to think beyond what is there today to create something better for tomorrow.

Make it a great day.

Jake

We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve. – Bill Gates

Confession time. I’m not all that great at receiving constructive criticism.

I haven’t punched anyone in the face (yet), but inwardly it always takes a little longer than I care to admit to realize that there is something to be learned.

At some point though, we all need to realize that growth requires feedback and change.

We need to seek out others who will provide honest and helpful feedback.

We need to work hard to offer feedback to others in a way that helps them on their journey.

Seek out some advice today.

Start simple by asking something like “If there was one thing I could do differently….”

Make it easier on yourself to positively receive the feedback.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Every day some new fact comes to light – some new obstacle which threatens the gravest obstruction. I suppose this is the reason which makes the game so well worth playing. – Robert Falcon Scott

One of the reasons our attitude is so important is that it determines how we view the obstacles and difficulties of life.

Great people often have an attitude that allows them to see obstacles and difficult circumstances as stepping stones and not road blocks.

They look at life through a different lens.

Is there something in your way that needs a new perspective?

Would a new way of looking at your obstacles help remove some of the excuses?

What might you do differently if you had this change in perspective?

One of the reasons I like to read some of the stories of past generations is to see all of the circumstances they didn’t let get in their way.

They did business through letters and telegraphs.

They lived without their families for long periods of time.

They didn’t even have Google.

I’m not suggesting that we go back to those times, merely that we make the most of our current advantages.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“Action is the foundational key to all success.” —Pablo Picasso

Monday is a great day for a reminder to take action.

Make a top 5 list for this week and get to work knocking them out.

We all have the same amount of time this week, can you focus and take action on what’s most important in your life?

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – Laughter is an instant vacation – Milton Berle

EB* – “Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.” – Maya Angelou

MS* – “When all else fails, take a vacation.” – Betty Williams

JW* – A wise man travels to discover himself. -James Russell Lowell

Summer time is known as being vacation time.

Remember to create some space to rejuvenate this summer.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/DL7-CKirWZE

You get what you give.

In each relationship in our life, we can choose to give.

We can choose to serve and to put the other person first.

And we do, magic happens.

Choose giving.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Teach self-denial and make its practice pleasure, and you can create for the world a destiny more sublime that ever issued from the brain of the wildest dreamer. – Sir Walter Scott

I am convinced that one of the secrets to success is to actually like doing things other people don’t like doing.

Think about how differently you might approach life if you actually had fun doing the things you were supposed to do.

What if exercise was your new favorite thing to do?

What if fruits and veggies became your favorite foods?

What if saving money was more fun than spending it?

What if self-denial became a way of life?

Maybe this seems a little farfetched or maybe not possible for you. When something seems out of the norm, I always ask myself a couple of questions.

First, has some else done it? In this case, that means that you can choose to have a different attitude about self-denial – because someone else has done it.

Second, it is worth it in my case? This question is always harder to answer. And only you can answer it.

Challenge your attitudes. Challenge your perspective on what’s hard and what is right for you.

Make it a great day.

Jake

The most creative people have this childlike facility to play. – John Cleese

In our sales meeting we were sharing the best thing that happened to us over the weekend and more than once someone said “holidays are so much more fun with kids around”.

One of life’s great balancing acts is the process of becoming an adult and leaving behind childish ways and tendencies without losing the good things about being a child.

Spending time with kids will remind you of this quickly.

They can be exceptionally creative and sweet one minute and selfish and whiney the next.

As parents we get to do our best to encourage the creativity and sweetness and help squash the selfishness and whining as much as possible.

Today’s email is a reminder to embrace the good parts of your inner child.

Have fun.

Be goofy.

Be selfless in the same way that only an innocent child can be.

Have a simple faith that it will all be great.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”

― Elie Wiesel

One of the many things that our kids will be tired of me saying over the years is “Don’t say you don’t care.”

Indifference is an attitude to work hard to eliminate completely if you can.

Reading the quote above, think about it the other way. What is the opposite of indifference?

Love. Art. Faith. Life.

We all have lots to care about, so think twice before you say “I don’t care”.

Make it a great day.

Jake