https://youtu.be/qbEPrRXS7gs

Kind of corny, but a great simple message.

I cannot do all the good that the world needs, but the world needs all the good that I can do.

Just do what you can. Here and now.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Men stumble over pebbles, never over mountains. – Marilyn French

So simple but true.

We get tripped over the trivial. We are inspired and can’t be stopped when focusing on the monumental.

What are you focused on?

Make it a great day.

Jake

We were watching “Night at the Museum” the other day and they were retelling the Sacajawea story.

They talked about all the hardships and the enormous scope of their journey.

I think if we could ask someone like that from history what they were thinking about as they completed their epic journey or surmounted impossible odds the answer would interesting in its simplicity.

They would probably say things like:

I said I was going to do it, so I just didn’t quit.

Going forward just seemed better than quitting.

I didn’t really think about it at the time, we were having so much fun.

It seemed like something worth trying.

What they say maybe betrays part of what can hold us back from time to time. We make things too complicated. We try to climb the whole mountain in one day. We quit.

Whatever is on your goal list for this year, make a simple commitment today. Take the next step. However small that might be. However imperfect it feels. Just keep going.

Make it a great day.

Jake

EB* – The sweetest of all sounds is praise. – Xenophon

MS* – When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. – Marcus Aurelius

JW* – Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. – Benjamin Franklin

JD – Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience. – Paulo Coelho

The Xenophon quote reminded me of a life lesson I have tried to take to heart.

We all have within us the power to praise someone else.

To lift them up.

To bring out the best in them.

Take the time to praise someone today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

In spite of unseasonable wind, snow

and unexpected weather of all sorts –

a gardener still plants.

And tends what they have planted …

believing that Spring will come.

– Mary Anne Radmacher

On a cold, snowy and blowy morning this quote seemed appropriate.

Faith. We all must take certain things with faith.

That spring will come.

That our efforts will pay off.

That if we keep it up it will be worth it.

It’s easy to lose faith in something.

Any time we work towards something bigger for our lives, we must work in faith.

Faith that it will all work out in the end.

Make it a great day.

Jake

This is going to prove how old I am getting, but I was think about the “Reset” button on the Nintendo.

For those of us that may have already broken a New Year’s resolution or didn’t get off to the start of the year we wanted.

Or maybe for those of us struggling with or striving for something else.

Sometimes you just need to hit the reset button.

Start over.

Take everything you have learned and start again from back a little ways.

Since it is in my power as the Supreme Commander of Everything in Your Life I hereby give you permission to hit the reset button.

Just step back and give it another go.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/mNU3aIJs88g

You’re simply the best.

One of the things I often think about as I write these emails is just how special each of you are.

It’s truly awe inspiring to think of all the awesome people that get this email every day.

It amazes me to think of all the possibilities, talents and uniqueness represented by you.

Each of you is the best. None of you is better than the others.

No one is more you than you. No one else was made for the greatness you were made for.

Thanks for letting me participate in your greatness in my own little way.

You inspire me.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. – Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is one of our favorites around the Davis household. He describes why so well in this quote.

He wraps a life lesson inside of nonsense to make sure that your brain cells are awake enough to learn it.

The beginning of the year is also a good time to introduce some nonsense into your life.

To shake things up enough to wake up some brain cells.

Take a different route to work.

Wear some different clothes.

Do something different.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – All shall be done, but it may be harder than you think. ― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

JW – You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks. – Winston Churchill

MS – Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck; write them upon the tablet of thine heart: so shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. – Proverbs 3:3-4

EB – Greater has no one than this, than he lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:13

The Winston Churchill quote is a great reminder for us all as we start a new year.

We start the new year with vim and vigor. Excited to get going and moving in a positive direction.

Maybe we write down some resolutions.

Maybe we set some goals.

Maybe we vow to make a change.

But then we hear the barking dogs.

Some say that we can’t do it.

Some say that something else would be better.

Achievement requires focus.

Focus on what is most important. Ignore those barking dogs.

Make it a great day.

Jake

We have to declutter and get rid of ‘good’ things to make room for ‘better’ things. – Arlin Sorenson

Arlin included this line in a recent newsletter to HTG. He was talking about doing this in our businesses, but I think it makes for an important life lesson as well.

For some reason, we hold on to things.

We let the things clutter up around the house, the garage, the basement and other places.

We let activities clutter up our schedules.

We are all full up on “good” things and wonder why nothing “great” is happening in our lives.

At some point we have to get rid of the “good” to make room for the “great”.

We need to cancel that activity.

We need to donate that extra stuff.

We need space for the great stuff to work its way in.

Create some space today. Cancel an appointment. Get rid of some stuff.

Make it a great day.

Jake