Last Friday as we finished up signing the paperwork for the new building, the banker says something like “I am excited to see you guys get this building. I just know those Mavidea guys are going to be good stewards of this property.”
And he did this without any prompting from Erik about stewardship being one of our aspirational values.
It was a great moment of seeing how impactful our Mavidea values can be out in the marketplace and it was a great reminder of what being a steward really means.
To me, one of the most interesting ways that life appears to work is that being a good steward of something results in your being a steward of more things.
Jim Rohn talks of being faithful when the amounts are small and that is how the value starts adding up.
The small things really do matter.

Do you show up early or late?

Do you waste the little bit of extra money you have or do you invest it?
Does your house/car/stuff look better now than when you bought it?
Do our customers businesses perform better now than when they signed up?
Find something small in your life and make sure you leave it better than you found it.
Make it a great day.

Jake

I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself. – Maya Angelou
On Friday, we signed the papers for Mavidea’s new home. We still have a ways to go, but the prospect of creating a new home is exciting.
Home is a word that brings up so much emotion and feeling.

We all have a need to feel at home, whether it be in our own skin or that place where we happen to sleep at night.
We have all had those moments where a particular place started to “feel like home”.
Take a moment today to appreciate the place and people you call “home”. Give them a hug and tell them you love them. Say a prayer or word of thanks for the place itself.
And let yourself “be” home when you get there. Just enjoy the feeling of home.
Make it a great day.

Jake

http://youtu.be/9x50fVVzUI0

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. – CS Lewis

We watched Toy Story at home and it reminded me of this quote from CS Lewis.

As I thought about this quote and the movie, I thought of it like black and white TV and movies versus those in color.

Black and white is functional. It can get the story and emotion across. It can leave you understanding the point.

But everything is so much better in color.

Friendship and other great relationships are like this.

A meal can satisfy the basic necessity of food and sustenance, but a meal with loved ones is a whole different experience entirely.

Enjoy the color in your life that is thrown off by those great relationships you have.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I offered to do the Daily Attitude for Jake… Here goes…

There’s a story I tell my kids about how feelings we choose to hold onto can change who we are inside.

An old Cherokee told his grandson, “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, woes and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth.”

The boy thought about it, and asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”

The old man quietly replied, “The one you feed.”

Who we are today is a direct result of the choices we’ve made and the experiences we’ve had. And every day is like a “Mulligan” – we get to start over and do things better today than yesterday. We get to decide whether or not we will remember the lessons and use them to change our attitude towards life and the feelings we want to hold onto.

Every day is a new day to decide which wolf we will feed.

Susie Vigil

Zoo Keeper

Mavidea Technology Group

Putting Smiles on Faces

www.mavidea.com

susie.vigil

Office: 309-829-2000 x819

Toll Free: 888-898-8960

Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another “What! You too? I thought no one but myself….” – CS Lewis

As a think about the power of HTG and our peer group, this CS Lewis quote comes to mind.

Part of the reason our peer group has been so impactful at Mavidea is the friendships born out of the moments like the one CS Lewis describes above.

As small business owners it is easy to think of yourself as being on an island, but when we come and meet with others facing similar challenges we enter into a brotherhood and friendship with those facing similar circumstances.

Our eyes are opened each quarter by the friendships that are forged by sharing similar concerns and joys.

Think about an area in your life where you are feeling alone and on an island. Seek out others facing similar challenges and work to create a friendship.

Go deeper in current relationships by sharing more and becoming vulnerable with others so that they can say “hey, me too”.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Today is Veteran’s Day. What a privilege it is to live in a country where we can celebrate our veterans for what they have done for us.

Recently, I have been reading the book “Unbroken” that tells the story of a WWII veteran that survived a plane crash and then was imprisoned in a POW camp.

The story so far is amazing and inspirational.

While his story is extraordinary, every veteran’s story is extraordinary in their own ways.

Each veteran has given something.

And each of us has been a recipient of that gift.

Days like this we are reminded of just how much we have been given.

We are reminded to be thankful for that gift and to make the most of it.

Thank a veteran today. And make the most of the gift you have been given.

Make it a great day.

Jake

This week I am in Orlando for the Q4 HTG meetings.

For those that don’t know, HTG is a peer group that Mavidea belongs to. We get together each quarter with a group of peers (small IT companies like ours) and share financials, stories and life and work to help each other make progress towards goals that matter.

As I approach the week, I am reminded of perhaps the most important part of learning from others – humility.

In order to learn something from others, first we must humble ourselves enough to realize that we don’t know everything.

Only when we allow ourselves to be humble are we truly ready to learn from others.

We all have something to learn. As you think about what area in your life needs more information and skills, think about whether or not you have truly humbled yourself enough to learn what you need to.

Think about what is holding you back, then let yourself become humble enough to learn.

Make it a great day.

Jake

http://youtu.be/9ogQ0uge06o

The bare necessities.

This goes well with our theme right now at Mavidea. One of the best ways to get more margin is to strip things back and simplify our lives.

Take a look around during your day today. Look for areas where you are making things too complex for yourself. Look for things you can live without.

And then take some action.

Say no to something.

Give something away to charity.

Throw some things away.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” – John Wesley

BAD – Do what you feel in your heart to be right. You will be criticized anyway. – Eleanor Roosevelt

JW – I don’t think you realize how Australian I am. – Jason Roush

EB – Maybe everybody will learn a little about each other. – Mike Somers

MS – Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ." CS lewis

The quote on friendship from CS Lewis is a great example of what I like about his style.

He defines something seemingly undefinable in a way that makes you think.

We often get trapped in our own thoughts and processes in a way that really limits us. Friends are a great way to get outside of ourselves in a way that lets us be safe and move forward.

Call up an old friend today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I have recently been listening to “Change Your Brain, Change Your Body”.

One of the interesting concepts in the book is what the author calls “ants”. Automatic negative thoughts.

Two little tidbits that really stuck out to me in his discussion of this topic.

First – we don’t have to believe every thought that pops into our heads. When something negative or worrisome pops into our heads, we shouldn’t just believe it to be true. We should ask ourselves if it is true.

Some examples:

I’ll never be able to save that much money.

I’ll never be able to lose that much weight.

I’ll never be able to start getting up early.

Thoughts like these are just flat out wrong. But most of us accept them as they come, not taking the time to think about whether or not they are true.

The second concept I really liked was what he called “anteaters”.

These are positive and uplifting thoughts that squeeze out or eliminate the ants.

Thoughts of gratitude are a particularly good example. It’s hard to be negative and down when you are thinking of everything you have to be thankful for.

Let’s all get those anteaters to work today and get rid of those ants.

Make it a great day.

Jake