Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase. -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

I have also heard faith described as "believing that everything will work out for the best in the end."

Do you have this kind of faith in your life?

Do you believe everything will work out for the best in the end?

Do you expect the worst or expect the best?

One of the unique things that comes with the religious version of faith is this very belief.

Faith is also described as a leap.

My challenge for you today:

Take a small leap today.

Believe that today will work out for the best. That it will be a good day and that by the end of it, you will have a smile on your face.

Act as if the day will turn out great. Begin each conversation, email and interaction as if it will all work out for the best.

Don’t let anything challenge this belief, just for today.

And if it works out….maybe try it again tomorrow.

Make it a great day.

Jake

When coaches or parents make consistency their foundation, everyone around them becomes more comfortable and every around them has an opportunity to grow. – John Wooden

This quote is aimed at helping parents and coaches, but I believe it applies to all relationships.

When we are consistent in how we interact with someone, they know what to expect. When they know what to expect, trust can grow. And trust is the foundation of a healthy relationship.

Maybe to take that metaphor further, consistency is the bricks or blocks that build that foundation of trust.

Think about a foundation built out of inconsistently sized and shaped bricks. Might not want to build a home on that one.

As you think about the relationships and life you want to build, think about the size and shape of those bricks of consistency.

Are you consistently honest or deceitful?

Are you consistently wise or foolish?

Are you consistently productive or lazy?

Are you consistently caring or selfish?

Those things we do consistently form the foundation on which everything else is built.

What kind of foundation are you building?

Make it a great day.

Jake

The following was shared in "How to Stop Worrying" by Dale Carnegie:

On the slope of Long’s Peak in Colorado lies the ruin of a gigantic tree. Naturalists tell us that it stood some four hundred years. It was a seedling when Columbus landed at San Salvador, and half grown when Pilgrims settled at Plymouth. During the course of its long life it was struck by lightning fourteen times, and the innumerable avalanches and storms of four centuries thundered past it. It survived them all. In the end, however, an army of beetles attacked the tree and leveled it to the ground. The insects ate their way through the bark and gradually destroyed the inner strength of the tree by their tiny but incessant attacks. A forest giant which age had not withered, nor lightning blasted, nor storms subdued, fell at last before beetles so small a man could crush them between his forefinger and his thumb.

After this short story, he summarizes for his readers:

Let’s not allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. Remember, "Life is too short to be little,"

I know this isn’t telling you anything you didn’t already know, but I think we can all use a reminder.

Think of one little beetle that you are letting eat away at your life. And then smash it between your finger and your thumb.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – I know I have said this before, but I will say it again….."How to Stop Worrying" is a super awesome book and you should read it. ​

When we get better, things get better.

Investing in your own personal development is a key discipline to build into your life.

If you want to get different results, you have to become a different person.

We attract the life and lifestyle we have based on the kind of person we are.

As you look at what kind of life you want, what kind of person will you have to become?

Are you consistently investing time towards becoming that person?

What is one thing you can do today to become more like that person?

We all have the opportunity to get better. There is room for improvement in all of us.

The key is to get started and then consistently make progress.

Make it a great day.

Jake ​

JD – Prime the pump..

BAD – There is no better way to overpower a trickle of doubt than with a flood of naked truth. – Frank Underwood "House of Cards"

MS – Walk softly and carry a big stick. – Teddy Roosevelt

EB – Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee. – Muhammed Ali

JW – Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. — William Faulkner

http://youtu.be/DdHAMjA1lMw

Jamie mentioned priming the pump for Q3 today in our meeting so I had to send everyone one of my favorite Zig Ziglar videos.

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/lcZBhvSxg_8

This one goes out to Meaghan. Between her and the girls, I have heard this one many times this week.

I have a confession to make though. I may not actually believe this is the best song ever.

But the message is a great reminder of the power of a great song.

I am sure we all have a song that moves us.

A song that brings back happy memories.

A hymn from church that pulls at our heart every time.

A classic song that injects just a little bit of our youth back into us.

A slow song that reminds us of that first dance at our wedding.

Go find the YouTube for one of these songs today and listen to it. Let it take you places.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – Bonus points for those that "Reply All" with their "Best Song Ever" for everyone else to hear. Please try to keep them relatively clean (that warning was for Erik as I know the rest of you are way too mature to send out something inappropriate).

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There is an ancient Egyptian proverb that says, “The marksman hitteth the target partly by pulling, partly by letting go. The boatsman reacheth the landing partly by pulling, partly by letting go.” It’s much the same with our lives. We can get a good start by pulling from the past with all its disappointments, regrets, and heartache, but after we’ve learned from the past, there has to be a release or a letting go of that past.

What a great reminder.

We all have a past full of experiences.

Some we remember with joy.

Some we remember with sadness.

Some we would like to forget.

The past can be such a great learning tool.

But it can also be an anchor.

Ask yourself these two questions today:

Is there something in my past I can learn from?

Is there something in my past I need to let go of?

Make it a great day.

Jake ​

http://youtu.be/t2G8KVzTwfw

I know I am little late on a Father’s Day tribute, but oh well.

This is one of my favorite father-son moments from sports.

Derek Redmond is running the race of his life, on the grand stage of his sport and the unthinkable happens: he pulls a muscle and can’t finish the race.

As he hobbles along, trying to just cross the finish line his dad comes running out from the stands and helps him across the finish line.

Imagine what is going through his mind.

I can’t believe this happened.

I’ve wasted so many hours and years training.

I failed.

And then comes this loving gesture from his dad.

His dad swoops in and puts his arm around him and helps him across the finish line.

Together, they showed that sports are more than just winning and losing. More than an injury at the worst possible time. It was about the love of a father for his son.

I have been very blessed to have a father and father-in-law who have showed me this same love. I work to show my kids this same love every day.

Maybe we all can’t be fathers who run out on the track during the Olympics.

But we can all be that person to run in and put our arm around someone and show that we are there for them in their moment of pain and weakness.

We can be strong for someone we love.

We can inspire others to love and serve one another.

We all will struggle at one point or another. My sincerest hope is that we will all also have someone in our lives to run in, put their arm around us and help us across the finish line.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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

Distractions. They are a fact of life.

How many times in a day do you catch yourself thinking "what was I doing?"

Like most things in life, learning how to focus your efforts is a discipline, learned over time.

Decide to work on that discipline today.

Pick a period of time and focus on the most important to do on your list.

It might be 5 minutes or it might be 5 hours, but pick a time and stick with it.

And then do it again tomorrow. And the next day. And I think you get the idea after that.

Make it a great day.

Jake ​

If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.

This is the last one in the series of lessons learned by William McRaven as he gave them in a recent commencement speech.

It is fitting that he gave this one last.

Never give up.

Is there something in your past that you have given up on that you need to get started on again?

Are you closing to giving up on something right now?

Don’t ring the bell.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Here is the text from this section of his speech:

Finally, in SEAL training there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see.

All you have to do to quit is ring the bell. Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o’clock. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the freezing cold swims.

Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT — and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training.

Just ring the bell.

If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
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