The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously. – Henry Kissinger

I heard about a study once to see how people would buy jelly under different circumstances. The first one was an entire aisle of many different kinds. The next option was just a few choices that were very straightforward. People bought more jelly in the second scenario.

In 2024 we are bombarded with options. We can buy so many different kinds of jelly that we just walk away confused and don’t buy anything.

When we limit our field of options – choices and priorities become clearer.

The lesson for our lives is to simplify our options whenever possible.

I’m convinced most people would be at least 16.2% happier if they could cut the number of choices they have to make in a day by at least 47.6%.

What can you cut out?

What will you be better off without?

Make it a great day.

Jake

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We’ve all heard the analogy of looking in the rear view mirror vs looking through the windshield.

Life is meant to be lived moving forward.

Our rear view mirror represents looking at our past.

The windshield represents looking forward.

The rear view mirror is small and is meant for short glimpses that lead to adjustments.

The windshield is where most of our driving should occur. It’s large and represents all of the possibilities and choices ahead of us.

Sometimes we need to back up in order to move forward – requiring a concentrated review of the rearview mirror.

But it’s only meant to be used sparingly.

Which one do you spend the most time looking at?

Where does your focus lie?

Make it a great day.

Jake

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Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much. – Blaise Pascal

Kindness is such an underrated idea.

Kindness and niceness are basically super powers.

They have the power to both lift up the person receiving and the person giving.

They can change the whole dynamic in a relationship.

They are the glue that holds together our relationships.

And they really aren’t that hard.

For most of us, it’s probably as much about developing the habit. The habit of being kind and nice.

I know you already know all this (like every one of my emails) – it’s a reminder.

Consider yourself reminded!

Make it a great day.

Jake

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Change before you have to. – Jack Welch

We’ve all heard the story of someone who had to make extreme changes because they had to.

The heart attack patient that has to make drastic life changes in order to stay alive.

The husband who has to make big sacrifices at work now after not paying enough attention to his family all those years.

The retiree who has to make difficult decisions now because of a lack of forethought when they were younger.

Cautionary tales, to be sure.

I’ve also heard this idea phrased as choose your hard.

It’s hard to eat right and exercise, but it’s also hard to live chronic health problems.

It’s hard to balance work and family, but it’s harder to come back from a life out of balance.

It’s hard to budget and plan out our money, but it’s harder to live on less because you have to.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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https://youtu.be/lR1Hk0FVi_k?si=foQaeyH9veep5TnF

Apparently this was shot, sung and created during quarantine during the pandemic.

It seems just as appropriate during the election cycle.

We are in this together.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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Dear Lord, I’m so grateful I’m still loved. – Vivien Leigh

Reminder – you are loved. Still. It hasn’t stopped.

For most of us, we’re loved more than we remember and act like.

We get frustrated easily. We lose our tempers over small, inconsequential happenings in our lives. We give up quickly. We don’t take chances and play it safe as if money, status, and stuff really matter most.

You are loved.

Act like it.

Smile, a lot. Laugh and dance. Forget about all the stuff, money and status and focus on the important stuff.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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There is more pleasure in loving than in being beloved. – Thomas Fuller

In one of life’s little tricks – the thing that we want is available when we do it for another.

We all wish to be loved.

The real pleasure is in being loving.

When we can let go of our own selfish desires and place someone else’s in their place we are closest to how we were meant to be.

What do you want?

How can you do that for someone else today?

How can you think about what they want more than what you want?

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – For those of who are Christians – this is replacing what you want with what God wants. The Bible talks about renewing our minds. Making them new again with His thoughts instead of ours.

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“If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.” – Maya Angelou

Was yesterday a good day or a bad day?

How about last week? Last month?

How do you measure how it’s going and how you’re doing?

It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others. Especially the outward appearance of others. What kind of car they drive, how they dress, how much money they make/have, etc.

Maybe we could measure things differently.

Did you care about somebody else? Did you think about others more than yourself? Were you nice? Nicer than yesterday or the day before?

Be careful how you measure yourself. You might just measure the wrong things.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves – to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by our today. – Stewart Johnson

When we look at our todays and how they are spent, comparing to others is not the benchmark.

Our benchmark should be the inherent possibilities and opportunities that lie within ourselves.

One of my favorite things about sports was the process of finding out that I was actually capable of more than I thought.

I could always run faster or play better than I thought I was capable of.

I’m sure there were points in time where I thought this was because I was so special and talented, but a little maturity and age has cured me of that.

We ALL are capable of so much more than we can imagine.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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https://youtu.be/OopNWnLSAA4?si=guyHNcXzq48Uz68k

Friday morning reminder.

Everybody wants to be loved.

We were made for it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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