I finally got to watch The Hobbit a few weeks ago and there was a line that stuck out. One of the characters asks Gandalf why he brought a Hobbit along.

Here is Gandalf’s response:

Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay… small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? That’s because I am afraid and he gives me courage.

The small everyday deeds of ordinary folk keeps the darkness at bay.

The power of all us and our small everyday kindness add up to a whole lot of positive.

This goes back to the 51% rule: at any given point the world is at least 51% good.

It is in the small things that the score gets racked up for the good guys.

Make it a point to rack up some points for the good guys today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

We are all looking for someone or something to tell us how we are ok, lovable and acceptable.

If we look in the wrong direction, it will lead us in the wrong direction.

Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley’s latest podcast series has been about the comparison trap. The trap of comparing ourselves to others.

The quote above really stood out for me.

It reminded me of how when you are driving a car and you turn to look in a particular direction the natural tendency is to steer the car in that direction as well.

The same applies here. Be careful what and who you look toward, you likely will start steering your life that direction.

Make it a great day.

Jake

There is no key to happiness, the door is always open. – Mother Theresa

What a great reminder for us as we go about our day.

It is tempting to think of happiness as something trapped behind a locked door. Some spend their lives banging on the door or cursing the door for stopping them from reaching their happiness.

I imagine the moment when God shows the truth to us and we realize the door was open the whole time, we simply had to knock.

In his story of his time at a Nazi concentration camp Viktor Frankl paints this picture so vividly. He tells the story of inmates that were able to still find happiness in this extreme and deprived environment.

Their captors held the key to everything they thought determined their happiness. All their material wealth, their social status, and even their family were taken away. And yet some of them still found happiness.

The door is always open. Even to those with nothing to offer in return. Even to those with no prospect of a future.

Don’t let today go by without some happiness. You need only knock.

Make it a great day.

Jake

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead

On Friday we announced Mavidea’s revamped Values and the answer to the question “How do we behave?”

As I reflect back on Friday (and the rest of my time at Mavidea), I often think of the quote above.

Small group of thoughtful people…..check.

Change the world…..just getting started.

I am so often reminded of how lucky we are as a company to have the people we have. To have the culture we have. To have the customers we have. To have the opportunities that are being given us.

I sincerely hope that all of you feel the same way (whether you are a Mavidean or not).

Make it a great day.

Jake

KJ – Erik smells bad today.

BAD – Some people are obsessed with the finding the will of God. I’m more interested in knowing his imagination. – Alan Ramsey

MS – How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world. – William Shakespeare

JM – it’s more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly… time-y wimey… stuff.

JW – My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety-seven now, and we don’t know where the hell she is. – Ellen DeGeneres

EB – If you tell the captain exactly what is going to happen, how do you expect to perform a miracle later? – Scottie

JD – You become what you think about most of the time. – Earl Nightingale

The Shakespeare quote above got me thinking about how our attitude can make such a big difference.

We can look at evil in the world and think of how horrible the world is and bemoan the fact that everything isn’t going the way we think it should. OR we can look at darkness in the world and want to provide light.

Our light. The one we shed when we love and serve others. The one that shines with a kind word to a stranger, a donation at church or some free time volunteered for a worthy cause.

The quote also reminded me of one my core beliefs: the 51% rule. The idea that at any given point there is more good than evil in the world.

There is darkness. But there is more light.

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/cyVzjoj96vs

In honor of the three year anniversary of the Daily Attitude Email (tomorrow) I thought I would send out my all-time favorite Toe Tapper.

When I realized that this Saturday was the 3 year anniversary of doing this one word came to mind: blessed.

Blessed to have such a great group of people to share a little bit of myself with every day.

Blessed to get the positive responses and encouragement I so often receive from the thoughtful and caring people who take the time out of their day to encourage me.

Blessed to have a wife and family that will put up with me often spending family time writing an email.

Blessed to have found such a powerful method to hold myself accountable to continual growth.

Blessed. Yeah, that’s me.

And I have sneaky suspicion that if you thought about it, you are blessed to.

Thank you. Thanks for reading. Thanks for responding. Thanks for being you.

Make it a great day.

Jake

We are all the same amount of busy. 24 hours goes by the same for each and every one of us, every single day.

Many of you have heard me say something similar to this over the years.

Recently I read the following article in Harvard Business Review about this topic.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/09/please-stop-complaining-about/

The article talks about the game of one-upmanship that occurs around complaining about being busy. Most of us have been part of one of these conversations at one point or another.

She also gives several tips on how to better manage your time that are very useful.

But I think the most important part is the spirit of the article.

Being the busiest is not some prize to be won. Not being able to meet the commitments you have made is not a prize to be sought after.

Organizing and planning your time to get your priorities accomplished is.

Having peace in knowing that you have managed your time and priorities well is.

The next time you are tempted to tell someone how busy you are, think. Think about what your real priorities are. Think about whether or not you are meeting them. And then talk about them instead.

Wouldn’t the conversation go much better if instead of talking about how busy we are we talked about the things in our lives that are truly meaningful?

Make it a great day.

Jake

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

This quote is one that never gets to me.

I was reminded of it again when listening to an audiobook that described two different mentalities: the victim and the player.

I am guessing we have all heard a variation of this.

I really liked the idea of the “player” though.

Having played sports and being a somewhat competitive person it reminded of all that is good about competition.

Doing your best, regardless of the circumstance.

Competing fairly and with honor.

Risking the agony of defeat in exchange for a chance at a glimpse of greatness.

Roosevelt’s quote and the author of the book both remind me that in order to get the most out of life, I have to get in the middle of it. I have to play the game. I have to get in there and get some dirt on me.

Are you a player?

Make it a great day.

Jake

You can’t get out of life alive. Be adventurous. – Les Brown

When I worked in financial planning the only thing we knew for sure when creating a financial and estate plan for someone was that, at some point, they were going to die. My boss would always say “the mortality rate for human beings is 100%”.

At first this might strike you as a negative or morbid thought, but I actually think it is quite freeing.

Like Les Brown says in this quote, if we aren’t going to make it out alive we might as well have a little adventure while we are alive.

Is there an adventure out there waiting for you that you should say yes to?

Are you missing some everyday adventures that you could take part in?

Could you look at your own path towards self-improvement and call that an adventure?

Risk/reward – one of life’s great balancing acts. Knowing that you can’t get out alive might shift that balance a little….

Make it a great day.

Jake