Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily. ~Thomas Szasz

Continuing on the back to school theme today.

Every time I have gone to a seminar or listened to something new I have this moment where I realize that I don’t know everything and I better listen close. (The fact that I don’t know everything will likely come as a surprise to you all, especially my wife).

I think of that moment as one of humility. Putting my ego aside to accept that I have done things wrong in the past and with new information maybe I can do a little better.

One of life’s great balancing acts is the one between humility and confidence.

We must have the humility to accept that which we do not know and the confidence to move forward in spite of our lack of knowledge.

Maybe it’s just me lately, but it seems like maybe the “big secret” behind some of these principles is this:

Put others first.

Putting others first opens us and our lives up to so many new possibilities. Only when we get out of our own selfish and ego driven cocoons do we see how wonderful this world really is.

I will end with a proverb that was given to me and is a magnet on my file cabinet at home:

Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.

Make it a great day.

Jake

A baby is born with a need to be loved – and never outgrows it. – Frank A. Clark

Today is the first day of school. A day of mixed emotions, lots of pictures and the all-important FaceBox post of the smiley little ones with their backpacks on.

Sending them off into the unknown and hoping for the best as your little ones move on and up through the grades is an emotional experience (at least it has been in our house so far).

Being married to a retired teacher (stay at home mom) each year also brings to mind thoughts of the teachers and staff at the school and my extreme gratitude and thankfulness for all they do for us. It is truly a great responsibility to watch over the shaping and molding of those young minds.

As I thought about the teachers and staff and came across the quote above I was reminded of the awesome responsibility each of us has for those we interact with on a daily basis. We may not be teaching little kids to read and write but our interactions with those we come across impact them.

Each person we meet was once someone’s baby. They were born with a need to be loved and still haven’t outgrown it. Their mom and dad have seen them leave the nest and now they are out in the real world, with us. Their parents trusted their most important cargo in our care.

They want appreciation, warmth, sincerity, honesty and all of the other great things in life just like you and me.

We have a choice as we go about each day.

Do we seize the opportunity to love and care for others or do we focus on ourselves and our own needs?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Disciplines work miracles. – Jim Rohn

Do you have an area of your life that needs a miracle?

Need to lose a miraculous amount of weight?

Need a miraculous change of attitude towards a loved one?

Need a miraculous transformation of your finances?

You have everything you need inside yourself today to begin the miracle process of change in whatever area of life you struggle with (or even just the ones you want to perform better at).

Jim also gives two points to think about as you take on the new disciplines to create your miracle.

First, do what you can do. Jim says “don’t let neglect grab you by the throat.” Don’t neglect those things you can do.

If it is a foggy night and you can only see 100 feet but you need to travel much farther, how do you get there? Walk the first 100 feet, then you can see the next 100 feet.

You have to take those first steps.

As you look at the area of your life that needs a miracle, what is that first step you see? Now, take it.

Second, do the best you can.

Give those first small steps your all. Don’t leave anything on the table. Go all out.

Don’t give that first small step less than your best.

Make it a great day.

Jake

First off, thanks to the guest emailers last week. Every time I am out for a few days I look forward to what the volunteers come up with it. It is always unique and inspiring.

“This is the true joy in life: Being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and, as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” – George Bernard Shaw

I saw this quoted the other day and wanted to share these powerful words with everyone.

Does this describe you:

A mighty purpose….

A force of nature….

Or does this describe you:

A feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances…

Complaining that the whole world will not devote itself to making you happy…

We all have the same opportunity to find our purpose. To clarify as best we can. To live it every day.

And when we do….

Our splendid torch, which we have a hold for the moment, will burn brightly before we pass it on to the next generations.

If you haven’t taken the time to write down a personal mission statement or purpose statement, hopefully this has inspired you to spend some time working on one.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Here is a great tool to help you build your own mission statement:

http://www.franklincovey.com/msb/

From: Scott Wolf
Sent: Friday, August 16, 2013 8:08 AM
To: Mavidea All
Subject: Friday Morning Toe Tapper

Jake always tries to attach some kind of meaning to these things when he sends them out. Unfortunately, this is just a fun and silly song with no real meaning or purpose.

I always try to start my day off with something fun, light and silly. It helps get me in the mindset to not let all of the little things (or sometimes even the big ones) weigh on me and stop me from being able to approach the rest of the day from a positive place.

My suggestion: give it a try sometime….

Before you leave your house or start whatever your main activity is for the day, take a few minutes to do something silly. Listen to a fun song, do a little dance, make faces in the mirror….whatever will make you smile. Get your mind right in the morning, and then just enjoy the things that happen.

Remember 20 seconds ago when I said there was no meaning or purpose to this song? Yeah, I totally lied. Sorry.

Scott Wolf

Chief Robot Wrangler

Mavidea Technology Group

Putting Smiles on Faces™

www.mavidea.com

Scott.Wolf

Office: 309-829-2000

Toll Free: 888-898-8960

http://youtu.be/pDKiMYgdxSs

I didn’t end up with a volunteer for today’s email but knew you wouldn’t be able to sleep without some positive thoughts on the form of an email.

Sage advice in the clip above….

Make it a great day.

Jake

From: Davis, Ken E [mailto:KDavis@ameren.com]
Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 8:28 AM
To: Jake Davis
Subject: Daily Attitude Email 8 13 13

“I can live for two months on a good compliment.” Mark Twain

Isn’t that the truth? A good compliment really fills your sails. It lightens your step. It energizes you! Guess what…… It does the same for those around us too. All you have to do is pay attention, recognize something good, and tell the person that you appreciate it. Simple right? It really is that simple. The short article below outlines the basics of a good compliment. My personal recommendation: Read the article and then begin looking for someone to give a compliment to. It won’t be hard, good things happen to us every day.

A compliment is a two-way gift. It benefits both the giver and the receiver. Too often, people deprive themselves of the pleasure of giving a compliment when they hesitate and let the moment slip by. Or perhaps the other person is so consistently well-groomed that we don’t bother to say, "You look great today." Or someone is so consistently efficient that we fail to say, "Good job."

Compliments are always socially proper, if sincerely extended and kept appropriate to the context. If someone always looks great, tell him or her. If someone is always efficient, acknowledge that. Compliments can break the ice with a stranger, defuse stress, lift spirits, or tighten a bond. The right words at the right time can motivate, comfort, reward, validate, and inspire.

Compliments are not the same as flattery. Flattery is insincere and excessive. Superfluous compliments are annoying and make others feel as though the giver is angling for something—as if the giver "expected a receipt," lamented one writer. What makes a good compliment? These are the basics:

· Be sincere. Complimenting someone just because you think it’s a good idea is a bad idea. A phony compliment is easy to spot and instantly destroys the credibility of the speaker. If the luncheon speaker was a total flop, don’t compliment the speech. Talk about the effort the speaker made to attend the function and the person’s past achievements, if any.

· Be specific. "That was a marvelous casserole" is better than "You’re a terrific cook."

· Be unqualified. Don’t make the mistake of damning with faint praise: "That was a good report, considering …" or "This casserole is okay."

· Don’t compare. You can diminish the compliment by comparing the accomplishment to some other achievement—unless you are comparing it to something heroic, and then the compliment sounds insincere.

When receiving a compliment, just smile and say thank you. Never try to shrug off a compliment or disagree with the person who is trying to compliment you. If someone compliments you on your dress and you say, "Oh, this old thing?" you’re actually saying that the other person’s judgment is poor or that she doesn’t know what’s fashionable.

If someone compliments you on doing a good job at the office, don’t say, "It was nothing," or "It should have been more complete (or finished earlier)." This response is insulting to the other person, implying that his standards are not very high. "Thanks, I worked really hard on it" is much better.

Here’s another important tip: Never unilaterally upscale a compliment by infusing it with even more praise and enthusiasm than the giver meant to give. For example:

"The sales managers liked your presentation."

"Liked it? They loved it. I knocked their socks off."

Finally, if other people deserve a share of the credit, don’t fail to mention them when you acknowledge the compliment.

http://life.familyeducation.com/compliments/communication-skills/48978.html

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

KEN Davis
Superintendent, Corrosion Control Gas Ops – Engineering
T 217.424.6969 C 217.891.2787 E kdavis
…………………….

Ameren Illinois
370 S. Main Street
Decatur, IL 62523
AmerenIllinois.com

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

The information contained in this message may be privileged and/or confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Note that any views or opinions presented in this message are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Ameren. All e-mails are subject to monitoring and archival. Finally, the recipient should check this message and any attachments for the presence of viruses. Ameren accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail. If you have received this in error, please notify the sender immediately by replying to the message and deleting the material from any computer. Ameren Corporation

From: Mike Somers
Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 7:35 AM
To: Mavidea All
Subject: Daily Attitude Email 8 12 13

I recently listened to The Art of Exceptional Living by Jim Rohn. I’d like to share a few things I picked up.

Failure is defined as a few errors in judgement repeated everyday.

Success as a few simple disciplines repeated everyday.

Jim goes on to talk about how if we want to get ‘better’ at one thing or another the trick is to weed out a few errors in judgement and pick up a few simple disciplines to repeat everyday in that area.

Would you like to be happier, healthier, etc? Are the things you’re repeating everyday helping or hurting you?

An apple a day helps with your health, a snickers bar a day doesn’t, but neither will show their face, in a big way, for several years.

You can’t change your destination in a single day, but you can change your direction.

Michael Somers

Mavidea Technology Group

Putting Smiles on Faces

www.mavidea.com

mike.somers

Office: 309-829-2000 x112

Toll Free: 888-898-8960

JW – I planted some bird seed, a bird came up. Now I don’t know what to feed it. – Steven Wright

JM – Michael, I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing and it was everything I thought it could be. – Peter Gibbens – Office Space

JD – EB, you have been missing a lot of work lately.

EB – I wouldn’t say I’ve been missing it.

This week I heard/saw several references to the movie Office Space. It is a classic movie that parodies the absurdities of the “corporate” world.

In addition to the humor there is a lesson though. Being happy with our work is an important part of being happy with our lives.

That begs the question for each and every one of us – is your workplace contributing to or detracting from your overall happiness?

And if it is detracting, is it you or is it them?

Challenging questions to be sure, but with only a short time on Earth, questions we must answer.

And since that got a little too serious after the funny Office Space quotes, here is a trailer for the movie:

http://youtu.be/cf4veA65G-k

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

PS – Still looking for volunteers to send some emails out next week.

http://youtu.be/jY9xZoKiBgU

Heading out for vacation next week made me think of this song and movie. Hoping for a family adventure but hopefully not quite a Griswold style adventure.

Funny how times when things go wrong it brings us closer together.

I think the difficult times remind us of our true priorities and cause is to focus more intently on them.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – Still looking for substitute daily attitude email writers for next week. Just send me a note if you are interested.