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

I heard the poem below the other day and it reminded me again of something I continually struggle with.

Slowing down.

In my old age I am seeing more and more that the race car adage of “slow down to go fast” is completely true.

In order to meet the truly meaningful objectives in life we actually have to slow down in order to get there faster.

The author below says it much better, enjoy.

A great reminder as we begin another week full of meetings, calls, emails, TV, FaceBox, PineTrust, etc. All of them begging us for a fast response.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"Slow Me Down Lord"

Slow me down Lord

Ease the pounding of my heart

by the quieting of my mind.

Steady my hurried pace

with a vision of the eternal march of time.

Give me amid the confusion of the day,

the calmness of the eternal hills.

Break the tension of my nerves and muscles

with the soothing music of the singing streams

that live in my memory.

Help me to know the magical restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking MINUTE vacations,

Of slowing down to look at a flower,

to chat with a friend,

to pat a dog,

to read a few lines of a good book.

Slow me down Lord

and inspire me to send my roots

deep into the soil of life’s enduring values

that I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.

Author: Wilfred A. Peterson

JM – Who looks at a screw driver and thinks "oohhh, this could be a little more sonic"? Captain Jack

EB – Thanks for that demonstration, hot dog digits.

JW – Dad, what’s your favorite super power? – Ethan Warmbir

JD – Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement. – Golda Meir

Another quote on trust.

Trust yourself and the still, small voice inside yourself that says all those great things about you.

It says….

Nothing is impossible.

You can do it.

You are special.

You deserve the best.

You were created to do something unique and special.

There is greatness within you. Learn to trust it. Learn to embrace it.

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/HBpsOu8jyU8

Meaghan and I have been watching the show “New Girl” lately. The main character in the show has a funny habit of turning many of life’s little moments into short songs.

This song came on yesterday and reminded me of that.

Singing can be a great way to lift your spirits and to add a little emotion to life’s every day joys.

Let your song out today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Trust is to human relationships what faith is to gospel living. It is the beginning place, the foundation upon which more can be built. Where trust is, love can flourish.

Barbara Smith

Trust as the foundation for love.

I think that hits the mark pretty well.

Trust is foundational to good relationships.

The Bible talks of building our spiritual houses on stone and not on sand.

We must do the same in our relationships.

Do you have a relationship in your life that needs some work on the foundation?

Make it a great day.

Jake