Your dreams must be bigger than your obstacles.

One thing I know for sure is that we will all face obstacles. It isn’t an “if” situation, it is a “when”.

One of the differences between those that achieve their goals and those that let the obstacles stop them in their path is the successful person has great big dreams.

Dreams so big it is hard to see the obstacles along the way.

“Obstacles are things a person sees when he takes his eyes off his goal.” – E. Joseph Cossman

What if your dreams were so big you couldn’t see anything else?

What if they crowded out your vision?

We all are going to face obstacles in our lives. Let’s dream big enough that they won’t stop us.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I realized over the weekend that Friday was the second anniversary of the daily attitude email.

Hard to believe that two years have gone by.

As with last year, on this hallowed anniversary (smiley face), my main thought is one of thankfulness.

Thankfulness for having you all in my life and for the opportunity to send you an email every morning.

My thoughts then drifted to understanding why. Why send these emails out every morning?

Because I believe in us. Each and every one of us.

I believe in the inherent goodness and potential of human beings.

I believe in the future we can create together. A future more wonderful than we can even now imagine.

I know that along the path to awesomeness we are all going to need a push every once in a while. Maybe an extra helping hand along the way.

My sincere hope is that these emails can serve as that push, that reminder that the struggle is worth it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

EB – There’s profit in proprietarialism.

JM – That’s the dumbest of the dumb questions today.

JW – After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.- Nelson Mandela

JS – Yes! Decatur is up and going!

JD – Content is king.

KJ – Life’s like a box of chocolates….you never know what you are going to get.

Content is king.

I thought about this on the way in to work this morning. We are constantly telling our web clients that content is king and it drives the success of their site.

Then I realized that it is true of ourselves as well.

The content of our heart determines the types and quality of relationships we attract.

The content of our mind determines the results we get in life.

The content of our character determines our belief in ourselves.

If you want to see a change in your life, change the content.

Change the content you read.

Change the content you watch.

Change the content you write.

Change the content you speak.

Content is king.

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/dTAAsCNK7RA

An upbeat song with a creative, funny video….sounds like a good start to a Friday to me.

Videos like this remind me of just how creative people can be.

Give some creative people a video camera, some music and a bunch of treadmills and they create an awesome video.

Make it a great Friday.

Jake

It is a pleasant thing to reflect upon, and furnishes a complete answer to those who contend for the gradual degeneration of the human species, that every baby born into the world is a finer one than the last. – Charles Dickens

For those of you who don’t know yet, Meaghan and I are expecting. Baby #3 is on its way and should be here sometime in March.

What does this have to do with the daily attitude email?

Having a baby is confirmation that we believe the future will be better than the present. We believe in not only the potential of man kind to make the future better, but we specifically believe in our potential to add to it by producing the best new little person we can.

We can make a positive contribution by pouring our love and devotion into a new little person who we hope will grow up to make that special contribution to the world that only he or she is capable of.

Parents around the world share this same hope and belief for their children. We all fear that time is passing too quickly while embracing the possibilities the future holds for our little one (or not so little one anymore).

And for those of you who aren’t parents, there is an important part of this equation for you as well…..we are all someone’s child. We all (regardless of our age) represent that hope for a better and brighter future.

The cycle of life continues….it is up to us to make sure it is headed in the right direction.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Samuel Ullman

Last night Erik, Kim and I got to attend the ISU internship fair.

I must be getting old because every time I go to one of the career fairs at ISU I am reminded more and more of the enthusiasm and opportunity of youth.

Watching all those “kids” nervously shaking hands and talking to a “serious adult” about a career for the very first time reminds me of the nervous excitement we all feel the first time we do something new.

My sincere hope for myself and for all of you is that we never lose that enthusiasm. We never let our souls get wrinkled.

For today (as a start), let’s all forget about how many years we have lived and capture the enthusiasm of our youth.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Maggie has been on a Dr. Seuss kick again for bedtime stories and they have left me inspired to share some Dr. Seuss wisdom with everyone.
Every time I read his stories I am reminded of that rare gift that Dr. Seuss had.
The gift of painting the important and difficult challenges of life in such fanciful words and word pictures that you can’t help but learn something along the way.
By disarming (or maybe charming) us with his fantastical stories, Dr. Seuss is able to get at that child in all of us. That wide-eyed, open-minded person that is a sponge for these kinds of life lessons and advice.
Rekindle that in yourself as you read the quotes below. Open yourself up to be inspired to be better at the “little things” of life that Dr. Seuss wrote about.
Make it a great day.

Jake

Top 30 Dr. Seuss Quotes
1. Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. 2. Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.
3. Why fit in when you were born to stand out?
4. Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.
5. You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.
6. Think and wonder, wonder and think.
7. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So. get on your way. 8. Unless!
9. THINK! You can think any THINK that you wish.
10. If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good.
11. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. 12. You are you. Now, isn’t that pleasant?
13. Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple. 14. It is better to know how to learn than to know.
15. Everything stinks till it’s finished.
16. The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. 17. A person’s a person, no matter how small.
18. I meant what I said and I said what I meant.
19. Only you can control your future.
20. Be awesome! Be a book nut!
21. Be who you are and say what you mean. Because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. 22. Oh, the things you can find if you don’t stay behind!
23. It’s opener, out there, in the wide, open air.
24. Teeth are always in style.
25. Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered.
26. Will you succeed? Yes you will indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed. 27. From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.
28. Step with care and great tact. And remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.
29. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
30. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go.

A couple of you liked the top ten list from Norman Vincent Peale that I sent out the other day so I thought I would send another one.

From my experience, almost everyone experiences feelings of inadequacy and self doubt.

Below are Norman Vincent Peale’s ten rules for defeating self doubt and negative self thoughts.

Make it a great day.

Jake

To sum up-what can you do now to build up your self-confidence? Following are ten simple, workable rules for overcoming inadequacy attitudes and learning to practice faith. Thousands have used these rules, reporting successful results. Undertake this program and you, too, will build up confidence in your powers. You, too, will have a new feeling of power.

1. Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop this picture. Never think of yourself as failing; never doubt the reality of the mental image. That is most dangerous, for the mind always tries to complete what it pictures. So always picture “success” no matter how badly things seem to be going at the moment.

2. Whenever a negative thought concerning your personal powers comes to mind, deliberately voice a positive thought to cancel it out.

3. Do not build up obstacles in your imagination. Depreciate every so-called obstacle. Minimize them. Difficulties must be studied and efficiently dealt with to be eliminated, but they must be seen for only what they are. They must not be inflated by fear thoughts.

4. Do not be awestruck by other people and try to copy them. Nobody can be you as efficiently as YOU can. Remember also that most people, despite their confident appearance and demeanor, are often as scared as you are and as doubtful of themselves.

5. Ten times a day repeat these dynamic words, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

6. Get a competent counselor to help you understand why you do what you do. Learn the origin of your inferiority and self-doubt feelings which often begin in childhood. Self-knowledge leads to a cure.

7. Ten times each day practice the following affirmation, repeating .it out loud if possible. “I can do ail things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13) Repeat those words NOW. That magic statement is the most powerful antidote on earth to inferiority thoughts.

8. Make a true estimate of your own ability, then raise it 10 per cent. Do not become egotistical, but develop a wholesome self-respect. Believe in your own God-released powers.

9. Put yourself in God’s hands. To do that simply state, “I am in God’s hands.” Then believe you are NOW receiving ail the power you need. “Feel” it flowing into you. Affirm that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21) in the form of adequate power to meet life’s demands.

10. Remind yourself that God is with you and nothing can defeat you. Believe that you now RECEIVE power from Him.

JD – It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best you very often get it. W. Somerset Maugham

JS – Is a Margarona really like a Coronarita? I need to find out….

EB – Wicked air guitar in your FACE!!!

KJ – Sold!

JW – I believe every human being has a finite number of heartbeats, I don’t intend to waste any of mine. Neil Armstrong

JM – The shortest distance between two points is under construction.

If you have an attitude that expects the best life has to offer, you will very often get it.

The other side of this coin is that you must be willing to give your best in order to get it.

One of my favorite conclusions from “Good To Great” by Jim Collins is his conclusion that, in the end, it is no more difficult to do your best than it is to just be mediocre.

The rewards outweigh the costs.

What a great system.

Have a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/Uo2SNtFofWI

This one will start you off with a toe tapper and a giggle (or two).

My favorite couple of lines:

Only shooting stars break the mold.

You’ll never know if you don’t go, you’ll never shine if you don’t glow.

In true YouTube fashion, this one song led to more wasted (I mean wisely invested) video clip viewing.

Thought I would share this one too since it is mildly inspirational too.

http://youtu.be/mDlk2_PV_l8

Make it a great Friday.

Jake