Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself. – Henry Ward Beecher

Tony Robbins talks a lot about how we only get the results we accept.

Our own standards matter when it comes to how our life will turn out.

What might increased expectations for yourself look like?

What area needs it the most?

Is there something simple you can start with?

The main idea here is to raise them and stick with it. Never excuse yourself.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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A theme I heard more than a few times in Ireland was that of using the lock downs and difficulties as time to “find yourself”.

A large portion of the Irish economy is based on travel and tourism.

And that got shut down. For a long time.

It should have been devastating.

But instead it was a time to find yourself. To slow down and think about what’s really important. To realign life and your priorities with a new perspective.

Here’s hoping next time things don’t go my way I have the maturity to find the good in the situation.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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https://youtu.be/cYGyERe2Vbw

One more Irish song for a toe tapper this week.

The Irish like getting together and singing together at the pub. Telling stories and building community through song.

I can’t wait to ask God “why music?” some day.

For some reason He created in us this strong response to music. Together as a group there isn’t much that can compete for bringing people together.

Enjoy some music this weekend with your crew. Turn it up and sing along together.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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"Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good." – Maya Angelou

Got home last night from Ireland feeling grateful.

For a loving family. For safe travels. For the hospitality shown to our little family from a small town in Illinois. For coworkers who covered for me while I was away. For a loving God who created such a wonderful world to visit and explore.

I like this quote about gratitude because it left me with the idea of being the starting place or initial building block for prayer and faith.

Being grateful is a great way to start anything.

A new day…

A trip….

A friendship….

Gratitude opens up our hearts to experience more to be grateful for.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – Extra special thanks to Jeff for sending these out while I was away. Great job!

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Heading home from Ireland today and wanted to send out this daily attitude email from a few years ago…

I was in Ireland a couple weeks ago… Throughout every day, Deb and I talked about how nice, friendly and helpful everyone was.

On day 9 it hit me…. The people of Ireland treat people how people should be treated. It was so refreshing.

They’ve found a way to live like every day is Christmas. So it’s possible and helped me step up my game.

Thanks for the reminder and thanks for your dedication to help us all improve.

Happy Tuesday.

B

Brian O’Shaughnessy sent that note to me yesterday in response to the email about starting Christmas early by being a little nicer to everyone.

I’ve always thought of “hospitality” as the Irish people’s super power and his note about how they “treat people how they should be treated” stuck out to me.

What if we were supposed to be this nice all year long and not just on Christmas?

What if generosity was an every day thing?

What if kindness became a minimum expectation?

My trips to Ireland showed me (and Brian) what that might look like….and it looked pretty good.

Being nicer and more hospitable seemed to make the Irish people I interacted with more happy, more full of joy.

They didn’t seem to be getting the short end of the stick….

Reflect on your interactions over the year. Is there room for more niceness? Is it worth taking a chance on moving forward?

Merry Christmas.

Jake

PS – Thanks to Brian for being a consistent supporter of me and these emails. He’s been on the list a long time and has every reason to tune me out and move on to reading something better but consistently finds time to encourage me with a nice note here and there. The content of this email is confidential and intended for the recipient specified in message only. It is strictly forbidden to share any part of this message with any third party, without a written consent of the sender. If you received this message by mistake, please reply to this message and follow with its deletion, so that we can ensure such a mistake does not occur in the future.

Over the years, especially as I have become a little older 😊, I have tried to develop some winning spiritual habits. This is probably not for everyone but I thought I would share anyway. One of the questions I asked myself a while back was: What habits and behaviors do I need to develop to become a happier person and to enjoy a greater peace of mind in everything I do? I have chosen to do several of these below:

Many people develop the habit of reading spiritually each morning and thinking about how they can practice what they read during the day. Others develop the habit of daily solitude.
Some develop the habit of attending a church that they enjoy on a regular basis.
One spiritual habit is to donate your time to working with people who are less fortunate than you are.
Spending time with other spiritually developed people is another great habit that helps you to develop spiritually.

Whatever it is you choose to do, just be happy and watch how much your life improves. God is good.

Let’s Go! Jeff
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Sorry, you have me for 2 more days! LOL Something I have tried to follow (not always great at it though) is called the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you”. The great truths of life are simple. It is amazing how many problems, both personal and social, could be resolved if everyone decided to treat other people the way they would like to be treated.

Listen to people in the way you would like to be listened to.
Sell your products and services the way you would like others to sell them to you.
Be courteous and respectful to other people, just as you would like them to be to you.
Be patient and understanding with people when they make mistakes, just as you would like them to be with you when you make mistakes.

Be intentional about these items as we will all be better people and teammates if we follow them!

Happy Monday! Let’s Go!
Jeff
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As my “guest host” duties come to an end this week I want to leave you with this…

We as business owners, leaders, managers, team members, interns (or whatever category you fall in) are always chasing the next WIN, right? We are climbing those mountains, suffering cuts and scrapes on the way up, and when we reach the top we look down and then off to the next challenge. When was the last time you really hit pause and celebrated a WIN (small or large) with your team, your co-workers, your significant other or family? Be intentional about taking the time to do this. Life tends to get a little crazy at times so slow down, breath and celebrate. Fly that W flag like my almighty Chicago Cubs do all the time 😊

Top tapper for the weekend:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&ei=UTF-8&p=go+cubs+go&type=E210US714G0#id=4&vid=27b40e9208eb4ab1c07dd3cc41645238&action=click

Let’s Go! Jeff

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Happy Thursday! Short (well maybe not) video I did last year on Linkedin I thought I would share.

Keep hitting that Piñata! We’ve all been there…

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jeff-leverton-4a926092_community-communication-clarity-activity-6980249775086481408-xr4E?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

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Happy Wednesday! Some of you that know me well understand how important it is to me to try to make a difference in our community.

You were put in this world to do something wonderful with your life. There never has, never been, and never will be anyone just like you. You are unique and your special combination of talents, abilities, emotions, ideas, attitudes and philosophy makes you separate and distinct from everyone else. You have extraordinary potentials of talent and ability that you probably do not use. You are truly extraordinary!

Some of the most important questions you can ever ask and answer are these….What kind of a difference do I want to make with my life?

What do you want to be famous for? How do you want people to think about you and talk about you when you are gone? What kind of a mark do you want to leave on the world? What do you want to do that will benefit and improve the lives of other people?

Get out and start by doing it in your own community…join a service club or volunteer at an event. The value you add to someone or something will make a difference!

Let’s Go! Jeff

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