I know….another slow tapper instead of a fast song.
This song came on the other day and it reminded me of summer time.
The long, warm days followed by the cool nights.
All of it calling you to take it “easy”. Easy like Sunday morning.
For those of you that need a little faster start to your Friday, try this on for size:
Smiley face.
Make it a great day.
Jake
I know…more of a “slow tapper” than a “toe tapper”.
But couldn’t resist sending out the song that Meaghan and I danced to at our wedding 10 years ago.
But since most of you still need something to get the juices flowing on a Friday morning, here is something a little faster.
One of Meaghan’s favorites.
Happy Friday everybody!
Jake
Jake asked me on Wednesday to send out the Friday Morning Toe Tapper this week. I was delighted… and honored…. And I peed a little on the rug (it happens when the doorbell rings, too). But, once I started thinking about what song to select…. I realized there were SO many to choose from.
I thought about picking someone we know… Nothing gets you moving on a Friday morning like a good Knuckle Sandwich with onions, pickles, and some Maxlider. But that’s been done and I wanted something original. So, I thought about sending out a video of Krypter warning us about the Zombie Apocalypse, but the only version I could find without excessive profanity would’ve had our resident musicians and sound technicians grumbling about the audio quality and using words like ambience, acoustic, and depth.
And then it hit me. I recently read Who Moved My Cheese? and it really resonated with me. If you haven’t read the book, you absolutely must. It is short. REALLY short. Like I-read-it-in-30-minutes short. And yet the length (or lack thereof) in no way lessens the message. In fact, the simplicity of the story is part of its charm. If you have read it, you know it is a story about handling change.
I realized I was not the character in the book that I wanted to be. Fortunately, I realized this just as I finished reading a book teaching me how to solve that exact problem. So, I tied my running shoes around my neck and decided to embrace “new cheese.” And that (finally) brings me to today’s toe tapper. This video shows scenes from a movie that features this song. I selected it for two reasons:
1. Because it is a great movie. It certainly has content that is not approved for all audiences, but it’s a fun romp nonetheless.
2. Because it was one of the only YouTube videos of this song that didn’t put the artist’s name in huge letters in the title.
Go ahead and start the video now (if you haven’t already):
As you listen to the singer, let me tell you that this guy ran through the maze while envisioning new cheese. In fact, he could see new cheese so clearly in his mind that, when he found it, it was WAY better than his old cheese. What am I talking about? This singer is Kenny Rogers.
Yes… that Kenny Rogers. 
This is 1967 Kenny Rogers (the song, not the picture), 12 years before he sang The Gambler, a song that was such a hit that they let him play the lead role in the movie that was made from it.
And, had he not embraced new cheese (in this case, country music), we would’ve missed out on more than 10 platinum albums, including such hits as:
Lady
Coward of the County
Islands in the Stream
Now, I’m no country music fan, but even I know all the words to The Gambler. (Well, at least to the first verse… I can fake the 2nd. Cut me some slack. I was 7 when that movie came out. It was cool.)
But, as the book also tells us, you should not embrace all change just for the sake of change. Not all change is good. I think we can all agree on that one! 
Happy Friday!!!
The Swami
Today’s birthday wish goes out to Mavidea!
Hard to believe how quickly 5 years has gone by.
A couple of quick thoughts as we pass by this mile marker in the life of Mavidea.
First, thank you. Thank you to all of you. Everyone that gets this email has made a positive impact for Mavidea.
Second, look at all we have accomplished. Stop to think about all the tickets, projects, websites, leads generated, sales closed, lives impacted, on and on and on…..hard to believe how much of an impact we have made on each other, our customers, our community and even the world. It really is a site to behold if you step back a little and look at everything as a whole.
I am also reminded that we do, in fact, have something special going on. I am frequently reminded when I speak to people in interviews, when I speak to another business owner, or when I just observe others and listen to what they say about where they work that we are different.
When you think about the very small percent of small businesses that make it past 5 years….
When you think about the number of small businesses that never grow past 10 employees….
When you think about all those businesses that haven’t been able to create a great culture…
We have defied the odds and accomplished something truly special.
The best part of all this…..we are just getting started. We have created an awesome launching pad, an impressive baseline, but where we are today is just that. A starting point from which we are going to take off to greatness. It is just the beginning of a grand adventure.
One that I couldn’t be more excited about tackling with all of you.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Couldn’t resist sending out the version with the muppets.
School’s out for summer!
Enjoy the summer everybody.
Jake
I know I have sent this one out a couple of times, but I had an idea for something fun we could do.
My thought is that each of us forward this on to (at least) one other person.
Think of someone in your life that means a lot to you.
Then think of something unique or great about that person.
Then forward this email to them and change the subject to “What Name Is: Something Great About Them”.
For example, when I forward this email to my wife I am going to change the subject to “What Meaghan is: Creative”.
You could even post the video on someone’s FaceBox wall with a note.
Have fun with it. Make someone smile.
Jake
I know this is kind of corny and not that sentimental, but it made me smile.
Happy Mother’s Day again to all those Mom’s out there.
Jake
I don’t think Friday Morning Toe Tapper translates well into Spanish…..
In honor of Cinco de Mayo this weekend, I wanted to send out a Spanish song.
First one that came to mind was this one:
But since that singer was technically Cuban, I thought I would send out something more “authentic” and found this song that was mentioned in several places.
Make it a great Friday everybody.
Jake
Looking for something to send this morning and typed in happy songs into Google and this one was tops on the list that I was looking through.
Two things stuck with me after listening to this one.
First, what a great song to have stuck in your head for the day. I can just picture “I’m into something good” rolling through my head all day long. What a positive and uplifting thought.
Second, it reminded me of Mavidea. The more conversations I have or hear about with people outside our company, the more I become convinced that we are, in fact, into something good.
We have a good thing going around. Something worth taking pride in. Something worth protecting and nurturing. And, yes, something worth singing about.
Hope everyone has a great Friday.
Jake
I think I have sent this one out before, but it came on yesterday and I thought I would send it out again.
Maybe not a fast paced toe tapper, but every time I hear it, it makes me smile.
Something very powerful around the concept of needing and having someone to lean on.
We are all in this thing together and need each other.
Instead of feeling weak, this realization should make us all stronger.
There is true power in the realization of what we can all accomplish together if we lean on each other through those hard times in life.
There is no limit to what we can accomplish together.
Make it a great Friday.
No “Phrase That Pays” today, so I will end with a Jim Rohn quote on this subject.
“Each of us needs all of us and all of us need each of us.”
Jake
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