The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things. – Henry Ward Beecher

The balancing act of setting new goals is that we must also be happy with the common things around us.

We can become obsessed with how our current situation isn’t what we want and focus too much on what we would like to be different.

Find something common to be happy about today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you’ve signed up for a season, see it through. You don’t have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through." — Jim Rohn

The first of the year is a time to sign up for new things. To begin a new season.

Jim’s reminder is that when you sign up for something, at least see it through one season.

At least see it through the first month of that new diet program.

At least see it through the first quarter with your new budget.

At least see it through January 31st with your new exercise plan.

Already fallen off the wagon? Quick! Get back on. See it through.

Make it a great day.

Jake

It’s easier to resist at the beginning than at the end. – Leonardo da Vinci

Don’t forget about this as you get started on your new goals for the year.

It will get easier as it becomes a habit.

Resistance to a new habit or new direction is easiest at the beginning, before momentum takes over.

Push through. Get the snowball heading down the hill.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Dear Lord, I’m so grateful I’m still loved. – Vivien Leigh

I thought this would be a great way to start the year off.

Reminder – you are loved. Still. It hasn’t stopped.

For most of us, we’re loved more than we remember and act like.

We get frustrated easily. We lose our tempers over small, inconsequential happenings in our lives. We give up quickly. We don’t take chances and play it safe as if money, status, and stuff really matter most.

You are loved.

Act like it.

Smile, a lot. Laugh and dance. Forget about all the stuff, money and status and focus on the important stuff.

Make it a great day.

Jake

When the New Year comes around, you hear a lot about New Year’s resolutions.

Most of what is written is about how to set the goals better, how to increase your chances, etc.

They all start out with some statistic about how some really high percentage of resolutions are dropped by the end of January (86% of statistics are made up on the spot).

It almost seems like their goal is to either have you do it their way or just skip it.

Not me. Not this year.

Set some New Year’s resolutions.

Set a lot of them if you feel like it.

Don’t focus on the statistics that say 90% won’t make it, focus on the 10% that will.

Think positive.

You got this.

No reason you can’t be in the 10%.

And if you don’t make it, I’m sure you will be better off anyway.

And after you’ve set a few, read these 31 Tips to Awesome New Year’s Resolutions that I whipped up.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein

As you look at your biggest challenge right now, how might this quote apply?

Are you having a hard time with one or two goals in particular because you are using the same kind of thinking?

I once read that simply changing something as simple as your route to work in the morning can change the way you think enough to work through a problem you are facing.

Just making some new pathways in your brain cause it to look at your old problem from a new angle.

What change could you make to shake things up?

Getting up early?

Staying up late?

No caffeine?

An extra latte in the afternoon?

A different route to work?

A new workout routine?

I am sure you can come up with some better ideas on your own, the key is to just do something different. Begin the process of thinking differently.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Francis of Assisi

Get started.

Whatever your goal.

Whatever is nagging at you.

Whatever your reason for wanting something different.

Just get started. Do what’s necessary to get the train headed down the tracks.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom. – Francis Bacon

Our mind needs rest in the same way our bodies do.

Find some silent time this week.

Even if it is just 60 seconds in the car before heading in to the office or 5 minutes before bed.

Let all the noise and distractions fall away.

Just enjoy the quiet.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses. – Taylor Caldwell

This is a great reminder before Christmas comes and goes.

You are not alone.

You are loved.

You are special.

Not in a way that makes you better than everyone else.

Not in a way that makes you just like everyone else.

You are loved and special in your own way. The way only you can be.

In the Christian faith, this is the reason got sent his son on that first Christmas. For you.

If that explanation of it doesn’t work for you, I can assure you that you aren’t alone, you are loved and you are special to someone.

Merry Christmas.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.

The above is the very beginning of the movie “Love, Actually” (a Christmas favorite at our house).

It’s a great reminder that love is all around us.

Sometimes we forget.

Sometimes we let ourselves fall into the trap of thinking only of ourselves. We forget that we are happiest and at our best when we are loving others.

At Christmas we are reminded of these simple truths.

Keep the Christmas mojo going on past Christmas this year. Keep the feelings of love and selflessness at the forefront – where they belonged all along.

Make it a great day.

Jake