Faith is allowing ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see. – Martin Luther

In “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill he talked a lot about faith. He told the stories of Edison, Ford and others like them to illustrate that these success stories were born through extreme faith. They all latched on to a vision of the future and never lost faith that it would come to be reality.

The quote above reminded me of this because of his use of the word seized.

Many of the great success stories could be written using that description.

Henry Ford was seized by the idea of creating an affordable car.

Thomas Edison was seized by the idea of creating a light bulb.

The question for each of us is: What has seized me?

Are we seized by worry, jealousy, and fear?

Or are we seized by prosperity, contentment and joy?

We do not have to invent the next light bulb to be able to have faith in a big idea that will seize us and lead us to success and happiness.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinions at all. – George Christoph Lichtenberg

I like this quote even though I have a sneaky suspicion it might be a little sarcastic.

Arnold keeps talking to the leadership group about being “self-quieted” and this quote reminded me of that.

The Bible talks about giving up one’s life – this is what I think it is really suggesting – letting go of the selfish desires and opinions that keep us from real selfless service and connection with others.

Imagine what it might look like to have no opinions.

Imagine what it might look like to really be self-quieted.

Imagine a life spent selflessly in service through love.

It wouldn’t be easy. It might not be possible to bat 1,000 on this one.

I’m not even sure that I’m capable of really describing it – but I am sure that there is something worth pursuing there.

That the end result of a more self-quieted life is better than the end result of a life with more selfishness and ego.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – I’m doubtful that having zero opinions is really the path to selflessness and bliss. I’m sure that opinions are not the culprit. I also suspect that most of us could use some improvement on our opinions of our opinions.

In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. – Ephesians 4: 1-3

I really liked the last sentence.

Go forward with all you have – but do so with discipline and humility.

Consistently putting others before ourselves.

Consistently acting in a loving manner towards each other.

Not when we feel like it.

Not when it works out.

Not when we’ve gotten a good night’s sleep and don’t have a million other things on our minds.

This presents a difficult standard.

But what if we could just take a step towards it. Today.

One small, selfless act today.

One new pattern of interaction that begins today.

What could you do today to show humility and discipline?

Make it a great day.

Jake

O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind? Percy Bysshe Shelley

Springtime in Illinois means lots of wind. If the forecast is a warm day – that also usually means wind.

The warmth and change of season is generally brought in on the wind.

Life is full of changing winds.

Our health ebbs and flows over time.

Relationships and people grow closer at times and apart at times.

Pay attention to the wind.

Which way are things heading?

Anything important that needs taken in before the wind does some damage?

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/DaIZvCDWAcQ

(This one comes with a special appearance by the Donald).

Classic Ghostbusters memories coming back from this one.

Movie themes and soundtracks are an integral part of the movie and our experience watching it. They bring us along emotionally with the story line.

Make your theme song today something positive.

Create a positive energy and enthusiasm by introducing some positive music.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“Two prisoners looked out from behind their bars, one saw mud and the other saw stars.”

This is one of my favorite lines from Dale Carnegie’s “How to Stop Worrying”.

What a great reminder that no matter our circumstances, we can choose to look at the beauty and goodness of life or we can choose to look at the mud.

Are there times when you are focusing on the mud instead of the stars?

Next time you are looking at the mud, remember the line above and choose instead to look up at the stars.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Blatant sales pitch: I would highly recommend both “How to Stop Worrying” and “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. Both of these are in my top 10 list of books.

I’ve been listening to Brene Brown’s newest book and went in search of a previous email I had sent with some of her ideas.

Here you go:

You can’t selectively numb emotions. – Brene Brown

After hearing about Brene Brown in the training we received a few weeks ago, I went out and found and listened to her TED Talks.

I think this quote came from her talk on vulnerability: https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability

The idea that we can’t selectively numb emotions really struck with me. I couldn’t shake the idea that the reason so many spend their lives in mediocrity might be that they have chosen to numb themselves as a result of some bad experience.

Whether we numb ourselves with a serious dependency like drugs or with something seemingly innocent like cupcakes (hey, what’s he got against cupcakes?), the result is the same: we also can’t feel as much joy and happiness in the good moments.

And maybe when we can’t feel as much joy in the moments of our highest triumphs, we don’t work so hard for them, or maybe they’re just not worth it.

Then we settle.

We settle for less joy because it means less pain.

We settle for less money because it means less risk.

We settle for less relationship because it means less heartbreak.

We settle for less life because we might lose ours.

Hopefully this TED talk can serve as a wake up call for you (if you needed one, or a good reminder if you needed one of those). Are you not allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to really reach your potential?

Make it a great day.

Jake

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Dr. Seuss’ The Sneetches is a favorite of ours.

The story is about two different kinds of Sneetches. One with stars on their bellies and sneetches with none upon thars.

They are bamboozled (don’t get to break that one out much) into getting stars added and removed from their stomachs in a race to see which kind of Sneetches are the best.

Like all my favorite Dr. Seuss books, this story illustrates an important life lesson while being silly and whimsical (bamboozled and whimsical in the same email, wow).

At first blush, I thought the lesson was about not looking down on others because they are different than you.

And while I think that lesson can be gathered from this story, there is a potentially more important one.

Don’t let someone else tell you that because you don’t have a “star” that you are anything less.

The really sad part of the story was that each group in turn accepted the other group’s labeling of them as “less than” or some version of that.

When we accept those thoughts and labels that others place on us we actually do become “less than” we are capable of being.

I think Thomas Jefferson said it best:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

Remember today to not accept the limitations any else places on you.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Winning is more fun than losing.

I know this falls in the category of obvious, but I thought it would be a good reminder.

I once heard an interview with the CEO of GE, Jeffrey Immelt.

He said that GE they “play to win” and it reminded me that winning is more fun than losing.

And he reminded me of another important point on this subject. Winning only counts when there is a chance of losing.

We must take some risks in order to really win.

Is there an area of your life where you need to take a chance on winning?

Are you playing it too safe so you don’t risk losing?

We can only really win if we take the chance of losing.

And we won’t always win, but that is what makes the victories we do achieve even sweeter.

Challenge yourself to step outside your comfort zone in order to win at something you are currently struggling with.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/xUNqsfFUwhY

Here comes the sun. I am always amazed at what a difference a little sunshine can make in everyone’s moods.

As the weather begins to turn and the sun shines brighter, warmer and for a little bit longer each day remember to slow down enough to enjoy it.

Take a moment to step outside and just take it in.

Turn off the radio in the car for a minute and just look at the view.

Get up a few minutes early and find a place to see the sunrise.

Enjoy it.

Make it a great day.

Jake