In “No Hero” a former Navy SEAL tells the story of his training in climbing.

He had an innate fear of heights and so he struggled with this portion of his training. At one point he found himself “frozen” on the side of a mountain, unable to make any progress.

His instructor climbed up to him and told him to “focus on your three foot world”.

Meaning to focus on the part that he could control.

Not the height, not the mountain, not the clouds; just his hand and foot holds and moving up the mountain.

The author then explains that he used that idea many times during his training and various deployments.

Any situation where we felt out of control, he would institute the “three foot world” and focus on what he could control.

Often times we get distracted by things outside our three foot world.

We let fear keep us from moving forward, one step at a time.

Just take the next step. Today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/9yRme0C2pmI

I’m guessing about 90% of you won’t care for this song, but wanted to change it up a bit.

Confidence is such a hard thing to get wrong.

Songs like this one take it a little too far and can show how you could turn people off by being too confident.

But confidence is also a good thing.

Not the “I’m better than others” confidence.

The kind of confidence that says “I’ve got a lot of room for improvement, there are a lot of people better than me, but why not me?”

We are all loved.

We are all miracles.

We are all uniquely made.

We should have the confidence that comes with that and the humility of knowing that everyone else has it too.

Be confident today. You are special and unique, don’t be afraid to let that show.

Make it a great day.

Jake

If your gift is leadership, do so with zeal. – Romans 12:8

Bill Hybels started the leadership summit out with this verse.

It reminded me of one of my all-time favorite quotes:

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

There is so much power in embracing and enjoying what we were called to do.

The power comes from embracing the idea of always doing your best.

And most of the time, it isn’t something glamorous.

It could be sweeping streets or filing paperwork or cleaning up after dinner or…

Things that most other people don’t even notice how good or bad of a job you did. Often, you (and God) are the only one that really knows whether you did your best.

Always doing your best is a difficult standard, to be sure.

But would you really have it any other way?

Make it a great day.

Jake

EB* – Who you listen to is who you are becoming. – Craig Groschel

JD – Giving ennobles the human soul.

JW – Indeed, all who desire to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. – 2 Timothy 3:12

MS – The path of the just is as the shining light, but shineth more and more unto the perfect day. – Proverbs 4:18

JR – Predicting behavior only predicts your own. – Jason Roush Original TM Copyright

Someone in the Global Leadership Summit shared the quote above about giving.

Immediately, I pictured how giving created nobility in someone.

What a tremendous opportunity each of us has to experience that nobility.

We truly and authentically are generous and benevolent towards someone else we get to experience nobility.

The best part is that it doesn’t take being born into nobility or buying your way in.

Anyone can give. We can all be made better by the giving of ourselves.

Rich or poor. It doesn’t matter, all that matters is the heart of the giver.

Choose nobility for you and your family. Be generous with your resources.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Grit is one of Mavidea’s values.

Since we starting using it I have noticed more and more speakers and authors talking about grit (I’m 63% sure it is because they are trying to copy how cool we are).

At last week’s Global Leadership Summit, it was one of the first subjects discussed.

Bill Hybels said “the archenemy of grit is ease.”

We grow and develop grit during times of adversity, not when everything is going easy.

In fact, since most of our goals and long term aspirations likely require a certain amount of grit and growth, we need to seek out some adversity and uneasiness.

So, today your job is to make things a little uncomfortable for yourself.

Get outside your comfort zone.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"Treat your body like a temple, not a woodshed. The mind and body work together. Your body needs to be a good support system for the mind and spirit. If you take good care of it, your body can take you wherever you want to go, with the power and strength and energy and vitality you will need to get there." — Jim Rohn

Like a lot of Jim Rohn’s wisdom and quotes this one falls into the category of a reminder.

We all know that we should treat our body’s well.

Maybe I don’t treat mine like the wood shed, but temple would be a stretch.

Maybe when you read this quote, some aspect of your health came to mind.

Maybe your weight.

Maybe your diet.

Maybe exercise.

Maybe a bad habit you need to kick.

Whatever it was, pick one thing and make today the day you get started making your body a temple.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/l-gQLqv9f4o

No better way to start a Monday than with a solid pep talk.

Enjoy.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/OBwS66EBUcY

Last night I watched the last of the “Band of Brothers” HBO series.

The last line really stuck with me.

They ended with interviews with the actual veterans.

The last one told the story of his grandson asking if he had been a hero in the war.

“No, but I served with some.”

Wow. It takes a lot of character to conduct yourself like that.

We should all be proud of the legacy left by the great men and women in our armed forces and those who are currently serving.

Thank a veteran today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Today is the first day of the Global Leadership Summit.

To me, the coolest part of this event each year is the reminder of how important humility is.

The event is a gathering of leaders all over the planet that are listening in on content designed to improve their leadership.

We will all be getting together with the realization that we don’t know everything and that we could use some help.

Admitting this leads to growth and progress.

Is there an area of your life where you need to admit you don’t have all the answers?

Is there something nagging on you that needs the help of someone else to move forward.

If there is, have the humility to admit you don’t have all the answers and that you could use some help.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Below is Rudyard Kipling’s “If”.

Quite a long and difficult list.

But quite the payoff in the end as well.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Rudyard Kipling – “If”

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!