​If you have time to lean, you have time to clean.

We have all probably heard this at one point. It’s a classic dad line. Or maybe your first job at a restaurant or the factory.

Maybe a slightly different angle on this would be that if you are looking for something to do, serve someone else.

Any time you are wondering what to do next, think about what would be of the most service to someone.

We could train our minds to be constantly looking for an opportunity to be of service.

Challenge for today – find one small extra service you could do for someone.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Good working habit number 4 from "How to Stop Worrying" – learn to organize, deputize and supervise.

We can’t do it all.​ We all need the help of others to get where we want to go.

For the most part, others are willing to pitch in and help us along our way. We need only ask.

This represents another of life’s paradoxes: part of the giving process is also being willing to receive.

In order to be the best servant to others we must also be willing to be served.

We must give others the opportunity to grow through service as well.

Is there something that you need help on, but just haven’t been able to ask?

Ask. Today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

BAD – What you are is God’s gift to you. What you make of yourself is your gift to God. – Carly Fiorina

JW – Go figure it out and don’t call me. – Bill Hybel’s father

MS – The kindest form of management is the truth. – Jack Welch

EB – The only real payoff for a leader is eternal. – Patrick Lencioni

JD – Great leadership is relentlessly developmental. – Bill Hybels

Today’s quotes are everyone’s favorites from day one of the Global Leadership Summit yesterday.

Make it a great day.

Jake ​

http://youtu.be/06ocF-opjiA

What a great reminder for us all. Everybody is a bit of a fixer-upper.

And the way to fix things up is with love.

Each of us was once a baby full of all the endless possibilities that come packed into a human life.

But along the way we made a series of good and bad choices.

We had a series of good and bad relationships.

We made good and bad food and exercise choices.

We made good and bad financial decisions.

And along the way we all became a bit of a fixer-upper.

Embrace the fixer-upper in all of us. Liberally apply all the love you have on the fixer-uppers in your life.

Make it a great day.

Jake ​

Good working habit number 3 from How to Stop Worrying: if you have all the information to make a decision, make it now.

Letting a decision stew drags us down and saps away our mental energy.

When combined with working on only one problem at a a time, this tip can drastically improve our productivity.

Think about what is weighing on you right now.

Is there something on your list that needs a decision?

Carefully consider it, then make the decision today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Number 2 on the list of good working habits from "How to Stop Worrying":​ do things in the order of their importance.

I don’t think this idea comes as new information to any of you receiving this email today, but we all need a reminder every now and then.

Too much of our mental energy is wasted on trying to bounce from task to task, trying to do it all.

Focus on the task at hand not only makes us more productive, it relieves a lot of the stress associated with trying to do too many things.

Since we all had such a positive experience yesterday with cleaning our desks, let’s try to follow this advice today.

Write down your top 5 tasks for today in order of importance, then get started on number one.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Chapter 26 of "How to Stop Worrying" by Dale Carnegie is titled "Four Good Working Habits That Will Prevent Fatigue and Worry".

First up on this list is to: Clear your desk of all working papers except those relating to the immediate problem at hand.

To modernize this for today’s world, imagine things like email and tasks instead of working papers and imagine your desk and your desktop on your computer/laptop/tablet/phone as your desk.

This has two positive results.

First, there is something about having a clean and clear workspace.

Everything on our desks carries with it a little bit of mental weight. If your desk is covered, it carries a lot of mental weight.

Second, there is magic to being able to focus on the task at hand. Having only the information relevant to your most important task in front of you immediately makes you much more productive.

Take a look around today.

Is there a mess?

Is there clutter?

Is it overwhelming and demoralizing to look at your work area/inbox?

Spend a few minutes before you get started today clearing things up. Give yourself a fresh start.

Make it a great day.

Jake​

Focus on solutions ~ not problems! What you focus on the longest becomes the strongest. The best way to deal with the challenges you’re facing is to look for solutions. Spend your time being creative, resourceful and get some help. Worry is faith turned inside out…assuming the negative. It wastes your energy and does not solve anything. It paralyzes you, stifles your growth and robs you of your creativity.

Use your imagination to come up with a variety of approaches to move your life forward. Challenge yourself to think beyond that which is commonly accepted. Hold the vision of what you want. Be clear about this and move forward with the feeling and expectation that things are going to work out just fine. You have GREATNESS within you!!​

Les Brown

Some great thoughts from Les Brown this morning on the FaceBox.

We all have areas for improvement of things we would like to change.

The key is for us to focus on solutions and not the problem.

Focusing on the problem increases worry and drains our energy.

Focusing on solutions creates energy and vitality.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – My dear Lucy, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realised that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. – CS Lewis

EB – Let me tell ya…I don’t get no respect. – Rodney Dangerfield

MS – Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will. – AW Tozer

JW – Old age and treachery overcome youth and talent. – Sandy Tilton

BAD – A flower does not look at the flower next to it. It simply blooms.

Last week I shared some quotes from children’s books.

This week I was searching for another quote from a children’s book and came across the quote above from CS Lewis.

He really hits the nail on the head for me as I think about reading these books to our kids.

Maybe we thought we had outgrown the books and fairy tales of our childhood, but it is never too late to take it down from the shelf, dust it off and enjoy it again.

Make some time to make your way through a childhood favorite.

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/XfuBREMXxts

The Monkees – I’m a Believer [official music video] – YouTube The Monkees – I’m a Believer 31 december, 1966. Music Publishing Rights Collecting Society — I thought love was only true in fairy tales Meant for someone e… Read more…

​Our beliefs drive our behaviors and our behaviors drive our results.

If you are struggling with something, a good place to start is to look at your beliefs about it.

Do you not believe that you can lose weight?

Do you not believe that wealth is possible for you?

Do you not believe that happiness can be yours?

Changing beliefs is hard, but here are a few ideas to get you started:

Get around somebody whose already done it.

Read a book about somebody whose already done it.

Create and recite everyday an affirmation that confirms you can do it.

Don’t let your beliefs hold you back. Change them.

Make it a great day.

Jake