“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” – Winston Churchill

Distractions. They are a fact of life.

How many times in a day do you catch yourself thinking "what was I doing?"

Like most things in life, learning how to focus your efforts is a discipline, learned over time.

Decide to work on that discipline today.

Pick a period of time and focus on the most important to do on your list.

It might be 5 minutes or it might be 5 hours, but pick a time and stick with it.

And then do it again tomorrow. And the next day. And I think you get the idea after that.

Make it a great day.

Jake ​

If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.

This is the last one in the series of lessons learned by William McRaven as he gave them in a recent commencement speech.

It is fitting that he gave this one last.

Never give up.

Is there something in your past that you have given up on that you need to get started on again?

Are you closing to giving up on something right now?

Don’t ring the bell.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Here is the text from this section of his speech:

Finally, in SEAL training there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see.

All you have to do to quit is ring the bell. Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o’clock. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the freezing cold swims.

Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT — and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training.

Just ring the bell.

If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
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JD – The heart of marriage is memories; and if the two of you happen to have the same ones and can savor your reruns, then your marriage is a gift from the gods. – Bill Cosby
JW – Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain. -Vivian Greene
EB – You’ll never get a Purple Heart hiding in a fox hole….follow me. – Captain Henry P Crowe
MS* – If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
BAD – Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. – Henry Ford

The Vivian Greene quote is one of my favorites.

It represents a high point of human maturity – finding happiness and purpose even in less than ideal conditions.

It’s a challenge all of us face daily.

Life has plenty of storms for us to wait out until things get better.

But it also has plenty of rain for us to dance in.

We choose.

Make it a great day, whether it is raining or the sun is shining.

Jake

http://youtu.be/inPnVL41N_c

Sending this one out today because it reminds me of Meaghan and our wedding.

Tomorrow is our 12th anniversary.

The song reminds me of two important things that I have learned in 12 years of marriage.

Now that we found love….

I emphasized found because finding the love of your life isn’t guaranteed. Truly, the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me was when a beautiful young woman walked into my dorm room in Watterson Towers freshman year at ISU.

We are the lucky ones and I hope to never forget that or take it for granted.

What are we going to do with it….

When you are blessed with something so big, the right thing to do is to do something with it.

And when I think about the best thing we have done with it, I think of the word share.

We have shared that love with each other all these years.

We have shared that love with our friends and family.

We have shared that love with Maggie, Annie and Oliver.

I thank God every day for my bride, Meaghan. I can’t imagine my life without her.

Make it a great day.

Jake ​

So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.

This story is my favorite of the short ones shared by William McRaven about his time in Navy SEAL basic training.

It is a story about the power of hope.

Never underestimate the power of a little hope.

Never miss a chance to be the one to give a little hope.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Here is the text of this part of the speech:

The ninth week of training is referred to as "Hell Week." It is six days of no sleep, constant physical and mental harassment and one special day at the Mud Flats — the Mud Flats are the area between San Diego and Tijuana where the water runs off and creates the Tijuana slues — a swampy patch of terrain where the mud will engulf you.

It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that you paddle down to the mud flats and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing cold mud, the howling wind and the incessant pressure to quit from the instructors.

As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having committed some "egregious infraction of the rules" was ordered into the mud.

The mud consumed each man till there was nothing visible but our heads. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit — just five men — and we could get out of the oppressive cold.

Looking around the mud flat it was apparent that some students were about to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun came up — eight more hours of bone chilling cold.

The chattering teeth and shivering moans of the trainees were so loud it was hard to hear anything and then, one voice began to echo through the night — one voice raised in song.

The song was terribly out of tune, but sung with great enthusiasm.

One voice became two and two became three and before long everyone in the class was singing.

We knew that if one man could rise above the misery then others could as well.

The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singing, but the singing persisted.

And somehow, the mud seemed a little warmer, the wind a little tamer and the dawn not so far away.

If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope. The power of one person — Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala — one person can change the world by giving people hope.

So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud. ​

If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.

More words of wisdom from William McRaven’s commencement speech.

He tells the story (below) of how during a particular training exercise there is a moment that requires their very best in order to succeed.

Jim Collins said it by saying that not all time is created equal.

There are moments in our lives that require more from us.

More patience.

More skill.

More endurance.

More love.

More grit.

And these moments can define us. They can be the difference between victory and defeat.

We get to choose whether we give it our all or give in.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Here is this section of the speech:

As Navy SEALs one of our jobs is to conduct underwater attacks against enemy shipping. We practiced this technique extensively during basic training.

The ship attack mission is where a pair of SEAL divers is dropped off outside an enemy harbor and then swims well over two miles underwater using nothing but a depth gauge and a compass to get to their target.

During the entire swim, even well below the surface there is some light that comes through. It is comforting to know that there is open water above you.

But as you approach the ship, which is tied to a pier, the light begins to fade. The steel structure of the ship blocks the moonlight — it blocks the surrounding street lamps — it blocks all ambient light.

To be successful in your mission, you have to swim under the ship and find the keel, the centerline and the deepest part of the ship.

This is your objective. But the keel is also the darkest part of the ship, where you cannot see your hand in front of your face, where the noise from the ship’s machinery is deafening and where it is easy to get disoriented and fail.

Every SEAL knows that under the keel, at the darkest moment of the mission, is the time when you must be calm, composed — when all your tactical skills, your physical power and all your inner strength must be brought to bear.

If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment. ​

So, If you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.

Another lesson learned by William McRaven in his Navy SEAL training.

Sharks and bullies are a fact of life. At some point, we all will be faced with the decision of whether or not to stand up to them.

And each of us will have a moment when we need to summon up all the courage we can muster and decide not to back down.

Not just for our own sake, but because it is the right thing to do.

It doesn’t have to be the traditional bully from the playground.

It could be a disease and you could be supporting a local chapter of an organization to fund research and search for a cure.

It could be a political issue you feel strongly about and you could be making your voice heard.

It could be supporting our troops as they stand up to the bullies all over the world for us.

It could be any kind of wrong that requires that the forces of good stand up.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Here is the text from the speech:

During the land warfare phase of training, the students are flown out to San Clemente Island which lies off the coast of San Diego.

The waters off San Clemente are a breeding ground for the great white sharks. To pass SEAL training there are a series of long swims that must be completed. One is the night swim.

Before the swim the instructors joyfully brief the trainees on all the species of sharks that inhabit the waters off San Clemente.

They assure you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a shark — at least not recently.

But, you are also taught that if a shark begins to circle your position, stand your ground. Do not swim away. Do not act afraid.

And if the shark, hungry for a midnight snack, darts towards you, then summon up all your strength and punch him in the snout and he will turn and swim away.

There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim you will have to deal with them.

So, If you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks. ​

If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.

Risk. In order to experience the best of life, we all must take some risks.

The price we pay for anything of value in our lives is a combination of the time and risk involved.

Weigh carefully the price of those things you are pursuing in your life to make sure they are worth it.

And then go for it. If it’s worth it, it’s worth it. Don’t let anything hold you back.

Is there an obstacle you need to slide down head first in your life?

Decide today to take the plunge.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Here is the text of this section of his speech:

At least twice a week, the trainees were required to run the obstacle course. The obstacle course contained 25 obstacles including a 10-foot high wall, a 30-foot cargo net, and a barbed wire crawl to name a few.

But the most challenging obstacle was the slide for life. It had a three level 30 foot tower at one end and a one level tower at the other. In between was a 200-foot long rope.

You had to climb the three tiered tower and once at the top, you grabbed the rope, swung underneath the rope and pulled yourself hand over hand until you got to the other end.

The record for the obstacle course had stood for years when my class began training in 1977.

The record seemed unbeatable, until one day, a student decided to go down the slide for life head first.

Instead of swinging his body underneath the rope and inching his way down, he bravely mounted the TOP of the rope and thrust himself forward.

It was a dangerous move — seemingly foolish, and fraught with risk. Failure could mean injury and being dropped from the training.

Without hesitation the student slid down the rope perilously fast, instead of several minutes, it only took him half that time and by the end of the course he had broken the record.

If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.
​

JW – No matter how slow you go, you’re still lapping everybody on the couch.

JW – We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us. – Winston Churchill

BAD – Nothing will work, unless you do. – Maya Angelou

MS – Integrate your vocation and your identity by thinking of your life as a journey rather than a destination. – Rabbi Daniel Lapin

EB – With thumb in the air Rowen says, "Wook, mommy, at my bugah, it has a wadybug in it!"

MS – For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. – CS Lewis

BAD – We run things, things don’t run we. – Miley Cyrus

EB – Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul. – Douglas MacArthur

JD – Getting knocked down in life is a given. Getting up and moving forward is a choice. – Zig Ziglar

JD – The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less. – Eldridge Cleaver

Doubled up on the quotes this week.

It is amazing the impact a little insight can have in your life.

It’s like dialing the numbers into a lock, maybe you just need that last number.

And maybe a short quote could do it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

http://youtu.be/7m-1ba0N2N0

Here today and gone tomorrow.

Life is short, even at the longest.

Let’s take advantage of it.

Does this remind you of something that you need to get started on?

Get going. Today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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