JD – Make sure your feet are in the right spot and then stand firm. – Abraham Lincoln

EB* – You know you are love because you can’t fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams. – Dr. Seuss

JM – Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened. – Dr. Seuss

JW – A diamond is nothing more than a chunk of coal that has stuck to its job. – Malcolm Forbes

Mr. Mathy reminded me today that Dr. Seuss’s birthday is this weekend.

In case you don’t know it already, I love Dr. Seuss. Most nights when it is time to pick the book for bed time at our house I push the girls pretty hard on picking a Dr. Seuss book.

To me, his books embody what is so great about books.

Books take important life concepts and weave them into a story that keeps you engaged long enough to hopefully learn an important life lesson.

Dr. Seuss does this through funny characters, rhymes and fanciful stories. Sci-fi authors do this through science and imagining what is possible. Biographers do this through the lives of the person they studied. Business books do this through studying business characters.

Another great example is Jim Collins. He has written a bunch of best-selling business books. But I believe his real goal is to convince others that disciplined applied over a long period of time produces greatness.

These examples prove to me why reading is so fundamentally important. We can use someone else’s understanding of the world to inform our own and to make better choices in the future. Not their choices, but ours.

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/rAfcBwYuNDU

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

All is love.

What a great thought to start today.

Find a quick moment this moment to think about all the love in your life, and in that moment, be thankful.

Make it a great day.

Jake

One of the interesting ideas presented in Jim Collin’s books is the concept he calls “the genius of the and”. The other side of this is what he calls the “tyranny of the or”.

He talks about how the companies they studied figured out how to put together two things that seemed like they were opposites or at least heading in different directions.

Instead of saying profits or customer service they figured out how to deliver profits and excellent service.

Instead of thinking low cost or high quality they figured out to how to deliver high quality products and a low cost.

This thought has been popping into my head a lot in the office lately around some of the discussions I have had with others about areas we need to improve at Mavidea. As we work through difficult problems like increasing client retention, improved margins and profitability we must remember the genius of the and.

Maybe more importantly is how you could apply it in your personal life.

Some areas I thought of as examples:

Living for today and building for the future.

Being assertive and putting yourself first and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Being driven towards goals and accomplishment and being happy with what you have.

Being patient and being action oriented.

I would love to hear some examples from all of you, so share them today if you have a chance. What is a “genius of the and” you are working on?

Make it a great day.

Jake

http://youtu.be/pVFzX2gA3UoT

The other day I heard a podcast with a guest author who wrote a book entitled "20,000 Days and Counting".

The author woke up one day and wondered to himself how many days he had been alive. He found a fancy dancy calculator online and figured out that the number was nineteen thousand something.

He decided it might be fun to make a big deal out of his 20,000th day. He started framing up everything in his life based on days instead of by years.

What if you could set your long term goals and then planned and maximized your days according to that goal?

Want to find out your number, here is the easiest site I found to figure it out:

http://www.beatcanvas.com/daysalive.asp

Today is a new day, what are you going to do with?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.

Let me learn from you, love you, bless you, before you depart.

Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.

Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.

One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in my pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.

-Mary Jean Iron

What a great reminder of the treasure that is today and the regret that can fill tomorrow.

Jim Rohn says that we can choose the pain of discipline today or the pain of regret tomorrow.

There is something magical about a day.

The sun rises and sets on all of us each and every day. And while they are they all seem the same, they are each and every one unique.

They seem to be as numerous as the sands but when we waste one we immediately feel as if we have lost something important.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Yesterday in church, our pastor made a great point during the children’s portion of the service.

She brings them all down to the front every Sunday and gives them a quick “sermon” related to the sermon topic for the day.

Yesterday’s sermon was on the importance of your presence in life. You have to actually show up in order to get what you want out of life.

And while that is a great topic, something else struck me. She asked all of the kids to turn around and look at the crowd behind them. She told all the kids that everyone behind them was glad they are here today.

It reminded me of the email below and John Foley who started every day, every meeting with “Glad to be here”, but with a little bit of a twist, “Glad you’re here.”

This served as a great reminder to the kids that other people are glad they were there. What a great feeling, that someone else is thankful that you are there. And I can assure everyone that gets this email, the same is true for you. At the very least, I am glad you are here.

“Glad you’re here” also served as reminder to me of just how thankful I am for the people in my life. It was easy and obvious when those two red-headed little girls turned and looked at me with a smile, but it is also true every day in the many interactions I have with the others in my life.

And if you are getting this email, that goes for you.

I’m glad you’re here. In whatever form that takes in our lives right now.

Glad to be here and glad you’re here.

Jake

JM – Sometimes Erik makes me sad.

JW* – Sometimes Erik makes me happy.

EB – If u do what u have always dun u will probably git what u have always gotten.

JD – The brilliance that surrounds me is exceptional.

Can’t really add much to that other than to say that the management takes having fun serving others to our own level every Friday morning.

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/0ud-pdJh8S8

Found this one on a list of positive and happy songs.

Great upbeat way to start the day.

Think about all the great things in your life that remind you that “Now you’re really livin’”.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Last night at the Financial Peace Class Dave Ramsey shared a story that Zig Ziglar tells. He explained how a Giant Belgian plow horse can pull 8,000 lbs on its own but when paired up with another one without prior interaction or training, they can pull 24,000 lbs. If they are trained to work together, they can pull 32,000 lbs; four times the amount of a single horse.

He explained this in the context of how much a couple can accomplish together with their finances if they work together.

One of the most amazing things about us humans is how much we can do together. We were built for community. We were built to work together.

When you look at all the grand things mankind has achieved over the years, it is almost always because of a huge group effort.

In your life your ability to achieve greatness will most likely be tied to your ability to find others to work together with to accomplish your dreams.

In these relationships we can find the joys of life and the opportunity for service that will greatly enrich our lives.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. – Melody Beattie

Most of you have received many daily attitude emails about the benefits of thankfulness, but this quote illustrated the point so well I wanted to send it out again.

Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more.

Gratitude turns a meal into a feast.

Gratitude turns a house into a home.

Gratitude turns a stranger into a friend.

As I read this quote the first time I imagined all of these scenes in my head.

A family sitting drearily over the “same old, same old” dinner compared to a bustling table filled with smiles and laughter.

A house filled with clutter, dirt and messy kids with a housewife with a grimy face and messy hair compared to a home with two parents lovingly looking at their children as they play.

An old lady needing help across the street gets passed by compared with a young man who slows down long enough to ask “Do you need a hand?”

Each of these comparisons involved a very subtle shift. Someone choosing to be grateful. Someone looking at others as an opportunity to share that gratefulness.

This reminder came at a great time for me (funny how that happens), I hope it does for you as well.

Make it a great day.

Jake