Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.

William James

I saw this quote the other day and thought of Mavidea.

One of my favorite things about Mavidea is how funny everyone is and how much we all laugh together.

Next time you see someone exhibit a good sense of humor, just think of this quote and “common sense, dancing.”

Make it a great day.

Jake

Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed.

Bob Riley

In the wake of the devastation from Hurricane Sandy there are and will be many tragic stories told. Stories of those who didn’t make it. Stories of neighborhoods that will never be the same. Stories of lives forever changed.

But there will also be stories of heroes. Stories of those who faced extreme circumstances and met them with extreme courage, extreme compassion and an extreme love of their fellow human beings.

Difficult times reveal the heroes among us.

The neighborhood church that housed the homeless.

The local family that fed the hungry.

The families that pulled together and made it through tough times.

Heroism is one of those uniquely human traits. Revealing the good that lurks within all of us. Showing us, even if only for an instant, the greatness that we have inside of us.

My sincere hope is that all effected by this storm can find peace and safety amongst the devastation. I also hope that we can all take this tragic event and look for the heroes amongst us, and maybe even find the hero inside of all of us.

Make it a great day.

Jake

If everything is a priority, nothing is.

I have been in several situations lately where I have heard others struggling with this.

It reminded me of the story a friend of mine told me once about the company he was working for. The company had devised a system of prioritizing all of the projects the company was working on so that people could tell what was most important at any given point. Problem was that people lobbied to get their projects on the important list and pretty soon everything was important.

We are all running a company of one, all day, every day.

How we choose to prioritize our lives is a key determinant in how our lives turn out.

Take a good look at how you have spent your last 24 hours or your last 7 days.

Did everything seem like a priority?

Did you let that goofy email distract you from responding to that client faster?

Did you let something else take up that time that was supposed to be spent exercising?

I know this is a difficult area for most of us. We are afraid of making the wrong decisions and picking the wrong priorities so we treat everything like a priority.

Some things in life are more important than others. We all get to pick which ones. But we all have to live with the consequences that those choices produce.

Make it a great day.

Jake

There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction. – John F. Kennedy

This is a great quote about something I have written about before.

One of the constant hard choices we face in life is whether or not to take the risk.

Some risks represent foolishness and impetuousness, while other risks represent wise moves in a life-changing direction.

The two words from the end of the quote that I think we need to watch out for the most are “comfortable inaction”. We must guard against taking the easy way out and taking no action simply because it is most comfortable.

Make it a great (but slightly uncomfortable) day.

Jake

EB – “Trust each other again and again. When the trust level gets high enough, people transcend apparent limits, discovering new and awesome abilities for which they were previously unaware.”

David Armistead – Professor

JM* – It’s true there is no I in team, but there is a u in suck.

JD – New cubes today!

KJ – Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success. Henry Ford

JW – You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club. Jack London

JS – Oh yeah! Today is going to be an awesome day!

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/GUAV_1jBJB4

Thought I would share something a little Halloweenish today.

Yet another example of just how creative and unique people can be.

Make it a great Friday.

Jake

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

-Joyce Kilmer

My wife, Meaghan, posted this the other day on FaceBox. One of my favorite things about her is her appreciation for the beauty of nature.

As the leaves change and another season goes by, don’t miss your opportunity to take in the beauty and appreciate all of the wonderful colors, sights and sounds of the season.

Make it a great day.

Jake

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit. Aristotle

I have been listening to a great audiobook about habits and wanted to share one of the key points from the book.

A key concept in the book is what the author calls keystone habits. Keystone habits are those habits that lead to other good habits.

As an example, the author talks about how exercise can be a keystone habit. People who exercise tend to eat less, smoke less, drink less and exhibit more self control.

As we look to become more excellent, we can look for keystone habits that will lead to other good habits.

Spend some time today thinking about what that might look for you in your life.

Is it exercise?

Is it creating a budget each month?

Is it keeping a food journal?

Is it reading instead of watching TV?

Make it a point to search for the keystone habits in your life. Begin implementing them and see if you can start the process of building a better habit loop in your life.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.

Helen Keller

For those of you that don’t know, Meaghan and I are blessed with two of the most joyful children in the world (I might be a little partial on this one).

On Sunday, Maggie and I sat down for a minute to watch a little football. We stopped on the Green Bay and St. Louis game. Maggie immediately decided to cheer for the Packers because they were already winning (she’s smart like her mom, but apparently not as much of a Bears fan as her mom).

A minute later I heard a "whoohoo!" from the other room. Maggie came into the kitchen and said "I cheered just that once for the St. Louis team. I didn’t want them to feel bad that we weren’t cheering them on."

All of this was said while jumping, skipping and smiling her way to the kitchen and back.

In that moment I got a little glimpse of true joy. Forget about who is winning or losing, let’s just cheer because it is fun to cheer.

So, why did I share this little story and the quote above in a daily attitude email?

Just to brag on our little Maggie and Annie? No, but that was a pleasant side effect.

The point was to remind us. Remind all of us of that joy of childhood. To remind us of how good for our souls a little joy is. Remind us that with joy we can "form an invincible host against difficulties".

Make it a great day.

Jake

Bonus thought for us "God people" that get this email. All of this reminded me of one of my favorite little pick me up thoughts:

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

“No one else “makes us angry.” We make ourselves angry when we surrender control of our attitude.” — Jim Rohn

We alone control our attitude and whether or not we stay positive.

We control whether that driver in front of us makes us angry.

We control whether or not we take that sarcastic comment and make it into more than it was.

We control whether or not our kids and their enthusiasm frustrate us or fascinate us.

Our attitude is the only thing we control, might as well make it a good one.

Make it a great day.

Jake