What’s up y’all! With Jake being on vacation this week I was honored and blessed to be asked to be a “guest host” this week for the Daily Attitude Emails. Actually I was the only one to raise my hand….LOL! I know there are a few of you on vacation this week so I thought it would be fitting to spend these next five days writing about the importance of BALANCE in your life. On Friday I will have a little application exercise for everyone, so here we go…..

WARNING – I tend to get a little wordy!

BALANCE CREATES A COMPETITVE EDGE BOTH PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY

One key to increasing your happiness/productivity is to master the art of balance in your life.

Too many people realize success in their lives/businesses only to wake up and discover that they have paid an untenable price in their health, their relationships, and other important aspects of their lives.

With the pressures of today’s society (especially recently with THE VID19) in running a successful business, building a career (or whatever it is) in a rapidly changing, highly competitive world, people often sacrifice important elements of their life, assuring themselves that, when they have reached the top of the mountain, then they will expand their horizons.

Your business and career represent but one cylinder in your seven-cylinder truck (Maxlider plug…). To get maximum efficiency from your internal engine, you must ensure that all cylinders are firing in sync.

This balance will give you a competitive edge that will dramatically improve your productivity as well as enhance the overall quality of your life. Strive to balance your Business and Career with the other six elements of your life.

Financial Independence • Health and Fitness • Family and Personal Life • Personal Growth and Development • Social and Community Service • Spiritual Development and Inner Peace

The next four days will be focused on four of these life segments that are most easily measured, and will hopefully give you some small nuggets to help you balance your life.

STAY TUNED!

Jeff Leverton

https://youtu.be/PEAIJV6CmtA

This is an Irish tune that gets played a lot at our house.

Each time I hear it I am reminded of just how lucky I am (and believe all of us to be).

For some reason that I can’t completely fathom, God is working this wonderful plan for the world that He wants us to be a part of.

He has a special place in that plan for each and every one of us.

He wants us all to be a part of this wonderful dance. To lean into it and live it to our fullest.

St. Patrick’s Day not only celebrates Ireland and Irish culture, it also celebrates St. Patrick himself and the work he did to share God’s love.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Today Oliver turns 8. I went in search of previous daily attitude emails about him and found this one from when he turned two.

It seemed fitting still as he still works hard to entertain almost every night at dinner time.

Today is little Oliver’s second birthday. Hard to believe our third child is already two.

There are so many thoughts and lessons little Oliver is teaching me that I could share, but one sticks out as I think about it.

Enthusiasm makes the difference.

Like his sisters, Oliver is full of enthusiasm.

Whether he is saying “Ay yike it” or “Ay love peas!”, he constantly is enthusiastic about whatever he and we have going on.

His enthusiasm is contagious. Many nights at dinner you can hear the rest of us repeating him and his excitement for whatever is going on.

Today, let’s all seek out some enthusiasm for whatever it is that we are doing. Whether it be eating peas or just spending time with our loved ones, let’s do it with enthusiasm.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Another St. Patrick’s Day email from a few years ago.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Another St. Patrick’s Day DAE from a few years ago.

I’m on vacation next week and taking volunteers to send out daily attitude emails. If you are interested, send me what you want to send and I’ll get it sent out to everyone.

Found this old toe tapper from a few years ago and wanted to send it out again before St. Patrick’s Day.

http://youtu.be/DBaKWLoFYmQ

Not sure I caught all the lyrics, but it sure sounds happy.

Someone mentioned this song on the FaceBox and I found this Irish version that reminded me of our family’s adventure to Ireland last year around this time.

Figured while I am thinking about it I would share a couple of good pics from Ireland.

One of my Irish lass and our oldest and one a collage of the wee Irish lasses in their flower girl get-ups.

Make it a great Friday.

Jake

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day this week I thought I would share some of my favorite “Irish” posts from over the years….

I was in Ireland a couple weeks ago… Throughout every day, Deb and I talked about how nice, friendly and helpful everyone was.

On day 9 it hit me…. The people of Ireland treat people how people should be treated. It was so refreshing.

They’ve found a way to live like every day is Christmas. So it’s possible and helped me step up my game.

Thanks for the reminder and thanks for your dedication to help us all improve.

Happy Tuesday.

B

Brian O’Shaughnessy sent that note to me yesterday in response to the email about starting Christmas early by being a little nicer to everyone.

I’ve always thought of “hospitality” as the Irish people’s super power and his note about how they “treat people how they should be treated” stuck out to me.

What if we were supposed to be this nice all year long and not just on Christmas?

What if generosity was an every day thing?

What if kindness became a minimum expectation?

My trips to Ireland showed me (and Brian) what that might look like….and it looked pretty good.

Being nicer and more hospitable seemed to make the Irish people I interacted with more happy, more full of joy.

They didn’t seem to be getting the short end of the stick….

Reflect on your interactions over the year. Is there room for more niceness? Is it worth taking a chance on moving forward?

Merry Christmas.

Jake

PS – Thanks to Brian for being a consistent supporter of me and these emails. He’s been on the list a long time and has every reason to tune me out and move on to reading something better but consistently finds time to encourage me with a nice note here and there.

Katrina & The Waves – Walking On Sunshine (Official Video) – YouTube

This was a request from Annie. She’s been feeling springish lately.

Enjoy the sun while it lasts.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Now that I’m getting a little older, it’s harder and harder to ignore all the times that I’m wrong.

It’s been a bit of a wake up call, but hopefully I’ll finally learn something.

I recently received an email with these questions:

4 questions he recommends to test our intellectual humility:

– Do I tend to think more like a soldier or a scout? (A soldier’s job is to defend; a scout’s is to explore and discover.)

– Would I rather be right, or would I rather understand?

– Do I solicit and seek out opposing views?

– Do I enjoy the ‘pleasant surprise’ of discovering I’m wrong?

The Book of Beautiful Questions by Warren Berger

I especially liked the last one.

What a pleasant surprise how wrong I was?!?

Man, I wish I was that mature.

I bet Meaghan wishes I was that mature too. And my kids. And my business partners. And my friends. And my family.

Kind of seems like a lot of people might benefit from a little more humility on my part.

I’d better get to work.

Make it a great day.

Jake

A good laugh is sunshine in the house. – William Makepeace Thackeray

This is a great reminder for a spring day.

Let the sun shine in and the laughter abound today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

During one of his morning walks to work in New York City, David Ogilvy encountered a man begging with a sign around his neck. The sign read: "I am blind," and, as evidenced by his nearly empty cup, the man was not doing very well. Ogilvy removed the man’s sign from around his neck, pulled out a marker and changed the sign to read, "It is spring and I am blind." He hung the sign back around the beggar’s neck and went on his way. On his way home he was pleased to notice the vagrant had a full cap.

This story was mentioned in the book "To Sell is Human" by Daniel Pink.

He used it as an illustration of his point that clarity depends on contrast.

I thought this was a particularly insightful thought that can be applied in many ways.

We can gain clarity on our goals through the contrast of where we are today and where we want to be in the future.

We can gain clarity on what’s important by comparing our blessings with those who are less fortunate.

We can gain clarity when making decisions by contrasting the two options in their extremes.

Clarity is such an important part of moving forward in life. We can only move as far and as fast as we can see clearly.

Is there an area of your life that needs clarity? Is there a way that contrast could provide that clarity?

Make it a great day.

Jake ​