Last night was Ron’s retirement reception.

Another first for Mavidea – having someone who has been involved for so long and in such a meaningful way moving on towards “retirement”.

Every time we have an event like this I try to step for a few minutes and take it all in.

Events like this put things into perspective for me.

Yeah, we aren’t perfect.

Yeah, we’ve got a lot of work to do.

Yeah, the goals seem a little out of reach sometimes.

Even so – we do really have something special going on.

The relationships and work that we do does have meaning.

We do make a difference.

I saw it all in the smiling faces.

I heard it in the laughter.

It’s there and it’s real.

And it’s something to be proud of. Something for all of us to be proud of.

Make it a great day.

Jake

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Will Durant

I heard an author yesterday talking about habits. She used the example of brushing our teeth.

In comparison to your other goals, how does brushing your teeth compare?

Do you make compromises with yourself? I’ll brush my teeth today, but not tomorrow (gotta give my teeth a chance to breath – that was for the Gaffigan fans).

Do you come up with reasons to put it off? I’ll brush my teeth tomorrow, but today I’m going to take it easy.

Do you rationalize away the need to brush your teeth? Carpe diem! Life’s too short for petty little stuff, who has time to brush their teeth!

All of our excuses and rationalizing seem pretty lame when compared to brushing our teeth.

Changing our perspective sometimes help us realize that we’ve been fooling ourselves.

From the perspective of teeth brushing –

How do you feel about your reasons for not eating well?

How do you feel about your reasons for not exercising?

How do you feel about your reasons for not saving money?

It’s the same thing. The excuses are just as lame and weak.

If this struck a cord – do something about it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others. Barbara Bush

Still looking for a goal for 2019?

Maybe something around generosity or giving would be good?

Where are your unique talents and gifts most needed?

Maybe you could start tithing this year?

Maybe you could be more generous to your wife?

Maybe you could be more generous to your husband?

Where and how could you open yourself up to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others?

Opportunities for giving are everywhere, start at home and then expand outward.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny. CS Lewis

Many of the stories of successful people also include a period of hardship.

Many have escaped abusive situations and used these difficulties to drive them forward.

I once heard Condoleeza Rice say "It is a privilege to struggle."

Struggle and difficulty are common to all of us. We may not have the same degree or difficulty, but we all have experienced difficulty.

Through our struggles and strife we able to relate with our fellow men and women who experience the same.

Just as struggle and difficulty are common, so is the antidote.

Inside of each of us is the capability to dream and then create a new future for ourselves. One that is away from our current struggles and hardships. One that is away from the current pain.

Encourage and grab on to those dreams of yours. Start working to make them a reality. Begin to let go of the struggles and hardship.

And make it a great day.

Jak

https://youtu.be/sADDzPu9ooU

A great thought to start the year off – we are all part of a team.

With and through others, our impact can be so much more.

Think about your plan for the year. If it doesn’t include “us” somewhere in there, adjust it. Make room for “us” – whatever that means to you and your life.

Because without “us” there really isn’t much point.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Pray with your feet.

I read this in a book once and thought it was appropriate for just after the New Year.

It is important that we all learn to work through our worries, concerns, dreams and goals in some form of prayer.

But it is also important that we take action.

We can’t just pray, we need to be moving forward as well.

Take action today. Move forward on one of your prayers.

Make it a great day.

Jake

You can’t change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction. – Jim Rohn

This one has been on my mind as New Year’s came and passed. We all didn’t wake up in a different place on January 1st. There wasn’t some magical moment right after we made our resolutions when we changed into this whole different person who does or doesn’t do those new things you came up with for resolutions.

Sorry, but you woke up at the same destination you went to sleep (at least hopefully), but you (hopefully again) did change your direction.

Hopefully, New Years represented a new direction for you. A decision to change and head towards something better. A time when you decided to move away from something and towards something else.

To move from candy to fruit.

To move from no exercise to exercise.

To move from not saving money to saving money.

To move from no studying to disciplined learning.

Whatever the direction change you chose, seize this time of renewal and enthusiasm and build it into a habit. Look at the long term results you are going to get and then get excited about it.

Focus on it. Make it a priority.

And then make it happen.

Jake

http://youtu.be/9jK-NcRmVcw

The Final Countdown.

The end of December marks the end of the month, the end of the quarter and the end of the year all wrapped into one.

Have you spent time reviewing your 2018 goal list?

Anything on there that needs a little last minute push?

Don’t give up just yet. Go find that one last thing to check off your 2018 to do list.

Make it a great day.

Jake

David Goggins’ recent Exchangagram/FaceBox post was a great reminder of the opportunity of this time between now and the New Year.

In the post he talked about how easy it is for us to make promises to ourselves during this time.

We start planning out all those new promises we’re going to uphold after the New Year.

We use that as an excuse to eat too much, stay up too late, spend too much, etc.

Instead, he challenges us to get serious and get started – right now.

Don’t wait for tomorrow to start exercising – start today.

Don’t wait for tomorrow to quit the spending habit – quit today.

Don’t wait for tomorrow to start the new diet – start today.

Whatever is for sure on your New Year’s list – start today.

What if you started today?

Make it a great day.

Jake

If you are unwilling to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. – Jim Rohn

Ordinary. Normal. Everybody else is doing it.

We have all wished for or strived for these things at one point or another. Whether it be to fit in or to feel loved or to relieve some of our own insecurities and anxieties; we purposefully looked for and strived for normal and ordinary.

One of the great tragedies of life is coming to the end of it having not lived all of it. Having not been the most truest version of you possible.

The scary part is that the best version of you is NOT normal. Not even close.

In fact, I would venture to say that the potential of our inherent abilities is so overwhelmingly different that we get a little scared. A little scared to live out the life uniquely set before us.

We must be willing to risk unusual or settle for ordinary.

We choose. Life doesn’t choose for us.

What’s your choice?

Make it a great and unusual day.

Jake