EB – Let’s go. – Erik Barnlund

JD – All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt. – Charles M. Schulz

JW – I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. Romans 16:17

MS – It is not that a child is to be denied what he wants, merely for the sake of the denial itself; but it is that a child ought not to have what he wants merely because he wants it. -H Clay Trumbull

Mike has been reading and learning about parenting from H Clay Trumbull and has shared a few interesting insights.

I think this one applies to all of us. We ought not have what we want merely because we want it.

Have you ever wanted something but not done anything about it? Just kind of sat back hoping it would happen. Maybe even complaining a little about not having it yet.

I know I have.

There are all kinds of books about how to get what we want. How to get what we want really isn’t that much of a secret.

It’s whether or not we will do what it takes to obtain our desires.

Think of something from your “want” list. Take some small action toward it today.

Put the first dollar aside.

Buy the groceries that will start the process.

Take that first walk around the block.

Pray that first prayer asking for help and guidance.

Get started.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Today’s the big day. We are having our open house/ribbon cutting/Chamber event this evening.

The office will be a bee hive of activity all day. From those keeping the clients happy to those of us trying to get everything ready for the event.

While this event will be exciting and inspiring and worthy of a positive attitude, I think I learned another good self-improvement lesson.

Setting a deadline or timeline to reach your goals is really helpful.

Even more helpful is making that timeline or deadline one that is very public and involves a whole team of people with that same deadline.

We did a great job moving in and slowly but surely made progress in finishing up the place over the last few months, but I think we have done more in the last 2 weeks.

Think about a big goal of yours.

How could you get some other people on your team?

How could you set an event with those people as your deadline?

Make it a great day.

Jake

It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you are not. – Unknown

Often we are our own worst enemies. We build thought patterns and beliefs about ourselves that simply aren’t true.

I’m too old…

I’m too fat….

I’ll never be able to….

I don’t have enough discipline to…

I don’t have the willpower to…

We think we are someone we aren’t. We think we aren’t capable, when we are.

Pick one of these recurring thought patterns in your life and start to change it, today.

Just start by correcting yourself any time it pops up. Replace the negative with a positive. See the results you desire.

Try this for a week and see if it helps.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Today is a big day at Mavidea. We are adding three new Mavideans into the fold.

Taylor, Stephanie and Shelby all begin their Mavidea journey today.

As the years go by and I get a little grayer (and hopefully a little wiser) I am trying to not miss days like today. It is too easy to hustle through a busy day and forget to recognize the moment it represented.

Years from now we will be telling stories, joking around or just reminiscing about something one of these three did (or is doing), and if I don’t pay attention tomorrow I will miss how it all got started.

Maybe I am just getting sentimental in my old age, but I want to make sure I remember at least a little bit of it.

Hopefully this will serve as a reminder to all of us to live in the moment a little more. To take mental snapshots along the way (along with a few real pics) and not miss a thing.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/-NMph943tsw

This year I have seen quite a few FaceBox posts showing how that day’s date was the same date from the movie that they had traveled into the future.

The posts usually complain that we aren’t driving flying cars or the Cubs still haven’t won or some other detail about how the “future” hasn’t turned out as predicted.

Predicting the future is a risky business, but they did get some things right.

Themes like good vs evil are still there.

Bullies still try to take from those weaker than them.

Love still drives us to do things we didn’t think we could do.

Taking a chance can still lead to amazing results.

What do you think your future will be like?

Make it a great day.

Jake

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

Yesterday’s quote prompted Mr. O’Shaughnessy to send me a note saying that it reminded him of the excerpt above.

So, today is another reminder.

Get going. Get in the arena.

Get some blood, sweat and dust on your face.

Strive valiantly.

Show great enthusiasm.

Spend yourself in pursuit of a worthy cause.

Make it a great day.

Jake

It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win. – John Paul Jones

A simple reminder this morning. You can’t win without taking a chance.

Is there something you need to take a chance on?

Make it a great day.

Jake

EB – Awww…..I just ate paper. – Mike Somers

JD – The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation. – Isaac D’Israeli

JW – When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are safe. – Luke 11:21

MS – And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. – Psalms 1:3

EB Bonus Quote – It’s tricky to rock a rhyme, to rock a rhyme that’s right on time, it’s tricky. – Run DMC

That song always reminds me of this movie scene: https://youtu.be/Oxk4g2y28Os. Warning – mild inappropriateness in there somewhere, I am sure.

Today, I specifically chose a quote about quotes (mind blown).

We have added and changed the list of people that get this email over the years and I realized that many of you don’t know where “The Phrase That Pays” came from.

As a leadership team we long ago adopted the habit of sharing an inspirational quote with the rest of the team. I started typing them up and writing a little something and sending it out after the meeting.

In typical Mavidea fashion, some are goofy, some are serious and some are incoherent.

But almost every week at least one of them brings some new perspective for me.

This is why reading and studying the thoughts of others can be so helpful. It opens up and changes our perspective.

I encourage you to read and search out quotes that are meaningful for you.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Me: “Annie, your sister is turning 9 soon, what are we going to do with her?”

Annie: “Teach her how to be a 10 year old.”

Sometimes, the next thing is the next thing. We don’t always need to be thinking ten years ahead or of the next 10 steps.

We tend to overcomplicate things, trying to think too far into the future.

Most of the time, focusing on just taking the next step is all we need to be thinking about.

Is there something in your life that has been sitting there too long because you haven’t taken the first step?

Instead of trying to figure out how to get 1 hour every day for exercising, just find 1 hour tomorrow.

Instead of trying to figure out how to stick with your diet for the rest of your life, just figure out how to make it through tomorrow.

Instead of trying to figure out how to get a million dollars, invest the first dollar.

Whatever your goal or your habit that needs changed, just take the next step.

And when it works, take the next one.

And when it fails, take the next one.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. – A. A. Milne

Winnie the Pooh and the other characters of A. A. Milne always make me smile.

Quotes like this one show that even the simple minds from the stories can understand something that we all struggle with.

We all struggle to remember that we are braver than we believe, that we are stronger than we seem and smarter than we think.

We need to be reminded of these things, even if that reminder comes through a children’s story.

Make it a great day.

Jake