I recently listened to the biography of Steve Jobs. Since we are in the same industry, I thought I would share some of the lessons learned.

The lesson that has stuck with me the most actually has little to do with technology or even Steve Jobs in particular. Never take your health for granted and no one is guaranteed another day.

Steve had more money than anyone could ever need. He had power and prestige and was adored by many.

In the end, none of that mattered. Cancer took his life the same way it would with a homeless man.

We all must cherish our health, each and every day. We only have one body.

Take some kind of action today to improve your health.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Below is a good story about how the little things we do matter.

Your actions are being noticed every day. Let’s all use this as a reminder to make them count.

Make it a great day.

Jake

IT’S WHAT YOU SCATTER

I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes… I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily apprising a basket of freshly picked green peas.

I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes.

Pondering the peas, I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.

‘Hello Barry, how are you today?’

‘H’lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus’ admirin’ them peas. They sure look good.’

‘They are good, Barry. How’s your Ma?’

‘Fine. Gittin’ stronger alla’ time.’

‘Good. Anything I can help you with?’

‘No, Sir. Jus’ admirin’ them peas. ”Would you like to take some home?’ asked Mr. Miller.

‘No, Sir. Got nuthin’ to pay for ’em with.’

‘Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?’

‘All I got’s my prize marble here.’

‘Is that right? Let me see it’, said Miller.

‘Here ’tis. She’s a dandy.’

‘I can see that. Hmm mmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?’ the store owner asked.

‘Not zackley but almost.’

‘Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble’. Mr. Miller told the boy.

‘Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller.’

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me.

With a smile she said, ‘There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever.

When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn’t like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store.’

I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Colorado , but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering for marbles.

Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one. Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died.

They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.

Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts…all very professional looking. They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband’s casket.

Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket. Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one; each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband’s bartering for marbles. With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.

‘Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim ‘traded’ them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size…..they came to pay their debt.’

‘We’ve never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,’ she confided, ‘but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho ..’

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband… Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

The Moral:

We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds. Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.

Make it count.

I was recently talking to someone and he said that was one of his favorite sayings.

What can you do today to make it count?

The sands of time are falling through the hour glass for each of us each and every day. We only get one chance to make it count.

Make it count today.

Jake

Not sure that it is official yet, but it sure feels like spring has sprung.

Yesterday, I thought of this Jim Rohn recording that I have sent out before.

http://youtu.be/xtglLqBiwGI

Spend the 2 minutes to listen to this and get fired up about taking advantage of this spring.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Stop and thank.

One of the members of the CBO 12 group that Erik and I attend mentioned this as an important thing to do in business.

I have thought about this frequently since then.

I have thought about how hard it is sometimes to just stop. And I don’t mean stop in the same sense that most of us do at a stop sign (the rolling stop), I am talking about a full blown stop. I have been working on finding a quiet time to just stop and it has been much more difficult that I thought it would be.

Zig Ziglar recommends 15 minutes every day in complete silence by yourself. I certainly haven’t found that yet, but can imagine the positive effects it would have.

And thank. We all have so much to be thankful for. Jim Rohn says that being thankful opens up life’s doors and windows allowing all the good stuff to flow in. I personally believe that the “good stuff” in life (however you define that for yourself) goes where it is appreciated.

Take a moment today to stop and thank.

Jake

Below is a short little story to start your week off.

This story reminded me that there are people out there that have it much harder than I do. I have yet to work at a job plucking chickens, and that was the least of the difficulties.

This story also reminded me of turning lemons into lemonade. We all have personality quirks, idiosyncrasies, and personal issues; and we all have the opportunity to turn these into something special. Something that only we can do.

Make it a great day.

Jake

A true short bio – A DREAMER AND HIS DREAM

Let me tell you, Jesse hated this job. And you would too I imagine, if you had to do it. Jesse was a chicken plucker. That’s right. He stood on a line in a chicken factory and spent his days pulling the feathers off dead chickens so the rest of us wouldn’t have to.

It wasn’t much of a job. But at the time, Jesse didn’t think he was much of a person. His father was a brute of a man. His dad was actually thought to be mentally ill and treated Jesse rough all of his life.

Jesse’s older brother wasn’t much better. He was always picking on Jesse and beating him up. Yes, Jesse grew up in a very rough home in West Virginia. Life was anything but easy.

And he thought life didn’t hold much hope for him. That’s why he was standing in this chicken line doing a job that very few people wanted.

In addition to all the rough treatment at home, it seems that Jesse was always sick. Sometimes it was real physical illness, but way too often it was all in his head. He was a small child, skinny and meek. That sure didn’t help the situation any.

When he started to school, he was the object of every bully on the playground.

He was a hypochondriac of the first order. For Jesse, tomorrow was not always something to be looked forward to. But, he had dreams. He wanted to be a ventriloquist. He found books on ventriloquism. He practiced with sock puppets and saved his hard earned dollars until he could get a real ventriloquist dummy.

When he got old enough, he joined the military. And even though many of his hypochondriac symptoms persisted, the military did recognize his talents and put him in the entertainment corp. That was when his world changed.

He gained confidence. He found that he had a talent for making people laugh, And laugh so hard they often had tears in their eyes.

Yes, little Jesse had found himself. You know, folks, the history books are full of people who overcame a handicap to go on and make a success of themselves, but Jesse is one of the few I know who didn’t overcome it. Instead he used his paranoia to make a million dollars, and become one of the best-loved characters of all time in doing it!

Yes, that little paranoid hypochondriac, who transferred his nervousness into a successful career, still holds the record for the most Emmy’s given in a single category.

The wonderful, gifted, talented, and nervous comedian who brought us Barney Fife was Jesse Don Knotts.

NOW YOU KNOW, "THE REST OF THE STORY"

There is a street named for him and his statue in Morgantown, West Virginia, his place of birth.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7

I think I have sent this verse out before, but yesterday I learned something new about it.

Meaghan was telling me last night that she learned that the word in Greek that was translated to seek in this verse could also be translated to crave.

Definitely brings a different perspective on seeking out our goals.

Do you have a craving for your goals?

Does your craving to lose weight outweigh your craving for chocolate?

Does your craving to save money outweigh your craving for some new clothes?

Does your craving to get smarter and better outweigh your craving to watch TV?

If we can find a way to crave our goals and what we want to become more than we crave some of the short term satisfactions of life, we can accomplish our goals and build a future filled with success and happiness.

One last point. This is an area that is a great candidate to "fake it until you make it". Find some way to trick yourself into craving your goal more than the alternative long enough to actually build up that craving.

Make it a great day.

Jake