THE WIND and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger. Suddenly they saw a traveler coming down the road, and the Sun said: “I see a way to decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveler to take off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger You begin.” So the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the traveler. But the harder he blew the more closely did the traveler wrap his cloak round him, till at last the Wind had to give up in despair. Then the Sun came out and shone in all his glory upon the traveler, who soon found it too hot to walk with his cloak on.

“KINDNESS EFFECTS MORE THAN SEVERITY.”

This fable was in a movie I was watching recently and I thought I should share as part of a daily attitude email.

This story reminds me of the importance of a smile, a kind word and just generally being nice.

As we go about our lives and trying to accomplish our own goals we get to interact with others along the way. And how we treat them will determine how our lives turn out.

No one accomplishes anything of value without the help of others.

This story also reminds me of Maggie and Annie. I am definitely guilty of being the wind sometimes instead of being the sun.

But when I am the sun around them, boy does it make a difference.

Think about some of the relationships in your life and whether approaching things from a different angle just might do the trick.

Take a minute today to pick someone in your life and make a change from blowing like the wind to shining like the sun.

Make it a great week.

Jake

Another thought on New Year’s resolutions.

Most of us know that the majority of New Year’s resolutions aren’t still being met come February 1. So, why is that?

Maybe people aren’t setting SMART goals and are missing them because of the goals themselves not being great. That’s probably part of it.

Maybe people are just lazy and change is too hard. That definitely feels like part of it (at least for myself and my own goals).

Maybe people just flat out change their mind. That goal doesn’t seem like a good goal for them anymore.

I think the main reason is motivation. A lack of a true commitment sneaks up and bites them in the butt when they aren’t looking.

For some reason, I have always been fascinated by the World War II generation and think of them (or at least my version of them) when I think about motivation and commitment.

Whole nations of people were so motivated and committed to a common goal of defeating evil that they went to extraordinary lengths and accomplished things most would have called impossible.

What motivates you? What makes that New Year’s resolution worth keeping?

Your kids?

Your spouse?

Your vanity?

Your self worth?

Your faith?

Mavidea?

Your own potential as a human being?

Search for that meaning and motivation and you will find a New Year’s resolution half completed. Find that something inside you that makes any trouble or hardship worthwhile. Then use that to stick to your resolutions and goals.

“It cost me a prodigious deal of pains, but who grudges pains that have their deliverance in view?” – Robinson Crusoe

Jake

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

I know, another Jim Rohn quote….

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

"We will open the book. It’s pages will be blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and it’s first chapter is New Years Day" — Edith Lovejoy Pierce

This quote was posted to the Jim Rohn FaceBox page on New Year’s day and I thought it would be a good way to start the New Year off on the Daily Attitude Emails as well.

Couple of things I really liked about the quote.

First, as mentioned last week, New Year’s is great because it is a blank slate. The pages of the book for 2012 have yet to be written and waiting on us to fill them.

Second, you are the one that will fill your pages for 2012. This idea is a pretty powerful one. Only you control what gets written in your book, regardless of all the happenings in your life. Make sure you are writing something worth reading.

Third, the title of the book is opportunity. 2012 is a year of opportunity. You will be the one that chooses just how much of that opportunity you seize and just how much you let go by the wayside.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." – Henry Ford

Don’t miss your opportunities this year just because they look like work. Most everything in life that is worth anything requires work to obtain or maintain.

Lastly, I liked this metaphor because it is a reminder that as we begin to write our story for 2012 we must remember to paint ourselves a very specific picture of how we want the year to turn out.

Don’t just throw out some vague, meaningless New Year’s resolutions and hope for the best. Paint the picture of yourself and your life a year from now with exact details and then go and make it happen.

I am excited to get writing my story for 2012 and can’t wait to see what you have in store as well.

Would love to hear what you have in store, send me an email if you would like to share your plans for 2012.

Make it a great year.

Jake

As am I am looking forward to 2012, there is one thing that keeps sticking in my head.

In his talk about the seasons of life, Jim Rohn says “we only get a handful of springs, so take advantage of them.”

I know that January 1 is far from the beginning of spring, but it is the beginning of a new year. A fresh calendar and the opportunity to set bigger, better goals and move in a positive direction.

His reminder that we only have a “handful” of opportunities is a reminder that we must seize the day. We must act and take advantages of today’s opportunities today.

So, as you look forward to 2012, remember that you only have a handful of them.

Jake

Today’s email is a follow up to all the Christmas emails.

Something I noticed this Christmas when we spent time with our family.

The world doesn’t stop on Christmas, but it does slow down.

And what happens when it slows down, we see what is important.

We see that gifts don’t matter. Thinking of others does.

We see that getting from point A to point B quickly isn’t important, but that our time is limited so we need to make the most of it.

We see that our family isn’t a bunch of crazy people. They are a group of people with potential for love and happiness.

We don’t count people as present to buy, but as lives we can influence for the better.

We don’t see harried shoppers trying to get everything done in time. We see smiles and laughter that can light up a room.

They say we need to stop and smell the roses. Maybe stopping isn’t necessary, maybe all we need to do is slow down a little and appreciate what we see when we do.

Jake

Welcome back after the long holiday weekend.

I have been reading Robinson Crusoe lately and there was one line from the book that I thought I would share.

“It cost me a prodigious deal of pains, but who grudges pains that have their deliverance in view?”

He was talking about the ridiculous amount of effort he had to put in to build a canoe with essentially now tools and no prior knowledge on how to do it. Several times throughout the book he spends months and even years building or working on something like this.

But he kept doing it. Why? Because he had his deliverance in view. He was motivated.

We all need to find that thing inside us that will motivates us through any of life’s “prodigious pains” towards our “deliverance”.

Something that will motivate us to give up present purchases for future financial security and wealth.

Something that will motivate us to make a good food choice today in exchange for a healthy future self.

Something will motivate us to exercise today in order to lose weight or get fit.

I think I have sent this out before, but every time I send something out about motivation I am reminded of Anthony Robbins. He said something like “Success is a well defined process, I don’t focus on that, I work with people to find what will motivate them to follow that process.”

We can and will endure prodigious pains when we have our deliverance in view.

I encourage you to think about what motivates you. Keep this in mind as we get closer to the New Year and you get ready to make those New Year’s resolutions. Make sure they are all backed by this motivation.

Make it a great week.

Jake