Good morning.
And welcome to morning cereal
Okay, good morning
and welcome to Tuesday.
Well, Tuesday is a
smorgasbord of celebrations.
It's National Apple Pie Day, National
Crouton Day, and World Cocktail Day.
So whether you're indulging in a slice of
Americana, tossing some
crunch into your salad,
or just mixing up a midweek mojito,
there's something for you to savor.
And for those of you that feel the need
for a little bit of
speed, it's also Top Gun Day.
And by the way, that's one of
the best movies of all time.
So time to dust off those aviators and
channel your inner maverick.
And we're going to stick with that Top
Gun theme for our quote this morning.
There's so many great quotes from this
movie, but we're going
to use a couple to get us
started on the right foot today.
We'll start with a quote from Goose and
it goes, "No matter what
happens, I'm with you."
And that line from Goose, though brief,
is a powerful reminder
of loyalty, trust, and
standing by your people,
even when things get turbulent.
Okay, and we cannot forget the legendary
quote from Maverick.
"I feel the need, the need for speed."
End quote.
Now this line is iconic for its
adrenaline and its
swagger, but it also captures the
spirit of ambition and momentum.
It's a reminder to lean into life with
energy, with passion, and
with a willingness to take
bold action, even if
you're flying into the unknown.
Well, what is known is today's historical
news facts and the
birthdays for May 13th.
We're going to start back in 1846 and
that's when on this date, the US
Congress, they declared
war on Mexico, igniting
the Mexican American war.
Then on this day in 1981, Pope John Paul
II, he survived an
assassination attempt in St.
Peter's Square.
Then in 1989, thousands of students, you
guys might remember
this, they began a hunger
strike in Tiananmen Square.
It was a pivotal moment in China's
pro-democracy movement.
And then finally in 2004, the final
episode of "Frasier" on
NBC, it was watched by 33
million people.
Well, happy birthday to you
if today is your birthday.
You share a birthday with one of my
favorite country singers
right now, Morgan Wallin.
He's only 32.
Then actor Robert Pattinson, he's known
for "Twilight" and "The Batman."
He's only 39 today.
Then Stephen Colbert, one of my favorite
comedians and the host of
the late show with Stephen
Colbert.
Well, Stephen celebrates
his 61st birthday tonight.
Former bad boy and Michael Jordan
teammate, Dennis Rodman, he's 64 today.
And lastly, Stevie Wonder, legendary
musician and 25-time Grammy winner.
He turned 75 today.
Well, the number one song on this date in
1996 was "Always Be My
Baby" by Mariah Carey.
Now, this R&B pop ballad became one of
Carey's most beloved singles.
It was her 11th number one
on the Billboard Hot 100.
And the track is also known for its kind
of breezy, lullaby-like hook.
And it became an anthem of romantic
nostalgia for a generation.
My generation to be specific.
Well, here's a neat fact.
The song was actually recorded at the
legendary camp Mariah.
That's a summer retreat for inner city
youth that was founded
by Mariah's foundation.
Well, another neat fact is that our book
review this morning was
recorded at the legendary
Morning Serial Studios in DFW.
And we're continuing our journey through
"The Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People"
by Stephen R. Covey.
And today, we're focusing on one of the
most visually striking
and mentally clarifying
concepts in the book.
It's called "The Circle of Concern" and
"The Circle of Influence."
And this is found in
part two, chapter one.
And Covey asks us to picture two circles.
There's an outer one, and
that's the circle of concern.
That's everything you care about, okay?
That includes what?
Global warming, your company's financial
strategy, your cousin's
questionable life choices, the
national debt, and whether your favorite
show is getting canceled, okay?
It's big.
It entails a lot.
It can be overwhelming.
And often, it's mostly
out of our hands, okay?
Now zoom in to the inner circle.
It's inside that larger circle.
The inner circle of influence.
This inner circle represents the things
that you can actually
affect, like your attitude,
your choices, your words, your
relationships, your
productivity, and how you respond to
challenges.
Covey's central insight here is highly
effective people focus
their time and their energy on
the inner circle, the
circle of influence.
And as a result, that
circle tends to grow.
They become more trusted,
more competent, more in control.
Whereas reactive people, on the other
hand, they focus most
of their attention on the
larger, the more
uncontrollable circle of concern.
And the irony here is that doing so
shrinks their influence over time.
And as Covey puts it, "Proactive people
focus their efforts in
the circle of influence.
They work on things they
can do something about."
At this point in the book, Covey breaks
problems down into
three different categories.
The first category is direct control.
Those are things involving
your own behavior, right?
You can change this through habit.
The second category is indirect control.
These are things involving
others' behaviors, right?
We change that through
our influence on others.
And the number three is things we have no
control over, things
we just simply cannot
change.
And the way our attitudes change towards
these are through acceptance.
Now, this framework is deceptively
simple, but it's profoundly empowering.
It gives you a game plan for stress, for
frustration, even helplessness.
If you've ever felt consumed by things
outside of your control,
like the news headlines,
corporate policies, rush hour traffic,
this chapter is your antidote.
So the challenge today is this.
Notice where your energy is going.
Are you spending your day worrying about
things you can't influence?
Or are you investing it in actions that
can actually move the needle?
Your influence isn't fixed.
It expands when you choose
to act rather than react.
And it all starts with
where you aim your focus.
All right.
Well, that wraps up today's
full poll of morning cereal.
Now, remember, whether you're out
navigating your circle of
influence or you're just trying
to keep your croutons crunchy, right?
Focus on what you can
control and let the rest of it go.
All right.
Thanks for tuning in again today.
We'll be back here tomorrow with more
insights, history, and a bit of fun.
And until then, have a fantastic day.
Don't forget to follow and subscribe to
the Morning Serial
podcast on the One Life
Live It channel.
You can find more episodes and videos by
visiting our YouTube channel and the
website at seaningless
and at seaningless.com, where you can
also follow our other
podcast, the Mr. and Mrs.
Inglis podcast and the
Life Happens podcast.
In these other podcasts, we'll dive
deeper into everyday issues,
self-improvement and
well-being, business and finance, and we
welcome special guests too.
So join us.
It'll be a good time, I promise.
Thanks again for listening.
Have a fantastic day and
we'll see you tomorrow.