Good morning.
And welcome to morning cereal
Okay, good morning
and welcome to Tuesday.
Well, I hope you're back to some normal
spring weather today
after some crazy weather
systems over the last few days.
I got to say, it's really nice to hear
those birds out there chirping again
that really starts to
feel like it's spring.
I don't know, it also
lightens the soul a little bit too.
And it's also in line with the fact that
today is national draw a bird day.
So there you have it.
It's all lining up just perfectly.
Well, it's also
International Feng Shui Awareness Day.
And Feng Shui is a
traditional ancient Chinese practice
that uses energy to harmonize
people with their environment.
Many people in Asia and the West believe
Feng Shui improves wealth,
life, happiness, and family.
Improving any one or all of those is
something I can
definitely get on board with.
I'm sure you can too.
But here we go.
I've saved the best for last.
It's also National Pygmy Hippo Day.
Now, if you know me well
enough, you know I love hippos.
Today is a day celebrated to raise
awareness about the
endangered species of hippos.
And a pygmy hippo is the
smaller cousin of a hippopotamus.
And sadly, there are only about 2,000
pygmy hippos left in the world.
So let's keep that in mind.
Let's bring back the hippos people,
especially those little small pygmy ones.
Well, moving on into our quote today.
Despite his untimely loss, Kurt Cobain
had some really nice insights at times.
And this being one of his quotes, quote,
"I'd rather be hated for who I am than
loved for who I am not," end quote.
So be yourself.
Find your authentic self
and be that unapologetically.
Unless, of course, your
authentic self is super obnoxious.
Then don't do that.
Well, today's news facts and
birthdays are for April 8th.
And on this date in 1979, the final
episode of All in the
Family aired on CBS.
Now, I know this was a very popular
sitcom, but it was just
slightly ahead of my time.
So I'm just trusting the recommendation
from those of you that
have actually seen it.
Then jumping all the way up to 1990,
that's when the first episode of Twin
Peaks premiered on ABC.
Again, sorry, another
show I haven't seen.
So I'm going to take
recommendations on that one, too.
Then turning to 1994, on this day,
this is when Kurt Cobain was found
deceased in his home in Seattle.
Then lastly here, going all the way back
to 2024, just over a year ago.
Actually, I guess
it's exactly a year ago.
That's when a total solar eclipse
occurred across the United
States and in Canada as well.
It was North America's second total solar
eclipse in seven years.
You remember seeing it? Did you go out
into it? I definitely did.
Well, I hope you did get out there and
catch those, because if you didn't,
you're going to have to wait for the next
total solar eclipse,
because it's not happening
until August 23rd in 2044.
All right. Well, happy birthday to you.
Today is your birthday.
You share a birthday with actress
Patricia Arquette. She's 57 today.
And actress Robin Wright. She's from
House of Cards and Forrest Gump.
You would know her as
Jenae, right? She's 59 today.
Well, the number one song on this date
back in 1988 was "Get Out of My Dreams,
Get Into My Car" by Billy Ocean.
That song was Billy Ocean's third number
one hit, and it was his
final number one hit as well.
Billy's other number ones were "Caribbean
Queen" in 1984, and "There'll Be Sad
Songs" also in 1988.
Okay. Well, let's jump into the book
review here. As you know,
we're reading through Stephen R. Covey's
"The Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People."
And in this first chapter entitled
"Inside Out," Covey is
discussing the differences between
character traits, which focuses on
character qualities like
integrity, temperaments,
patience, modesty, versus the personality
ethic, which Covey believes is more
persuasive in today's
culture, and it teaches more superficial
kind of quick fix
techniques. And Covey continues to
hammer away at the important differences
between character ethic and
personality ethic in another
sub chapter entitled "Primary and
Secondary Greatness." And in this sub
chapter, Covey believes that
personality ethic traits, which we as a
society have been so
focused on for the last 75 years,
focusing on personal growth, right?
Communication skill training, and
education in the field of
influence strategies, and positive
thinking. They're all
secondary traits, and he doesn't
feel that they're the primary traits for
success. Covey compares
these secondary traits, these
personality ethics, to cramming for a
test in school, right?
Sometimes you get by, but in doing
so, you never actually achieve mastery in
those subjects. Covey
believes we have "forgotten the
foundation" of our own personal
buildings, if you will. And speaking of
focusing on character traits,
"We have been reaping for so long, and we
have forgotten the need
to sow." Using that farming
analogy again, you absolutely can't
forget to plant in the
spring, ignore the crop all summer,
and then cram to harvest in the fall.
Absolutely not. "The price must be paid,
and the process followed. You always reap
what you sow. There is no shortcut."
Covey does acknowledge that there are
uses for these secondary
personality ethic traits,
but he is making sure that the reader
understands they aren't a
strategy for long-term success.
Perhaps they can be useful in one-shot,
short-lived human
interactions to make favorable
impressions, but they "have no permanent
worth in long-term relationships."
Here, Covey quotes Emerson, and this
quote struck me as I read it. Emerson
said this, "What you are
shouts so loudly in my ears, I cannot
hear what you say."
Covey then said, "What we are
communicates far more eloquently than
anything we say or do."
Covey ends this sub-chapter with
a quote from William George Jordan, who
said this, "Into the hands
of every individual is given
a marvelous power for good or evil, the
silent, unconscious,
unseen influence of his life.
This is simply the constant radiation of
what man really is, not
what he pretends to be."
That's some really great stuff, and I'm
really looking forward to
unpacking this even more
tomorrow. So come back tomorrow for the
next sub-chapter in
Covey's book, which is called
The Power of a Paradigm. Hey, thanks for
joining us today, and
have a fantastic day. We'll see you tomorrow.