Morning Cereal

Start your day with inspirational quotes, followed by a fun journey through nostalgic facts from this day in history. Then, we dive into Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 
In Part 3, Habit 5, we’ll explore Covey’s timeless advice on building authentic connections, the art of influence, and creating positive interactions in every area of life.
In This Episode:
  • Daily inspirational quotes to spark your motivation
  • Fun historical facts from this day in history
  • A dive into Part 3, Habit 5 of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
Whether you're a leader, communicator, or just someone looking to improve your relationships, this episode is packed with actionable insights.
Tune in now and let’s grow together!
Resources:
Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. Free Press. 
 
All photo’s utilized in this video are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by Wikimedia Commons license and are free to copy, distribute and transmit.  No photos have been altered.

What is Morning Cereal?

Good morning, and welcome to Morning Cereal!
Pull up a stool, grab your favorite cereal, and let’s kick-start your day with a spoonful of inspiration, nostalgia and personal growth. Join your host, Shaen Inglis, as he highlights the music, movies, and moments that made the 80s, 90s, and 2000s unforgettable—kind of like digging for toy at the bottom of the cereal box. Each episode, Shaen also reviews a chapter or so from top wellness books, offering practical insights to help you set a positive tone for your day. Start your mornings right—no cartoons required!

Follow and subscribe to the Morning Cereal podcast and visit our Life Happens, Live Balanced channel and our website at shaeninglis.com to check out and follow our other podcasts. You can also follow Shaen @ShaenInglis on Instagram, YouTube, etc. Feel free to share the Morning Cereal with someone who could use a little fun and motivation to start their day right.

Good morning and

welcome to Morning Cereal.

Okay, good morning and

welcome to the middle of the week.

It's Wednesday everyone.

Now here are must vegetarians.

Today is national bacon lovers day.

We're honoring the unofficial breakfast

meat MVP that also goes

well with that club sandwich

at lunch and it really goes pretty good

with a hamburger for dinner.

Thank you pigs.

All right, vegetarians,

you can now rejoin us.

It's also national radio day celebrating

the medium that once

brought us dedications and

school cancellations.

Simpler times.

Well, now a quote from Demi Lovato to get

you going this morning.

Demi Lovato said, "You are stronger than

you think and braver than you seem."

Now I bet if you really dig down, you'll

find out that you've

got a lot more grit than

you give yourself credit for.

All right, well, today's news facts and

birthdays are for August

20th and start back in 1882.

That's when Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture,

well, it debuted in Moscow.

Then moving up to 1920, that's when the

professional football

association, the PFA, well, don't

recognize that.

It was formed by Jim

Thorpe as the president.

Well, later it became the National

Football League, right?

Nice to see football

on TV again right now.

Go Broncos.

Then lastly, we're going to mention on

this day in 2000, the

PGA Championship for men's

golf.

Well, Tiger Woods, he would win back to

back PGA titles after a

three-hole playoff with

Bob May.

And he became the first player to win

three majors in a

calendar year since Ben Hogan

did it in 1953.

Well, happy birthday to you.

Today is your birthday.

You share a birthday

with singer Demi Lovato.

She's 33 today.

Actor Andrew Garfield.

He's only 42 today.

Actors Amy Adams.

She's 51 today.

And Robert Plant, the

lead singer of Led Zeppelin.

He's 77 today.

And now the number one song on this date

back in 2008, "I Kissed

a Girl" by Katy Perry.

Now, this pop anthem, it sparked

controversy and I guess a lot of

conversations as this

was Katy's first single.

And it had a little bit of some cheeky

lyrics and a catchy beat, right?

And with that, it shot to number one and

it became really a staple

of the late 2000s radio.

Here's a fun fact for you.

It was written in just 15 minutes.

And who doesn't like Cherry Chapstick?

Well, I'm reading a book and I liked it.

And that book is Stephen R. Covey's "The

7 Habits of Highly Effective People."

And in the sub-chapter "Understanding and

Perception," Covey is

drawing attention to

a fundamental flaw in

most human communication.

And it's the way our personal perceptions

filter everything we hear and we see.

Talked about it a little bit yesterday.

Covey explains that when we interact with

others, we rarely

engage with reality as it

truly is.

Instead, we engage with

reality as we interpret it, okay?

That interpretation is

colored by our experience.

Our emotions at that time and our

expectations at that time.

Covey says that, quote, "Most people do

not listen with the intent to understand.

They listen with the

intent to reply," end quote.

Now this is at the heart of the problem.

Instead of truly focusing on another

person's perspective, we listen through

our own autobiographical

lens, thinking about how what's being

said connects to our own story.

And we're starting to prepare our

responses or we're

silently maybe judging whether or

not we agree with what they're saying.

So the result is that genuine

understanding rarely takes place.

Perception, Covey

stresses, is not the same as truth.

Two people can hear the same words and

walk away with entirely

different impressions.

I know I've had that happen.

I'm sure you have too.

But it's simply because our frames of

reference are different from each other.

So for Covey, this means that seeking

first to understand

requires a deliberate suspension

of our own biases.

We must enter another's frame of

reference, not to agree

with it or approve of it, but

to see it accurately for what it is.

And that actually hearkens back to some

of Dale Carnegie's habits as well.

Well, Covey also explains that

misunderstanding is costly.

When we assume we understand but we fail

to check our

perception, we often rush into

decision.

Then we misdiagnose problems or we give

advice that misses the mark.

And this is why Covey insists that

effective communication

begins with empathic listening,

right?

The practice of listening to both words

and feelings with the

goal of grasping the meaning,

not formulating a reply.

And Covey also underscores that empathic

listening is not passive, okay?

It requires effort,

humility, and discipline.

And it means setting aside the urge to

control the conversation,

instead allowing the other

person's perspective to fully emerge.

Now, only once people feel understood,

Covey would argue, that's

when they will open themselves

to influence or to dialogue.

And the lessons of this sub-chapter,

understanding and perception, it's clear.

If we hope to be effective in our

relationships, we must first

acknowledge how limited and

subjective our own perceptions can be.

By making the choice to listen with the

intent to understand, we

create the conditions for

trust and clarity and cooperation.

All right, thanks for hanging in there.

Here's your takeaway.

True understanding is not automatic.

It begins with recognizing the limits of

our perception and then

making the conscious choice

to listen for meaning, not for a reply.

All right, so whether you're frying some

bacon today or just

trying to get that radio just

dialed in just right,

anybody remember doing that?

Well, today is about

craving connection and clarity.

Thanks for tuning in.

Join us tomorrow for some

more nostalgia and morning zine.

Hey, 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 Shawn

Inglis and at ShawnInglis.com, where you

can also follow our

other podcasts, the Mr. and

Mrs. Inglis podcast and

the Life Happens podcast.

And these other podcasts will dive deeper

into everyday issues,

self-improvement and

business and finance, and we

welcome special guests too.

So join us.

It will be a good time.

I promise.

Thanks again for listening.

Have a fantastic day and

we'll see you tomorrow.