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 1, Chapter 1, 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 1, Chapter 1 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 back to another Monday.

Hope you had a great

weekend, but despite that,

I was kind of hoping we'd get a second

Sunday here in a row.

So I did a little research

and apparently that's

never happened before.

So with that not being a possibility,

let's get after it then

and make this a great Monday.

Today is Holy Monday.

It's the second day of the Holy Week

following Palm Sunday.

And today is also National Ex-Spouse Day.

This day is curiously

inserted into the calendar

exactly two months after Valentine's Day.

And it has become a time to reflect

on the positive moments

you shared with your ex.

That's correct.

Look, you married them.

There must've been

something you liked, right?

That is before they snapped.

I mean, think of them fondly for this day

before celebrating the

fact that they are now gone.

Well, hey, let's move on to the quote.

Let's see how long it

takes you to figure out

where this quote comes from today.

Here's the quote.

"I figure life's a gift

and I don't intend on wasting it."

Well, that's from the

character Jack Dawson

from James Cameron's Titanic.

Jack's right.

We have one life, we have to live it.

Well, today's news facts and

birthdays are for April 14th.

And we're gonna start back in 1865.

And that's when US

president Abraham Lincoln

was shot by John Wilkes Booth

at Ford's Theater in Washington.

And unfortunately, Lincoln

passed away the next day.

Well, this continues to be a tragic day

on this day in history because in 1912,

the RMS Titanic hit the

infamous iceberg today at 1140 PM.

Obviously, as we all know,

it ultimately led to

the sinking of the ship.

All right, no more

tragic facts for this day.

The next fact for this day is in 1981.

And that's when the first

space shuttle, Columbia One,

it returned to Earth after

two days and six hours in space.

And then next on this date back in 1986,

that's when the heaviest hailstones

ever recorded hit Bangladesh

with hailstones that were

weighing about 2.2 pounds.

Apparently a total of 92

people died as a result.

Dang it.

That was another tragic fact.

All right, no more, I promise.

Let's move on to our

last fact from today.

You remember Napster?

Well, on this day back in 2000,

Metallica filed a lawsuit

against person-to-person

sharing website, Napster.

This lawsuit

eventually led to the movement

against file sharing programs.

Happy birthday to you.

Today is your birthday.

You share a birthday with

actress Sarah Michelle Geller.

She's 48 today.

And actor Adrian Brody, he's 52.

And the number one song

on this date back in 1985

was "We Are the World" by USA for Africa.

Now, I know everybody knows this song

because every popular artist at the time

was involved in the project.

I guess everyone except

for maybe Prince and Madonna,

those are two big

names that weren't in it.

But interestingly,

with all those big artists

showing up to record at the same time,

there was actually a sign

outside the studio that read,

"Check your egos at the door."

And I guess it worked for the most part

as they recorded all night

and they finished the song in one day.

Well, we won't take all night here,

but let's spend a few more

minutes on our book review.

We are reading Stephen R. Covey's

"The Seven Habits of

Highly Effective People."

And in this first chapter, "Inside Out,"

Covey is discussing the differences

between character traits

and personality ethic.

And he's unpacking how our behaviors

are based on our

perspectives and our experiences,

our paradigms.

Yet, if we want to improve

our lives in a material way

beyond just having a better attitude,

we need to adjust our

paradigms to change the foundations

from which our

attitudes and behaviors flow.

Covey's next sub-chapter is,

"The Principle Centered Paradigm."

And as the name suggests, quote,

"The character ethic is

based on the fundamental idea

that there are principles that govern

human effectiveness."

End quote.

Here, Covey refers to a popular story.

Perhaps you've heard the one

about the captain of a battleship

that sees a light coming his way.

It's on a collision

course with his battleship.

And multiple times, the

captain of the battleship

and the other ship, the other light,

they go back and forth.

You change course.

No, you change course.

And despite the battleship's warnings,

the other ship says for the battleship

to change course instead.

Well, in the end, the other light

turns out to be a lighthouse.

Well, Covey says these

fundamental principles

are unmoving, like lighthouses.

Quote, "They are natural

laws that cannot be broken."

Covey says these foundational principles

are in every one of us.

Remember the maps in our heads?

Our own paradigms

through which we see the world.

Well, these maps of

ours are only our paradigms

that we have laid over

these foundational principles.

And the principles, as

Covey says, exist in all people.

They are not limited to a religion.

They are part of, quote,

"Enduring social

philosophies and ethical systems.

"They are self-evident

and can easily be validated

"by any individual.

"They seem to exist in all human beings,

"regardless of social

conditioning and loyalty to them."

End quote.

And this is even though

they may be less evident

in some people.

Okay, so what are these

foundational principles

that Covey is referring to?

Well, here's some of them.

Their fairness, integrity and honesty,

human dignity, service,

quality or excellence,

and potential.

Now, there are a few others

that Covey mentions as well,

and tomorrow we'll just dip

a toe into each one of these.

But Covey's just given us a taste here

of these profound foundational qualities.

And we'll also begin

tomorrow, the next sub-chapter,

entitled Principles of Growth and Change.

Remember people, one life, live it.

Hey, thanks for joining us today.

Come back tomorrow and

have a fantastic Monday.

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.