Good morning.
And welcome to morning cereal
Okay, good morning friends and welcome to
Friday. And not just any
Friday, today is a big deal.
It's episode 100. That's right, our
podcast is officially
centurion adjacent. We've made it
through the late nights, the mic fails, a
lot of questionable humor
and puns, and somehow you're
still here. So thank you. Now in honor of
our hundredth episode,
let's stick some magnetic
letters to the fridge of our minds or
maybe our actual fridge.
Either way, it's National
Alphabet Magnet Day, a perfect time to
spell out T-G-I-F. Also, if
you've been holding on to a
lonely single sock, today's the day to
set it free. It's Lost Sock
Memorial Day, when we pause
and reflect on all the laundry room
mysteries we'll never
solve. So grab your coffee. Let's
jumpstart today with our quote, and it's
from Rosario Dawson, who
said, "Failure is temporary.
Regret lasts forever." And Rosario
Dawson's quote reminds us
that failure is just a moment. It
passes, teaches, and it strengthens us.
But regret, it sticks around, it haunts
us for the chances that
we never took, which makes action far
less risky than inaction in
the long run. All right. Well,
today's news facts and birthdays are for
May 9th. We're going to
start back in 1914, when on this
date, US President Woodrow Wilson, he
proclaimed the first official Mother's
Day, establishing the
day as an official holiday. By the way,
it's this Sunday, so I hope
everybody's ready for that.
Then we're going to jump up to 1926.
That's when Richard E. Byrd and Floyd
Bennett, they claimed
the first flight over the North Pole. And
subsequently, they were able to confirm
Santa's Village was there and the
Fortress of Solitude. For
those of you who don't know what
that is, that's Superman's cozy ice home.
On this date in 1980, the
very first film of Friday the
13th was released in movie theaters.
Well, happy birthday to
you. If today is your birthday,
you share a birthday with actress Rosario
Dawson. You may know her as the Jedi
Ahsoka Tano. She's 46
today. And singer Billy Joel. Incredibly,
he's 76 today. All right.
The number one song on this
date back in 2001 was "All 4 You" by
Janet Jackson. Now, Miss Jackson's 2001
hit "All 4 You" was more
than just a catchy comeback. The song
sampled the 1980 disco funk track "The
Glow of Love" by Change.
And that song instantly resonated with
Gen X listeners, right?
Those of us who grew up on
boomboxes and in roller rinks. Well, the
track topped the
Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks,
reminding the fans that actually grew up
with Janet that she was
still a chart force. All right.
Well, morning cereal, 100 episodes in is
also "All 4 You." And your, well, I guess
our self-improvement,
right? So today we're diving into part
two, chapter one of
Stephen Covey's "The Seven Habits
of Highly Effective People" and a section
that continues to build
on habit one, be proactive.
In the sub-chapter "Taking the
Initiative," Covey makes it crystal
clear. Highly effective people
don't wait for life to happen to them.
They step up and make
things happen. He writes, quote,
"Taking initiative does not mean being
pushy, obnoxious, or even
aggressive. It means recognizing
our responsibility to make things
happen," end quote. It's a quiet kind of
power, the kind that
doesn't depend on circumstance, but on
choice. So Covey argues that
too many of us are conditioned
to be reactive. We wait for instructions.
We wait for permission or the
right mood before doing what
needs to be done. But the reality is,
quote, "Our behavior is a
function of our decisions, not our
conditions," end quote. That's a wake-up
call. It means we always
have the ability to choose our
response, whether we're facing traffic, a
toxic workplace, or just
the Monday blues. Proactive
people don't surrender their power to
circumstances. Then in "Act or Be Acted
Upon," which is the next
sub-chapter, Covey gives another reality
check. If we don't step into action, we
risk becoming passive
players in our own lives, letting others
or situations dictate our
direction. He says, quote,
"If we wait and only act when we have to
or when we are forced to,
we are being acted upon."
End quote. It's not just about ambition.
It's about ownership.
Taking initiative is what creates
motion in our careers, in our
relationships, and for personal growth.
Covey even ties this back to
the language we use. Reactive people say
things like, "There's nothing I can do,"
or, "That's just the way I am,"
but proactive language sounds different,
right? We talked about this
yesterday. Let's look at our
options, or, "I choose to." These
phrases, they claim agency rather than
surrender it. As Covey puts it,
quote, "Between stimulus and response,
man has freedom to choose."
End quote. That gap, again,
this is where growth happens and where
proactive living begins.
So, if you're feeling stuck,
if you're waiting for motivation or a
sign, Covey would say,
"Don't." You don't need permission to
take initiative. You need to just start,
because if you don't act,
something or someone will act
on your behalf, and that, Covey reminds
us, is not how effective
people operate. Hey, thanks for
joining us today on our hundredth
episode. I hope you have a great weekend.
I hope you have a happy
Mother's Day out there, and happy
Mother's Day to all the mothers. Thank
you for all that you do.
Super special. We'll see you back here on
Monday, and 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 Shawningless
and at Shawningless.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.