Good morning and
welcome to Morning Cereal.
Okay, good morning and welcome to Friday.
And believe it or
not, welcome to August as
well. Now, aside from the fact that
Father Time just keeps on
ticking by, I do love August,
right? We're sending the kids back to
school, which is a bit
sad. But that means back to
the fall, a little bit more of a regular
routine, regular
schedule, and we get football
back this month. And it also feels like
we're starting to stare
down fall a little bit,
right? Obviously those retailers, they're
starting to stalk for
Halloween. Scary. True.
Well, speaking of fall, did you know that
today is Colorado Day? Fall is incredible
on Colorado, first off. Now, this day
commemorates the admittance
of Colorado as a state of the
union. Now, I grew up in Colorado and I
lived in Colorado for 30
years. And I'm happy to
take a moment to appreciate my beautiful
Rocky Mountains and that
clean, crisp mountain air.
I'm even wearing an Estes Park shirt. I
grew up in Colorado
Springs, though. Well, let's
quote someone who looks like a mountain
man, Jason Momoa, who
once said, quote, "I think
being unique in all aspects of your life
is most rewarding." End
quote. Now, this quote
is a great reminder to embrace your
individuality and
celebrate what makes you different.
All right. Well, today's news facts and
birthdays are for August
1st. And we're going to start
back in 1981. That's when the cable
television network, maybe you heard of
it, MTV, it debuted.
Now, I know you've only heard of that if
you're a certain age, but
it debuted way back in the
80s and the very first video that they
played was Video Killed the
Radio Star. Talk about irony.
All right. Well, then in 1987, American
boxer Mike Tyson, he was
recognized as the undisputed
heavyweight champion after defeating Tony
Tucker. Well, happy
birthday to you if today's your
birthday. You share a birthday with Cal
Drago and Aquaman, actor
Jason Momoa. He's 46 today.
Chuck D, rapper and public enemy
frontman. He's 64 today. The
lead singer of Def Leppard,
pour some sugar on me, Joe Elliott. He's
65 today. And the late Coolio, who's a
rapper and producer.
He would have been 61 today. He was born
in 1963. And also the late Jerry Garcia,
American singer, songwriter and
guitarist. He would have been 83 years
old today. All right.
Well, the number one song on this date
back in 1986 was
Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel.
Now, this iconic track is known for its
innovative music
video. Do you remember it?
It featured at the time groundbreaking
stop motion animation, and it won nine
MTV Music Awards because of it.
Well, if you do remember it, it had a
blend of claymation, stop motion and a
whole bunch of surreal visuals.
And because of all that, it became the
most played video in MTV history.
All right. Well, let's hammer out some
self reflection then, right?
We're in part three of Stephen R. Covey's
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People and specifically habit four.
Think win-win. And today's focus is on
the sub chapter, the
five dimensions of win-win.
So Covey lays out five key dimensions
that bring the win-win mindset to life.
There are character, relationships,
agreements, systems and processes. That's
five, just like he said.
Now he starts with character. Okay.
That's the foundational layer.
Without integrity and maturity, win-win
collapses. Covey says, quote, integrity
is the cornerstone in
the foundation of trust.
It means you are true to your word and to
your own values, end quote.
And without it, collaboration
becomes, well, manipulation.
Next, number two is relationships. Now,
trust is the currency of win-win.
You can't build effective agreements if
the relationship is shaky. Okay.
Covey says, quote, the relationship is
the key to the cooperative
side of win-win, end quote.
Now, when people feel respected and
understood, they're much more likely to
seek out mutual benefit.
Then comes agreements. That's number
three. These clarify expectations and
responsibilities and shift the dynamic
from controlling to empowering.
And Covey advocates for clear objectives,
right? Clear guidelines, resources,
accountability, and
also clear consequences.
All of these things should be
collaboratively created. Now, the fourth
dimension is systems.
If an organization claims to value
cooperation but rewards competition,
win-win, it becomes impossible.
Incentives, training, culture, it needs
to align with the win-win behavior.
And finally, processes, right? When
differences arise, Covey advises seeking
to understand first because good
processes lead to creative solutions.
Covey reminds us, quote, win-win is not a
technique. It's a total philosophy of
human interaction, end quote.
Okay, here's your takeaway. To truly live
the win-win mindset, you need to build it
from the inside out.
It's not just about how you negotiate.
It's about who you are, how you relate,
what systems you build, and how you
navigate differences, right?
This chapter is a blueprint, not just for
business, but for families, for
friendships, and teams that
actually function correctly.
All right, Serial Squad, whether you're
channeling mountain vibes in Colorado or
just rolling into your Friday with Peter
Gabriel in your earbuds,
keep showing up as your
real, quirky, awesome self.
Hey, thanks for kicking off your morning
with us. Join us next week for more pop
culture productivity and hopefully some
perfectly brewed wisdom.
Have a great weekend and as
always, have a fantastic day.
We welcome special guests, too. So join
us. It'll be a good time, I promise.
Thanks again for listening. Have a
fantastic day. We'll see you tomorrow.