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 happy Monday.
This is going to be a great week.
So go ahead, grab your coffee and while
you're at it, grab an apron
because today is International
Chef Day and it's also
National Youth Confidence Day.
So whether you're just whipping up some
breakfast or just cooking up
some courage today, today's
about nourishment for both
your body and your spirit.
And to get our week started out right,
our quote this morning
is from John Krasinski
who said, "I've always been fascinated by
the courage it takes to tell someone your
story."
Now, that's what confidence is.
It's quiet, but it's significant bravery.
But to get it proved warm and honest, it
can be a powerful human act.
Well, today's news facts and birthdays
are for October 20th.
We're going to start back in 1803.
That's when the US Senate, it ratified
the Louisiana Purchase
and it more than doubled
the size of the US at the time.
Then moving up to 1962, that's when the
song "Monster Mash" hit
number one on the Billboard
Hot 100 chart and it was
just in time for Halloween.
Then moving up to 1973, that's when Queen
Elizabeth II, she opened the Sydney Opera
House in Vinnie Long Point in Sydney,
Australia after 14 years of construction.
Totally worth the wait.
It's a gorgeous piece of architecture.
And then finally in 1990 on this date,
that's when "Dances with
Wolves" premiered and it
swept the Oscars the next year.
My one takeaway from the movie, Tatanka.
That's Buffalo.
Well, happy birthday to you.
Today's your birthday.
You share a birthday with actor, producer
and everyone's bestie at the office, John
Krasinski.
He's 46 today.
Rapper and
entrepreneur, S&OOP Snoop Dogg.
He's 54 today.
Past Vice President Kamala Harris.
She's 61 today.
Actor from the Lord of the Rings and
Aragorn himself, Viggo Mortensen.
He's 67 today.
Well, the number one song on this date
back in 1985 was
"Saving All My Love For You"
by Whitney Houston.
Now, clearly Whitney was on a
hot streak over these years.
We've been highlighting so many of them.
But this number one was special for her.
This soulful ballad was Whitney's first
number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 and it launched
her to superstardom.
It won a Grammy and it remains a timeless
declaration of love's patience and power.
And also, soon to be timeless, Mel
Robbins, the Let Them Theory book.
And today's sub-chapter is entitled "Own
Your Reactions, Take Your Power Back."
And Robbins opens this sub-chapter up by
saying, "Your reactions
are the remote control of
your life, but you're
the one holding it."
She explores how reclaiming emotional
control, it starts with awareness.
When someone frustrates you or life
throws chaos your way, your
first impulse is defensive,
right?
But that's just old wiring.
The Let Them Theory, it reminds us, you
can't control their
actions, only your response.
She writes, "When you own your reaction,
you stop giving away your peace."
And Robbins encourages something she
calls the pause practice.
It's a three second reset to check your
energy before you react to something.
Now, those seconds create distance
between the stimulus and your response.
And that's where your
freedom lives, okay?
Her framework is
empowering because it's actionable.
She teaches that maturity isn't calm by
nature, it's calm by choice.
When you stop reacting impulsively, you
start responding intentionally.
And that shift, it changes everything
from relationships to your self-esteem.
Okay, here is your Monday takeaway.
You can't control the world, but you can
control your response.
And that's where true power begins.
Okay, so make the most of this new week
you've got in front of us.
Cook up some courage, sprinkle in some
confidence, and savor every moment of it.
Hey, thanks for starting
your week with Morning Serial.
We will see you back here tomorrow.
And as always, 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 seanenglishless and at
seanenglish.com, where you can also
follow our other podcast, the
Mr. and Mrs. English 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 will be a good time, I promise.
Thanks again for listening.
Have a fantastic day,
and we'll see you tomorrow.