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Good morning and welcome

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to your morning cereal.

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Okay, good morning and welcome to Friday.

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And not just any Friday, you

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probably already knew this,

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but it is Friday the 13th today.

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And it's our second of

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three of them this year.

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So maintain the status quo today,

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avoiding black cats,

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walking under ladders, all that stuff,

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or just refusing to leave

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the house entirely, whatever.

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But it is also

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National Good Samaritan Day,

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a day that's dedicated

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to doing something kind

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for someone else, help a

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neighbor buy someone a coffee,

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or at the very least,

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hold that elevator door

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for that person that you're just

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pretending not to see.

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All right, well,

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speaking of helping people out,

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the answer to yesterday's trivia

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question, Esperanto.

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Esperanto is the most widely spoken

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artificial language,

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spoken in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

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And now it's time for

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the essential vitamins

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in your morning cereal today's quote.

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And it is from birthday

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girl, Michaela Schrifrin.

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The Olympic skier,

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she's turning 31 today.

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And she once said, quote,

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"Winning doesn't always mean being first.

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Winning means you're doing better

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than you've ever done before," end quote.

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Now here is your morning D code.

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Success isn't always

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about beating everyone else.

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It's often about beating yesterday's

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version of yourself.

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All right, well, let's go ahead and hear

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from the experts now.

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It is time to pour in some

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atomic habits by James Clear.

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And today's section is called, "What

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Progress Is Really Like."

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Now, James Clear, he

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challenges a common misconception here

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that we all have.

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We believe that

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progress should be linear.

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We expect improvement to look like a

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steady climb upward.

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More effort equals more results,

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but real life, it rarely works that way.

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Instead, Clear explains

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that progress often follows

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what he calls the

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plateau of latent potential.

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Now stay with me here.

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In the early stages of any habit,

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whether it's fitness,

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a business, writing,

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or learning a new skill,

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you often see little

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or no immediate results,

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which is why many

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people, they quit early.

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But what's actually

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happening is that improvement

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is compounding beneath the surface, okay?

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Clear writes this, quote,

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"Breakthrough moments

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are often the result

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of many previous actions

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which build upon the potential

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required to unleash a

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major change," end quote.

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Now think about an ice

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cube that's sitting in a room

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that's slowly warming up.

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At 28 degrees, nothing happens.

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At 31 degrees, still nothing happens.

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But at 32 degrees, suddenly it melts.

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Now, the work done in

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those earlier degrees,

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it wasn't wasted, it

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was necessary preparation

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for the breakthrough,

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for the ice to melt.

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Now, Clear explains that

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habits behave the same way.

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The early stages feel invisible,

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but they are quietly building momentum.

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He also notes that people

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often fall into what he calls

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the valley of disappointment.

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I love what he calls things like this.

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This is the moment when

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expectations and results

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don't match yet.

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People assume that the

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system just isn't working.

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When in reality, they

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simply haven't reached

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the tipping point yet.

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Clear writes this, quote,

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"Your work was not wasted,

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it is just being stored,"

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end quote.

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And that is incredibly powerful.

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Small improvements compound,

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just like interest in

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a bank account, right?

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We keep comparing it to that, right?

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A 1% improvement each day,

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it may not feel dramatic,

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but over time, it produces some

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remarkable transformation.

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So the key lesson here is

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patience with the process.

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Instead of expecting instant results,

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successful people, they trust

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that small, consistent habits

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are quietly shaping future outcomes.

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All right, here it is.

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Your Friday the 13th

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takeaway is stay consistent,

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long enough to push through the plateau,

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because breakthroughs usually arrive

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right after people give up.

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All right, serial squad.

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Whether you're dodging bad

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luck on this Friday the 13th

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or just trying to finish

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that first cup of coffee today,

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remember that small habits today

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are quietly building

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big results tomorrow.

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All right, now the prize from

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the bottom of the cereal box,

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the morning cereal

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trivia question of the day.

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Here it is, name five, just five of them,

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of the 12 European

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countries where the euro

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replaced the local currency in 2002.

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All right?

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So hey, thanks for

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listening to Morning Cereal.

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We will see you back here on Monday

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for the answer to the trivia question

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and for more sugar for the soul.

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So have a great weekend.

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Good luck to you and

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your March Madness teams,

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unless of course you're

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playing the Kansas Jayhawks,

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then Rock Chalk Jayhawk.

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But until then, have a fantastic day.

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(upbeat music)