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
  • An introduction 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 to Thursday.

And good news if you haven't left for

work today or if you

haven't logged in yet.

Today is national.

Don't go to work unless it's fun day.

Sounds great, but my grandmother would

never let me hear the

end of it if I skipped out

our work.

So I guess we'll just

have to make work fun today.

Well, it's also national find a rainbow

day and we've got some

rain in the area today

so I might actually be able to

participate in finding a rainbow today.

But lastly, if all else

fails, it's world party day.

So grab your gazoos and your crazy

glasses and let's hit the rave.

I think I just really

showed my age there.

That's what I think a world

party day makes me think of.

Oh well.

Well, here's a question for you.

Do people still say

kill them with kindness?

Well, Cobie Smulders may not think it's

happening as much as it used to.

She said, "Kindness is something that I

feel is leaving us a bit.

People are getting more self-involved."

And that's a sad state if

that's true folks, right?

We need to bring back kindness.

All right, well, let's take a look at

today's news facts and

birthdays for April 3rd.

And we're going to start back in 1882

when on this date,

Jesse James was murdered by

his own gang for the reward money.

Well, that wasn't kind.

Then in 1924 on this date, actor and

Superman's dad and

everybody's favorite godfather, Marlon

Brando was born.

Then in 1953, the first issue of the TV

Guide was published

with the cover featuring a

picture of Lucille Ball's newborn baby.

You can see it right here if you're

watching on YouTube.

Then in 1973 on this date, the very first

mobile phone cell call

is made from downtown

Manhattan, New York City by Motorola

employee Martin Cooper.

And he called Joel Engel at the Bell Labs

headquarters in New Jersey.

Now apparently his first words were,

"Joel, I'm calling you from

a real cellular telephone,

a portable handheld telephone."

It would be about 25 years later that I

bought my first cell phone.

Well, lastly in 1996, this is the date

that federal agents in

Montana apprehended Ted

Kaczynski, the Unabomber.

Well, happy birthday.

If today is your birthday, you share a

birthday with actor Alec Baldwin.

He's 67.

Comedian Eddie Murphy.

He's 64 today.

Actress Jenny Garth from 90210 fame.

She's 53.

Actress Cobie Smulders from How I Met

Your Mother and the MCU.

She's 43 today.

And singer Leona Lewis.

She's 40 years old today.

And the number one song on this date back

in 1982 was, "I Love

Rock and Roll" by Joan

Jett in the Blackhearts.

Now everybody knows this song, right?

I mean, put another

dime in the jukebox, baby.

Everybody knows this.

But interestingly, the writer of the song

was based in England

and he wanted that line

to be put another coin in the jukebox to

make it more universal.

Well, this is also another song that

Weird Al Yankovic

recorded a parody of with his

title, "I Love Rocky Road."

Well done, Al.

I do too.

I do too.

Well, I also like some self-improvement.

And today we start in earnest reading

Stephen R. Covey's The 7

Habits of Highly Effective

People.

And recall, we are beginning the first of

four parts in this

book called, "Paradigms

and Principles."

And this first chapter

is entitled, "Inside Out."

And Covey begins this chapter laying the

groundwork about why he

wrote this book, that over his

lifetime in both his personal and

professional settings that

he's known, "many individuals

who have achieved an incredible degree of

outward success, but

have found themselves

struggling with an inner hunger, a deep

need for personal

congruency and effectiveness

for healthy, growing

relationships with other people."

And Covey gives a few examples of things

people might say like,

"I just can't seem to keep

a promise I make myself.

And what's really important to me?

And they won't listen to me.

What can I do?

Or I still don't feel I'm living the

happy, productive,

peaceful life I want to live.

And lastly, I always wonder what other

people really think of me and my ideas."

So we are all human, and I'm sure at

least one of these

hits home for you, right?

Or perhaps you have

something similar you're thinking of.

Well, Covey says, "These are deep

problems, painful

problems, problems that quick fix

approaches can't solve."

Covey tells a quick story about how he

and his wife were

concerned with their son.

Their son wasn't being very successful in

school or on the athletic field.

And they tried to be supportive, but this

didn't help and they

could see his self-esteem

as being affected.

Covey at that time was studying

expectancy theory and

self-fulfilling prophecies, leading

him to focus on just how important our

perceptions are, how they

are formed, and how they are

the lens through which we see this world.

And if he and his wife were being honest,

the perception they had of their son was,

"That he was basically

inadequate, somehow behind."

And because of this, despite their

actions and words, what

they really communicated to

him was, "You aren't capable.

You have to be protected."

Covey and his wife concluded, "We began

to realize that if we

wanted to change the situation,

we first had to change ourselves.

And to change ourselves effectively, we

first need to change our perceptions."

There they are again,

perceptions and perspectives.

Both Covey and Carnegie are big on

identifying these and then

reacting appropriately from

there.

Well, we'll dive deeper into this

tomorrow in Covey's

sub-chapter, The Personality and

Character Ethics.

Hey, thanks for joining us today.

Be kind today, people,

and come back tomorrow.

And of course, 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.