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
  • A dive 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 tax

day, tax day Tuesday.

And just a friendly reminder here, your

tax returns are due

today, so you're welcome if

that fact actually slipped your mind.

And in the event your dirty clothes piles

slipped your mind as well, well, today is

also National Laundry Day.

And down here in Texas

right now, it is pollen season.

So I apologize, you can hear it in my

voice, you can see it in my eyes.

So pollen's literally covered everything

outside on the patio in

a nice yellow dusting.

And I'm guessing that's exactly what the

inside of my lungs look like as well.

Well, hey, I'm going to mention these

national days as well,

because I think it's just going

to speak to someone out

there somewhere, right?

Today is also National Rubber Eraser Day.

And it's also national

take a wild guest day.

So I hope that spoke to one or two of you

out there somewhere

who really needed to hear

that.

Today's quote is from Emma Watson.

She said, "What gets scary is when your

self worth is tied up in

what strangers think of

you."

Well, let's jump into today's news facts

and birthdays, the refer April 15th.

And as we mentioned yesterday, officially

on this day in 1912,

the Titanic, after hitting

an iceberg late last night on its way to

New York City, it sunk

earlier this morning on

this date back in 1912.

Then in 1990, sketch comedy,

TV series and living color.

You guys remember this one, right?

It premiered on Fox and there were so

many great comedians on

that show, but the show

really originally gifted us with the

hilarious Jim Carrey.

Do you remember the fireman that he used

to do where he tucked his lips in?

So funny.

And do you remember also that on this

date back in 2019, the

historic Notre Dame of Paris,

it caught fire during a restoration and

the blaze, which you

could see on TV all day long,

it was incredible because it caught fire.

You remember the

cathedral fell in a little bit.

Well, it destroyed most of the

cathedral's roof and

the 19th century's fire.

You remember when that fell?

That was incredible.

Well, the restoration of the fire damage

took about five years,

but it was completed just

last year in December.

Well, happy birthday to you.

Today's your birthday.

You share a birthday with

quite a few people here.

Actress Maisie Williams, she's 28.

Actress Emma Watson, she's 35.

Actor Seth Rogen, he's 43.

And singer Chris Stapleton, he's 47.

Who knew he was so

young under that beard?

And finally, actress Emma

Thompson, she's 66 today.

And the number one song on this date back

in 1989 was "She

Drives Me Crazy" by the Fine

Young Cannibals.

Now, this was the band's first number one

hit, which was followed

up in just a few months

later with their second

number one hit, "Good Thing."

And interestingly, the band was from

England, but they never

had a number one song in the

UK.

Well, let's jump into our book review.

And as you all know, we're reading

through Stephen R. Covey's

"The Seven Habits of Highly

Effective People."

And in this first chapter entitled

"Inside Out," Covey is

discussing the differences

between character traits

and personality ethics.

And he's unpacking how our behaviors are

based on our

perspectives and our experiences,

which are our paradigms.

And yesterday Covey introduced the idea

that despite our

individual paradigms, within each

of us exists an awareness of certain

innate foundational

principles that cannot be broken

and are self-evident to one degree or

another in each individual.

Now Covey briefly touches on these

foundational principles here in this

chapter and the first

of which being fairness, "out of which

our whole concept of equity

and justice is developed."

And even if people define this

differently, Covey's

position is that there is nearly

a universal awareness of

fairness, even in little children.

The next principle is integrity and

honesty, which "creates the

foundation of trust, which

is essential to cooperation and long-term

personal and interpersonal growth."

Another foundational

principle is human dignity.

And Covey quotes the U.S. Declaration of

Independence here, right?

"We hold all these truths to be

self-evident, that all men

are created equal and endowed

by their Creator with certain inalienable

rights that among

these are life, liberty,

and the pursuit of happiness."

Covey mentions service, "the idea of

making a contribution," and

then quality or excellence

as foundational principles.

Then Covey points to potential as a

foundational principle,

which is "the idea that we are

embryonic and can grow and develop and

release more and more

potential, develop more and

more talents."

And very similar to potential is the

principle of growth, which is "the

process of releasing

potential and developing talents, with

the accompanying need for

principles such as patience,

nurturance, and encouragement."

Covey does not want the reader to miss

out on understanding

the materiality of these

principles.

They are not simply just good practices.

Practices are situationally specific.

Principles are also not

just simply values either.

Values can be shared by thieves.

No, principles are "deep, fundamental

truths that have

universal application, that when

internalized into habits, provide truth

and knowledge of things as they are."

Covey closes this sub-chapter with this

definition of principle, saying

"Principles are guidelines

for human conduct that are proven to have

enduring, permanent value.

They're fundamental and self-evident."

And what Covey means by being

self-evident is that first,

we are all innately conscious

of their existence.

And secondly, Covey says it would be

absurd to consider living

a life, living the opposite

of these principles, and then expecting

to have a foundation

for lasting happiness and

success.

So the opposite of these fundamental

principles would be things like

unfairness, deceit, baseness,

uselessness, mediocrity.

How could you live like that and still

have a solid foundation

for lasting happiness and

success?

So remember the maps in our heads are

paradigms that have been

built through our experiences

and the lenses through which we see and

behave and interact with this world?

Well Covey says, "The more closely our

maps or our paradigms are

aligned with these principles

or these natural laws, the more accurate

and functional they will be."

Thus, the more effective each of us will

be and much more so

than simply trying harder

or having a good attitude.

Alright, there is so much to get in there

that I didn't even get

to the next sub-chapter

like I thought I might.

But I'm spending the time to make sure we

understand Covey's

foundational concepts as

we get into this book.

But tomorrow we'll unpack Covey's next

sub-chapter, which is

Principles of Growth and Change.

That sounds like an enigma

song for some reason to me.

Well, don't forget to file your taxes

today and thanks for joining us today.

Come back tomorrow 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. 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'll be a good time,

I promise. Thanks again for listening.

Have a fantastic day and

we'll see you tomorrow.