Good morning and
welcome to Morning Cereal.
Okay, good morning and welcome to Monday.
Well coffee's hot, we're mostly out of
bed, and if your to-do
list is already looking
like a CVS receipt, let's go ahead and
add just one more to it.
Today is national.
Make a hat day.
Finally permission to craft your own
royal crown and be the
king or queen for your Monday.
And what food is fit for the royals?
Well it's also national cheese toast day.
But I'm going to call that sandwich, we
all love this kid's, the
grilled cheese sandwich.
Bread plus melty cheese plus happiness,
that equals yumminess.
Okay let's move forward with our quote
this morning to get you
out of bed if you're still
laying there.
Now it's from Justin Timberlake who said
quote, "You're not
meant to do what's easy.
You're meant to challenge yourself."
End quote.
And that's a little Monday reminder to
strap on your big boy
shoes and get out there and
get things done.
Alright, well today's news facts and
birthdays are for September 15th.
Starting back in 1835, that's when the
ship, the HMS Beagle,
does that ring a bell?
Well that ship had Charles Darwin on it
and it reached the
Galapagos Islands on this date.
And that's where Darwin found inspiration
for a lot of his theories.
And in 1949 the TV show The Lone Ranger,
well it premiered on ABC.
Totally PC, nothing to see here.
Just some good old cowboys and Indians.
Hi yo silver away.
And I know I didn't do that justice, I'm
just not ready for that right now.
Well 1954 on this date, we all know that
famous picture of Marilyn
Monroe where she's standing
there with her white skirt blowing up
from the subway vent.
Well that famous skirt scene as it has
come to be known was
filmed today, 71 years ago.
Alright, then in 2008 the Lehman Brothers
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
It was the largest US bankruptcy in
financial history and
it reshaped a decade.
Well happy birthday to
you, today is your birthday.
You share a birthday with the royals.
Prince Harry, he turns 41 today.
NFL QB legend Dan Marino, he's 64 today.
And actor and icon Tommy
Lee Jones, he's 79 today.
And now the number one song on this date
back in 2006 was "Sexy
Back" by Justin Timberlake.
Now it became Justin's first solo number
one on the Hot 100 and
it locked in seven weeks
at number one and earned Justin a Grammy
for best dance recording.
And if you haven't heard, he's got an
EGOT, that's an Emmy, a
Grammy, an Oscar, and a
Tony.
And apparently there are 21 other people
that have won competitive EGOTs.
Other notable winners include Audrey
Hepburn, Whoopi Goldberg,
John Legend, Andrew Lloyd
Weber, Jennifer Hudson,
Viola Davis, and Elton John.
Pretty good company there.
All right, well, if you're not inspired
by that, let's get you
inspired by diving back
into Stephen R. Covey's "The Seven Habits
of Highly Effective People."
And Covey's "Habit Seven"
says, "Sharpen the saw."
And in the sub-chapter, "The Mental
Dimension," Covey argues
that renewal is an investment,
noting, "The single most important
investment we can make is in ourselves."
And mental renewal is about conscious,
guided learning, not
just consuming information,
but organizing it around principles so it
changes how you see and solve problems.
Now, he recommends a simple cadence,
plan, read, write, and reflect.
Plan, read, write, and reflect.
Reading quality material expands our map.
Covey writes that reading great
literature, quote, "Can expand our
paradigms and sharpen
our minds," end quote.
And journaling, that turns this raw input
into clarified
thinking, helping us to, quote,
"Write the program," end quote, that we
intend to run tomorrow.
All right, Covey is big
on being proactive, right?
Proactivity with time.
Put first things first in your schedule
by blocking thinking
time the same way that you
would block out time for meetings.
That's the bridge
from urgent to important.
Covey's mental renewal
is also collaborative.
When we learn broadly history, science,
biographies, we build a
repertoire for creativity and
third alternatives.
And he emphasizes aligning
study to roles and goals.
If you lead a team, read on
decision making and systems.
If you parent, study development and
communication, the key
is daily, small deposits.
Fifteen minutes of good reading beats
sporadic cram sessions, right?
Covey also warns about mental junk food,
passive media that
numbs rather than nourishes.
If he were to write that book today, he
would definitely be
talking about scrolling endlessly
through reels, right?
But he's not anti-entertainment.
He's pro-intentionality.
The ask there is, is
this teaching me anything?
And finally, he links the mental
dimension to the other dimensions.
Physical exercise boosts cognition.
And clarity gives study a North Star.
Social emotional health
frees up bandwidth to think.
When these feed one another, we become
renewing problem solvers instead of
depleting firefighters.
All right, here is your Monday takeaway.
Schedule thinking the way you schedule
tasks because the mind
you build builds everything
else.
All right, well, tip your hat to make a
hat day, toast the
small wins with cheese toast
and challenge yourself at
least once before noon today.
Hey, thanks for starting
your week with Morning Serial.
We'll 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
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and Mrs. English podcast
and the Life Happens podcast.
And these other podcasts will dive deeper
into everyday issues,
self-improvement, 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.