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

Alright, good morning

and welcome to Wednesday.

Another hump day.

Well, I guess, am I even

allowed to call it hump day?

It's holy week, so I'm not sure if I'm

supposed to say that this week.

You know, I'll just call it the bump in

the middle of the weekday.

So let's just move on.

Let's talk about the national days.

Today is national

wear pajamas to work day.

So I'm sure your boss will be totally

fine with that as long

as you're under the age

of 24.

So it's also the day of the mushroom.

It's national banana

day, so good for you.

Those of you had a healthy

banana snack in the morning.

And a lot of the times we're just talking

about national days, but this one is very

special because this is a world day.

Today is world semicolon day.

So wow, congratulations to all those

semicolons out there.

Alright, well, our quote today is about

going the extra mile and

taking the time and giving

the effort to stand apart.

So Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said, "I think

that the good and the

great are only separated

by the willingness to sacrifice."

Well today's news facts and birthdays are

for April 16th and

we're going to start back

in 1889.

That's when Charlie Chaplin was born.

Then skipping up to 1929, that's when the

New York Yankees

became the first MLB team

to permanently feature numbers on the

back of their uniforms.

Apparently the numbers that they put on

corresponded to the

position in their batting order.

And then lastly, in 1943, apparently it's

a slow news day, but

in 1943 on this date,

Swiss scientist Dr. Albert Hoffman,

everybody knows that name, well, he

discovered the psychedelic

effects of LSD.

Hey, way to put that grant

money to good use, Mr. Hoffman.

Excuse me, Dr. Hoffman.

And happy birthday to you.

Today is your birthday.

You share a birthday

with, again, a lot of people.

Today, singer Chance

the Rapper, he's 32 today.

Actress Claire Foy, she's 41 today.

Singer Akon, he's 52.

Actor Martin Lawrence, he's 60.

Coach Bill Billichek, he's 73.

And Kareem Abdul Jabbar

is 78 years old today.

And the number one song on this date back

in 1991 was "I've

Been Thinking About You"

by London Beat.

Now don't tell me you

haven't heard this song.

"I've Been Thinking About You" became the

number one played song in 1992.

So I know you heard it.

It also won the BMI award

for song of the year in 1992.

Well listen to the song on the Instagram

page as soon as you do.

I promise you're next going to want to

start to do that little neckbeat dance.

You know what I mean, right?

All right.

Well, we are reading through Stephen

Covey's "The 7 Habits of

Highly Effective People"

for our book review.

But in this first chapter entitled

"Inside Out," Covey is

discussing the differences

between character

traits and personality ethic.

And he's unpacking how our behaviors are

based on our perspectives

and our experiences, which

he calls our paradigms.

And Covey describes the idea that despite

our individual

paradigms, within each of us

exists an awareness of certain innate

foundational principles

that cannot be broken.

We're self-evident to one degree or

another in every individual.

And we briefly discussed

these principles yesterday.

But as a quick reminder, fairness,

integrity, honesty, human

dignity, service, quality or

excellence, potential, growth, patience,

nurturance, and encouragement.

Those were the foundational principles

that Covey had covered.

Now today we unpack Covey's next

sub-chapter, which is

principles of growth and change.

Where Covey quickly reminds the reader

that the massive appeal

of personality ethic is

quote, "that there is some quick and easy

way to achieve quality

of life without going

the natural process of work and growth

that makes it possible."

End quote.

Covey really wants the reader to

understand the personality

ethic is quote, "illusory

and deceptive."

End quote.

And one will not achieve quote, "high

quality results with its

techniques and its quick

fixes."

End quote.

And remember, what Covey is talking about

these quick fixes is about trying hard to

use techniques, faking things through

interest and faking

interest and faking smiles just

to have a better attitude, all just to

get through the day

looking like you are successful.

Right?

Covey wants the reader to understand that

the natural process

of life from childhood

is a process of learning.

When we're babies, we roll over, then we

sit up, then we crawl,

then we walk, and then

we learn to run.

And it's the same with learning to play

an instrument, right?

It's a process.

And so it is the same with communicating

effectively with people

in our social circles,

in our marriages, our families, even in

our organizations, right?

Any of these growth areas, this process

takes time to do it right

and the steps simply just

can't be skipped.

But because of this, we often find

ourselves looking for a

shortcut, looking to skip a

step to save time and effort, yet still

hoping for the same outcome.

Covey says we can't do this in the area

of our own growth and development.

Example, you won't be able to play a

sport at a higher level

simply with positive thinking.

Or suggest you're a concert pianist if

you're just a beginner, right?

To make the same point, Covey here says

often what I close this

show with, quote, "A thousand

mile journey begins with the first step."

And Covey adds this for the point that

he's making here about

the journey, quote, "It

can only be taken one

step at a time," end quote.

So Covey recognizes the fact that we have

an ego and often our

ego won't allow us to

drop our act in order

to take on real change.

Covey says if we want to grow

emotionally, quote, "We must learn to

listen and this requires

emotional strength.

Thinking involves patience, openness, and

the desire to understand highly developed

qualities of character," end quote.

We'll close today with a quote from

Thoreau on opening

ourselves up for growth.

He said, "How can we remember our

ignorance, which our growth

requires, when we are using

our knowledge all of

the time," end quote.

Well tomorrow we're going to continue in

this sub-chapter of

Covey's Principles of Growth

and Change.

Hey, have a great middle of the week Bomp

Day 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 seaningless

and at seaningless.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.