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
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Live It channel.
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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.