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 3, Habit 4, 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 3, Habit 4 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 Serial.

Okay, good morning and welcome to the

underappreciated Thursday.

Now hopefully you're up early and ready

to go because today is cycle to work day.

So quick shout out to Mr. Cooper, an old

colleague of mine that

would often ride his bike to

work in downtown Chicago.

Well, go ahead and jump on that old BMX,

that Schwinn or your

e-bike because it's all about

swapping horsepower for pedal power.

And if nothing else, it's a perfect

excuse to wear that helmet

you panic bought in 2020,

right?

So gear up, breathe in that fresh air and

try not to pull a hammy.

All right, well, let's go ahead and shift

gears from bicycles to

brain fuel with today's

quote from Charlize Theron who said,

"There's nothing wrong with being afraid.

It's not the absence of

fear, it's overcoming it."

In other words, bravery again, isn't

about never feeling scared.

It's about choosing to

push forward anyways.

All right, well, today's news, facts and

birthdays are for August 7th.

We're going to start back in 1955.

That's when Tokyo Telecommunications

Engineering, you don't

recognize it, well, they were the

precursor to Sony.

Well, they began selling the first

transistor radios in Japan.

Then in 1987, Lynn Cox right here, she

became the first person

to swim from the US to the

Soviet Union across the Bering Strait,

braving freezing waters

for over two hours in the

name of peace and diplomacy.

Then in 1990 on this date, the US

deployed troops to Saudi

Arabia and that was the beginning

of Operation Desert Shield.

Then finally in 1992 on this date, the

movie Unforgiven, the

Clint Eastwood Western, well,

it was released and it would go on to win

four Academy Awards,

including Best Picture.

Well, happy birthday to you

if today is your birthday.

You share a birthday with Charlize

Theron, the Oscar

winning actress and producer.

She turns 50 today.

It's a big one for her.

Happy birthday.

And David Duchovny's actor, mostly known

from the X-Files, well, he's 65 today.

All right, well, the number one song on

this date back in 1986

was Glory of Love by Peter

Satera.

Now, get your love tapes out and your

slow dances ready

because it's the magical voice

of Peter Satera.

Now, this emotional power ballad made

famous as the theme

for the Cry 2 Kid Part 2.

It was Satera's first solo hit after he

left the band Chicago

and it held on to the top

spot in the Billboard Hot 100 for two

weeks and it earned an

Academy Award nomination

for Best Original Song,

an incredible love song.

Love it.

Well, let's go ahead and ride on over to

today's book segment.

We're in habit four still of Stephen R.

Covey's The Seven Habits

of Highly Effective People

and today we're digging into the sub

chapter, win-win management training.

All right, so Covey opens this up with a

compelling idea here.

"Win-win can only survive in an

organization when

that system supports it."

So that means if a company says it values

collaboration and

shared success but rewards

only individual performance, well, it's

sending a mixed message.

So Covey challenges us to ask, do our

training systems, do our

compensation structures and

recognition methods, do

they reflect win-win values?

In a true win-win culture, leadership is

less about command and

control and more about coaching

and enabling.

Covey suggests that management training

must go beyond surface level seminars.

Leadership should cultivate trust and

encourage accountability and empower

employees to develop

internal motivation, right?

That means no more

carrot and stick games.

People need to feel that they're part of

something meaningful,

not just clocking in.

All right, Covey says this,

"Win-win is not a technique.

It's a total philosophy

of human interaction."

You've heard Covey say that before and

that includes how

feedback is delivered, how roles

are defined, and how success is measured.

A win-win approach demands that both

parties feel heard, they

feel valued and involved.

It's not about caving

in or appeasing others.

It's about building mutual

respect and a shared vision.

And Covey also underscores the

importance of alignment, okay?

Training programs should reinforce the

principles of empathy and

collaboration and proactive

problem solving.

If an organization trains its people to

win-win thinking but it

sets up systems that reward

rivalry or hierarchy, the

culture will never change.

It's like teaching someone to swim while

tying weights to their ankles.

Okay, here's your takeaway.

Whether you're managing a team, whether

you're managing a

classroom, or you're managing your

family, okay?

Remember, systems shape behavior.

If you want more collaboration and trust,

you need to build

environments that reward

those values.

That starts with training people, not

just on what to do, but how to think.

All right, well that's where we're going

to wrap up today's

episode of Morning Serial.

And whether you're cycling to work today

or you're just cycling

through that huge list

of emails, remember to aim for win-win in

your interactions today.

Hey, thanks for

riding along with us today.

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

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.

And these other podcasts will 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.