Good morning.
And welcome to morning cereal
Okay, good morning and welcome to Friday.
It's the last day of February, so I hope
you made the most of
this month, despite it being
the shortest month of the year.
There's a lot to look forward to in March
though, including
March Madness just around
the corner, and the first day
of spring, just to name two.
But let's enjoy the last day of February
because today is National
Pancake Day, National Science
Day, if you believe
in that sort of thing.
And for those hardliners out there that
can't get behind a
National Pancake Day, we can
all get behind
National Public Sleeping Day.
There's nothing more comfortable and
relaxing than finding a
nice public bench or sidewalk
to curl up and totally vulnerable to our
fellow mankind for a nice, peaceful nap.
Nope, that's a hard pass for me.
I'll stick with the chocolate chip
pancakes and two side
quotes to kickstart my day.
One fun, nostalgic quote, and then a
second quote to tease our
book review later in the
episode.
Hopefully one of these quotes will indeed
kickstart your day in
a positive direction.
The first quote is from Kevin Bacon, who
said, "Part of being a man is
learning to take responsibility
for your successes
and for your failures."
And the Baconator is not wrong, but I'd
just suggest that
that's part of maturity, man
or woman.
And today's teaser quote from the book
review is, "Success in
dealings with people depends
on a sympathetic grasp of the other
person's viewpoint."
And as usual, we'll unpack that here in
just a few minutes during
the book review segment.
But first, let's jump into our last dose
in the month of
February of fun and historic
facts on this day in history.
Today's news facts and
birthdays are for February 28th.
Back in 1827, the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad became the first
steam operated railroad in
the United States.
Then on this date in 1861, Congress
created my beautiful home
state territory of Colorado.
Then on this date in 1922, Egypt was
declared as an independent country.
And on this date in 1931, American
basketball coach Dean
Smith, who was one of the most
successful men's
basketball coaches of all time.
By the way, he also coached Michael
Jordan, as you can see
in this picture here.
He was born in Kansas on this date.
Then on this date in 1955, Gilbert
Godfrey was also born.
And on this date in 1983, the final
episode of the immensely
popular TV series, MASH,
it aired and it was watched by an
estimated 125 million viewers.
It held the record until 2010.
And the title of that last episode was
Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.
Well on this date in 1984, at the 26th
Grammy Awards, Michael
Jackson, he won eight Grammys.
Then on this date in 1993, the ATF rated
the Branch Davidian
compound in Waco, Texas, leading
to a 51 day standoff.
And in 1998, Pamela Anderson divorced
Motley Crue drummer Tommy
Lee, another forever couple
that I'm just so surprised
didn't make it the distance.
Then finally in 2013, Pope Benedict, he
became the first Pope to
resign since Gregory the
12th in 1415.
Well happy birthday.
If today is your birthday, you share a
birthday with country
singer Jason Aldean.
He turns 48 today.
Former Mavs basketball
player, now Laker, Luca, he's 26.
And former racer Mario Andretti, he's 85.
And the number one movie on this date
back in 1984 was
Footloose, starring a very young
and very awkwardly dancing Kevin Bacon.
You know, maybe I shouldn't knock it
until I just try taking
out all of my aggressions
and frustrations, just dancing my little
heart out in an empty barn.
Apologies, Kevin.
I'm still evolving into my best self.
And for the record, Kevin had a dance
double and two gymnastics doubles.
But that doesn't take away from his fire
dance moves, as my kids would say.
Great soundtrack.
That goes without saying.
The number one song on this date back in
1989 was Straight Up by Paula Abdul.
Straight Up was another song on Paula's
debut album, Forever Your
Girl, which set a record
at the time for the most number one
singles on a debut album.
She had four number ones on that album,
Straight Up, Forever Your Girl, Cold
Hearted, and Opposites
Attract.
Incredibly, as of 2025, Paula is still
tied with Diana Ross
and Lady Gaga for the most
number one singles by a
female artist in the U.S.
You go, girl.
Well, let's go to some personal growth to
the book review
segment of Morning Serial,
where we take a few moments to reflect on
lessons learned from
the current book we're
reading.
And currently we're reading through Dale
Carnegie's How to Win
Friends and Influence People.
It's a timeless book that is consistently
on all the must read
lists, and it's packed
with rock solid advice and actions for
all of us to use and
build healthy foundational
concepts to live by.
Yesterday, we finished up chapter seven
of part three, and
that chapter was entitled
How to Get Cooperation.
And to begin this chapter, Carnegie
called on some previous
foundations he taught us
earlier in the book, reminding us that,
quote, "No one likes to
feel that he or she is being
sold on something or told to do a thing.
We much prefer to feel that we are buying
of our own accord and
acting on our own ideas.
We like to be consulted about our wishes,
our wants, and our thoughts."
End quote.
Carnegie suggested that we plant seeds of
an idea with the
other person and then sit
back and watch the idea grow, all on its
own into what the other
person often will feel
was an idea that they had
come up with on their own.
This was the other person basically
selling themselves on your idea.
Carnegie's principle number seven was let
the other person feel
that the idea is his
or her own.
And today we begin and finish chapter
eight of part three
with this chapter entitled,
A Formula That Will Work Wonders For You.
And in these shorter chapters, Carnegie
comes right out of the
gate laying it out for us.
Here he states, quote, "Remember that
other people may be
totally wrong, but they don't
think so.
Don't condemn them.
Any fool can do that.
Try to understand them.
Only wise, tolerant, exceptional people
even try to do that."
End quote.
And you probably recall earlier on in the
book review when we were
talking about understanding
the other person's perspectives.
Well, good.
In this chapter, Carnegie is doubling
down on that philosophy,
suggesting we really need
to focus on what is driving the other
person, identifying the
reasons why they are taking
the position or acting
the way they are acting.
If we can determine these reasons, then
Carnegie says, quote, "You
have the key to his actions,
perhaps to his personality."
End quote.
To find someone else's perspective,
Carnegie suggests honestly
putting yourself in their
place, asking yourself,
quote, "How would I feel?
How would I react?"
End quote.
Remember, we are all naturally
self-focused people, mostly
interested in our own world.
And every person we meet is the same way,
interested in their
own world and their own
issues, their own concerns, et cetera.
Carnegie suggests that if we can be aware
of this fact when we
enter into conversations
and acts with other people, then we will,
quote, "Have grasped
the only solid foundation
for interpersonal relationships, namely
that success in
dealings with people depends on
a sympathetic grasp of the
other person's viewpoint."
End quote.
Here, Carnegie describes how a husband
utilized this
perspective dealing with his wife.
And in this brief story, the husband,
from his own
perspective, did not understand why
his wife spent so much time caring for
her garden and the lawn.
And when he told her he wasn't sure why
she wasted so much time
on it because it didn't
look any better than
when they had moved in.
I mean, first off, ouch.
But well, after taking Carnegie's course,
the husband changed
his approach, realizing
how foolish he had been.
Kind of seems like the obvious one.
But the husband said it hadn't occurred
to him that she might
possibly enjoy the work
and might appreciate a
compliment on her diligence.
Well, he did just that.
He complimented her on what a
fantastic job she was doing.
He noticed how hard the soil was, and he
often helped her pull
some weeds moving forward.
The result of this, quote, "A happier
life for both," because
he had learned to look
at things from her point of view, even if
the subject was only weeds, end quote.
Carnegie cites a quote from the book
"Getting Through to
People" by Dr. Gerald Nirenberg,
quoting, "Cooperativeness and
conversation is achieved
when you show that you consider
the other person's ideas and feelings as
important as your own," end quote.
It's been a while in the book since
Carnegie chose to repeat
a quote because he thought
it was so important.
Well, here it is.
Here's the next quote that he thinks is
so important that he's repeating it.
And he's citing Dean Donman of the
Harvard Business School,
who said, quote, "I would
rather walk the sidewalk in front of a
person's office for two
hours before an interview,
than step into the office without a
perfectly clear idea of
what I was going to say and
what that person, from my knowledge of
his or her interest and
motives, was likely to
answer."
Carnegie is saying that this philosophy
of contemplating the
other person's perspective
takes time, but it's
time very well spent.
Carnegie again repeats himself verbatim
from all the way back
in chapter three of part
one, saying that if the reader gets only
one thing out of reading
this book, he says it's
this, quote, "An increased tendency to
think always in terms of
other people's point of
view and see things from their angle as
well as your own," end quote.
And he continues to say that this one
thing, quote, "may
easily prove to be one of the
most important stepping stones in your
career or your life."
Well, here it is in a chapter entitled,
"A Formula That Will
Work Wonders For You."
Carnegie's principle number eight is,
"Try honestly to see
things from other people's
point of view."
And I'm glad this point came up again
because it just serves as a
good reminder to constantly
consider the other person's perspectives.
Well, from your perspective, I'm guessing
you're pumped up and
you're ready to get on
with your Friday and you're looking
forward to your weekend.
So I'll remind you that on Monday, we'll
begin chapter nine of
part three with an intriguing
chapter entitled, "What Everybody Wants."
Well, thanks for joining us today.
And if you're enjoying the podcast,
please tell others about it.
That's the best compliment you can give.
And have a fantastic day.
Goodbye, farewell, and amen.
Until Monday, of course.
We'll see you then.
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 at seaningless.com, where you can
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deeper into everyday issues,
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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.