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 5, 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 5 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

Thursday, Friday Eve.

Today is National Senior Citizens Day and

we are paying homage

to those with wisdom,

with wisdom lines maybe and some silver

hair if you still have it.

And those of you that are senior

citizens, you might

remember shopping out of the Sears

catalog or watching I Love Lucy or maybe

you rocked the bottoms

at some point in your

life and at one point you

only drove 55 on the highway.

Probably still do.

Well, well done.

You senior citizens, this day is for you.

And thank you for lighting the path for

us to follow, so enjoy your day.

But don't go too hard though, you don't

want to break a hip today.

All right, well our quote today is, "Not

a senior citizen, but

she offers us a bit of

wisdom nonetheless."

Casey Musgrave said, "Find what brings

you joy and go there."

Right?

Your joy may be a playlist, it might be a

phone call or just avoiding small talk at

the grocery checkout.

Wherever it is, lean into it like your

grandma leans into dessert.

And you know that's true, grandmas love

their ice cream and their pies.

All right, well, today's news facts and

birthdays are for August 21st.

We're going to start back in 1911, that's

when the Mona Lisa,

it was stolen from the

Louvre by Vincenzo Pergia.

But don't fret, it was recovered in 1913,

just two years later.

Then moving up to 1959 on this date,

that's when Hawaii became

the 50th state of the United

States.

So happy birthday, Hawaii.

Then finally in 2020, Korean pop group

BTS, well, they

released the single Dynamite.

You might remember this, it was the first

video to be watched more than 100 million

times in 24 hours on YouTube.

Well, happy birthday to you.

Today is your birthday.

You share a birthday with

singer-songwriter

Casey Musgraves, she's 37.

Track star Usain Bolt, he's 39 today.

Google co-founder Sergey

Brin, he's only 52 today.

Actress Kim Cottrell, aka Samantha, she's

69 today, hard to believe.

And the late singer-songwriter Kenny

Rogers was born on this day in 1938.

Well, the number one song on this date

back in 1995 was You Are

Not Alone by Michael Jackson.

Now, believe it or not, this heartfelt

ballad made history as

the first song to debut at

number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Now, this is not one of Michael's better

known songs, although one of my favorites

of MJ's.

But you might remember the buzz around

the music video to this

song as it featured Michael's

wife at the time, Lisa Marie Presley.

Well, as usual, MJ's right, we are not

alone because we have

Stephen R. Covey's The Seven

Habits of Highly Effective

People to Keep Us Company.

And we are in the

sub-chapter, then seek to be understood.

And in this sub-chapter, Covey starts to

describe the second half of habit five.

After practicing empathic listening, the

next step is expressing

ourselves so that others

can clearly understand our perspective.

Covey stresses that credibility here is

key, and he explains

that effective communication

rests on ethos, pathos, and logos, right?

The classical principles of persuasion.

So ethos represents personal credibility.

It's your character and your integrity.

Pathos is the emotional connection that

you're having, right?

Are you showing

genuine concern and respect?

And then logos is the logic and the

reasoning behind your ideas.

Covey writes, "Trust is the emotional

glue that binds people

together and makes organizations

work."

Now, without trust, no amount of

reasoning or logic will persuade others.

I think he's made that clear.

He says that quite a bit in the book.

Now, once people feel understood, they

are more open to listening.

Again, another thing that we're starting

to get more and more comfortable hearing.

And at this point, we can share our own

ideas, our own concerns,

and our own perspectives.

So Covey warns against

skipping ahead too quickly, right?

If we try to push our views without first

listening, then we

might create resistance.

If we have, though, listened

empathetically, however, our words will

carry greater weight

because they are now

grounded in mutual respect.

All right, Covey encourages communication

with clarity and

courage, but in a way that

reflects both honesty and compassion.

He advises framing statements in terms of

mutual benefit,

seeking solutions that are

win-win rather than one-sided.

And this aligns with his broader

principles that

relationships thrive when both sides

feel heard and value.

Again, very in line with what Carnegie

taught in his habits as well.

Ultimately, seeking to be understood is

not about dominating a

conversation, but contributing

meaningfully to it.

Now, when combined with the first half of

the habit, seeking to

understand, it creates

a cycle of trust,

respect, and collaboration.

All right, here is your takeaway.

Once we have listened with empathy, we

earn the right to be heard.

By communicating with integrity, respect,

and clarity, we ensure

our words build bridges

instead of walls.

So whether you're honoring those

important seniors in your

life, like our moms and our

grandmas or your echoing MJ's message,

remember, today, seek joy,

connect deeply, and maybe

do the moonwalk to

entertain those seniors.

Thanks for listening.

Come back tomorrow for nostalgia and

thoughtful fun, and have a fantastic day.

We'll see you tomorrow.