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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 Wednesday.
Rise and shine sunshine.
I think someone used to say that to me.
I don't know why I said that.
Well, some of you got to go back to
school today and you're in
for another exciting year
ahead of you.
Embrace it.
And today is a great day for all of that
sizzling ambition you're
going back to school with.
Okay, or maybe I'm just
thinking about sizzling steak.
It's National Filet Mignon Day.
And we're celebrating the most tender and
usually the most tasty cut of beef that's
been melting mouths, definitely my mouth
and wallets since the
early 1900s when the term
Filet Mignon was first appearing.
Well, it's what's for dinner.
And for our quote this morning as someone
who knows a thing or two about eating and
swimming, it's Michael Phelps who said,
"There will be obstacles.
There will be doubters.
There will be mistakes.
But with hard work, there are no limits."
End quote.
Now, a perfect Mobius
strip of inspiration, right?
It acknowledges the hurdles, yet it
insists that
persistence, not entitlement, is the
true flex here.
All right.
Well, today's news facts and birthdays
are for August 13th.
We're going to start back in 1982.
That's when the movie Fast Times at
Ridgemont High, it
premiered and it ushered in a new
wave of teen comedies that catapulted
guys like Sean Penn and
Checkerboard Vans into
Gen X folklore.
I mean, who hasn't worn
those Checkerboard Vans?
I know I had those in sixth grade.
Then moving up to 1985, which was after
sixth grade for me,
Sting, well, his first solo
US tour in San Diego, stepping out of the
police and giving us,
"If you love somebody,
set them free."
And lastly, in 2008, American super
swimmer, Michael Phelps,
well, he won three gold medals,
all in world record time, in one day at
the Beijing Olympics.
It was the 200 meter I.M., the 200 meter
butterfly, and the four by
200 meter freestyle relay.
All right.
Well, happy birthday to you.
Today is your birthday.
You share a birthday with economist and
former chair of the
Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen.
She's 79 today.
And late film director, Alfred Hitchcock,
he was born on this date back in 1899.
Hard to believe it.
Well, the number one song on this date
back in 1981 was
"Endless Love" by Diana Ross
and Lionel Richie.
Now, this is one of my favorite 80s love
duets, definitely on any
love mixtape and just for
good old listening to.
Now, this duet climbed the charts with
its smooth soul and it
definitely slow danced
its way into our memories, becoming one
of the best selling
love songs of the 80s.
And if you didn't dance to this at your
prom, were you even there?
If not, that's okay.
Well, where you are is here and here is
the book review with
Stephen R. Covey's "Seven
Habits of Highly Effective People."
And we are moving into habit five.
All right.
So this is a new chapter entitled
"Principles of Empathetic Communication."
And Covey opens up this new chapter with
a quote from Blaise
Pascal that sets the tone
perfectly.
Here it is.
Quote, "Seek first to
understand, then to be understood."
All right.
So this idea is
deceptively simple, right?
But it's one of the most underused skills
in personal and professional life, right?
Covey points out that most of us listen
with the intent only to
reply, not to even understand
what we're hearing, okay?
We filter what we hear
through our own experiences, right?
We've talked about this through our own
lenses, our own paradigm.
And then we're often preparing our answer
while the other person is still speaking.
It's like showing up to a conversation
with earmuffs, right?
You're technically present,
but you're not really there.
So Covey makes a
powerful observation here.
Quote, "If you're like most people, you
probably seek first to be understood.
You want to get your point across.
But in doing so, you may
ignore the other person completely.
Pretend that you're listening,
selectively hear only
certain parts of a conversation,
or attentively focus only
on the words being said.
But you miss the meaning entirely."
End quote.
All right.
The principle of empathetic communication
flips that natural
instinct on its head, right?
Covey argues that truly effective
communication starts with a
deep, genuine desire to grasp
the other person's point of view.
It's not about nodding politely while
they're talking, right?
We've all done that.
It's about entering their frame of
reference so fully that
you can almost see the world
as they do.
So Covey compares it to giving someone
psychological air, the emotional
equivalent of breathing
room, which allows trust and
understanding to grow.
This is where Pascal's
wisdom comes into play.
The philosopher believed that people are
far more likely to
accept your perspective after
they feel you have understood theirs.
And Covey builds on top of this by
explaining that once
someone feels heard, like really
heard though, they naturally
become more open to your ideas.
And that's not manipulation.
It's just mutual respect.
This empathetic listening is about
slowing down and investing in
relationships, whether
at work and family life or in those
longstanding friendships that have
survived every stage
of your life.
Okay.
Here's your takeaway.
Empathetic
communication isn't a soft skill.
It's a powerful skill.
By first seeking to understand, you
create the foundation for
real trust, collaboration
and real influence, all right?
The next time you're in a conversation,
whether it's negotiating a
deal, talking to your kids
or just hashing out plans with friends,
try hitting the pause
button on your inner reply
script and then lean into true listening.
You may find that being understood comes
naturally when you're
given the gift of understanding
first.
All right.
Well, ever since I mentioned the filet
mignons, I'm thinking about dinner.
So when you're grilling your filet mignon
tonight, look back on
today and how you savored
the richness of what you do,
not just the outcome of it.
All right.
Thanks for starting
your Wednesday with us.
Come back again tomorrow for some more
nostalgia and some
motivation 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 Shawn
Inglis and at ShawnInglis.com, where you
can also follow our
other podcasts, the Mr. and
Mrs. Inglis podcast and
the Life Happens podcast.
And these other podcasts will dive deeper
into everyday issues,
self-improvement, 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.