RISE EARLY. RETIRE EARLY.

Just an average guy, living an above-average life!

Be someone’s rainbow this weekend 🌩🌈

Good morning and happy Saturday!! How ya’ll feeling out there? I read a really cool quote the other day — “be the rainbow in someone else’s cloud” Got me thinking… We all have the awesome ability to make a difference in someone else’s life. Most rainbows pop up unexpectedly, and instantly cheer people up. And Read more about Be someone’s rainbow this weekend 🌩🌈[…]

Ways to cheer yourself up

101 Ways to Cheer Yourself Up and Be Happy!

Here’s a list of 101 ways to cheer yourself up! Some of them are a little weird, but bear with me — there are some really fun ones in here… Try them out and let me know what you think! And remember, we all have tough days and go through weird moods. It’s natural. But Read more about 101 Ways to Cheer Yourself Up and Be Happy![…]

It’s Friday! Lettuce celebrate 🥬

Happy Friday, and happy 1st of the month! My wife and I like to celebrate every 1st of the month… It’s a tradition we started many years ago to cheers our wins, acknowledge our blessings, and share celebrations with others. Here’s a few cool things going on in our world last month: My rockstar wife Read more about It’s Friday! Lettuce celebrate 🥬[…]

Let your tiny little thoughts grow… 🌱

I don’t feel very creative this morning. Some days I wake up and have zero motivation. But here’s the thing… If I force myself to just think of 1 teeny tiny little positive thing, it kicks off a snowball of positivity that gets me out of my funk. For example:  Right now I’m looking around Read more about Let your tiny little thoughts grow… 🌱[…]

Put your brain on Airplane Mode ✈️

Happy Sunday everyone! What a beautiful morning! Today, I’m living life in airplane mode… Not just on my cell phone, but airplane mode for my mind! This means… muting excess noise and drama entering my life rebuilding boundaries focusing on family/friends and what’s truly important, without distractions silencing work problems that can be solved tomorrow Read more about Put your brain on Airplane Mode ✈️[…]

Mix up your ingredients 👐

”You carry all the ingredients to turn your experience into joy. Mix them.” – Hafiz ***** Good morning happy people! It’s true… You carry all the stuff necessary… Inside your brain are positive thoughts, inside your heart is happiness, inside your muscles is energy, etc. Now you just gotta mix up all the ingredients and Read more about Mix up your ingredients 👐[…]

Marriage Advice Quotes – From 27 Real Couples…

Good morning everyone! LOVE is in the air. 💕 Here are the results from the marriage advice survey this week. 27 couples ranging from 6 years all the way up to 50 years happily married. Thank you to everyone who participated. Here we go!… ***** Marriage Advice Quotes: “Friendship, Communication & Honesty” – Yvonne & Read more about Marriage Advice Quotes – From 27 Real Couples…[…]

Just because I’m wandering, it doesn’t mean that I’m lost

Sometimes I’ll ask my wife what our plans are for the weekend and she’ll say… ”We’re on the no-plan plan” It means we have no set commitments and can do whatever we want. I love weekends like this. We can be spontaneous, follow curiosities and do whatever we want in the moment. Also reminds me Read more about Just because I’m wandering, it doesn’t mean that I’m lost[…]

Friday Happiness Checklist v3! ✅

Today I have 10 small challenges for you… As you check off each one, watch your happiness increase!! 😎 ***** Challenge #1: No complaining, ALL DAY today! Challenge #2: Think of 3 good things that happened this week… (You don’t have to write them down… but, sharing is caring and other people love hearing your Read more about Friday Happiness Checklist v3! ✅[…]

Productivity Hack: Get a desk plant! 🌱

Did you know, keeping a small plant on your work desk can increase your productivity by 15%!? 🪴 Plants have calming powers, and they allow for more creative and flexible thinking. Also did you know…? children engage in significantly more creative play when they are in courtyards with abundant greenery 🌳☘️ shrubs and trees in Read more about Productivity Hack: Get a desk plant! 🌱[…]

Replacing “have to” with “get to”

Mornin’ everyone! Happy hump day 😉 I read a cool article last week about reducing your “have-to’s” in life. (full article here from Becoming Minimalist) The bit that stuck with me the most was changing your mindset about “have to” into “get to”. Instead of thinking “I have to work today”… think, “I get to Read more about Replacing “have to” with “get to”[…]

The Two Doormen – A Story About Perspective

One day, a reporter was interviewing two different doormen working at the fanciest hotels in New York City. The reporter arrived at the first hotel and asked the doorman, “So, tell me about your job. What do you do for the hotel?” The first doorman replied, “I am virtually a slave… The lowest man on the Read more about The Two Doormen – A Story About Perspective[…]

Beautiful stories | Beautiful people

Good morning! Here are 3 quick stories to kick off your beautiful long weekend… ***** From Stephen, about paying it forward… “Doing the right this is always the right thing to do! We tend to always pay it forward also. For example every year on 10/5 my family spends a day doing random acts of Read more about Beautiful stories | Beautiful people[…]

uncommon hibiscus

Want uncommon results?

Want uncommon results?… – Build uncommon confidence – Think uncommon thoughts – Have uncommon positivity – Ask uncommon questions – Do uncommon things – BE uncommon   Happy Thursday peeps! Make it a good one! – Joel An uncommon hibiscus flower I met along my travels this week 🙂

Ask Me Anything – Round 2

Woohoo! It’s Tuesday! Time to celebrate!! Why celebrate on Tuesday?…. Well, why not? Got some Q&A from yesterday to share… And thank you to the peeps who participated! Next month I’m gonna ask YOU all the questions and will publish YOUR answers 🙂 ***** How is Cooper? (Jason R) Thanks for asking! He has regained Read more about Ask Me Anything – Round 2[…]

F.E.A.R. has 2 meanings

F-E-A-R has 2 meanings… Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise!   Today: Choose the latter. Facing the things that scare the crap out of you usually leads to awesome personal development. What’s the worst that could happen anyway? **Actually, someone just emailed me with another cool definition…  False. Evidence. Appearing. Real.  I kind of Read more about F.E.A.R. has 2 meanings[…]

Besides which you see, I have confidence in ME!

🎵 I have confidence in sunshine I have confidence in rain I have confidence that spring will come again Besides, which you see I have confidence in me! 🎵 Don’t laugh… but my wife and I went to The Sound of Music sing-a-long with some friends this past weekend. It was at the Hollywood Bowl, Read more about Besides which you see, I have confidence in ME![…]

Cheers to living in satisfaction 🍻

Common sense suggests that if you have more stuff, you’ll be more satisfied… Owning 5 cars is better than owning 1 car, right? —> Nope! 🙅🏻‍♂️ The truth is satisfaction and happiness is not about the quantity of stuff you have, it’s about making memories and having appreciation for every little thing in your life. Read more about Cheers to living in satisfaction 🍻[…]

A few fun stories from this past week!

Got some fun email replies this week and wanted to share the joy… Have a great weekend! Love, Joel. ***** From Rebecca: “I get to give someone a 15% raise today, to someone who was my friend before they worked with me and who I know needs this raise. I’m looking forward to it extremely! Read more about A few fun stories from this past week![…]

Life happens FOR us, not TO us.

Happy Friday, gorgeous people! It’s a great day to take charge of your schedule, own your actions, control your productivity, make good decisions, and positively influence the people around you. “Life happens FOR us, not TO us.” Today will be awesome —> if you make it be awesome. So, what’s first on your agenda to Read more about Life happens FOR us, not TO us.[…]

Your job isn’t that bad, is it?

There will always be something negative about your job. Something you don’t like that might be worth complaining about. BUT, there will always be something positive about your job, too. Actually, there are probably multiple positives. (Why you got it in the first place!) TODAY: Focus on the positives. When you focus on the good Read more about Your job isn’t that bad, is it?[…]

Steve’s CREDO – Be a hero, not an asshole.

Last week I shared a story from my outrageously generous friend, Steve. Steve has developed a “credo” — a list of statements and beliefs that guides his actions in life — and with his permission I’m sharing it with you all today… **Note: Steve’s credo is personal and specific to him. He took a 90 Read more about Steve’s CREDO – Be a hero, not an asshole.[…]

I wonder if anything bad will happen today?

Happy Friday the 13th! 🐈‍⬛ Ooooo, scary… Did you know there’s word for being scared of Friday the 13th? It’s called: paraskevidekatriaphobia On days like today, it’s easy to think, “I wonder if anything bad will happen today?” But when you think like this, you are subconsciously searching for bad things to happen so you Read more about I wonder if anything bad will happen today?[…]

My friend is “outrageously generous”…

Got a cool email from my friend Steve yesterday, and with his permission I’m sharing this beautiful story… “I had an opportunity to be outrageously generous today. Guy called my company kinda randomly, asking if I bought household stuff – i don’t. He explained to me that he had his entire house/trailer contents in a Read more about My friend is “outrageously generous”…[…]

The secret to being good at life 🏄‍♂️

Surfing last week, I overheard 2 dudes talking in the water… “You see, most people only surf on the sunny days when the weather and waves are perfect. But the trick to getting good is to surf in the bad weather and bad wave days too. If you practice when conditions are horrible, you’ll be Read more about The secret to being good at life 🏄‍♂️[…]

Just do it speech transcript

Just Do It – Speech by Art Williams – Full Transcript

Art Williams is my hero. He said “Just Do It” before Nike had their slogan, before Michael Jordan said it on TV, and definitely before Shia LaBeouf made his little motivational video. It was at a National Religious Broadcasters organization conference in 1987 where Art Williams was a guest speaker. He was asked to talk Read more about Just Do It – Speech by Art Williams – Full Transcript[…]

Ask Me Anything – Round 1

Happy Saturday y’all! Thanks for all the questions yesterday! As promised I’m sharing them all along with the answers below… 😎🏄‍♂️🌴🙏😎🏄‍♂️🌴🙏 Can you share an update on your foster or adoption process? (From Peter) Starting off with a real personal one!… As some of you might know my wife and I are exploring the process Read more about Ask Me Anything – Round 1[…]

Your friends = Your future

“Show me your friends —> and I’ll show you your future” Just a quick reminder to surround yourself with positive influences today, and every day. The people you spend the most time with shape your beliefs, and can improve or destroy your self confidence over time. Choose wisely, because you deserve the best future possible. Read more about Your friends = Your future[…]

A weird way to motivate yourself…

Here’s a cool (and weird!) motivation trick I learned yesterday… Download the “FaceApp” (free version) app on your phone Upload a photo of yourself Use the “age” filter to make yourself look 30 years older… Print the photo, and hang it above your work desk. Here’s what old Joel looks like…   Now, use that Read more about A weird way to motivate yourself…[…]

Resume vs. Eulogy

Your Resume… What you’ve done at work Numbers, stats, accomplishments Constant progression, ladder climbing # of people you manage Company brands, reputation Your Eulogy… Who you actually ARE What drove you to do stuff (your WHY) # of people you helped/effected Depth of your relationships Your ripple effect (legacy) True character traits Resume’s are important! Read more about Resume vs. Eulogy[…]

Enjoying the journey!

Happy Saturday, lovely people!! This morning my wife and I are driving to Las Vegas!! 🎲 …then to Salt Lake, then Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, up to northwest Montana, then back home to California! A friend of mine commented… “That’s like 40 hours of driving time! Won’t you get bored? Why don’t you fly, it’s quicker!?”… Read more about Enjoying the journey![…]