Do This First (Daily Motivational Podcast)

Sept 23, 2024. It is officially 99 days till the end of the year. How are your goals coming along? Well, how are they shaping up? The key is to focus on progress. Just think that you have over three months to make an impact. At the very least, you’ll be closer than you were last year, if you take positive steps forward. The life we are living is a result of decisions we’ve made. If you want to mov...

Sept 22, 2024. It is 100 days till the end of the year. How are your goals coming along so far?  I’m not going to let you fail. We have 100 days to advance in our goals before the end of the year. At the very least, you’ll be closer than you were last year, if you take the actionable steps  The decisions we make are reflected in our lives, and encompass our career, relationship, home, fi...

Sept 21, 2024. It is 101 days till the end of the year. How are your goals coming along so far?  I’m not going to let you fail. We have over 100 days to advance in our goals before the end of the year. At the very least, you’ll be closer than you were last year, if you take the actionable steps outlined throughout our podcast now 267 days in and 101 more days to go. Today we are continuing wi...

This podcast episode was posted on Sept 20, 2024. It is 102 days till the end of the year. Today we are continuing with prioritization, which is part of our overarching year end series Finish Strong..  Today, we are taking a closer look at how current and past billionaires prioritize. A short disclaimer, as some people may be great at certain things and we can recognize that,  however it...

It is 103 days Or 3 months, 12 days till  the end of the year. How are your goals coming along? What this  also means is there are 103 podcast episodes left in this podcast for 2024. With that in mind, I’m starting a countdown to 2025, to help us all finish 2024 strong, and light up 2025. One of the wisest ways to finish the year strong, and kick off next year with style is through prope...

Everyone at one time or another has questioned the point of life. Philosophy is centered around those questions. Our 12 part series explored many of those questions and shared actionable insights from some of the greatest of all time. From Descartes to Solomon, we learned that our belief system, pausing to think, and synthesize information, and guiding our actions through reason and knowledge can...

The wisest man who ever lived, many would say, was King Solomon. A Philosopher King of sorts, is widely known for his wisdom as evidenced through the biblical books he authored Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and The Song of Solomon. Born as the son of King David, Solomon was chosen by God to succeed his father as the ruler of Israel. Throughout his reign, he displayed a remarkable ability to make wise de...

Alan Alexander Milne, known to the world as A.A. Milne, was a celebrated British author, playwright, and poet, best remembered for his beloved children's books featuring the character Winnie-the-Pooh. The onset of World War I marked a significant turning point in Milne’s life. He served as an officer in the British Army, actively participating in trench warfare. The trauma of war had a lasting imp...

Peter Abelard, a prominent medieval philosopher, theologian, and many say the preeminent logician of the medieval times. He was born in 1079 in Le Pallet, near Nantes, France. His early life was characterized by a strong desire for knowledge, leading him to study at various institutions, including the University of Paris like Rene Descartes and Thomas Aquinas. By the age of twenty, Abelard had est...

Francis Bacon, an eminent philosopher of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, is often heralded as the father of empiricism and a precursor to modern scientific thought. First some background info on the noted philosopher. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was a significant figure in the development of modern philosophy and scientific methodology. He is often regarded as the father of empiricism and th...

Gabriel Marcel was a prominent French philosopher, playwright, and musicologist, often associated with existentialism, though he offered a distinct perspective that diverged from that of Jean-Paul Sartre and other existentialists. Marcel's thinking was characterized by a strong emphasis on human existence, personal experience, and the relational aspect of being.. For Marcel, hope was not merely a...

Thomas Aquinas, one of the most prominent philosophers and theologians of the medieval period, was born in the year 1225 in the castle of Roccasecca, Italy. He belonged to a noble family; his father, Landulf of Aquino, was a Count and his mother, Theodora, hailed from a prominent family.  From an early age, Thomas displayed remarkable intelligence, leading his family to send him to study at t...

Theodicy: Valuable Life Lessons from G.W. Leibniz's Text Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s Theodicy, written in 1710, stands as a philosophical exploration addressing the problem of evil in a world created by a benevolent and omnipotent God.  Leibniz tackled one of the most enduring questions in human thought: Why do evil and suffering exist if an all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful deity has c...

René Descartes, often referred to as the father of modern philosophy, is a figure whose contributions have significantly shaped Western thought. Born in France in 1596, Descartes bridged the gap between the medieval scholastic thought and the modern scientific methodology. His emphasis on reason as the primary source of knowledge led to transformative developments across multiple disciplines, incl...

Blaise Pascal, the 17th-century French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher. He is best known for his contributions to science and his penetrating philosophical insights. His works, particularly “Pensées” (Thoughts), encapsulate a wide range of ideas that reflect on humanity, faith, and reason. Blaise asserted that it was best to believe as if there is a God because its benefits outweigh the...

François-Marie Arouet, better known by his pen name Voltaire, was one of the most prominent figures of the Enlightenment, a movement that emphasized reason, individualism, and skepticism of tradition. Born on November 21, 1694, in Paris, Voltaire's life spanned the tumultuous periods of the early 18th century, a time characterized by social upheaval, political transformation, and the dawn of moder...

A giant in the Enlightenment Era, Immanuel Kant,shaped to some extent, philosophy, ethics, and epistemology during that time in history.. Born in 1724, Kant’s intellectual endeavors laid the groundwork for modern philosophy, influencing a broad spectrum of disciplines, including ethics, metaphysics, and political theory.  For context, The Enlightenment era, spanning from the late 17th to the...

Today, we're looking at the story of Nektarios, from o trouble childhood to being ostracized from his peers. Understandably, these unfortunate and often perilous events cause him deep unfathomable physical and emotional pain. However, Nektarios finds a way through remarkable growth, adaptability and purpose. He leans in on hope and transcends the banality of his situation into a testament to the s...

Today’s featured movie is the 2015 film "The Revenant," based on the true story of frontiersman Hugh Glass. The movie explores themes of survival, revenge, and the never ending conflict between man and nature. Set against the unforgiving backdrop of the 1820s wilderness, The film opens with a striking sequence that sets the tone for the brutal reality of Glass’s world. Amidst the grit and chaos of...

Do you know 10 year old Auggie Pullman?  He is the protagonist of the inspiring 2017 movie Wonder.  Auggie has Treacher Collins syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that mostly affects a person’s facial features and ears. The movie takes us on Auggie’s journey towards acceptance.  At its core, the film is about being true to yourself. Embracing the vision you have for yourself, not som...

"Conviction" tells the true story of Betty Anne Waters, who dedicates her life to exonerating her wrongfully imprisoned brother, Kenny. There is an old adage that states luck is when preparation meets opportunity, and we see this in the movie.. Betty Anne’s unwavering commitment to her brother's cause showcases the essence of advocacy. Her journey illustrates how we can lead to social change, mark...

Released in 1994, "Legends of the Fall," is a sweeping epic that chronicles the life of the fictional Ludlow family during the early 20th century and through multiple decades encompassing World War I, prohibition, and so forth.  There are several life lessons and themes in the movie like the power of choice, the dichotomy of love, the definition of masculinity, and honor. However, today I’d l...

The Lord of the Rings, our featured movie, as won an unprecedented 11 Oscars, the most for a Fantasy film and tied with Titanic, and Ben-Hur for the most Oscars overall.. The quest in the Lord of The Rings is to save middle earth from a powerful and destructive ring. The One Ring, a powerful and malevolent artifact threatens to bring about the end of Middle-earth. The mission is impossibly dangero...

Today’s featured movie "The Notebook" is a powerful testament to true love and the consequences of choices. Through the lens of the relationship between the film's two main characters, Allie and Noah, we are presented on how just one decision can alter the course of a person's life. Consequential thinking, often referred to as "thinking ahead," plays a central role in the narrative of "The Noteboo...

Today’s featured movie is "The Bucket List". The film follows Carter Chambers, a family man and mechanic, and Edward Cole, a wealthy and successful businessman, who is financially successful, powerful, but lacks the things that truly matter in life .The two men are terminally ill and meet while sharing a hospital room.  As they come to terms with their limited time left on Earth, they create...