MM190 - Gift of Education

How can you help someone that you care about to educate themselves and broaden their horizons? The season of giving is fast approaching. Perhaps instead of purchasing an object that will be quickly discarded, you could give the gift of education.

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[INTRO]

♫ Trenches by Pop Evil ♫

*Alex*

Welcome to Morning Mindset. A daily dose of practical wit and wisdom with a professional educator & trainer, Amazon best selling author, United States Marine, Television, and Radio host, Paul G. Markel. Each episode will focus on positive and productive ways to strengthen your mindset and help you improve your relationships, career goals, and overall well-being. Please welcome your host; Paul G. Markel.

*Professor Paul*

Welcome back to Morning Mindset. Yes, indeed. I am your host Paul Markel. Thank you for joining me today, I truly appreciate it. Today I'm going to talk to you, let me give you a hint, a secret a trick. I'm going to help you to trick your friends or family members or people that you really care about.

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I'm going to teach you and we give you a little hint on how to trick them into improving their own lives, and you say "What? You shouldn't have to trick people into improving their own lives." No, you shouldn't, but this little trick actually came to me from a friend of mine.

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A few years ago, he sent me a message and it was a picture of his father and his father had a book in his hand and he was reading it. He said "My father asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year" and this is a grown man, his father's a grown man, and he said "What I told him was for my birthday, I want you to read this. Look, I don't want you to buy me anything. I don't want you to give me anything. What about your gift to me? We'll be reading this book."

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Oh, yeah. I know how many people in your life that you care about, you really, whether they're children or parents or spouses or whatever. People that you're close with and you've suggested in the past. You said "I read this book and I really enjoyed it, and I think you'll enjoy it too" and they come back with "Hi, I don't have time, I'm busy, maybe someday" yadda-yadda and he said "Well Paul, if you want to read the book, then you just give them that book as a Christmas gift." Ha ha ha you can do that.

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But how many times have you given a book as a Christmas gift and it doesn't get read how many times has someone given you a book as a gift? They wrapped it up and they handed it to you and they said happy birthday Merry Christmas. Whatever Happy Guy Fawkes day and they gave you a book, and you say thanks.

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You took the book, and you said it down and put it on a shelf and it's still there and one of these days you're going to open it. You're going to read it, but that isn't today. That is how we normally do that. That's how we normally encourage other people to read something that we think will benefit them something that we got a lot out of or we enjoyed or whatever and we think that they will too as we wrap up a book and we hand it to him we say.

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Merry Christmas, happy birthday. Happy Hanukkah, whatever, you know, Happy Leif Leif Eriksson day and they don't read the book. Do they know if they don't they don't read the book? If instead what you do is you say to them this is my copy of this book I read. But I really think you will get something out of it.

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I think you will benefit from it, and this is you know when people ask and I guess this is really good, it's a good way to gut check people because when people say to you, well, what do you want for Christmas? Yeah, we get that all the time right? Well, Dad, what do you want for Christmas? What is Mom wanting for Christmas?

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Ask your kids what you want for Christmas, you know people ask you. What do you want for Christmas, and if you're like a typical woman or wife, you'll say I don't need anything. I don't want anything which means you should have been listening all year long to all the things that I wanted and already have those written down and purchased for me.

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Isn't that right baby? Yeah, but people will ask you they will say "What do you want for Christmas?" and what you can say to them in return is, if someone says "Well, what do you want for Christmas / Hanukkah / Guy Fawkes day", whatever you say. Can I have anything I want within reason and then they look at the Tilt their head and I'll say what if I want something that won't cost hardly any money at all or cost no money.

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What if what if what I want for Christmas will cost you not one dime won't cost you anything, and now they're sitting there. They're like what? Okay. What's this? What does he want? He wants a coupon book for back rubs or something like that. I won't have you ever got those from your kids. You got the coupon book.

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This is good for 15 minutes of silence or you know, sweeping the kitchen floor or whatever. Good for taking out the trash you ever notice how kids they'll make a coupon book and for a gift for you and the coupon book will have things in it that they already have to do anyway, like take out the trash or sweep the floor.

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But you have to you have to exchange a coupon to get that I bet you that's somewhere in a box in my house. I still have a coupon book for my wife. That's what will stay good for one free back rub or something like that or but if they ask you that I okay and if you're sincere if you're genuinely sincere they say what do you want for Christmas?

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You say I don't you spend any money on me, but I do want a gift, and then they say oh, what is that? Your gift to me will be reading this book and you hand them a book, and you say that will be your gift to me this year is if you read this book if you read the words that are in this that's all I want.

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Now you may have a person in your life who will cringe and like can I just give you twenty dollars, or a card, can I just give you an iTunes gift card? Can I do that? Nope, nope. All you said what do you want for Christmas, and the answer is I want your gift to me is you reading this book and it kind of turns it around doesn't it has anyone ever done that to you.

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Is that as anyone ever said hey you asked me what I wanted for my birthday and what I want is for you to read this book. That is your gift to me is to read this book, and obviously, it's a two-way gift. You're giving to them you're making them do something that they probably wouldn't do on their own if you just wrap up a book and hand it to him for Christmas and they open it.

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They'll look at it and smile and say thank you, then. They'll set it aside and then they'll go put it on a shelf and then a year from now, it'll still be on that shelf and will be on red. So if you really if you read something this year that motivated you that inspired you that you think someone could benefit from but they're that person.

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You know, now you may have somebody in your life that loves to get books as gifts, and they're excited to get books as gifts. Sadly, most people aren't. So how do you get them to do that? How do you give them the gift of Education or Enlightenment or what have you? Well, that's one way I just taught you.

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I just gave it to you and thank you, Matt, for reminding me that that's what I could do, and that's something that people can do. So as the season of giving is fast approaching us. Someone says what do you want for Christmas from me and I like. Alright. This is what I want and you'll find out really fast whether they're genuinely serious about giving you a gift for Christmas or if they just want you to have what they want you to have and there are those people in our lives.

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There are those people in our Lives who they're going to give us what they want us to have. Not what we actually want ourselves. Either way. It's going to be an eye-opening experience. I guarantee it just like that guy from the suit Factory. Alright, ladies and gentlemen that is it for another Morning Mindset. I am your host Paul Markel and I will talk to you again hopefully real soon.

[OUTRO]

♫ Trenches by Pop Evil ♫

*Alex*

Thank you for spending time with us today. To get show notes, submit a topic request, for more from your host Paul G. Markel, visit MorningMindsetPodcast.com. That’s MorningMindsetPodcast.com. Please leave a review of this podcast on your favorite podcast player, we appreciate your time & effort, and we look forward to reading your honest feedback.