Life is Good continues Optimism and Heart in the Wake of Boston Bombing Tragedy

Bert and John Jacobs believe life to good. So that is exactly what they named their now thriving company, but it was not always that way. In 1989, the brothers began selling t-shirts door to door and on the streets. As they tell it on their website, the early years were something less than profitable. They lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and as two single guys at the time, they say “chicks were not impressed.”

Searching for an answer, but ever optimistic, they found it in the form of a drawing on their apartment wall that served as a kind of early brand and logo called “Jake.”

Bert and John recall;

“Jake's contagious grin, simple as it was, seemed to express everything the Jacobs brothers believed in.

  

One fateful September day, they printed up 48 Jake shirts for a local street fair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They laid the shirts out on their rickety card table. By noontime, all 48 of those tees were gone. A star was born.

Soon Jake was introduced to local retailers, and his simple message of optimism was embraced like nothing the brothers had ever seen. As demand for product soared, Jake's team grew, and the Little Brand That Could began to spread across America.”

Today, Life is Good has 260 employees and continues its emphasis on simplicity, humor and humility.

The more you learn about this company, you will find, they have a whole lot of heart and an abundance of love.

Life is Good is based in Boston and during the Boston Marathon, the company had several employees in the crowd promoting the company’s brand. One was seriously injured.

In a story for Inc. Magazine Chief Optimist Bert Jacobs says, their employee was badly burned, but grateful he survived and knew that others were much worse off. (Sounds like a perfect employee for Life is Good to me.)

Bert continues; “The day after the attacks, our employees started asking whether we could do something to raise money for the victims and their families. I said no. I felt like we had to get our own house in order, to feel like it was OK to get back to work, before helping somebody else. But we're a brand about the power of optimism. We should be leaders of the spirit when bad things happen. So by Sunday, I changed my position and said we should make a T-shirt.”

Make a T-shirt they did.  Bert tells Inc., “We looked at what was already out there. A lot of "Be Strong" and "Boston Strong," that tough Irish mentality. I don't knock that. But it's almost like they're suppressing emotion: We're so strong, let's just move on. Life Is Good focuses on what's right in the world.

No matter how you slice it, this was a hate crime. But instantly afterward, all these people--the first responders and the people who helped people on the street and opened up their homes and ran to the hospitals to give blood--performed acts of love. So we created a shirt that says "Boston" on the front and "There is nothing stronger than love" on the back.”

The company’s sales plummeted after the attacks, and Jacobs says the T-shirts helped to head the company and sales bounced back because of the t-shirt. “We have 260 employees, and there is not a single person who did not touch that shirt. From start to finish, we got it out there in just under 30 hours. We're not built to turn something around that fast, but our people figured it out. They worked day and night. We're proud of their hustle,” said Jacobs.

In fact, according to Jacobs, the T-Shirt may be their fastest selling product ever with over 70,000 units sold in the first week. Life is Good had a goal of raising $50,000 to $100,000 and now it looks like they could hit a half a million. All proceeds are going to One Fund Boston.

Life is Good’s good works are not limited to the tragedy in Boston. Fox News reports, has raised over 9 million for kids in need.

Without a doubt, Bert and John Jacobs and the entire Life is Good team emulates the Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi model. They focus on core principles like Belief, Enthusiasm, Heart, Attitude, Passion, Purpose and Imagination. What they call optimism. They believe that by focusing on and staying true to their core values, that success will find them and it has in a big way.

Life if very good for Life is Good.

Click here to learn more about the Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi model.

Be Great!

MB

6 Year Old Dylan Siegel Knows How to Be Happi

Dylan Siegel has discovered what “Be Happi”is all about. He embodies each of the core principles of “Be Happi,” belief, enthusiasm, heart, attitude, passion, purpose, and Imagination and Dylan is only 6 years old!

The first grader wrote a book entitled “Chocolate Bar” to raise money for his best buddy, Jonah Pournazarian who suffers from a rare disease called glycogen storage disease type 1B.

In an article entitled “Boy, 6, Writes 'Chocolate Bar' Book To Raise $30,000 For Friend With Rare Liver Disease” Ron Decker of the Huffington Post reports that sales from the book and chocolate bars donated by Whole Foods have topped $30,000.

When Dylan approached his parents with the idea, they suggested a more traditional method of fund-raising like a bake sale or lemonade stand. Dylan quickly rejected those ideas and had the first pages of “Chocolate Bar” to his parents in less than an hour. Chocolate Bar is the term used by Dylan to mean Awesome.

Here is how Dylan is living the “Be Happi” model;

Dylan has belief. He believes his friends disease can be cured and his friend, Jonah will someday be able to live a normal life so buttressed by the success of “Chocolate Bar,” Dylan has a goal of raising one million dollars for research to find a cure.

Dylan has Enthusiasm. He is giving his time and energies to helping his friend.

Dylan has Heart. He has a Moral Heart by doing the right thing in helping to find a cure to help Jonah and others with this rare disease. Dylan shows a Mental Heart by having the discipline to stick with the project and produce the first pages of his book in less than an hour. And of course, Dyan is showing his Emotional Heart in his concern and love for his friend.

Dylan has a positive Attitude. He knew what he wanted to do and did not let anybody steer him in another direction.

Dylan has Passion and Purpose. Dylan is passionate about helping his friend, Jonah become healthy. This has led Dylan to his purpose of helping to find a cure for Jonah and others with the disease by raising money for research.

Finally, Dylan has Imagination. He envisioned writing a book called “Chocolate Bar” which was different and unique. He did not want to do something that had been done before.

Dylan Siegel is living the Be Happi model at 6 years old.

For more on the Be Happi model, see Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi.

Be Great!

MB

Does Self Belief Help Breed Success? The Real World Says Yes!

A recent article for the BBC News, entitled “Does confidence really breed success?” reports on a study conducted by Psychologist Jean Twenge which suggests, “…a 30% tilt towards narcissistic attitudes in US students since 1979.”

Narcissism is defined in the article as “Excessive self-love or vanity; self-admiration, self-centredness.”

Twinge is quoted as saying, “What's really become prevalent over the last two decades is the idea that being highly self-confident - loving yourself, believing in yourself - is the key to success. Now the interesting thing about that belief is it's widely held, it's very deeply held, and it's also untrue.”

Really?

Dr. Twinge elaborates, “You need to believe that you can go out and do something but that's not the same as thinking that you're great," says Twenge. She gives the example of a swimmer attempting to learn a turn – “this person needs to believe that they can acquire that skill, but a belief that they are already a great swimmer does not help.”

The BBC article goes on to say, “Despite a library's worth of self-help books promoting the idea we can achieve anything if we believe we can, there's very little evidence that raising self-esteem produces positive, real-world outcomes.”

Hogwash.

I am not sure how these studies were conducted and what protocols were used, but my guess is they have very little to do with those that have excelled and achieved “real-world” success.

Over 50 years ago, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale declared, “Believe in yourself. Believe in your abilities.” Others in the self-improvement and human potential movement have continued to hammer the point home to this day.

Regardless of Dr. Twinge’s suggestion that a strong belief in oneself is an indicator of narcissism and has little or nothing to do with success, there is a mountain of “real-world” evidence to suggest that Dr. Peale and the other self-improvement experts are correct.

As for Dr. Twinge’s example, I can say from personal experience as a former swimmer, she is wrong. You not only need to believe you can learn the skill of turning, but you need to believe you will be great at executing the turn quickly and flawlessly. You need to believe you will be great at performing those turns and visualize turning over and over again. By doing so, it will help you become a great swimmer. Great of course is a relative term…not everybody will achieve an Olympic gold medal, but when you believe and achieve to the best of your ability, you are indeed ‘great” and it does not make you a narcissist.

 

Indeed, almost every successful entrepreneur, business person, athlete or entertainer will tell you having a strong belief in their abilities and an idea, visualizing achieving goals, was an essential ingredient of their success. Many of them have used their success to give back to their communities and worthy causes, not exactly narcissistic.

Listen to what legendary entertainer Carol Burnett, said is this video. As a young girl she believed she would go to UCLA, but her family could not afford it. Burnet says, “I knew I would go. I visualized being on campus. It was a known fact, I was not wishing.” 

Sure enough Burnett’s dream cam true, a mysterious envelope appeared at her home with a  50 dollar bill in it, enough for the first semester’s tuition. To this day, Burnett does not know who gave her the money.

Now that is belief! 

Note how she visualized being on campus.

Entrepreneur Sara Blakely, the creator of Spanx, says in the video below, “The advice that I tell people who are just starting out or have an idea is to differentiate yourself. You've got to trust your gut, you have to believe in yourself.”

Sara wrote in her journal that she would be a millionaire by the time she was 30, She made it. By 41, Sarah is now the youngest woman to ever appear on Forbes Billionaires List. In another video interview with Forbes, Sara talks about visualization, saying “visualize where you are headed. Take a polaroid of where you are going to be.” Elsewhere, she is on record as saying she bought a watch she could not afford early on in her venture as a signal of where she was headed.

With all due respect to Dr. Twinge and her colleagues, a healthy self-belief, confidence and the ability to visualize accomplishing your objective is essential to success for most people and does not necessarily mean you are unrealistic or a narcissist. I wonder, at age 29, when Sara Blakely first hatched her idea for Spanx, if Dr. Twinge would have labeled her unrealistic and narcissistic? After all she wrote in her journal she would be a millionaire by 30.  

Belief and visualization works and there are hundreds of real-world examples like Carol Burnett and Sara Blakely out there to prove the point.

But is belief enough?

No.

In the same BBC News article, Florida State University self-esteem expert, Roy Baumeister says 'Self-control is much more powerful and well-supported as a cause of personal success…” “An intervention that encourages [students] to feel good about themselves, regardless of work, may remove the reason to work hard.”

Dr. Baumeister has a point, belief in and of itself is not enough. Belief must be combined with discipline, hard work, and perseverance.

Believe, work hard, and as Winston Churchill once said, ‘Never, Nerver, Never, Never Give Up!

Do you have a story where believing in yourself and or a crazy idea has helped you accomplish your mission? Comment and share below.

Be Great!

MB

Don't Seek Success - Be Happi Releases!

Don't Seek Success - Be Happi To Let Success and Happiness Find You! has been released! The 170 page book is available both in print and digitally exclusively on Amazon's Kindle. Don't Seek Success - Be Happi can be ordered here. The book is also available on Amazon at this link. The Kindle Edition can be ordered here. If you are a member of Kindle Prime, you can borrow Don't Seek Success - Be Happi for free. Simply log into your Kindle Prime account and instantly download the book. 

What's the book about?

Don’tSeek Success – Be Happi is the one book the self-improvement industry doesn’t want you to read and perhaps the most honest self-improvement book to be released to date. While self-improvement experts from around the globe preach success and financial well-being as the end game to happiness, Brooks argues that when we focus on success and material wealth, believing that is the key to happiness, we more often than not, wind up disillusioned and disenchanted with our lives. Something is missing, but we can’t quite put our finger on where to find that elusive missing link to happiness.

If the ticket to happiness is not money, status, and power, what is?

It is quite simply to “Be Happi!”

By practicing and focusing on the seven core principles of Belief, Enthusiasm, Heart, Attitude, Passion, Purpose, and Imagination in the “Be Happi” model, success and happiness magically finds us!

At just over 168 pages, in Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi, Brooks has written a self-improvement book for the average person, staying away from complex theory and filled with practical tips, common-sense advice, personal anecdotes and thought provoking examples to illuminate his points.

Some of what you will learn in Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi;

• How to believe in yourself and replace negativitis with positivitis.
• What enthusiasm really is and how to infuse it into your life.
• How to find what you were really born to do in this world.
• The real definition of success.
• Two dirty little secrets the self-improvement industry does not want you to know.
• How to regain your child-like imagination.

Written in a friendly, fun and engaging style, Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi is sure to motivate, energize, challenge, inspire and pump you up creating a world of possibility and potential.

Order Don't Seek Success - Be Happi today!

Kindle Edition.