Month: January 2017

I’m Taking a Learning Vacation — You Should Too

“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”  — Walt Disney

Jan 18th

I could feel the stress flowing down my back,

like a waterfall too powerful to sit under without breaking you eventually.

I was zapped, emotionally and physically. And doing my damnedest to not tear up because of my current set of obstacles. 

There’s was a physical heaviness weighing down my mind. Pessimistic thoughts were attacking me at all angles. It took all of my effort to not let the negative thoughts take control of the driver’s seat, but their barrage was paralyzing me. When things get bad, my mind cops by going numb — I refuse to let it.

The difficultly of finding new clients and work, plus the lack of physical energy to do so and the pain of an old injury was doing a number on me. A one, two, three knockout of setbacks that were feeding each other.

I didn’t want ‘tired, broke, and empty’ to be the title of my autobiography.

Something has to change!, I screamed within.

Jan 19th

My mind is more clear than it’s been for months.

I’m not making enough, but that shouldn’t stop me from creating and pursuing what’s important to me.

I’m still tired, but I feel good.

My neck hurts, but I can help it by moving more.

Why the sudden change? What gives Josh?!

 

I’ve decided to focus on the possibilities and benefits of my setbacks, instead of dwelling on the downsides.

I’ve decided to choose health first.

I’ve decided to take a learning vacation.

And I’ve the liberty of taking a vacation from myself. I’m free.

I’ve let myself out of the cage that I helped build.

Because believe it or not, I was holding the key.

Just as you might be with your own cage.

Often times, the only thing holding you back from opportunity is yourself.

We get in our own way.

Q: How are you holding yourself back?

FEAR of Failure? ha no problem. I’m on vacation, you can’t scare me.

Feeling Stressed? not anymore. Vacation baby!

Feeling Stuck? you’ve got plenty of time to unstuck yourself now!

 

Okay okay, sure — I’m basically tricking myself — I’m still working. Still looking for clients. Still connecting, writing, design and a bucket-load of other things.

But my mindset has completely changed.

I’m looking up instead of looking down.

I’m not looking at the problems, I’m looking around them.

The only thing that’s changed is my perspective.

I’m still doing the work. I’m not slothing around. I’m not just doing whatever the wind tells me. But there’s a massive difference in my mindset.

Now that I’m out of my own way, I can do what I do, but better and more effectively.

 

My Learning Vacation Itinerary

  • Hone my design & developer skills.
  • Mastery the Art of the Interviewing for my podcasts.
  • Redesign renaissancemanlife.com      (Jan 28th: check!)
  • Start a Mastermind circle organization: Avants.
  • Learn about money, selling, online business
  • Find new clients, and have fun doing it.
  • Connect with interesting people in my city (Chattanooga) and online. Be a part of something bigger

 

Set sail on the S. S. Learning Vacation. Are you on board?

Tell me what you think in the comments below

related wisdom

“Life is not waiting for the storm to pass, its dancing in the rain.”

— Vivian Greene

“You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it’s important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages.”

— Michelle Obama

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My Evening Routine (as of January 2017)

My last post was about my morning routine (you can check that out here.)

The first thing you need to know about routine is 

Your morning routine is only as good as your evening routine+

An ideal morning begins and ends with how you set up your evenings.

Here’s my current evening routine:

  • Try and be home @ around 9 to start winding down the night.
  • Turn my phone on Night Mode. (3 seconds)
  • Take a hot shower, run through the day’s events, and end with cold water. (10 min +)
  • Layout my clothes for the next day (reducing mental energy in the morning) (2 min)
  • Roll my legs using a mobility ball [goal: my leg flexibility is pathetic, the goals is to be able to bend my legs enough to be a base in Acroyoga] [note: I feel a noticeable difference in my legs when I wake up, compared to not doing mobility at night] (5 min +) 
  • Make a SleepyTime drink (2 Tbsp of Raw Local Honey + 2 Tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar [I use Braggs] + hot water in a mug mixed up) — This smells awful but is super tasty. It’ll knock you out real’ good too. (5 min. make time)
  • A glass of Calm Magnesium Supplement [This combined with the SleepyTime Drink is a one two punch ….zzzzzzzz] (1 min)
  • While I’m drinking my healthy version of a night cap, I’ll read a fiction book or a book that read like fiction (such as history or biographies) [current read:  Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson ] (Usually just until I finish my Sleepy Drink)
  • Teeth Health (3 min)
  • Get in bed, lay on a sleep acupressure mat [I use the Bulletproof Sleep Induction Mat] (10 min)
  • By this time I’m out. zzzzzzzzzzzz

Evening routine is about turning off and relaxing. You certainly don’t have to do what I do, but you do need to do what makes you feel at ease and turns off your todo-list-mind.

Rest is equally as important as effort, but also the easiest thing to neglect +

 

Sidenote

 I like to practice pushing my mental will capacity at night.

You know that feeling you get when you’re in bed and you forgot something and you HAVE to get up. Ugh!! I like to push myself by lingering in those moments. The easy choice is not, it’s saying no and going to bed anyway. But that’s not my M.O.

I like to think that if I linger in that desire to not do something, and by do it anyway, I’m expanding my willpower. 

Expand your capacity.

Linger in those moments of inaction, then train yourself to take action anyway. 

I have no way of testing this, but my discipline in taking action has never been sharper.

Ask yourself,

Q: How can I expand my willpower more when it feels depleted?

 

If you feel like you don’t have the time to have a evening routine, it’s time to give yourself the space to create one. Make it a game, do it with your significant other, your kids and or your friends.

#KeepPursing — Josh Waggoner

Q: What’s your Evening Routine?

(leave your answer in the comments below, if you feel the urge to share)

 

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My Morning Routine (as of January 2017)

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” — Mark Twain

The goal of my morning routine is about creating space for ideas and creativity to happen.

Here’s my current morning routine:

  • Make Bed (1 min tops)
  • Meditate using the headspace app (20 min) headspace.com
  • Roll my legs using a mobility ball [goal: my leg flexibility is pathetic, the goals is to be able to bend my legs enough to be a base in Acroyoga] (5 min)
  • Go for a quick walk [Now Testing: Morning Walk for Energy and Focus] (10-15 min)
  • 5 Sun salutations [I think a cow could do yoga better than I can at the moment ha so it doesn’t have to be pretty. I’m about as bendable as a rock.]  (5 min) 
  • Make some bulletproof coffee [typically a mocha using Laird Hamiltons superfoods] (6 min)
  • Somewhere in this time frame, talk to my girlfriend on the phone (10+ min)
  • Five Minute Journal: gratitude, affirmations, and goals for the day (5 min)
  • Read and Write (40+ min)
  • Quick Shower, end with cold water (5 min)
  • And then get to it: Work on main project of the today for 90 – 160 minutes

Totaling to about an hour or two depending on the day.

Download Our Free ‘Questions to Help You Build an Epic Morning Routine’ PDF

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The key to a great morning routine is doing what makes you feel prepared for your day. It’s not about doing what I do specifically, or doing what others do — its doing what works for you.

By getting your mind, body and spirit right, you’ll find your work much easy to do and enjoyable (even if everything is imploding around you).

If you’re wondering, ‘how on earth do you have the josh darn time to do all of that?!’ the answer is I don’t — I had to create the time, otherwise I wouldn’t. I had to get up earlier, and be smarter about how I work.

Routine is a gift you have to give to yourself.

Otherwise someone or something else will give you a routine thats for themselves, not you.

Give yourself the time to cultivate yourself, and feel the benefit build every day.

If you feel like you don’t have the time to have a morning routine, it’s time to give yourself the space to create one.

#KeepPursing — Josh Waggoner

Q: So what’s your Morning Routine?

(leave your A’s in the comments below, if you feel called to share)

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related wisdom:

“The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.”

— Mike Murdock

“Discipline equals freedom.”

— Jocko Willink

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”

— Winston Churchill

 

Renaissance Life Podcast: RL#003: (Solo Round) How to Become a Renaissance Man / Renaissance Woman today.

Session 3: How to Become a Renaissance Man / Renaissance Woman today.

https://renaissancelife.fireside.fm/3/player/iframe

In this weeks episode, I discuss what I think a Renaissance Human looks like in today’s world.

Please give me a virtual high-five by rating RL on iTunes. I’ll be your best friend!

Favorite Lines:

“It’s about expanding yourself, and improving yourself in multiple areas, but [having priority in mind] by starting with one area, and going from there.”

Apologies for saying, “on the daily”  I’ve disgraced myself and all josh’s out there in the world.

Show Notes:

Becoming Renaissance

1. Choose a set of skills (3 – 5) you would love to be a master.

2. Make them into daily habits by practicing in a small way. make it something stupid small, the easier it is, the more likely you’ll make a habit out of it.

3. Prioritize your skill list. Choose one that’s the most important to you RIGHT NOW, focus on it first. Build up your abilities in that skill before pursuing the next. Developing multiple skills at once is possible, but it’s far more likely (and easy) if you stick with one at a time.

4. Study the greats of today and from history. Who is a master in what you want to do already? What can you learn from their path? What systems do they have in place?

5. Add regular feedback, and measurements to your routine to get the most improvement in the shortest amount of time. Remember, what gets measured get’s managed. Measure things in a way that is easy rather than difficult. If it takes longer to measure than it does to practice your skill, figure out a way to simplify.
Simplify simplify simplify.

Mastery happens on the day to day. Whatever we can do to set up our day right to practice our skills will create space for us to become mastery in them.

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.”

— Steve Martin

Support the Renaissance by buying my favorite products:

Be Bulletproof

http://www.bulletproof.com/coffee-drinks/coffee-3-roast-varieties

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