Month: January 2018

Life Principle #14: Become a Super Connector

I’m what you call an ambivert.

I’m a half introvert, half extrovert.
I️ love knowing and connecting with other creatives and people pursuing extraordinary lives, but I️ also just kinda want to stay at home reading most of the time. (…okay, all of the time)

I’m not like a hiding-in-my-sweater-at-a-party kind of introvert, but I­t­ take effort for me to go out of my way to go to social events.

Yay a party! Where are your books?

The problem is, if you want to impact others, if you want to build a network of incredible people pursuing big and BOLD things, if you want to build your knowledge, wealth, and tribe you’ve got to connect with others.

Lucky for us, becoming a super connector is a skill.

Life Principle #14: Become a Super Connector 

I️ would be willing to bet you know someone who is a Super Connector. They are that guy or gal who you run into around town everywhere and who seems to know everyone.

Heck, they probably do know everyone.

What is a Super Connector?

A Super Connector is someone who connects others in a mutually beneficial way. Not only do they make great friends themselves — lovable, charismatic, genuine, interested… — they also life matchmakers. They’re Hitch with or without the romantic elements. (Maybe romance is what you’re looking for, a super connector would be able to help!)

Super connecting is a lot like New York City Subways or London Tubes. You meet someone lost on their way, and you point them to the right connections. You don’t know there exact destination, but you can help them head in the right direction.

Simply put, a super connector knows what you want, and can connect you with someone who can help you. Need some tips on email marketing? he know’s a guy. Looking for a new job? She’s got your back.

A Super Connector loves to help others and loves to connect you to others needs.

A great network is essential for a Renaissance Life.

When setbacks happen (and they will), who are you going to call? When you need advice on work, when you are looking to increase your income, when you’re looking for a great vacation spot — A healthy network can give you that.

The millionaires and billionaires of the world play by a different rulebook. The self-made billionaires got they way from who they know, and what they know.

So how do we start becoming a super connector? How can we make I­t­ a daily habit?

1. Be friendly:
Don’t just be friendly to the people you know who can benefit you! Be a friendly person. Smile, be genuine. Talk to anyone and everyone you meet. A super connector doesn’t hold back on who they do or do not talk to.

 

2. Go Deep:

You’ve got to care. You’ve got to genuine care about the other person’s job, life, worries, dreams, and goals. If you don’t go deep, you’re not really making true connections, you’re just adding up numbers on a followers count. Go deep. Know their names, their hobbies and pursuits.

 

3. Give Give Give:

Give and expect nothing in return. Connecting isn’t about taking. Receiving will come naturally. Just from the sheer fact that you’re being friendly, going deep and giving without expectations will set you up from them remember you and what you did for them.

 

4. Connect:

Go out of your way to help others. Connect them to ideas, knowledge, and people. A Super Connector connects — so start connecting.

Vow to reach out to at least one person a week to connect with them. If you see the opportunity to help them or connect them along their way do I­t­! Who knows where I­t­ will take you!

 

5. Start an Interview Podcast:

This is one of the reasons I️ started the Renaissance Life show. I️ wanted to talk and connect with creatives in all areas of life! People pursuing high performance and mastery in what they do. A podcast is like speed dating without the dating. Even just a dozen or so interviews in and I’ve collaborated on multiple projects with guests. 

 

6. Finally, You’ve Got to Put Your Heart Into It­:

You have to 100% believe in helping others for the pure joy and happiness I­t­ brings. Wealth and collaboration are nice, but building a network of friends who care about who you are and what you do is what its really about. Care about them, and they’ll care about you.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

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Related Insights

James Altucher: 9 Skills to Become a Super Connector

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.”  ― Herman Melville

“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.” ― Brené Brown

Life Principle #13: Become Your Own Best Friend

Do you know who you spend the most time with?

Trick question!

It’s YOU! (Bet you didn’t see that one coming)

It might seem silly to say, but you are around yourself more than anyone your entire life.
If you don’t love who you are, or where your going, you’ve got some work to do.

Life Principle #13: Become Your Own Best Friend

Becoming your own best friend is about being happy with where you are, and excited about where you are going.

The key to becoming your own best friend is knowing why you do things.

Being aware of your basic needs (food, shelter, love). 
Being aware of your desires and goals. 
And being aware of your psychology and upbringing.

Love yourself like a true best friend would.

Best friends tell you what you need to hear, but they never discourage.
Often times our worst enemies are ourselves. We mentally punch ourselves with negativity, anxiety, and comparison.

I would love to gain more muscle, but I shouldn’t hate myself until I do. That’s crazy, and yet it’s easy to fall for that comparison. Not only do we compare ourselves to other people, we compare ourselves to who we could be, or better yet who we /should/ be.

Superficially, we are our own worst critics. You might not like your nose, or body type or wish you looked like so and so from that movie. But we all have those things! Comparison gets you nowhere. 
You may love someone’s hair, and hate your own, and they probably love your hair and hate theirs too!

Best friends respect each other.

Respect your time. Respect your passions. Be your weird, unabridged self.

But what if I hate myself?

Hate is such a broad term. We ‘hate our lives’ but really we just dislike pieces of it. Perhaps your job is making you miserable, or you feel in over your head. Talk it out with someone. Read books about it to find insights. Take small steps each day towards making it better.

Realizing that we all want what we don’t have is a life-changing concept. Because even when we get the things we want, we really just wanted the happy feeling we thought we would get from having it. Happiness comes from loving yourself, not from superficially, or external gains.

Happiness comes from within. (a fortune cookie in the making right there)

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

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Related Insights

Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It — Kamal Ravikant

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” — Lucille Ball

“It sounds like a cliche but I also learnt that you’re not going to fall for the right person until you really love yourself and feel good about how you are.” —  Emma Watson

Life Principle #12: Cherish Others

You won’t get far in life without a solid group of friends pushing you to be better and more capable. (You won’t have as much fun either!)

You won’t get far by treating everyone around you like they are beneath you.

And you won’t get far by ignoring everyone that’s not in your group.

A Renaissance Life is a life of cherishing others.

Life Principle: Cherish Others

People want to be seen and heard more than anything in the world. Cherishing others means caring about the well-being and success of the people around you. 

How do you cherish others?

Reach out first. Healthy relationships are nourished by reaching out to those you cherish, in small intentional ways that show you care.

Be Generous. Relationships are a two-way street. You both have to be giving something in order to get something out of the friendship, and Generosity is a great way of doing that. No one in the history of ever has thought generosity is a bad character trait for a friend. Who wants to be surrounded by people who don’t give two shakes of a shake weight about you? Go out of your way to be generous.

Genuinely want them to succeed. Have you ever known someone who supports what you do, yet secret wishes you would fail? Some friend indeed. Don’t be them! Life is abundant, great friendships genuinely desire for each party to succeed in their pursuits. 

Love the mundane. A great relationship is someone you can do absolutely nothing with and still have a great time. Painting a wall? Waiting in line? Walking through an airport? Each can be a laugh out loud moment with the right group.

Be there — especially when I­t­ counts. You have to put yourself first, but cherishing others is being there when it counts. If someone asks you to help them when they are in need — and you can — do it. 

And last but not least. Listen. Cherishing others is about listening to what they say. Listen to their hopes and fears. Listen to their problems, and encourage them to believe in themselves. 

Friendercises 

Q: When was the last time you had a deep, heart to heart conversation with someone?
Call up a friend and talk about your hopes and dreams for the year. Where you want to go, who you want to be. Leave small talk for the birds.

Q: When was the last time you went out and meet new people?
Find a group or event around a topic you love and want to master. Become a strong character in that community.

Q: Who are the people you hang out with the most?
I strongly believe that we are the sum of the people we hang out with the most. Sit down and list out who you spend your time with. Are these the people that will push you higher towards your dreams (and vice versa)? Or are they holding you back? Surround yourself with greatness to become great. Surround yourself with positivity to be more positive. Surround yourself with hope to be hopeful.

In the end, cherishing others might be the best way to cherish yourself.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

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Related Insights

“A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.” — Jim Morrison

“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” —  Oprah Winfrey

“Friends… they cherish one another’s hopes. They are kind to one another’s dreams.” — Henry David Thoreau

“One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.” — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“Stay positive and happy. Work hard and don’t give up hope. Be open to criticism and keep learning. Surround yourself with happy, warm and genuine people.” —  Tena Desae

“If you want to become healthy, you have to surround yourself with a group of people that are getting healthy, and you have to be connected to a community that is doing what you want to do.” — Henry Cloud

Life Principle #11: Define Your Values (Throw A Party)

Do you ever look at a homeless person and wonder what happened to end up where they are?

One time, when I️ was selling my boldsheep clothing at a Sunday market, my Gabriella and I️ somehow came to the conclusion I­t­ would be funny if she sat on the floor in front of my pop-up shop holding a cardboard box with the words ‘will sell shirts for $’ written in big bold lettering.

What happened blew me away!

No one would look at her.

Not even a glance. They couldn’t even take the time to read the sign to see I­t­ was a joke. Someone even called the market cops in! 

We quickly explained the story.

I️ wonder if the reason we ignore homeless people is that deep down, we know that in a bad turn of choices and circumstances that could be us. (Either that or its because they always ask for drinking… er… I️ mean food money)

In the last couple years, I️ experienced a very stress-filled financial meltdown.  Things weren’t working at work and essential I️ wasn’t making enough to live, WHILE I️ was going through some health setbacks. All that to say, my brush against finance chaos made me realize how important your values are, your support group (the people you are closest too), your mindset (what you think, and how you talk to yourself) and your willingness to let go and ask for help is. Without those four things, there’s not much that separates you from a nice home and good food, to no home and going to bed hungry.

This is an extreme example, yet true.
However, finding yourself on the street might not even be the worst way to live. You could argue that going your entire life without knowing hardly anything about who you are and what you love is worse. I️ think I️ can speak for all of us when I️ say, being on your deathbed with regret, looking back at an aimless life in which you flutter from one thing to the next, with no rhyme or reason might be worse than death itself.

This is why defining your values is vitally important.

Life Principle #11 Define Your Values

Defining your values is identifying what you stand for and then standing for them.

What do you want in life?
What matters more than anything to you?
What makes you feel ALIVE?

Now take a good look at the life you are living today. The closer aligned your values of who you want to be and the way you live each day are direct cause and effect. Or in other words,

Show me your values and I’ll show you how far you will get in life.

The problem is, no one each us this shtuff. And if they try it’s so boring we never actually sit down and ask ourselves the most important question: Who do I️ want to be?

But not here, I️ like to keep us on our toes here at the Renaissance Life.
So you know what that means…

It’s time to party. 🥂

Next time you have a chunk of time off, say when you get off work, or this weekend throw a party. Block off some time, put i­t­ on your calendar and make I­t­ mandatory. Who should you invite? You, yourself and you of course! (Buzzkill?) Seriously. It’s time to have a knockdown, drag-out, uncomfortable talk with yourself about who you are, and who you want to be.

Sit down with a pen and some paper. Have a list of questions you want to ask yourself. (Including the three above). Turn off your phone, Block all notifications and social media. Clean your house beforehand so you’re not distracted by your environment. Do whatever you gotta do to be alone for your party.

It’s going to be challenging, I­t­ might even be awkward, but it’s going to be worth i­t­ because defining your values is the most important thing you can do.

How many of us go through the motions in life, aimless, and hoping something good would happen. I️ say, let’s make I­t­ happen!

Imagine as if you were having dinner with your current self, your childhood self, and your future selves. Every action and choice you make today can determine your future self, so there might be a few of future you’s at this party.

Start with where you are:

What lights you up?
If you could learning anything instantly what would I­t­ be?
Where do you dream about living?
What do you really think of your current job/school life?
What kind of people do you love to be around?
What did you love to do as a kid?
How do you think about yourself? 
Do you defeat yourself with your mind before you even begin?
How much time do you let yourself have fun on any given week?
What are your current inputs? (TV, books, people, food etc)

And then ask yourself questions about who you would like to be:

What does my ideal job? What sounds like the greatest job to you?
What would make me happier? 
What life would make my childhood self proud?
What is missing?
Am I️ letting fear win over courage?
What do I️ want to master?
Who do I️ want to know and be friends with?
What kind of life would make my future self happy on his/her death bed?
What are my strengths and how can I️ make them daily habits?
What are my weaknesses and how can I️ turn them into opportunities?
What would I­t­ look like if I­t­ was easy (This ones’ from Tim Ferriss)

The person you want to be is closer than you think. All I­t­ takes is a decision, this day, about who you want to be. I️ believe we are capable of change, and that change begins the moment we decide that we want I­t­.

Your values will change as you grow, they will ebb and flow depending on where you are in life. But your core foundations will always stay the same.
For me, life principles are my defining values. Be a Lifelong Learner, Act Boldly, Live Boldly, Be Your Own Renaissance. These are the values I️ have and the life principles I️ aim for. I️ don’t always hit the bullseye, but I’m always aiming my arrow in that direction.

Knowing who you want to be makes failure and bombing easier. Failures change from cataclysmic my-life-is-over moments into stepping stones to opportunities.

Today is the day to choose to be different.
See the change, take the leap.
Whoever you think you are, you are correct.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

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Related Insights

“Here are the values that I stand for: honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values.” — Ellen DeGeneres

“I have learned that as long as I hold fast to my beliefs and values – and follow my own moral compass – then the only expectations I need to live up to are my own.” — Michelle Obama

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, 
Your thoughts become your words, 
Your words become your actions, 
Your actions become your habits, 
Your habits become your values, 
Your values become your destiny.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

“If you don’t stick to your values when they’re being tested, they’re not values: they’re hobbies.” —  Jon Stewart

“Find people who share your values, and you’ll conquer the world together.” 
― John Ratzenberger

Life Principle #10: Live Intentionally

I’m bad about saying no to more things. 
More work, more friends, more knowledge, more impact — more more more.
Wait a minute Josh, work, friends, knowledge… why are these bad?

The problem is more work doesn’t necessarily mean more financial peace, it just means your busy all the time.
More knowledge isn’t bad until it squeezes things you already know and love out of your brain, by taking away your attention for what matters to you. More friends are great, except for the fact you can’t go deep because you don’t have the proper time to give to all of them.

Long story long, MORE stretch yourself thin, and without a  laser focus, you’ll be doing a lot of things, but not accomplishing anything.

Success doesn’t fall into our laps, yet most go around living like it does.
They wait for the rain to stop, they wait for their day to shine.

Change doesn’t either. 

If you want an extraordinary life, you’ve got to put on your shoes and go LIVE like the worlds gone tomorrow.

Life Principle #10: Live Intentionally

There’s a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald called This Side of Paradise. It’s a classic.
And I also hate it. 

It’s not the writing, nor the etching of the early 1900s. It’s the directionless characters, include the main protagonist Amory Blaine.  Amory drifts through his life, knowing he can be somebody special, yet to lazy to try and figure out who he is.

How many people do you know go about their lives living aimlessly, with nothing guiding them except the direction of the wind that day? How many people do you know who are shut down completely? They spend their whole lives saying things, but never doing them, or jumping from one fling to the next, or from one TV show to the next, not because they care, but because that’s what they do.

They exist, but they are not living. 

But not for us. If you desire to be or do something worthwhile its time for you to create radical change in your life.

To me, living intentionally is the ultimate form of awareness about yourself.
Knowing who want to be is not enough, you must also be intentional about your habits, input and thinking to get there. When you know who you are, you know when to say Yes or No to opportunities and actions.

Should I go to Disneyland? Well, no because you don’t like rides (or happiness).
Should I change careers? Well, you might want to consider it if you live for the weekends and your current job sucks the life out of you.

Be intentionally about the habits, friends, and life you choose.
Because it is a choice.

When you’re younger growing up, I would sometimes here adults say something like, ‘You can be anything you want to be, you could even be president!’ And a piece of you believes it, and another says to keep your head down and make good grades.

But really it’s the Nonconformist’s who color outside the lines, break the rules of whats possible that rule the world.

There are people out there, right NOW, who make a living from podcasting. There are people out there who EVEN surf for a flipping living. People direct movies like Star Wars for a living! People sing for a living! Anything you want to do is possible!

Living intentionally is knowing you can make an impact and have fun doing it.

If you want to be something, go do it.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

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Related Insights

“The quality of your commitments will determine the course of your life.” – Ralph Marston

“You can go slow. Allow your dreams and goals to change, but live an intentional life.” — Kumail Nanjiani

“You don’t climb mountains without a team, you don’t climb mountains without being fit, you don’t climb mountains without being prepared and you don’t climb mountains without balancing the risks and rewards. And you never climb a mountain on accident – it has to be intentional.” — Mark Udall

Life Principle #9 Keep Pursuing

Of all the principles we’ve talked about so far, persistence might be the biggest one.

How many poor fools have given up right before they were about to make it happen?

How many poor fools have given up right before they were about to make it happen?

In his wonderful little book, the dip, Seth Godin talks about when we should quit and when we keep pursuing. “Quit or be exceptional. Average is for losers.” … “People settle. They settle for less than they are capable of.” … “To be a superstar, you must do something exceptional. Not just survive the Dip, but use the Dip as an opportunity to create something so extraordinary that people can’t help but talk about it, recommend it, and, yes, choose it.”

The biggest difference between those who can persist and those who can’t is the intention behind their actions.

Are you doing it for the money, the numbers, the fame, the power?

Or are you doing it because you love the craft?

There’s a massive difference between the results of those two ideologies.

Love what you do, and you will go further than you could ever imagine.

Life Principle #9 Keep Pursuing

The ability to keep going, despite obstacles, despite naysayers and go above and beyond what most people will try is a valuable tool to have in life.

Pursuit is not a mindless pedal to the metal, push yourself until you break or burnout. In fact, it’s the opposite.

Pursuit is a slow moving steamroller, paving the way forward. Sure there will be bumps along the way towards your dream life, but that’s okay, you know you can and will persist.

 

Taking the turtle 🐢 approach

Think about the classic tortoise and the hare story. It’s always the thoughtful, caring, and persistent turtle that ultimately wins the race. 

But in life, we are both the turtle and the hare. A part of us wants everything quickly, now, ASAP, tomorrow’s too late… And the other part knows that we want to take our time and earn it. More often than not the hare wins out for me. But the more I take the turtle approach — slowing down, doing things right, focusing on quality, not quantity — things just work. 

You may be one more action away from achieving your goals. Are you going to give up, or give it a try?

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

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Related Insights

“You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plow right ahead.” — George Lucas

“I believe each of us has a mission in life, and that one cannot truly be living their most fulfilled life until they recognize this mission and dedicate their life to pursuing it.” — Blake Mycoskie

“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

“I am not the richest, smartest or most talented person in the world, but I succeed because I keep going and going and going.” — Sylvester Stallone

“I’m satisfied and proud of the things I did – even the bumps and the bruises that I’ve had on the way. You fall down, you get up, you brush yourself off and you keep going. And that’s what we’re doing.” — Gucci Mane

Life Principle #8 Act Boldly Live Boldly

Give me even ONE successful idea that changed the world that wasn’t crazy or “impossible” before it became reality.

Ideas that change the world are BOLD ideas. They capture the hearts and imaginations of generations. They resonate with all age groups and ethnicities. They are a piece of the human experience. 

Before there was print, people copied books one at a time by hand.

Before electricity, light bulbs, heat & air, computers, and space travel were mere fantasies.

Flight was only for the bird until the Wright Bros soared.

Look at all the things around you are right now and I’d make a strong bet that 80% of it would be impossible a century or two ago.

And yet someone was bold enough to try.

Bold enough to try.

Impossible is just an excuse for the rest of us to say until someone does it.

Life Principle #8 Act Boldly Live Boldly

In order to create the life that we desire we must act boldly, and live boldly.

Boldness is a lifestyle.

Being bold is taking smart risks while mitigating the downsides. To live boldly, we must do things that most won’t. Are you complacent with your life? Your job? Your body? Your friends? Act like the person you want to be, and you’ll become the BOLD person you were meant to be.

Boldness is freedom.

You have to be bold when you step into your discomfort zone. People are going to criticize you. They are going to tell you’ll never make it. That your dreams are impossible. Fear will be a constant companion in your pursuit of creativity. But the difference between someone whose bold and whose not is what you do with your fear: Give in to it and never pull yourself out, or see fear as a challenge. A challenge to do something different. Boldness means not hesitating.

We can plan, prepare, talk and research until the cows come home 🐄 🐄 🐄, but at the end of the day, if we are going to create our own Renaissance we need to act.

How to Practice Boldness

Do that thing you’ve been putting off because of fear.   

Ask him or her out. (or go on a dating fast)
Take that trip you been dreaming about.
Apply for a job that doesn’t suck the life out of you.
Start a YouTube channel.

The only thing that separates you and your dreams is a little boldness. 

People might think you are crazy. But you know what, 

We all need to be a little crazier.

Crazy as in, I’m probably definitely gonna die if I do this? 

No.
 
But crazy as in, I might fail, look like a fool, go against what people say, tear a hole in the fabric of the universe know as the ‘status quo’, or do something against the norm?

Abso-friggin-lutely.
 
Because being BOLD requires you to be different. And for me, at the very least, 

I choose to be different.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

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Related Insights

“Freedom lies in being BOLD.” — Robert Frost

“Boldness doesn’t mean rude, obnoxious, loud, or disrespectful. Being bold is being firm, sure, confident, fearless, daring, strong, resilient, and not easily intimidated. It means you’re willing to go where you’ve never been, willing to try what you’ve never tried, and willing to trust what you’ve never trusted. Boldness is quiet, not noisy.” —  Mike Yaconelli

“Make bold choices and make mistakes. It’s all those things that add up to the person you become.” —  Angelina Jolie

“Though we may have desires or bold goals, for whatever reason, most of us don’t think we can achieve something beyond what we’re qualified to achieve. Why, I ask, do we let reality interfere with our dreams?” — Simon Sinek

Life Principle #7: Be Your Own Renaissance 

For half of my life, I felt I was living asleep.
I don’t think I was apathetic, at least not completely. I cared about things and loved my life.
But I wasn’t 100% awake. I was sleep living (or awake dreaming). I was letting life happen at me, rather than with me.

The moment I decided to take learning, and pursuing things I love into my own hands, the doors of my mind blew off and I saw what is possible in this life. We are capable of creating our own change.

It was the beginning of my Renaissance journey, and it all started with a decision to become healthy.

I did everything wrong of course. I cooked with the wrong oils. I didn’t eat enough, and probably unintentionally malnourished myself. Basically, I had no idea what I was doing lol. But it doesn’t matter.

What matters is I decided to create myself that day. I took one step towards creating a better life that I dreamed of.

When it comes to decisions, I like to look at life through a binary lens:
Own your life, or let life own you.

Own your life, or let life own you.

Life Principle #7: Be Your Own Renaissance.

When you desire change, no one is going to do it for you. As much as I dreamed of wishing for a fairy godmother to put a briefcase full of money under my bed while I was sleeping, it wasn’t going to come true.

And when we don’t get handed the silver plater we hoped for and we feel disappointed, whose fault it that?

Our own.

Be Your Own Renaissance

If you want to change something about your life, you’ve got to be the one to do it. You are your own renaissance, you make your own change.

Don’t blame the world for your problems, and don’t blame yourself either! Focus forward and change it.

Becoming Your Own Renaissance means taking charge of your fundamental liberties.

It means honing your character to be more positive, capable, resilient, and impactful person.

It means deciding who you spend your time with, and what you spend your time doing.

It means believing that you can be happy and can immediately start creating more happiness in your life.

It means training your mind to develop ideas, solve problems and create financial freedom in your life.

It means being open to experiences, possibilities and new ways of thinking.

It means you can decide your beliefs and values of who you want to be, despite what everyone else tells you.

You have the power to take your life circumstance into your own hands. 

Let me bring out my jazz bongos here for a second and spit some rhymes at you.

Life is perspective. The world feels like it revolves around us because we see through our own eyes, and feel with our own bodies. Happiness, pleasure pain — we can see someone in pain, but until we are in pain ourselves, we won’t truly know how it feels. And the way we see our world determines how we act in it. When you see things as being unchangeable, you live your life through that perspective. You identify with the circumstances. I can’t get fit because I am fat. I can’t start a business, I don’t know enough yet. I can’t learn guitar, I’m too old.

But when you open up your mind to the possibility that you actually get to decide how your life turns out (no matter how old or young you are) all you see is abundance.

I want to be fit, let me figure out how. I want to start a business, okay let me create a website and figure it out. I want to learn guitar, I’ll take lessons. And when things don’t work out, you keep going until you learn how.

I’ll put my jazz bongos away now {:P

Be your own Renaissance, Make your own change.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

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Related Insights

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” — George Bernard Shaw

“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” — Oprah Winfrey

“The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.” — Bertrand Russell

Life Principle #6: Live For Challenge

Imagine yourself backstage.

You’re about to go one and speak to a crowded room of thousands of people.
The crowd is lively, the stage lights are bright, and you’re freaking the E. F-ing G. out.

Good.

That means you’re doing something right.

Public speaking is one of the most feared and revered skills we can have as humans. The ability to capture the minds and imaginations of thousands all at once with words — interpreted sounds — is incredible to me!

But unless you practice and hone your skills, it’s easy to see how being in front of that many people all looking at you at once can create such a fear-inducing effect. When I’ve spoken in front of people, I’ve either killed it or completely (arti)choked. It was all about the mindset I wore and the perspective running through my mind at the moment.

One prevailing theme I’ve observed from reading multiple biographies and from my own experiences is that challenges ultimately lead to greatness.  We become more capable, more confident, and grow faster when we jump into our discomfort zones and learn to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Life Principle #6: Life for Challenge

Mastery of life begins in our discomfort zones. Do what you fear.

When you feel a ping of fear* about something, that is something you should immediately start doing.

(* fear doesn’t mean stupid. Don’t go frolic with tigers or play hopscotch with the mob.)

Every moment of pain, discomfort, failure, critique, hiccup, rock-bottom fall is a challenge to overcome.

The worst setbacks we face can become opportunities for going further than we ever imagined. 

Setbacks don’t define you, it’s what you do with them that speaks about who you are.

Chronic neck injury, burnout, useless college education, financial meltdown, shallow friendships, fatigue, uncertainty, these are my experiences. These are the stories I have the opportunity to share with others and teach them how to endure and overcome their own challenges.

I think we all know intuitively that we have to do something in order to be something. (I feel dumb even writing it)
If you want to be a blogger, you have to blog.
If you want to be a musician, you have to practice, record and play.
If you want to start an online business, you have to start.

And yet we still let fear hold us back. We let discomfort keep us from our ideal future.
But the strange thing is when you live for challenge, you learn to enjoy the discomfort.

Do you think Jimmy Fallon still get’s nervous every time he goes out on stage during Late Night with Jimmy Fallon? Of course he does! But he loves it.  He loves the fear and uncertainty.

The same goes for everyone who’s ever done anything and stood out in their lives.

And when you do step into your discomfort zone, despite the fear, you become unstoppable. Not because you can’t fail (you will) but because you proved to yourself that you are more capable then you or others thought possible. 

Anyone can crowd surf, but only a few try.

Starting a business is terrifying. What if I fail? What if I lose all of my money?
Becoming a public speaker is terrifying. What if I bomb? What if I embarrass myself?
Becoming an author is terrifying. What if I never finish? What if it’s my work is no good?

But what if it works? What would you’re life look like if you succeed?
And if it is terrible, if you do bomb, what if you kept going until you succeed?

What’s scarier to you: stepping into the fear and challenging your comfort zone, or giving into the fear and living a lifetime wondering if your life would be better if you had?

The largest regrets I’ll have on my deathbed are challenges I didn’t take, and opportunities I missed because I was too scared in the moment to try. 

A moment of discomfort looking like an idiot, falling on my face, being criticized is nothing compared to a lifetime of giving into fear and taking the normal road.

The Renaissance Life is about challenging yourself to become a part of something greater, to be what you know you are capable of.

Live for Challenge.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

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Related Insights (From People Smarter Than ME)

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“I really try to put myself in uncomfortable situations. Complacency is my enemy.” — Trent Reznor

“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” — Dale Carnegie

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.” — Steve Jobs

Life Principle #5: Create A Life Mission

“There’s something in your heart, 
and it’s in your eyes, the fire,
Inside you.”

You don’t say good luck, 
You say don’t give up, it’s the fire,
Inside you.”

— The Roots, The Fire

The times in my life where am the most stuck is when I lose track of where I want to go in life. Why am I doing this? When you don’t have an aim — a truth north — to guide you forward, it’s easy to spin in circles and stay in nowheresville. You feel stuck because you keep doing the same old things day in and day out without any rhyme or reason. 

When I meet someone new, I can immediately tell if they have a life mission.  They have a spark in their eyes. You can feel their energy. They have a getup and go power that most — the ones who haven’t found their life mission yet — don’t have. 

Life Principle #5: Create A Life Mission

Your Life Mission is your purpose in life. It’s your passion, your desires — It’s what you feel most strongly towards. The thing that fuels and drives you.

Your Fire.

A spark is all it takes to ignite your life.

When you unlock your mission, your life snaps into place. 

Now, I’m sure you’ve heard a thousand bloggers, books and people out there tell you to find your purpose. Find your purpose and you will succeed. I think most people treat their purpose like they are hunting for Easter eggs on Christmas Day. We don’t find our purpose in life — We create it.

We don’t find our purpose in life — We create it.

Leave finding your purpose to the self-help shamans who haven’t practiced a day in their life what they say.

You have the capability to create your mission in life right now.

It’s not all rainbows and unicorn cupcakes of course. 

For one, knowing your life mission is one thing, but living it is another. 

The more you align your daily living with your mission, the strong you’re fire will be. But there will always be opportunities and distractions you can say YES to that will pull you away from your purpose.

And sometimes circumstances, setbacks, and failures come crashing into our perfectly invincible lives.

But creating your mission in life makes you more resilient to the setbacks that come your way. In fact, your setbacks can become fuel to overcome the painful moments to get to the meaningful ones.

Instead of feeling stuck, you know you’re just not THERE yet. You still have some learning to grow.

Instead of despairing in failure, you see it as an opportunity to go further.

Instead of going around in circles, you have an aim to shoot for.

How to Create Your Life Mission

Creating your life mission is about trying on new hats and seeing what fits.

Start by looking for signs of that fire in your eyes. How do you feel when you pick up a guitar? How do you feel when you dance? How do you feel when you’ve captured a moment with your camera? How do you feel when you travel? 

Your Life Mission should feel uncomfortable, yet unbelievable. Where, you’re scared to take the leap, yet when you do, you’ve never felt more ALIVE.

Examine your life.

Q: What do you like, what do you dislike? List and draw it out.

Q: Do you see a thread underneath your favorite things to do?

My mission in life is to become a Renaissance Man, a master of multiple crafts and life of meaning and worth. My mission is to serve millions of people and help them reach their greatest potential. And my mission is creativity. To pursue creativity and imagination in all that I do.

Start creating your life mission today.

Make it larger than life, make it BOLD, and make it too big for one life to hold.

And when you get there, when you reach the top of the mountain — create another.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

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