Month: April 2018

Strength in Weakness

You gain more strength through weakness than you think (or want to believe).

Because weakness highlights your need to change and rethink the way you do things. Of course some people go there entire lives without seeing it. Just because weakness makes you stronger, doesn’t mean you will get stronger automatically. That’s a choice you have to make.

When nothing goes your way, humility is there, waiting for you. When everything sucks, there you will find the questions you’ve been looking for that will set you on a path towards improvement.

Strength is not what you are good at or how powerful you are.

Strength is being okay with your weaknesses, working each day to try to improve them and learning to be okay with the fact asking for help is a fantastic thing to do.

We need others to help lift ourselves up. Relying solely on yourself is living life by falling into one pitfall after another. It’s doable, but it’s a bad way to experience the world.

And if you believe in a higher power, that’s were He comes in too.

— Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

And wherever you are, keep smiling 🙂

— Josh Waggoner

IG: @Renaissance.Life

 

Enjoy Where You Are

Enjoy Where You Are

Even if where you are sucks. Even if no one listens or seems to care. Even if you’re a broke joke. Even if you go from one setback after another.

Learn to enjoy where you are.
If you can enjoy even the suckiest moments, imagine the joy and liveliness you will feel when things are going great. 

Everything good and bad is an opportunity to learn if you let I­t­.

I’m not saying to mask your emotions and suppress sadness, longing, loneliness or anger. Feel what you need to feel.

All I’m saying is learn to love the process. 

Set a transformation goal, and enjoy the ups and downs of reaching I­t­.

If you’re sad about being overweight, decide right now to figure out how to be healthy. Learn to enjoy the process of learning about food and fitness and becoming the person who is a master of their own health.

If you’re discouraged about your finances, decide right now to figure out how to generate wealth. Learn to enjoy the process of going from nothing to something.

If you’re frustrated with your life, decide right now to figure out how to love your life instead. Learn to enjoy the process of taking risks, making change and transforming your life into something that makes you feel ALIVE.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

And wherever you are, keep smiling 🙂
— Josh Waggoner

IG: @Renaissance.Life

https://forms.convertkit.com/273691?v=6

Don’t Have Time for Fun & Happiness

I caught myself saying this the other day to a friend: 

“Yeah I love to paint but I just don’t have time for it…”

BS

Time is relative to the decisions you say yes (or no ) to. 

Not making time for the things you care about is stupid. And your body and mind knows I­t­ too. Our bodies remember how we felt when we were doing things we love. We all have a time in our lives where we remember being the happiest and alive we’ve ever been. “If only I️ could go back to that…”

Have you had the experience of loving something, like dance or tennis, but for some reason or another you stop doing I­t­? Maybe you get sick, something comes up at work and you derail into only doing things you like and never doing things you love. 

I️ understand you have responsibilities, and things to take care of. But if you forget to do things you love in your daily life, you’ll wake up one day a little duller, a little unhappier and chronically stressed from going all in on “What you have to do”.

You’ve got to make time for work and play. (I’ve learned this the hard way)

Time, like most things in life, is a decision. I­t­ reminds me of breathing. How you spend your time can happen unconsciously or consciously. Defaulting to whatever comes your way (indecision) or deliberately choosing to align what you love to what you do every day.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

And wherever you are, keep smiling 🙂

— Josh Waggoner

IG: @Renaissance.Life

https://forms.convertkit.com/273691?v=6

Related Insights

“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” — Bruce Lee

“At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.” — Barbara Bush

“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” — Rumi

It’s the Little Things

Have you ever noticed on an iOS device, when you turn off airplane mode the little plane on the left upper corner shoooooots off to the right?

Or the fact the clock app’s icon subtlety ticks?

That’s why Apple wins.
They are far from infallible, but when they slow down and refine every little detail of their work, it adds up in a big way.

In our own lives, when you lose sight of the details, because of neglect, hardship or flat out doing too much, we tend to scramble and not do well. 

Your health tanks. You work too much. You forget to rest and play. You lose sight of the big picture. You think, ‘why does everything suck?’.

Maybe it’s because you forgot about the little details your body needs. Are you drinking enough water or another round of coffees?  Are you eating nutritional foods or getting pasta for a third night this week? Are you moving or just going from your work to your kitchen to your bed, rinse repeat?

Personally, this suck-mode comes when I say yes to too many things at once.

SAYING YES TO EVERYTHING IS THE DARK SIDE OF ASPIRING TO BE A RENAISSANCE MAN / WOMAN.

You can’t do everything for all people. You do not have enough time, money or energy for that. Choose what you love, stick with those until you reached a level of mastery you can maintain and try new things. 

How many songs, YouTube channels, podcasts, designs, movies, business, and adventures have been lost because someone (you) got distracted by a shiny thing? The stupidest stupid thing about shiny things is there usually gone in a month. Shiny new things tend to lose their shine quickly because even the shiniest shiny thing is still work. Everything you want takes work. That’s why choosing to pursue things you love is so important. Doing things you hate because you thought I­t­ looked fun at the moment only makes you miserable.

Focus on what you love, and work hard to put yourself in a position mental, financially, spiritually, physically and emotionally where you can give your all to those few things.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
And wherever you are, keep smiling 🙂

— Josh Waggoner

IG: @Renaissance.Life

https://forms.convertkit.com/273691?v=6

Related Insights

“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” — William Morris

“An exceptional company is the one that gets all the little details right. And the people out on the front line, they know when things are not going right, and they know when things need to be improved. And if you listen to them, you can soon improve all those niggly things which turns an average company into an exceptional company.” — Richard Branson

“A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching.” — Swami Sivananda

The Choice of Responsibility

Your life is your responsibility.

Responsibility has such a negative connotation. I think we equate it to doing chores or finishing our homework when you growing up. But really I think must of us just dislike others telling us what to do. (… am I the only one?) Being responsible is actually fantastic, and makes smooth sailing in areas of life where most sink. The difference is between this type of responsibility and the responsibility of our younger selves is choice. We choose what we want to be responsible for with our actions.

It’s not a burden to bear or a burden on others. It’s a CHOICE:

To go on living an unsatisfied life,
Or live to be ALIVE!

No matter the circumstance you’ve been through or going through, you have the power to lift yourself up. All you have to do is choose.
To be better. To choose a little better each day.
And then go from there.

Put every decision going forward in that perspective.

If it doesn’t align to who you are and want to be, it doesn’t work.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
And wherever you are, keep smiling 🙂
— Josh Waggoner

IG: @Renaissance.Life

https://forms.convertkit.com/273691?v=6

Related Insights

“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.” — George Bernard Shaw

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” — Jim Rohn

“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes… and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Why You Should Know What You Want

I’m a strong (lovable hunk) proponent of creating wishlists and knowing what you want. The best argument I️ can make is if you don’t know what you want, how are you possibly going to be able to get I­t­? 

That goes for wealth, things, health, friendships and even moonshot goals. (Goals so big scientists will want to study your big head)

Big goals are moving targets already! When you wing I­t­, you are basically aiming for a moving target blindfolded using a spoon as your arrow. 

For me, the hardest part about setting goals is the doubt that goes along with I­t­. You write down this wonderful future and then wonder, ‘what if this doesn’t come true?’ Or ‘what if I️ can’t make this happen?’.

Doubt is the number one killer of dreams, not because we doubt ourselves into failing, but because we doubt ourselves into never even wishing.

And when we stop wishing, we let other people choose our lives for us.

The second number one (? Did you just write second number one? You dumb.) killer of dreams is *never trying.* True, never trying means never failing. However, I️ think deep down in our gut we know that never trying is the ultimate form of failure.

If this is resonating with you, it’s time to rip the band-aid off. You don’t have to be perfect at the beginning, you just have to be purposeful. Knowing your goals and working toward them is how you turn dreams into reality. 

One of the greatest surprises about creating wishlists is the side opportunities that pop and turn out to be better for you than your original goal. Maybe you learn the guitar and in so doing you meet your future wife/husband. Maybe loving soccer gets you a scholarship. (I­t­ took me 3 failed tries and 1 Google search to remember how to spell scholarship 👨‍🏫 ) Maybe you injure yourself while playing soccer and find your true calling in the world of nutrition and exercise science. Writing and pursuing your goals give you that. 

What’s better, setting goals working hard, and never achieving them, or never trying and regretting I­t­? (tough tater tots) 

Set your goals, work on your goals every day and reap the rewards of a life well lived.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

And wherever you are, keep smiling 🙂

— Josh Waggoner

IG: @Renaissance.Life

https://forms.convertkit.com/273691?v=6

Related Insights

“Work hard for what you want because it won’t come to you without a fight. You have to be strong and courageous and know that you can do anything you put your mind to. If somebody puts you down or criticizes you, just keep on believing in yourself and turn it into something positive.” — Leah LaBelle

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” — Dolly Parton

“Hurry up and fail.” — Tim Kennedy

Creativity & Money

The most worthwhile pursuits are often the ones that are hard, if not perceived to be impossible. While everyone is waiting in line for their turn on the corporate ladder, you’re building your own.

It sounds so enticing to step out on your own, but when you do, you realize how difficult it really is. Not only do you have to do the work, you have to be your own boss and make daily decisions on what direction you should go. Not easy, believe me. Those decisions where always there, they were just being made by someone else above you.

Stepping out on your own, be that full time or as a side gig, is trading comfort for flexibility with the goal of freedom.

Freedom is the ultimate goal. To be able to have the resources to do and be whoever you want to be able to pursue any creative endeavor. If you have daydreams about a long-lost wealthy aunt giving you money so you can pursue your passion for painting, or something equivalent, you are not alone. I think anyone lacking in the financial resources secret wishes to find a briefcase full of money under their bed from the money fairy. (I know I have.)

But here’s a crazy question: 
Say you were given money — money-is-no-object-kind-of-money — to do whatever creative pursuit you love, would it make your art better?

Sure you would have more resources, less stress, and other great benefits. But would you be more creative? 

Does Money Make You More Creative?

Money opens doors and gives you access to more opportunities and people, but I don’t believe having money will equate to better creativity. It usually will make you less creative because you have less time to give to your passions and more time for your responsibilities and preservation of money. 

In fact, you could make the case that lack of money has birthed the greatest creatives throughout history.

Monet, Henry David Thoreau, Van Gogh, Da Vinci created some of the most iconic pieces in history but died relatively poor and penniless.

Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Oprah and Logic, all went from Rags to Riches with their ingenuity and creativity.

Having less puts you in the position of desiring wealth and success more. You want it more because you need it more. It’s an all or nothing mindset. It’s either Plan A or death. It’s not caring your sleeping on your parent’s couch, or that using change to buy your next meal. The desire to pick yourself out of lack and do something great forges the ultimate creative mind.

It’s funny/ironic that the one thing most of us want, financial freedom, has the potential to turn us complacent and zap us of our creativity and cunning when we achieve it. This is how the mighty fall.

Now, I’m not telling you to sell your house and only eat macaroni. Nor I am saying to give up your dream of being financially free. Choosing to be a starving artist is flat out a dumb idea stupid. But so is thinking that money will make you smarter or more capable of writing your novels. Money is piece of mind, but also can a distraction. A distraction of what’s really important to you: Your creative work and legacy.

My main takeaway here is that maybe having less, and being okay with what we have, is exactly what we need to be our most creative selves.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
And wherever you are, keep smiling 🙂
— Josh Waggoner

IG: @Renaissance.Life

https://forms.convertkit.com/273691?v=6

“Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.” — Satchel Paige

“Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.” — Andy Warhol

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” — Pablo Picasso

Feedback Loops

After 178 days of blogging (now 179) every day, there’s one thing I️ realized that I️ should be doing that I’m not. I’m kicking myself it’s taken so long for me to figure I­t­ out!

I️ need to audit the previous day’s work.

As much as I️ would like to think that just the sheer fact of writing every day will automatically improve my work, without clear feedback on what’s good and what sucks how could I️ possible get better?

Without clear, consistent feedback, no amount of time spent doing something is going to improve your skills.

For all I️ know, I’ve written 178 drab posts that no gives two potatoes about. I️ don’t think that’s the case, but without feedback loops, I️ would never know.

I’m not concerned about numbers of how many people are reading or liking my work, what I️ care about is quality.

My aim is to eek out a little bit of improvement every day. 

As long as I’m focusing on quality and putting myself out there as much as possible, I’ll be able to have a much greater impact in the long-term.

Slow and steady. Hone your craft while you’re still in obscurity.

So what’s going to be my feedback process?

Every morning, I’m going to read the previous day’s post.
On the surface, I’ll be looking for spelling and structure. Is the length good? If it’s short could it be shorter? If it’s long, does it earn it’s keep?

The real audit will be asking questions like:

Does this topic make sense? Do I️ understand what I’m trying to say? Will others understand?

Is this post relatable? I️s there a better way to phrase this piece?

How is the flow? Is there a personal touch or storytelling aspect to the piece?

And finally, is this post good? Is there a way to make I­t­ better? On a scale of 1 to 5, is this bad, irrelevant, good, great or profound?

The goal isn’t to crap on my writing, the goal is to give myself positive feedback for improvement.

Remember, practice doesn’t equal perfect. Rather it’s deliberate practice, with active ways to check yourself and readjust that leads to exceptional work.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner

IG: @Renaissance.Life

https://forms.convertkit.com/273691?v=6

Related Insights

“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better. I think that’s the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.” — Elon Musk

“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.” — Bill Gates

“An important skill for all SpaceXers is the ability to accept critical feedback. This is key to anyone’s growth and becoming better at what they do.” — Gwynne Shotwell

A Little Goes A Long Way

You don’t need to already be great, in order to learn to be great. Yet, we default to treating skills like that.

“Oh, I’m not good at this, I guess I’ll stop…”

No! Don’t stop because you’re not good, if you really want it, keep going because you’re not good yet.

I don’t care what your genes say, or how much talent you have or don’t have. Mastering a skill requires effort and persistence. If you practice those and are willing to put in the time, greatness is inevitable.  

Daily habitual challenges make the master.

Even a little effort done consistently goes a long way towards greatness.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

IG: @Renaissance.Life