There’s power in full focus.

Giving your full attention towards one task at a time. In a world of prize fighting multi-taskers, mono-taskers have an uncanny ability to get things done.

The same is true for multi-disciplinaries. I think it’s amazing you want to have multiple pursuits, but if you want to make meaningful headway, you must prioritize and focus all in on the task you put in front. As if only the one task you focus on is the only task on your list. Then prioritize the next task.

One turns to one turns to done.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

Josh W.

I met a variety of really smart people today.

Smart enough to make me shift my perspective of what ‘expert’ means. Each had a breath and depth of insight that could run circles around me, which I love. Being surrounded by so many smart people and ideas elevates your own. At least it does if you are willing to be the dumbest person in the room.

If you feel like you are one of the dumbest people in the room, you’re in the best place to learn and become better.

I also got a taste of what it means to narrow down your focus into one area and become a master of that domain.

These days you need both, mastery and knowledge if a multiple areas.

Which is what we are after here at The Renaissance Life.

But don’t feel like you have to follow that path. There’s always need for mono experts, mastery in a few, as well as general knowledge in everything.

Figure out which one you are most drawn to and go after it.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh W.

“Being poor is the most expensive, because you have to pay for it in bad choices”

There’s always a why behind the reasoning.

You reason that you’re doing something because you have too, or because you’re told too, or even because you automatically just fall into doing it, but is that worth the cost of living un-purposefully?

We try so so hard to make certain things happen in our lives, yet heard stop and consider why we want them to happen. Do you really want to start a business? Or do you like the idea of seeing yourself as a business owner?

Do you really want to go to school for accounting? Or are you just doing it because it pays well?

Not to suggest I’m telling you to just follow your passions. That’s a great way of going broke if you don’t have a direction. I more responding to the motivation behind the actions we take. Do we really want it, or do we just want the money to do something else? Do we really want to be famous, or just like the romantic idea of being famous?

There’s good and bad to every reason, but have a strong why behind your actions and you’ll always seem to come out on top and actually enjoy your life, even when nothing is working.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh W.

Humans are naturally social beings.

We seek belonging and connection. We go through life making friends, losing friends, making new friends, looking for love, heartbroken, finding love. We surround ourselves with others like-minded trajectories in school, work, even hobbies.

However, there is such a thing as too much socializing.

Find your constantly surrounded by people with no second to call your own and you’ll never truly have a taste of who you are. Not that you have to know who you are. It’s not a requirement in life. People can live their entire lives without actually getting to know themselves. What they really like, what they really enjoy, hidden behind what others — friends, family, tribe, society, culture — that tell us what’s cool and worthy of our time.

But you’ll never really know who you are unless you get to know yourself when you’re alone.

We find who we are in stillness and space. Showers, long walks, retreats, camping trips, moments right before bed, workouts… all moments of space throughout, showing us the potential of who we are and all the creativity and desires bottled up inside.

Space is how we can learn who we want to be and do with our lives.

Connecting is how we realize that truth into the world.

We need both to to be the best human being we can offer to ourselves and the world.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh W.

What you do in the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day.

Notice how / what you do in the morning. How do you feel?

Are you rushing? Are you immediately hooking up to your social media feeds?

Or are you calm, controlled, ready.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh W.

Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.

Choosing default options is the same as choosing nothing. There’s no say in the matter. Just life, chance.

Choice doesn’t give you more control (over things out of your control) but it does give you direction.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh W.

You don’t know how good or bad you’re unless you put yourself to the test. When you are put in an environment where your stepping into things you’re uncomfortable with, you’ll probably will suck at it, but at least you can get the suck out of the way. Testing grounds should be sought out, not avoided.

“Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” — Golda Meir

This quote really captures why I love small actions and daily habits so much.

The outcome isn’t made from a pie-in-the-sky ideal dream you have, although it can start there. The outcome is made up of all the tiny decisions we make each day. Tiny moments of courage. Tiny moments of following our truth instead of defaulting to others. Small actions and daily, consistent habits fan the inner sparks of possibility.

You have to believe it’s possible, and be bold enough to try, even if trying is just a tiny step in the right direction. That’s how you achieve what you want. But even more so, it’s about fanning the inner sparks you notice rather than ignore or suppress those possibilities.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh W.

Heads up: My daily blog posts might be a bit short (like this one) the next few months, because the startup I’m with, Pass It Down, just got into TechStars Austin. If you are not familiar, TechStars is a startup accelerator with programs around the world, which, if you company is accepted, provides access to collaboration and mentorship with thousands of top entrepreneurs, mentorships and investment.

I’m excited about the program and connecting with great people doing exciting and interesting things.

I’m also excited to explore Austin, this being my first time here! Topo Chico’s for days.

It’s only day 1 of the program and I’m already missing Gabriella (my girlfriend) and my family. And my dog, really missing her too.

While the program is going on, TechStars owns your calendar, and the rest of the time you’re working on your startup.

I’ll still be doing my daily blog routine, but they might be short, unreadable, gibberish of an overworked mad man, or somewhere in between. But I’ll be doing the best with what I’ve got.

Personally, space breeds ideas for me. The more space I have to think and wonder, the more ideas — including writing ideas — I have. Put me alone in a room for a couple of days, and I’ll have ideas exploding out of my ear holes.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh W.

Forcing something to happen is a lot like heating up an empty kettle on the stove – no matter how long you heat it, it’s not going to boil water that’s not there.

Something’s can’t be forced, in fact, by wanting something so much you get the opposite effect.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh W.