There’s no downside to having a daily gratitude practice. It takes less than five minutes but it sets a positive tone over your entire day.

The practice is simple: write down three things you’re grateful for. I personally use the five-minute journal, but any notebook or piece of paper will do.

It’s such a small thing, but it really does wonders on your mindset for the day. The biggest benefit is it forces you to pause and think about the good things going on in your life and appreciate them (no matter how tiny they may look on paper).

It’s far too easy to dwell only on the negative and things that are “going wrong” in our lives and completely sprint past the good things happening in-between the bad.

And even when life is great or we’ve achieved great things recently, we rarely stop to consider them and give thanks for having experienced them.

Day-to-day gratitudes are just as life-giving as big (lucky) things.

Little things, normally unnoticed, like the way sky looks today, or a particular bird you heard chirping this morning, or the ritual of making coffee or tea in the morning.

Good things can come in all sizes (insert crude joke here). And bad things tend to look smaller the further out you look at them.

If you haven’t started your own daily gratitude practice, I can’t think of any better day than today.

Stick with it for a month and notice how much more optimistic you feel. And how obstacles start to look more like challenges and opportunities to solve.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing — Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1503

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Years ago, the first time I took a bath as an adult, I hilariously failed. As someone who never understood the delightful benefits of soaking in a hot tub, I hadn’t a clue how to properly do it. But my back was hurting so I was aching to do something helpful. So I poured in some bath salt and turned the H faucet all the way, to really hot. Wait. Maybe too hot. How am I supposed to get in now? …

So there I was, naked as the day I was born, sitting next to a completely filled bath, unable to get in because the water was scalding hot. I probably waited 30 minutes before I could actually jump in.

There’s a lot of thing in life that we aren’t taught. Perhaps you were taught how to take a bath (most people are) but there’s another area in your life you haven’t a clue about, so you avoid it (or where that gap in knowledge like a badge of honor).

Failure is embarrassing. It’s not fun to be bad at something, yet we all are bad at one thing or another. If it’s not swimming or math then it’s billiards.

Failure and the fear of failure hold us back likely more than anything else.

But failure is inevitable.

If we want to learn something well or do something great, we must be willing to put ourselves out there and open ourselves up to failing.

Our culture looks at failure wrong. We should praise failure rather than shy away from it. Does failing suck? Yes.

Being bad at something is temporary. As long as we are continuously pushing ourselves to learn and practice, we will get better.

Great artists and entrepreneurs fail all the time.

But while some people fail and quit, great artists keep going.

What if we praised failure instead of hiding or being afraid of it?

Think of failure as training. The goal isn’t to fail for failure’s sake, but every time we do we are training ourselves to fail forward with grace. Every time you do something incorrectly, use it as feedback to do better next time. Failure is a learning point. The faster we learn from failure, the sooner we can find success.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing — Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1502

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Sometimes ideas just need a push. Just a little oomph of energy spent to create something that matters.

A simple shift in the right direction is all we need to completely change the course of our lives.

Immediately? Yes but subtly. Long term? Definitely.

Perhaps you don’t feel that to be true and you feel the gravitational pool of bad habits and poor decisions. In that case, a larger flame is required to push yourself out of the atmosphere. It’s not easy to completely transform your life positively. But “easy” isn’t what you are after. Big change quickly requires a big commitment and big leaps.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing — Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1501

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2022 is imminent. And with a new year comes new goals. Or likely same goals, different year (at least in my case 😆).

There’s so much mental and emotional weight that rides alongside our goals.

Beyond the goal itself—write a book, start a successful business—we attach layers and layers of performance expectations. I’m going to read ten books by the end of January. I’m going to lose ten pounds and gain ten pounds of muscle in two weeks.

Specificity is great. Expectations—not so much. Because reading ten books in a month is—while certainly possible—not very fun if we force ourselves into it. The pressure and/or stress of completing

I’m not suggesting that we drop our goals or only go after vague notions of what we want. Rather, to focus on the reasons why we care about them in the first place and not distract ourselves with loud expectations and internal self-loathing if we fall short in our own eyes. I want to learn new skills and be more knowledgeable in things I don’t know. I want to relax and unwind with imaginative fiction Wonderful! So if you need up reading eight books in January instead of ten, you’ve gone above and beyond to reach your goals!

Making goals are great. But maybe we should also make a “Not Goals” list as well. Things we want to do more of, but don’t necessarily need to “complete” or “check off” if we skip a week when we don’t feel like it.

Maybe for you, that’s going on more hikes. Instead of making a goal to go on one hike a week for fifty-two weeks, see how many hikes you can go on this year. Set yourself up in a specific way—have your shoes ready to go, plan what trails you want to hit, find a couple of hiking buddies. But be vague about your hiking “achievements”.

Or maybe you want to eat less sugar next year. How can you do that in a sane way? What’s a way you can set yourself up to win emotionally as well as mentally and physically? Hating yourself every time to slip up and eat a cookie isn’t a healthy relationship with food. But reducing your sugar intake while enjoying that occasional dessert guilt-free is a much healthier way to live and set “goals”.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing — Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1500 🥳

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For the last couple of months, I’ve been experimenting with this blog by focusing on improving my editing skills, using older writing notes and pieces as kindling for new ideas.

I hoped that I would turn interesting ideas into refined ones.

Editing is something I’m learning on my own, so there’s a lot of gaps in my knowledge I need to fill.

I want to be the best writer I can be and tell great stories people enjoy and look forward to reading.

That being said, I don’t think this editing experiment is the way to do it. There’s too much room to leave things as is and get a little lax on my daily writing. For example, is adding a few sentences really an improvement?

Am I telling better stories or am I just adding more filler?

Perhaps the idea is sound but the method is faulty.

Regardless, change is coming to this website. I don’t quite yet know what that looks like in detail, but I do know that I want to reach a new level of thoughtfulness and helpfulness with the Renaissance Life.

Up until this point, it’s mostly been a personal blog and occasional podcast. But I see it as so much more. (Easier said than done of course.) But know I have to go out there and make it happen.

To be continued.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing — Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1499

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Your health is your responsibility.

As much as I️ would love to just be able to give my health problems to someone else to take care of for me, that’s not how I­t­ works. (Jane, you’re in charge of exercising my muscles. Steve, you’re in charge of meditating, meanwhile, I’m going to lay on this couch and watch YouTube. Alright, ready…go!)

I grew up not knowing that food not only affects how you look but also how you feel.

Most of my “education” early on was just marketing. “Milk builds strong bones”. Sure sure. But what about kale and spinach? And that quality counts.

Our circumstances might not have been ideal, but that doesn’t change the fact that we can do something about it now. We can do better today.

Or am I️ just going to give up? Lay in bed for the rest of my life, never write a book, release a music album, travel the world? Hell No.

This is my responsibility.

The only person who can care 150% about your wellbeing is yourself.

Others can care, but you should care even more. Some doctors care, but there’s only so much they can do with a 20-minute consultation. Plus if a doctor cares more about your health than you do, then something needs to be changed. You are the one who has the power in your hands to change your life trajectory.

I’m not a doctor (nor do I️ play one on the Internet), I’m not telling you to do something stupid. I’m telling you to do the opposite — be smart about your health. Your health directly affects everything you do, including your creativity and success. If you want to be a high performer in what you do, you’ve got to go beyond the basics and learn to take control of what ails you.

You must be the one to take charge, gain knowledge, and master health and wellness.

Somewhere out there, there is someone who has been through what we’re going through. It’s up to us to learn from them and smartly experiment with what works for ourselves.

You’re health — and ultimately your life — is in your hands.

A greater understanding of health is a certain roadmap to a better all-around YOU.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing — Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1498 (draft #2)

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We may not think about it, but a habit can be anything. Not only good or bad habits but also mundane habits as well.

If you feel stuck in life, habits are likely getting you there.

One or more of your decisions are leading you right back to where you started (in this case where you don’t want to be). Maybe that’s something you are doing without being aware of. Or maybe you know you are doing it but don’t realize it’s holding you back.

Identify the habits that are holding you back, then replace them with extraordinary habits.

It sounds so simple. Step 1, do this. Step 2, blah blah blah. Step 3, success.

But it’s hard to change your habits. That’s why it’s better to start with what you can handle. If you don’t know how to swim, it’s probably not the best idea to jump into the deep end right away.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing — Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1497 (draft #2)

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How do you stand out in a world where the internet has given us all an equal creative footing?

Where anyone can become a photographer?

Where anyone can start an online business, blog, or write a book, or build an app, or do exactly what we do?

There’s nothing that stands in the way from any one of us from building a life around our dreams.

It’s just a matter of using our time, energy, and creativity and pushing ourselves beyond our current fears.

Are all of our circumstances the same? No. But that doesn’t stop us from giving 100% of what we’ve got to make it happen. Far from easy, but completely attainable.

The tools are accessible.

The knowledge and insights how to do it are out there.

And everyone wants to do it.

So how do you stand out?

Take the path of greatest resistance.

The most difficult paths, are the least traveled ones, but the most rewarding.

The hard things are the fulfilling things. If you find yourself saying, ‘why hasn’t anyone done that yet?’ Maybe you’re the one who’s supposed too.

Not difficultly for difficultly’s sake. It’s not about the difficulty itself, its about choosing a challenge that lights you up with excitement and pushes boundaries of creativity and expression like never before.

How do you stand out? Go beyond your expectations. Go beyond what people think you are made of. Create your path.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing — Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1496 (draft #2)

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Sometimes life can be boring, but those moments of downtime are where a lot of the great ideas grow.

Boredom stirs imagination within us.

Every time I allow a quiet moment to myself to be alone with my thoughts, a thousand ideas pop out.

However, when I’m constantly in motion, checking off todos, running from one event to the next, I have no room for my own thoughts and ideas.

Boredom gives us time and space to think.

Alone time, walks in the woods, or even time spent doing nothing at all isn’t boring, it’s breathing room.

So take a breather today and watch the ideas flow.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing — Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1495 (draft #2)

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Little habits add up in a big way, but they don’t replace the essentials.

No matter how many hours you meditate, say affirmations, or go for walks, if your health sucks or you are surrounded by negative people or you hate your job, you are still going to feel miserable.

It’s like being in a car with no wheels. Technically you’re driving, but you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.

We have to work on our foundations, the big habits, and decisions that create the scaffolding of our life.

Are you eating a wide variety of vibrant and nutritional food?

Are you intentionally exercising regularly?

Is your work fulfilling to you?

Are you in great community circles that are pushing you to be you and be better?

Are you letting your money work for you, instead of you being a slave to it?

Are you saying yes to the things that fill you with life and energy and no to everything else?

Are you living by your own life principles?

These questions are just the starting point. Each is the tip of an iceberg that has serious depth to explore if you are willing. ‘Willing’ because this is scary stuff. It’s not easy to stop hanging out with negative friends that aren’t lifting you up. It’s not easy to make the bold choice, over the passive choice.

But I know that we can do it if we try.

That’s how we create a meaningful and extraordinary life.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing — Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1494 (draft #2)

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