Each decision, each failure, success, pursuit, and setback builds up over time.

Most of us have a vision for what we want our lives to be someday. But there’s often a disconnect between where we are and where we want to be.

We want that future us to happen now, the sooner the better.

And in some ways, we can be that person.

What we don’t often realize is we have the power to make that happen, by investing in today.

Usually in small incremental actions added up over time. Perhaps slower than we want, but also quicker than we think.

What would your future self want you to do today?

Or the opposite question: What would your future self not want you to do today?

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1761

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All I can do is accept where I am in life and take action toward improving it.

I can’t rewrite history. I can’t 100% ensure the future.

But I can write the present. I can respond to events with the character and traits of the person I want to be.

I can love the present with every fiber.

I can enjoy today, and find a reason to laugh even in the most unlaughable circumstances.

I’m alive and breathing.

And at least I’m trying.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1760

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By learning multiple things at once, you open yourself up to the unique ability to combine ideas and insights across many industries.

The best ideas often come from the cross-pollination of ideas from different skills.

The ability to learn as many things at once is a superpower.

Look at any skill deep enough and you’ll learn the hidden language of that skill—how to listen and speak it.

And learn more than one skill deeply and you’ll notice an underlying structure/math beneath the language.

A thread running through all skills.

Music looks a lot like math. Math underlines electricity. On and on…

Be open to how the world and each skill interconnect.

Make sure you’re not doing too much to be inconsistent.

And always follow your curiosity.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1759

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It can be your greatest opportunity to gain knowledge and become the person you want to be, but it can also be your biggest hindrance.

Without practice and application of what we are learning, we are essentially learning just to learn.

If all we do is jump from one interest to another without using them, we might as well be binging TV instead.

Skills, values, character, dreams, goals, ideas—none of these amount to anything without putting them into practice.

We can read about how to network, or how to be a kinder person, but if we don’t practice that in our lives we aren’t getting the most out of what we are learning.

Practice is learning in motion. When you practice something, you are both learning and doing at the same time.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1758

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Falling off the treadmill is inevitable.

Someone’s bound to bring in a box of donuts 🍩 to work.

Or we’re bound to have a restless night and feel too tired to perform at our normal level.

You’ll inevitably miss a day of writing (insert your creative pursuits here) because you were sick or traveling or just not feeling it.

But jumping off the boat doesn’t mean you should stay in the water.

Getting into the habit of continuing after a moment of failure will reinforce your passion and reason why you are going after your goals in the first place.

I used to have a binge mindset. /Dang, I ate a cookie… oh well might as well eat 100 more. I told myself I wasn’t going to watch TV today… oh well, guess I’ll watch THE ENTIRE CATALOG on Netflix./

Just because I mess up doesn’t give me permission to go crazy.

What if I messed up every day this week? What would that do to my health or long-term progress?

If I binged watch shows for an entire week I would end up being a vegetable, unable to do anything my heart desires.

Failure is a part of the learning progress.

Mastery comes to those who fail and yet keep going anyway.

When you catch yourself doing bad habits that don’t build your long-term dreams, here are small, practical ways you can reset yourself:

Workout: Reset your physical state by going for a run, swim, or sprint (name your poison). It doesn’t have to be long, even 5 minutes of moving can reset your mental state.

Cold exposure: Reset your physical state splashing water on your face. (Or more hardcore: take a cold shower or ice bath)

Check yourself: Are you hungry? When was the last time you took a mental break? Take time to rejuvenate yourself.

Small actions: Doing a small incremental action can reset your mind to do the bigger tasks. Win small to win big.

Change your location: Moving your body to another place (think coffee shops, outside, etc) can shift your mindset as well.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1757

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Life moves incredibly fast.

“If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller

It’s good to make a habit of stopping and taking an inquisitive look at what you are doing, and why you are doing it.

What’s working?

What’s not working?

What do you like?

What could be better?

Where are your prioritizing your time and resources?

What are you investing in? (Not just money)

What habits are helping you? Which ones are a hindrance?

There’s a great quote from one of my favorite anime shows, bleach:

“Live well, Ichigo. Live well, age well, go bald well, and die after me. And… if you can, die smiling.” (Isshin Kurosaki) Tite Kubo

I want to look back on my life and die smiling.

That doesn’t mean life will be easy. But it does underscore that life is too short to hold on to bitterness, resentment, envy, negativity, hate, and all the other heavy things that weigh us down.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1756

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“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

Leonardo da Vinci

“That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

Steve Jobs

Simple is difficult. Anything that looks easy most likely wasn’t.

Simple is the reason why every time we hear of an amazing idea we think “Oh! why didn’t I think of that!!”

A good idea becomes an extraordinary one when you can hide complexity behind simple understanding.

We don’t get rid of the complexity, we abstract it, adding a layer above it that allows more people to quickly grasp its meaning and take advantage of its insights and use. Put differently, we know how to use it, but don’t know the ends and outs of how it works.

Simplicity should level the playing field while also sparking curiosity in the hearts of those who crave a deeper understanding.

It doesn’t take a genius to drive a car, but it does take someone smart to build one.

Simplicity is the frontline to imagination and insight.

The best work (and teachers) in the world comes from the ability to take complexity and make it exciting and tangible.

Again, easier said than done.

To create work that is easily understood, we have to go to great lengths to peel back layers and layers of complexity, while also not losing our beginner’s minds, meaning, our ability to take what we know and distill it down into something elegantly simple.

How would you describe this to a child? What can be removed to clarify the message? Can we use stories instead of facts to make the concepts more palatable?

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1755

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Great questions lead to a better life.

You don’t even have to know the right answers to create change, you just need the right questions.

Questions allow us to wave our curiosity flag, and go after things, despite not having an answer.

I’d make a strong bet that 98% of successful businesses would have never happened if the owners knew how much time and effort it was going to take them to create something successful.

Questions are open loops. They give our minds permission to wonder, explore, and think about possibilities.

Answers, on the other hand, are limited by their perspective.

Fear answers your question with “You shouldn’t do it. What if you lose all your money and end up licking food off the tables at Whole Foods?”.

Even good answers limit our abilities. Ideas are questions focused on solving a problem. Validation of our idea by talking to friends or someone we admire makes us feels like we’ve already accomplished it, so we end up not even starting.

Don’t worry about the answers, focus on the questions.

Keep thinking of ways to reframe the questions you ask.

It’s not “Why is this happening to me?”

It’s “Why is this happening for me?”

You see, whatever we face in life, be that good or bad, our perspective amplifies or minimizes its effects on ourselves (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually).

If you see setbacks as challenges or lessons for improvement, then setbacks are no longer obstacles—they’re opportunities.

If you see wins and failures as something worthy of praise, for different reasons, then every time you succeed or fail you gain more confidence and capability. But inside this—yes, this is just my humble observations—there needs to be change. If we don’t allow change to happen, then our perspective becomes disconnected from reality.

Perspective is our key to unlocking the world. Questions are a way we can explore the world and discover things worth exploring.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1754

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“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

Warren Buffett

I love this quote.

Daily habits are a great way of growing trees.

What are you building and cultivating today that will create a happier, healthier, and more successful life in the future?

Hard work now, rewarding life later. But it’s not only that. We’ve gotta start by loving what we do and going all in.

There will always be moments of grinding, putting in the extra effort, elbow grease, and overcoming plateaus.

That’s part of the learning and living process. (If you’re not plateauing or digging in the mud, you’re probably not growing)

Hard work toward the things (and relationships) you love is a part of the process of creating an extraordinary life.

Go out there and start planting something.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1753

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“Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air, and behold the view. Climb I­t­ so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.”

David McCullough

Slow down and do things well—even when everyone and everything is telling you the opposite.

Mistakes are made when we thoughtlessly do things fast.

We all want to be rich, skilled, and famous NOW, but instant gratification is the fast food of life.

But there’s a good reason why most lottery winners blow all of their money immediately— because they didn’t build the wealth with their hands, they have no respect for the process.

Your direction in life is born and bred from the life you have.

Killing yourself to get to your best lifestyle as soon as possible is not worth i­t­ if it burns you out in the process.

Steady, consistent work will pave the way toward mastery.

This is your life right now.

As you move and breathe—this is your life.

If everything sucks, you’re only a few steps away from building the better life of your dreams if you’re willing to put in the effort and time investment to get there.

Greatness is created through patience. Patience to keep going, despite the boredom and relentless, distractions.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1752

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