Tag: mindfulness

Reboot

There’s a lot of… gunk that we accumulate in our lives. As we go about our days, it’s like we are building up plaque in our mind, body, and spirit.

Work comes first. Other people come first. Todo list and doings often usurp quality time with ourselves.

When was the last time you took care of yourself? When was the last time you did absolutely nothing—no work, no tv, no books, no agenda—just you.

We are always going, always striving, always push towards something.

I think every now and then we need to shut down our human OS and reboot ourselves.

Hold down the power button, so to speak, and do a hard reset.

It doesn’t have to be much. A little can go a long way.

Go to bed a little earlier.
Sleep a little longer.
Get outside.
Move a little more.
Eat something healthier today.
Do nothing.
Tap a nap.
Breathe.
Do something that matters to you.
Try something fun.
Try a new hobby.
Reflect. Reassess. Remind yourself what’s important.

Nourish what you’ve been neglecting.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1110

Join the Renaissance:

Newsletters: Considerations | Practices |  Bookaholics

Subscribe: Renaissance Life on Apple Podcast | Renaissance Life on Spotify

Livin’ Deeply

“I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life”

Henry David Thoreau, Walden

It’s a simple thing to want lots of things in life. Blame it on our consumer-oriented culture, but most of us want lots of shiny new toys, clothes, and experiences. It doesn’t help that we can with a few taps and scrolls see what everyone else has (and what we don’t have).

I’m no different. I like nice things. My tastes are a disadvantage as much as they are a benefit. I might even be slightly worse than most because I have so many interests and hobbies (more interests equals more expensive tastes).

It’s simple to want many things. It’s complicated to want few.

One way you could describe minimalism as choosing quality over quantity and choosing priority over options. Quality over quantity makes since. By investing in nicer made things, you get more enjoyment and longevity out of your purchases. I think priority over options is something that’s often overlooked. Everything we buy has not only a price tag (i.e. $15 for a book, $60 for stretchy jeans) but also a mental tag—every item we own takes up space in our minds, just as much as our physical spaces. Space where our dreams and ideals for our purchases live.

Think about it like this –

One item = at least one to-do.
Two items = at least two to-dos.

At least if you’re planning on using it/them. If you were to look around your house right now, how many things would you find that you want to do but haven’t, or haven’t in a while? Unread stack of books… Stack of dusty CDs you never look at… A travel magazine of places you’d like to (hopefully) visit someday… Racks of clothes that don’t fit anymore…

All of these things take hold in our minds and can, not always but can, weigh us down. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not telling you to sell all your belongings. All I’m suggesting is to prioritize what matters to you and think about removing (even if temporary) the things that don’t matter.

I like to put my money where my joy is. I really enjoy making things, so a lot of my purchases are around tools and resources that help me do so.

I think Ramit Sethi, author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich, has said it best—

“I always encourage people to spend extravagantly on the things they love, as long as they cut costs mercilessly on the things they don’t. Ask yourself: What do you love spending money on? Not just “like,” but love.”

To live deeply, we must live intentionally. We have to choose what kind of rich life we want to have, and prioritize our spending and time around that.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #995

Join the Renaissance:

Newsletters: Considerations | Practices |  Bookaholics

Subscribe: Renaissance Life on Apple Podcast | Renaissance Life on Spotify

Resources:

Limiting Beliefs / Limitless Beliefs

“Expect great things, and great things will come.”

Norman Vincent Peale

“Yeah, I’m late to everything LOLs…”

That’s me. I’ve said a version of the phrase above more times than I can remember. In high school, I was late to first class so much that we (our class) started collecting my tardy slips and taping them to the wall as a joke—like a badge of honor (shame? disbelief? 🙂 to see how many I accumulated.

I try not to be late nowadays—at least when it matters. You get to a point where you realize it’s a sign of respect when you get somewhere on time because you are respecting someone else’s time. I have to fight it because as a multi-disciplinary, I have a tendency to take on too much during the day. (A topic for another day, perhaps.)

Another phrase I’ve said a lot:

“I’m terrible with direction.”

This one you still my catch me saying. I’ve learned a lot—directions aren’t one of them. It’s not that I can’t find my way around—I can tell you which direction is east and which is west—rather, I’m generalizing. The truth is I don’t bother memorizing road names or direction details. I can easily get around if I’ve been to a place before, otherwise, I couldn’t tell ya where were are or give you directions without whipping out my phone and asking my friend GPS.

There’s a huge part of our identity that’s wrapped in negative labels we adopt from others or give to ourselves.

Perhaps you weren’t aware of it until now, but once you know it, you’ll start to hear it from everyone.

“Oh yeah, I suck at math!”

“Yoga?! I’m as stiff as a board. You won’t see me bending like that”

“Cooking? You mean takeout?”

“I’m so unlucky!”

“I”m terrible at finances lol.”

It goes on and on. We wear these labels like a badge of honor, but in reality, we are just holding ourselves back from being a better version of ourselves.

The reason I’m usually bad with directions because I don’t prioritize learning it. In fact, my mindset is an action AND reaction that devalues me from wanting to be good at it.

The same goes for other negative traits we feel about ourselves.

Something bad happens—like we spill coffee on our brand new white pants—and then we mentally tell, no convince, ourselves we are unlucky. At that point, two things occur 1. We become aware of our “unluckiness”. We start seeing out validating reasons why we are unlucky to prove to ourselves we are right. And 2. we view the world through our “unlucky” mindset and start making decisions that lead us to be more unlucky.

The interesting thing is the reverse can happen too—we can convince ourselves that we are the luckiest person in the world—and find ways to validate it and we start taking action that makes it true.

In a word—we are all biased by our “badges of honor”, so to speak.

The real question is who do you want to be? What kind of person do you want to be?

By thinking through the limiting believe’s you have, you can slowly begin to convert them to limitless beliefs instead.

What do you believe about yourself that isn’t doing you any favors? What can you replace them with?

What do you believe about yourself that you want to be true? What can you start doing to make that happen?

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #941

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a coffee ☕️ or a new plant. 🌱

Join the Renaissance:

Newsletters: Considerations | Practices |  Bookaholics

Subscribe: Renaissance Life on Apple Podcast | Renaissance Life on Spotify

I Need a Tune Up

“Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I can’t find who it’s originally attributed to, but there’s a great quote from the show Justified where the protagonist, Rayland, is bringing in a drug dealer or something and says “If you run into an *sshole in the morning, you ran into an *sshole. If you run into *ssholes all day, you’re the *sshole.”

Personally, I’ve noticed that when I’m in a bad or discouraging mood, every little things seems to be against me. I wake up late, feeling tired. Everyone I come into contact is in a bad mood. My car is out of gas. There’s construction and traffic on my way to work. I trip and rip my pants.

The real problem isn’t the traffic, the problem is me. (It’s not you, it’s me.) And more specifically its my mental state.

When I’m feeling great mentally, everything is great! Traffic seems much lighter today than normal! Wow, I’m literally getting all green lights. Who cares that I tripped and ripped my pants. It was time to get new ones anyway.

I wonder if our mindset works on the same wavelength of music frequency.

We tune instruments, such as a guitar or piano, to be in tune to a particular harmony. Does ‘tuning’ our minds to a more optimistic mindset create more harmony in our lives?

It’s more likely that having an optimistic view of our life, in good or bad circumstances, changes how we perceive what happens to us. So when setbacks happen, our optimistic mindset become a mental firewall to self-criticism and despair, which makes us more resilient to negative circumstances.

All when need to do is figure out how to turn the guitar tuning pegs, so to speak, and align our mental strings to the correct note.

First, we must become aware of our mental states. It’s hard to stop being a crabby patty if you don’t know you are acting like one. This requires us to make regular mental pit stops to check in with ourselves and make sure we are acting from the mindset we want to be in. Am I grumpy? Do I feel agitated or annoyed by things that normally aren’t? Am I hangry?

Second, we need to cover our bases. Did I get enough sleep last night? Do I need a nap? When was the last time I took a break? When was the last time I had water or ate something? It’s the little things that we are neglecting that cause us the most trouble.

It’s the little things that we are neglecting that cause us the most trouble.

And lastly, we need to find a way to reset. Easier said than done, but taking time for ourselves helps. Go for a walk. Take a break and pick up a good book. Read a blog post or two. Go play a pickup basketball game with a friend. Run up some hills. Breathe. Do whatever you need to do to reset your mental state.

When we are in tune, and acting from a mental state of possibility and opportunity, life is electric. Setbacks become moments to practice resilience. Failure becomes lessons. And all the good things become joy.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner

Daily Blog #671

Join the Renaissance:

IG: @Renaissance.Life

If you enjoyed this blog post, consider becoming a patron.

Subscribe: Renaissance Life on Apple Podcast | Renaissance Life on Spotify

A Nudge In The Right Direction

This week’s been rough.
I don’t fear to admit it.

My mind has been in a funk, can’t tell if it’s a physical thing or a mental thing — probably both.

I’ve probably read 50 stupid articles on how to unfunk yourself, but they all same the same old things:

  • Write down what you are grateful 
  • Meditate, go for a walk
  • Be around people who you love

It’s not that they are wrong — in fact, these are great things you can do — it’s just their intuitive about things we already know we should be doing. 

Writing down what you are grateful for focuses your mind on what’s positive.

Mindfulness and walking primes your physical body into wellbeing.

Being with close friends and family centers you on what’s important.

But Sometimes you have to be sad — to feel your emotions, sit with your problems, and rest your mind — to be able pick yourself up.

A problem isn’t a problem unless you know it’s there.

Most of the time your subconscious knows somethings not right before you do.

For me, falling back into despair — or whatever it is when you paint the world grey and your mind feels mentally and physically exhausted — is a sign that I’m not quite aligning my daily living with my values and what a fulfilling life looks like. 

Whatever you’re facing, you always have the capacity to change what is in your control about it.

If you need something, ask for it.
If something is wrong, change it.

Life changes quickly and pursuing change always nudges is in the right direction.

Stay BOLD Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

Related Insights

“Life begins on the other side of despair.” — Jean-Paul Sartre

“Action is the antidote to despair.” — Joan Baez

“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.” — C. S. Lewis

All Work And No Play Makes Josh A Dull Boy

I’ll often find myself go go go going. With the desire to pursue so much — music, writing, design, connecting, development, dancing etc — I️ tend to push myself to the absolute margins.

But I️ don’t like that, I️ don’t think it’s healthy. When one domino falls, they all fall. Without giving your mind a respite from action, your energy and output will suffer.

All work and no play makes us into zombie machines, moving from one task to the next without actually enjoying what we’re doing (or even doing I­t­ well).

One potential solution is scheduling time for negative space. 
In architecture, negative space is the space between the space. In our case, negative space could be a block of time devoted to nothing. No tv, no social media, no email, no /thinking/ about email. Just 15+ minutes of you, yourself and a sprinkle of you. 

For some of you, that might terrify you. 
I’m a strong proponent of if something scares you (and I­t­ won’t hurt you) you should do I­t­. Why do you fear being alone with yourself? Perhaps you don’t like who you are… If that’s the case, negative space is a great way to reinvent yourself into who you want to be.

Negative space is a mental breath — a deep inhale and exhale — of our worries, concerns and break-neck speed life. When architects design buildings, you could argue the negative spaces are just as important as the buildings themselves. The negative space is where the magic happens. The connections, the creativity, and ideas that will infuse into when we are on the move, taking action.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

A Worriers Guide to Living in the Moment

I­t­ was chilly outside. I️ was wearing a casual grey suit jacket with a camel colored scarf. The restaurant was hustle and bustle. I️ walked up to the counter and asked for a table for 2. The wait time was 20+ minutes and my lovely date was just leaving the gym, so I️ whipped out my kindle and started where I️ left off with Tony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within. Times fly’s way to fast (I️ never to read enough) And then she stepped in.

She was wearing a purple coat with a large black circular scarf. Her hair was prim and curly, and her eyes sparkled as she looked at me. Fortunately for me, she was (and is) mine. We embrace with a hug and I️ tell her how lovely she looks.

Dinner was excellent, the conversation was fun and very renaissance life. Lots of talk about how we wanted to become better and more capable than we are. We talked about friendships we wanted to cultivate and the life we wanted to live.

It’s a small moment, but a moment that will be etched into my memory (and now the internet lol) I️ was practicing the art of living in the moment and I­t­ was exceptional.

It’s hard for me to be in the present moment. It’s something I️ strive for, but I­t­ doesn’t come easy. It’s one of those skills (and I­t­ is a skill) that no one teaches you, but affects everything.

I worry a lot. More than I️ would like to admit. More than I️ am conscious aware of. But I️ don’t worry about things I️ can’t control — the weather, other people’s attitudes / moods, fortune’s favor — instead I️ worry about the future. I️ worry that who I️ want to be — an musician, author, entrepreneur, connector, artist.. — isn’t going to happen. That the me I️ am now isn’t the one that creates that version of me I️ picture. Basically, I️ worry that I’m not doing enough, being enough to align to my values.

I️ know this is bogus. I️ know intuitively that I️ can create radical change in my life at any moment, that my future isn’t set in stone no matter how old or young I️ am. Yet I️ can’t deny my anxieties.

That’s why I️ practice living in the moment. Developing a moment practice allows you to step out side of your self-centered nature and see the big picture. If worry and anxiety was a hurricane, mindfulness is viewing the hurricane from outer space. Most of the problems in our lives are created by ourselves. It’s not until you can step back and see that can you start designing how you want to live and how you can solve them.

 

Breathing Practice

I️ use Headspace in the morning. It’s a great way to start the day. Sometimes I’ll use I­t­ at night as well, or use oak to add a second time out for myself. Oak has a great guided feature with background noice (like rain) that really calms me down and allows me to focus in on the textures of my surroundings.

Most of my work day is on on on on on (repeat to infinity). Often times I’ll look up from my computer and half the day goes by without me having moved or given myself mental and emotional breaks.

I️ also challenge myself to see how many deep breathing exercises I️ can do in a day. I️ use Dr. Weil’s Deep breathing method: Inhale (nose) for a count of 4, Pause for a count of 7, and exhale for 8 seconds (mouth). Repeat 6 times.

Intentional Practice

The second living in the moment practice I️ do is actively telling myself to be intentional about a particular moment. (For example my dinner experience above) What you do is tell yourself to give 100% on whatever you are doing in this moment. If you’re eating lunch, focus exclusively on eating. The taste, smell, textures, feelings. Your mind is always going to wander, and that okay (perfectly normal). The mission is to practice and hone your ability to focus in.

Nothing Practice

This one is a new concept to me, and one that I’m still bad at. Often times, there is so much that I️ want to do and be, I️ fill my days up wall to wall with activities. If I’m not working, I’m working on something else. I’m writing, playing guitar, listening to podcasts, chatting with friends. The nothing practice is setting time in your day where you do absolutely 0 things. Nothing, Nata, Zip. I️ see I­t­ as applying architecture’s concept of negative space with your mind. Designing a building — or a city is important, but how people move and interact within the space is determined by the negative space — the space between structures. So too with our minds. We need to leave room for negative space to give our minds room to rest, rejuvenate, be bored and wonder. I️ think we tap into our unconscious mind when we wonder. The best ideas I’ve ever had in my life have been my minds has wondered off into my imagination.

Creativity and connections happen in the negative space.

 

Do you have any other tips you practice on living in the moment?

Let me know!

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner

breathe away anxiety

I’m not really a woo woo kinda guy.

I do however subscribe to the power of breathing.

Breathing is something we all do, but not something we all actively think about.

Breathing directly relates to how calm and clear-headed we are.

In fact some of the greatest minds in our lifetime meditate —

(There’s a lot of fluff around the word ‘meditation’, a better term would be a mindfulness practice.)

The point is —

Take control of your breath,

and you’ll take back your life from

the clutches of anxiety+

When the pressures on, breath it away.

There’s an old anonymous saying (which I will proceed to butcher startinnnnng now) ‘if you can’t find the time to meditate for 20 minutes then you should meditate for an hour’.

Antidote ~

Controlled breathing is one cure to rid yourself of anxiety, whether that’s

a mindful breathing practice (such as box breathing — 4 seconds in breath, 4 second hold, 4 seconds out breath, 4 second hold)

or a daily meditation practice (The simplest form is focusing on your breath — In – out. deep breathing. If you lose yourself to thought or feeling (monkey minds) this is natural. Acknowledge it, ‘oh I’m thinking’, then focus back on your breath — that’s it.

20 minutes – 10 minutes – 5 — however much you want to give.

breathe it away

Give & Receive

related wisdom

headspace app — guided meditation app —— (google play link)

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart. I am. I am. I am.” — Sylvia Plath

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

box breathing guide