Tag: Vision

Micro Rewards

Making progress happens with consistent action, but motivation is usually the issue.

Having long-term motivations are great, such as visualizing yourself on stage playing or speaking to a sold-out stadium, or interviewing Oprah, or picturing your book on the NYTBS list. They­ help keep you pointed on the right course.

But sometimes high-minded motivations aren’t enough when you are in the mud, doing the work. That’s where short-term micro-rewards (microwards?) come into play. Short term motivations adjust you to the long-term vision.

Over time, you can incrementally change your behavior to complete hard tasks by motivating yourself with a healthy reward if you complete the work first.

I say ‘healthy reward’ because the last thing you want to do is make a micro reward unhealthy. (Eating cake after every time you finish a blog post is not going to do you any favors)

Think of I­t­ like, ‘I would love to do X but first I will do Y’. You’re not depriving yourself of pleasure, you’re just pushing I­t­ off and actually making the pleasure more enjoyable. ‘No one loves water like a man who is thirsty’ (Someone said that once… probably) Of course, I’m not telling you to stop drinking water until you work out. (That’s silly) The absence and gap between allowing yourself a little treat are all the more rewarding.

A great example is a vacation. Planning and daydreaming about a vacation you’re about to go on is usually more enjoyable than the vacation itself!

Micro Rewards give you the discipline to focus on what you really want, versus what you’re mood, mind, and body says you want in the moment.

Want to watch an episode of The Runaways? Great idea, but finish writing your two pages of your book first.

Want to read Tech Blogs? Good! Me too. Just make sure you call a friend you’ve been meaning to talk to first.

Want to go out for a drink? Okay, but first practice your piano scales.

Small daily habits towards our long-term goals are how we achieve them.

Stay BOLD, Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

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Related Insights

“For every disciplined effort there is a multiple reward.” — Jim Rohn

Daily Focus on Your Vision

If you’re like me, you have all these big aspirational goals and visions in your head of what you want your life to be.

These goals are clear-cut and motivating on paper. Buuuuut then life happens. Responsibilities, commitments, debt.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the freedom and flexibility yet to build a writing cabin in the woods so I can write my novel.

I have to find ways to do it in between two full-time jobs, time spent with loved ones, and a side business.

Things come up. Some of them truly important, others that feel important at the time. Everything and everyone around is vying for your attention and energy. So there your vision of the future sits, in dream status. 

How many dreams of a better tomorrow exist only in people’s heads?

But if you are reading this, I know you have a desire to be more. You want to make change in, not only yourself, but the world.

You here the phrase, ‘life is a marathon, not a sprint’ but that leaves an important piece out:
Life is a marathon where at the finish line, you die. Morbid, I know, but vital. (Pun intended)

We can’t just jog our way through life. 

Sure, we are making progress and doing important things, but are we giving it our all on what’s important to us?

Vision is longterm thinking, but lived on a daily basis.

Vision is not fixed. Your future desires can change and improve as you grow and expand into a better person.

Here’s how:

Write and Read your goals everyday

Keeping your vision in your mind will paint how you see the world. Everything you do will be viewed through the lense of how to make your goals happen. Opportunities and ideas will be abundant.

Hone your vision by honing yourself

Read. A lot. Learn from people if different circumstances and walks of life from you. Study the greats. Craft your vision of your future around what has worked for others before.

Make small, yet bold moves towards that future every day.

We make think on our past experience and have our thoughts towards a better tomorrow, but the vision of what can be happens in the actions of our today. What we do in the present not only defines how we feel about our past going forward, but creates the future we all desire. I’ve said it a million times, and will say it a million more until everyone in the universe hears it — Small action leads to big change. Take bold moves towards your future every opportunity you can today.

Whatever obstacles and pain you’ve faced in the past, your future is determined but what you do in this very moment. You have the opportunity to write your own story.

Remember, dreams don’t just happen, they are made. And ‘future’ ‘vision’ are words that elicit powerful emotions and motivations, but your future lies in your today. Getting things right today and the next today, compounds into a life where your vision is a reality.

Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

Inspiration +

Ryan Holiday, 2007 The Business of Running:

“You run to define yourself, and when you allow a short term challenge to alter your pace and long term strategy, you’ve just been defined by someone else.”

My Personal Vision Statement

What do you want your life and actions represent?

What do you want to be remembered for?

Who do you want to be?

It’s a life-long work in progress, but here is my personal mission statement. I read and say this aloud every day.

 

I live a meaningful and extraordinary life. I make Bold Moves. I challenge all assumptions. Failure, fear, and setbacks are challenging opportunities waiting to be turned into life lessons. Above all, I value time, freedom, learning, creativity, love and friendship. I stand for my beliefs.

I do what I say I will do. I lead by my actions. I have a can-do attitude. I persist. I know when to say yes, and when to say no. I listen to what others have to say and respect their views. I care deeply for others.

I am ALIVE and full of energy. I live with charisma and gusto! I am healthy, fit and active. I make goals and achieve them. I value rest and play and stillness. 

I pursue mastery and excellence in all that matters to me, every day, no exceptions. I am constantly pursuing multiple disciplines and striving towards a Renaissance Life. I am at the forefront of disruption and innovation.

I enable others to be their best selves. I am a catalyst for change. 
I will make the world a better place.

 

Keep Pursuing,

— Josh Waggoner

Inspiration +

It All Matters by Paul Cummings

Total Focus by Brandon Webb

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Why be Brilliant?

When you’re brilliant —

Which I equate to Vision + Skill + Wisdom + Action —

You’re able to have an idea, see what it could be,

design it, execute it, and refine it.

You understand whether the idea is sound or not, based on what you know, and feedback from early testing.

You know whether the idea is a good fit for you, knowing when to delegate.

And you understand there’s always another idea out there, so you’re not worried, or afraid to toss out a bad one.

Brilliance allows us to be capable of outputting our ideas, whatever the medium, because we have the knowledge to do so, and the mindset you to learn how if we don’t.

It’s having something in your head, and being able to make it real. Idea’s come to life.

I don’t know about you, but I want to make my ideas reality.

Why be Brilliant? 

Why NOT be? 

Related Wisdom:

“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” — Thomas Edison

 

“All big things in this world are done by people who are naive and have an idea that is obviously impossible.” — Charles Hamilton

 

#KeepPursuing,

Josh Waggoner

‘Brevity is the soul of wit.’  Email me (josh@renaissancemanlife.com) your thoughts on this post. Can you reduce the essential idea further?

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Not Not Brilliant

We won’t become brilliant because we think we’re brilliant. (‘Man, I am sooooo amazing’ :P)

We’ll become brilliant by knowing we are not brilliant, and doing everything we can to change that. 

Its not the goal itself. It’s the improvements the goal requires of us to make it happen.

The mission leads to the outcome.

The outcome itself doesn’t necessarily matter, rather the actions we must take which  aligns us to achieving it. 

Take strides toward your mission, and you will be on your way to becoming not not brilliant.  

 

Related: 

 “They can because they think they can.” — Virgil

 “The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.” — Frank Loyd Wright

#KeepPursuing,
xoxo Josh Waggoner

‘Brevity is the soul of wit.’  Email me your thoughts on this post. Can you reduce the essential idea further?

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‘Polishing Bricks’

Simplicity, Refinement, Minimalism —

are all admirable pursuits…

as long as you’re not trying to simplify a brick.

A brick is a brick.

You can polish a brick all day long, but at the end of the day, it’s still going to be a brick (albeit a shiny one).

The ones that are capable of learning to take a step back, self-assess, and see the difference between a brick and a gem, have the traits of someone brilliant.

 

related:

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” — Jonathan Swift

Book: Seeing What Others Don’t: The Remarkable Way We Gain Insights

“A blind man who sees is better than a seeing man who is blind.” — Proverb

#KeepPursuing,
xoxo Josh Waggoner

‘Brevity is the soul of wit.’  Email me your thoughts on this post. Can you reduce the essential idea further?

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