Blog Posts

Good morning.

I was thinking about life and death today.

That although life seems brief to those who are losing it, for all of us, it’s the longest thing we’ll ever do.

There’s been times in my life where I felt like life was a prison sentence, something I had to endure until it was over.

In other moments, I just looked on in awe at the beauty and amazing things I was surrounded by.

Once, as I looked at the stars wheel overhead on a cold Wyoming night, surrounded by nothing but people I loved and miles of trees and rocks, I thought I could see the whole constellation that made up my life, written up there in those distant lights.

I could see one bright moment connected to another, but I noticed that between those "big" defining moments, the burning giants that made up the greater shape and scope of the constellation- there was just blackness and void.

Sometimes I feel that way.

That I’m in the "voidspace" between the stars and there’s nothing I can do but wait.

But then I realize- nothing is really empty, it just deceptively seems to be so.

Every square inch of this reality is filled with potential, decisions, energies, thoughts, ideas, things congealing, disintegrating, coming together again into a million different forms.

Those quiet moments between supernovas are just everything you’ve been putting time into and working on getting ready to explode again in some kind of wonderful, awe-inspiring, massive conflagration.

Prepare yourself for those moments in time- it’s really the space in between that matters the most, and decides how bright the star will burn.

You can explore more of my projects and see what interests you by checking here.

PHYSICAL

Plateaus in training are like plateaus in geography:

Relative high grounds that are formed by slow elevation.

They provide us with somewhere to take a breath, evaluate where we’ve come from and where we’re going…

We get a chance to look out on the potential moves from here, plot the best routes to get where we are looking to go, and maybe even set up camp and just look up at the stars for a while as we get our bearings.

Don’t fear the plateau.

MENTAL

There’s a common management phrase,

"If everything is important, then nothing is."

Keep your focus on the real priorities.

Evaluate what those are often.

If you try to make everything as important as everything else, none of it will ever be worth a damn.

SPIRITUAL

A mantra, from my personal notebook.

Use it when you need it:

In my heart is the sound of thunder

In my mind is the speed of lightning

In my limbs is the strength of mountains

In my blood is the voice of god

I am free to do as I will

I am free to be what I am

I will. I am. I will. I am.

TEMPORAL

Being "lucky" often comes down to a few things:

- Relentless Positivity

- Taking initiative, instead of "taking your time"

- Building up your network

- Finding out what you’re good at and focusing on it to the exclusion of many other things

- Figuring out how to use that to help people

- Doing interesting things and sharing them publicly

If you are enjoying this weekly email, please suggest it to your friends by sending them HERE

Talk to you next week,

Paul Waggener

Author of the entrepreneur's guidebook,

No Surrender

Creator of Brand Builder's Bible

PS: I have a few spots open for personal coaching and brand consultation.

If you're interested, just reply to this email and open a dialogue with me about, and we can take it from there to get you where you need to go.

Good morning.

When our personal Geometry gets out of line, it has to be corrected.

Living out of sync with our stated goals, aesthetic, and principles creates chaos and confusion throughout our various systems, and if there was a readout display on us, it would be throwing “check engine” lights.

It’s a tough fact of life that positive motion and progress are always difficult, where laziness and bad decisions so often seem “easy.”

It’s another tough fact that this is why most people are disordered, unproductive, sedentary and unsuccessful.

But our rulesets and self-programming, our Geometry, ultimately creates a freedom through structure- if we put it together correctly, and then simply follow it, our choices become easy, and always “the right choice.”

If you feel yourself falling “out of line,” give yourself a hard head-check and see where you need a correction or a reset.

It’s unlikely that anyone else will do it for you.

You can find more articles and content at my website www.paulwaggener.com

Follow me at my Telegram channel for news, exclusive content, updates and more.

A new Power Aesthetic podcast is released each week.

PHYSICAL

Sometimes it’s easiest to start with physicality when we are struggling with organization, willpower, or feelings of negativity.

Small physical changes can lead to huge mental ones.

A 10 minute walk in the morning can change perspectives in a really incredible way.

A few moments of sunshine can banish many dark thoughts.

MENTAL

“Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.”

- Thucydides

SPIRITUAL

“Therefore, love your solitude and try to sing out with the pain it causes you.

For those who are near you are far away... and this shows that the space around you is beginning to grow vast.... be happy about your growth, in which of course you can't take anyone with you, and be gentle with those who stay behind; 

be confident and calm in front of them and don't torment them with your doubts and don't frighten them with your faith or joy, which they wouldn't be able to comprehend.

Seek out some simple and true feeling of what you have in common with them, which doesn't necessarily have to alter when you yourself change again and again; when you see them, love life in a form that is not your own and be indulgent toward those who are growing old, who are afraid of the aloneness that you trust....

and don't expect any understanding; but believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.”

- Rainer Maria Rilke, “Letters to a Young Poet”

TEMPORAL

When in doubt where to put your money, or what is the best direction to improve your temporal situation- always pay off debts first.

There’s a concept here that goes beyond the mere pecuniary, and into the spiritual-

Debt is a kind of bondage. It should be avoided whenever possible, and if one has fallen into it, their highest priority should be to free themselves from it.

Aggressively pay down on things you owe- be relentless, and, like prison, do your best to not go back.

If you are enjoying this weekly email, please suggest it to your friends by sending them HERE

Talk to you next week,

Paul Waggener

Author of the entrepreneur's guidebook,

No Surrender

Creator of Brand Builder's Bible

Good morning.

Last night, limping to my dinner table after my second session of Jiu Jitsu for the day, I looked at my journal where it lay open to “TO DO.”

The whole page was filled with rows of bullet points, some with arrows neatly pointing to “subtasks.”

Other arrows pointed to boxes that represent “what’s next,” or “if this, then this.”

I am pleased to say that when I see this amount of things to do for my next day, I don’t feel overwhelmed…

I feel excited.

There’s a mental approach to having a lot going on, just like there’s a mental approach to everything, that makes it poison or panacea.

It’s our decision how we choose to view being “busy.”

I’ve written before (and undoubtedly will again) about my general dislike for “hustle” culture- that is, the constant online and in person “flex” of people having a “who’s busier” competition.

“How you doing, man?”

“Oh, you know...SUPER busy.”

In a previous email for The Seed, I talked about how changing one simple word altered my perception of “busy” days forever.

I try to use the word “productive,” instead of “busy” and I can feel stress transmuting to excitement, to a feeling of forward motion, progressive overload, resistance being overcome.

Being productive means you have a lot going on. Having a lot going on means you’re neither idle nor sedentary.

Be productive. Be excited to be productive. Enjoy the life you’ve created for yourself, or…

Change it.

You can explore more of my projects and see what interests you by checking here.

PHYSICAL

There’s an invisible line that exists between training hard and training smart.

Finding that line is the difference between longevity and incapacity-

The younger an individual can learn this, the higher his chances are of being ready for action into his later years.

MENTAL

People are a lot like books.

The ones with a really loud and flashy front often don’t have much going on inside.

The really excellent ones are hard to find, but when you do-

They stick with you for a long time.

SPIRITUAL

Perhaps the hardest thing to come to grips with in our lives is that the mountain has no attainable summit.

No matter how doggedly we drive toward the peak, each time we reach it, we see that is was a “false summit,” and another, even higher, looms in the distance.

In some, this creates a sense of hopelessness- of never being able to get where they want to go.

In the intrepid, and the daring, the feeling is one of knowing they will never run out of challenges to attempt, and overcome.

Perception truly is everything.

TEMPORAL

Perhaps the most hopeful thing a new entrepreneur can hear is this:

To make $100,000 a year, you only need to build a dedicated following of 100 individuals who will spend $1,000 on your company over the course of an entire year.

Obviously this number exists on a sliding scale- you could instead have 500 full supporters who spend only $200 a year.

The point is, many people think you need to have thousands and thousands of subscribers, social media followers, etc. in order to run a successful business-

When in reality, you just need to find a niche where you can reach a few hundred people and solve a problem for them.

Just go for it.

(This is not an original idea of mine- if you’d like to read the essay I got it from, I’ve included it below- thanks to Eric T. for reminding me of this one).

Original Essay

If you are enjoying this weekly email, please suggest it to your friends by sending them HERE

Talk to you next week,

Paul Waggener

Author of the entrepreneur's guidebook,

No Surrender

Creator of Brand Builder's Bible

PS: There's less than a hundred copies of the latest printing of the "Pillars and Precepts" booklet left- we've had trouble keeping them in stock, and for that, I thank you!

Secure yours now.

Good morning.

This has been a very busy week in the best way.

In Jiu Jitsu, there’s something that happens for me occasionally these days, where everything feels “easy.”

It’s not common, but it happens from time to time, and it lets me know: “you’re doing the right thing.”

If everything feels hard, it often means you’re applying techniques incorrectly, “muscling” too much, and so on-

*But* it is also important to stay aware of the following: sometimes everything can feel difficult for other reasons, even if you are doing the right thing.

When met with a great deal of resistance, it is absolutely critical to know the difference between misapplied technique or incorrect strategy- and when we might just need to “turn it up,” to persevere, and do it “the hard way,” until the resistance is broken.

As with most things in Jiu Jitsu- this applies everywhere.

If you’re facing difficulties right now- stop for just a moment. Take a deep breath and ask the following:

“Am I creating this?”

“Would adjusting my technique and strategy be valuable here?”

“Do I just need to clench my jaw and power through?”

Apply what is needed, and overcome.

You can find more articles and content at my website www.paulwaggener.com

Follow me at my Telegram channel for news, exclusive content, updates and more.

A new Power Aesthetic podcast is released each week.

PHYSICAL

“I’ve mentioned the idea before: your true god is not the one you advertise the worship of with your tongue or your carefully constructed “identity,” that is, your ego-self.

It is the one to whom you offer sacrifice and obedience.

In this way, our training, if it is a true framework around which our lives are based, becomes a devotional godhead for us to focus upon.”

- From my article “Sadhana: Training With Purpose”

MENTAL

Your mind is a razor

It is the purpose of a razor to be sharp

And yet-

How many are left to rust and ruin?

Daily care, regular use, well-honed and oiled

Or neglected, dull, slow to motion

A tool that does not function

Is just an object- devoid of value.

SPIRITUAL

“Whenever we proceed from the known into the unknown we may hope to understand, but we may have to learn at the same time a new meaning of the word 'understanding.'”

- Werner Karl Heisenberg

TEMPORAL

“Today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups...

So I ask, in my writing, What is real?

Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms.

I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it.

And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind.

I ought to know. I do the same thing.”

- Philip K. Dick

If you are enjoying this weekly email, please suggest it to your friends by sending them HERE

Talk to you next week,

Paul Waggener

Author of the entrepreneur's guidebook,

No Surrender

Creator of Brand Builder's Bible

p.s. If you missed either one, the new podcast episodes "Geometry" and "Spiritual Basics" have gotten a really strong amount of positive feedback. You might find them valuable as well.

Good morning.

It’s a sunny day here in central Virginia, and my mind is on freedom.

Not just because warm days make me think of motorcycles and evening campfires and all that good spring and summer stuff…

Rather, I’ve been thinking about the question “what do I really want?” all week, intensely.

What does freedom really look like to me?

I’ve lived with empty pockets in a tiny cabin, hair past my waist and a copperhead snake on the grill, my only means of conveyance a beat up old Kawasaki motorcycle and a mountain bike- that felt pretty free.

I’ve also looked out the window from a first class seat as I flew over Iceland, on my way to mainland Europe for a week of whatever I wanted...that felt pretty free, too.

Thirty days and ten thousand miles into living on the back of a Harley, wandering sunburnt through the Texas desert-

All these experiences have been a piece of the puzzle, but not the whole thing.

The full thought is here, on my website- check it out after you read this email...there’s some stuff in there I think you’ll find worth considering this week.

You can find more articles and content at my website www.paul-waggener.com

Follow me at my Telegram channel for news, exclusive content, updates and more.

A new Power Aesthetic podcast is released each week.

PHYSICAL

“Man’s proper stature is not one of mediocrity, failure, frustration, or defeat, but one of achievement, strength, and nobility.

In short, man can and ought to be a hero.”

– Mike Mentzer, bodybuilder

MENTAL

“I ask you, “What would Conan do?”

Conan wouldn’t stand by and let others determine his attitude.

He wouldn’t mope around like a sad, pathetic dog when things don’t go his way.

And he sure as hell doesn’t tuck tail when defeated.

Stand up and show the world who you are and what you can do.

Bleed success. Eat. Sleep. Mate. Defend.”

- Jim Wendler, powerlifter and writer

SPIRITUAL

“For God, who is in heaven, is in man.

Where else can heaven be, if not in man?

As we need it, it must be within us.

Therefore it knows our prayer even before we have uttered it, for it is closer to our hearts than to our words.”

- Paracelsus, alchemist

TEMPORAL

“To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.”

- Leonard Bernstein, composer

If you are enjoying this weekly email, please suggest it to your friends by sending them HERE

Talk to you next week,

Paul Waggener

Author of the entrepreneur's guidebook,

No Surrender

Creator of Brand Builder's Bible

p.s. I've mentioned it before, but here's how I'm saving an average of 3 or 400 a month, without even noticing. Really valuable tool.

Good morning-

Today, I want to share with you something I wrote immediately upon waking yesterday from a few very intense dreams.

I choose to believe there are times when your subconscious is telling you that you are on the right path.

These brief lines sum up the direction of this project, and will be my touchstone for the coming work:

It is the purpose of man to evolve by exploring and maximizing his full potential.

He does this by adhering to a Pattern that elevates him Physically, Mentally, Spiritually and Temporally.

To embody the Pattern one must grow in experience and discernment.

To experience with discernment is to gain understanding.

To gain understanding is to increase in power.

To increase in power and to use it righteously is to embody the Pattern.

One who embodies the Pattern elevates himself and those around him, until they embody it as well.

You can find more articles and content at my website www.paul-waggener.com

Follow me at my Telegram channel for news, exclusive content, updates and more.

A new Power Aesthetic podcast is released each week.

PHYSICAL

Adherence to a regimen places one on a "virtuous circle," an ascending spiral of progression that has no predetermined ceiling.

We experience the world from the outside in, and the inside out- to elevate the physical is to elevate the spiritual, and vice versa.

MENTAL

We don’t live in a just world- we just live in a world.

Your approach to how you deal with "unfairness," or "injustice" etc says volumes about you as a person.

You can either play the victim, think "why me?", respond with anger or despair, and allow every situation that arises to run a train on your emotions...

Or- view everything as a challenge to cultivate god-energy and radiate calm power.

Perception is reality.

Maintain an easy strength even in desperate times. Inspire others and don’t infect your peers with fear and emotional responses to hardship or tough times.

Elevate and inspire those around you and continue to evolve- it’s your duty as a man.

SPIRITUAL

A mantra:

Today I will cultivate god-energy.

My words will ring out clear and strong like a gunshot.

There is nothing I cannot accomplish.

There is nothing I desire that I cannot attain.

My strength is calm and steady,

because the whole world and everything in it is open to me.

I will elevate and inspire those around me

I am filled with courage and kindness.

I am god, because god is within me.

TEMPORAL

Money is a means to an end- what's your end?

Without a strong "why?" there is unlikely to be an effective "how?"

Start by answering the first question, and move to the second with power and efficiency.

If you are enjoying this weekly email, please suggest it to your friends by sending them HERE

Talk to you next week,

Paul Waggener

Author of the entrepreneur's guidebook,

No Surrender

Creator of Brand Builder's Bible

p.s. Power Aesthetic's first print offering, "Pillars and Precepts" has sold out of its second run already, but is still available here in digital format while a new printing is being prepared.

Good morning.

In medieval alchemy, we come across the acronym V.I.T.R.I.O.L.

Alchemy was not simply a forerunner to modern chemistry, but a practice that attempted, as Crowley might have it, “the method of science, the aim of religion.”

The Latin phrase behind the acronym is “visita interiora terrae rectificando invenies occultum lapidem,” or, “visit the earth’s interior, (and by) rectification, you will discover the hidden stone.”

Alchemy hid all of its deeper spiritual truths within various chemical compounds and processes that used the planets, colors, elements and so on as a coded language.

In this case, the seeker is being admonished to look within himself, and purify, or “set right” the “world within,” and in so doing, he will accomplish the Great Work.

Easier said than done, but today we will look at a few individuals who gave their lives to this Work, and what their admonishments are to us on our own path.

You can find more articles and content at my website www.paul-waggener.com

Additionally, you can follow me at my Telegram channel for news, personal content, images, videos and so on.

A new Power Aesthetic podcast is released each Friday.

PHYSICAL

“The Art begins with you.

Work on yourself and your appointed task in the Art.

Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow.

You are here for no other purpose than to realize your inner divinity and manifest your inner enlightenment.

Foster peace in your own life and then apply the Art to all that you encounter.

One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art.

Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train.”

- Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido

MENTAL

“Truth is the offspring of silence and meditation.

I keep the subject constantly before me and wait 'til the first dawnings open slowly, by little and little, into a full and clear light.”

- Isaac Newton, Natural Philosopher and Alchemist

SPIRITUAL

“They proved that it was possible to produce beauty in life by surrounding life with

beauty.

They discovered that symmetrical bodies were built by souls continuously in the presence of symmetrical bodies; that noble thoughts were produced by minds surrounded by examples of mental nobility…

Thoughtful men of antiquity realized that their great philosophers were the natural products of the æsthetic ideals of architecture, music, and art established as the standards of the cultural systems of the time.”

- Manly P. Hall, Philosopher, Truth- Seeker and Occultist

TEMPORAL

Buddhism is often seen as a spiritual form only interested in the renunciation of temporal concerns, but the Buddha actually suggests there are four kinds of “happiness” that come from wealth:

Happiness through ownership- not relying on another for your lodging or livelihood.

Happiness through earning your money with integrity and not engaging in swindling, robbing, slavery, or other practices.

Happiness through being free of debt and the stress and anxiety that comes with it.

Happiness through sharing one’s wealth or using it to help others.

If you enjoyed this email, please consider sharing with friends by clicking here.

Talk to you next week,

Paul Waggener

Author of the entrepreneur's guidebook,

No Surrender

Creator of Brand Builder's Bible

p.s. Power Aesthetic's first written collection, "Pillars and Precepts" is currently available as an e-book- more print copies will be restocked soon.

The booklet is a brief treatise on the foundational principles underlying the Power Aesthetic movement.

Good morning-

I’m writing this email to you from sunny Florida, with a gentle ocean breeze stirring the palms outside...when I left Virginia, there was snow on the ground from a cold weekend “dusting.”

Life is all about perspective.

Sometimes it’s easy to feel like the deck is stacked against us, or to buy into the media mantra of “everything is worse than ever,” but this is all a matter of how you choose to look at things.

We, as humans, have an incredible ability to audit and edit our thoughts, beliefs, patterns, habits, and ways of viewing and perceiving the world around us- we truly get to create our own reality.

The habits and perspectives we choose, the thoughts we think often, the ways we react to external stimuli- these become carved more and more deeply each time we go through their “pattern.”

The deeper they are carved, the easier our consciousness flows through their channels.

We create sigils of them, magically charged symbols with immense power over our behavior and attitudes.

It’s important we pay attention to what sigils and patterns our life is operating under the aegis of...

and to always remember that just as we create them, we can erode them, and in some cases, destroy them utterly.

You can find more articles and content at my website www.paul-waggener.com

Follow me at my Telegram channel for news, exclusive content, updates and more.

A new Power Aesthetic podcast is released each week.

PHYSICAL

A physical discipline over what we eat- this will make for a healthy person.

A physical discipline over how we exercise and train- this will make for a strong and dangerous person.

A physical discipline over what we wear and how we present ourselves- this will make for a confident person who makes a strong impression.

Before we even get to the other aspects of the self, a good physical discipline will take us a long way.

MENTAL

“Ár skal rísa

sá er annars vill

fé eða fjör hafa

sjaldan liggjandi úlfr

lær um getr

né sofandi maðr sigr”

“He should rise early who wants to take

the life or property of another.

Seldom does the lying wolf get the lamb

or the sleeping man victory.”

- Hávamál 58

SPIRITUAL

“Only in quiet waters things mirror themselves undistorted.

Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.”

- Hans Margolius

TEMPORAL

Every 3 months or so, I go through all my clothes, books, and other assorted things I’ve “amassed” in that time.

If I haven’t worn it (with the exception of seldom worn things like a tux or something), I give it away.

If I don’t expect to read it again, I give it away.

If I don’t expect I’ll use it- you guessed it.

This keeps me from unnecessarily “holding onto” material stuff, and keeps things pretty de-cluttered for me...physically and mentally.

Creating this “empty space” keeps us clean, streamlined, fast, and unfettered.

If you are enjoying this weekly email, please suggest it to your friends by sending them HERE

Talk to you next week,

Paul Waggener

Author of the entrepreneur's guidebook,

No Surrender

Creator of Brand Builder's Bible

p.s. Power Aesthetic's first printed offering, "Pillars and Precepts" is now restocked on its second printing, and selling out quickly- you can also purchase it in e-book format.

I hope you’re all having an excellent week-

The response to last week’s podcast on depression, anger and addiction was incredible- it racked up a lot of listens, was shared all over the place, and the emails I got about it meant a lot to me.

My goal for the email and podcast is that they’d be a bit like me: short, dense, and hopefully useful!

Thank you so much- I’m glad these are hitting the mark.

You can find more articles and content at my website www.paul-waggener.com

Additionally, you can follow me at my Telegram channel for news, personal content, images, videos and so on.

A new Power Aesthetic podcast is released each Friday.

PHYSICAL

If you’re only doing what you like, chances are good you’re not doing something you need.

MENTAL

French mathematician Descartes once said in his “Discourse on Method”:

“Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it.”

This approach works with everything- instead of being overwhelmed by a problem, see how many pieces it can be smashed or separated into.

Now, instead of one massive problem, you have a few relatively simple tasks to handle.

SPIRITUAL

When looking at the physical form, the actions of an individual, the way they speak, and live, and create-

We are seeing the visible product of the invisible state of that person.

A tree, as they say, is known by its fruit, and a corrupt tree does not bring forth a harvest of good fruit.

However, it is my belief that although we can use terms like “visible” and “invisible,” “internal” and “external,” neither is more important or more “sacred.”

The “internal” is affected by the “external” and vice versa.

Therefore, we do not need to choose a “starting point,” from which to grow, except “here and now.”

Sometimes it can be easier to conquer our “internal” issues by changing our “external” habits and processes- eat clean, exercise often, practice good hygiene, get sunshine- these are all on the first tier of recommendations for those with “inner” crises.

TEMPORAL

When we think of the value of pursuing temporal independence, perhaps no reason is better than the simplest- liberation from the constant stress of not having it.

In attaining it, one who chooses to do so can think of it less often.

To quote another French-speaking thinker, Jean-Jacques Rousseau:

“It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living.”

When our minds are weighed down with the daily worries of the bills, groceries, cars breaking down, and so on, they cannot easily rise into the higher atmosphere of creative and elevated thought.

By directing a reasonable amount of our time and energies towards establishing ourselves in this way, the rest of the day can be spent as we choose.

If you enjoyed this email, please consider sharing with friends by clicking here.

Talk to you next week,

Paul Waggener

Author of the entrepreneur's guidebook,

No Surrender

Creator of Brand Builder's Bible

p.s. The Devotion Jiu Jitsu store will be going offline in one week, as the brand is re-imagined, and all printing is brought entirely "in-house."

If you wanted to order something from there, now is the time to do so- many of the current designs available will be discontinued at the end of next week.

Good morning.

Working hard this week on getting back to goals and schedules that illness does its best to disrupt.

On Sunday, I did an hour long interview/discussion with Greg Johnson of Counter Currents, that will be appearing this week on his site- we discussed comparative mythology, some of our favorite books, strategies for resiliency, and other enjoyable topics.

I’ll share a link on my Telegram when it becomes available.

You can find more articles and content at my website www.paul-waggener.com

Additionally, you can follow me at my Telegram channel for news, personal content, images, videos and so on.

A new Power Aesthetic podcast is released each Friday.

PHYSICAL

The key to maintaining our physical goals is to keep our eyes on the prize at all times.

Choose a physique to aspire to, whether from art or real life- keep that image in mind when negative choices or temptations arise.

Remember that you are training to be powerful, to be dangerous, to be inspiring to your children or peer group- you aren’t just training to "look good…"

You are training to be an archetype that those who come after you can emulate in turn.

MENTAL

Struggling with a lack of focus?

Simplify.

Try this experiment:

Say "no" more often.

Sometimes we say "yes" to things without thinking, and it becomes unnecessary clutter.

Use "no" like a scalpel, and eliminate all but the lean muscle in your day to day.

SPIRITUAL

Sometimes a lack of focus comes from a spiritual exhaustion- a tiredness that goes deeper than the physical and leeches color from the world around us.

The inner fire is low, and needs something to stoke it before it burns itself out and becomes much more difficult to rekindle.

At times like these, we have to destroy what is destroying us- sidestep the ordinary. Change the narrative of your day. Use alternate routes. Walk instead of driving.

Fight tooth and nail where you might have compromised.

Ask yourself- "if I was faced with a terminal illness, what three things would I cut from my life, and what three things would I do differently?"

(Important note: it’s not necessarily cheating to say "quit my job.")

TEMPORAL

Every time I read a quote about money, it always seems like it’s someone with a lot of it, telling you that it’s not that important.

I’ve been dirt poor, and I’ve raked it in, and I can tell you I’ll take the money over poverty any time.

It’s true that money will never be more important to me than loyalty, friendship, love and all that stuff- but the way I can reward loyalty, demonstrate friendship, and express love has changed dramatically.

Remember: it’s not always what you can buy with the money- it’s what you can reward with it, or in what ways you can show your own best qualities.

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Talk to you next week,

Paul Waggener

Author of the entrepreneur's guidebook,

No Surrender

Creator of Brand Builder's Bible

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