Provoking is about challenging the status quo, putting the authority into question, looking behind the curtain. At the very least, provocation is about expressing curiosity and asking why.

Provoke daily. Remember what kids are doing. They’re testing what is possible. So provoking is also seeing how far you can come. You can provoke yourself, although notions like “going to the limit” may be more appealing.

Provoking doesn’t mean to harm someone. It means to evoke a reaction, to force a reaction.

And if people don’t react to your provocation? You can continue until they do, or you can pause and find a better moment.

The take-away from today: Provoking is curiosity in action. Just being curious and not doing something about is passive and won’t bring you further. If you’re truly curious about a topic you ask those nasty questions, you ask more than 3 times why and you make sure you get your curiosity satisfied. Provoke, but don’t harm.

This was episode 17 of the #weekdaykickoff. Every Monday-Friday morning. Colombian time. Until episode 5 I also audio-recorded on Anchor, you can find me there as “Alexander Kluge”.

Easier said than done, right? Definitely true, and I’ve been a victim of it as well. Especially when you spend the weekend working and building up your energy is not so much the case. This is what I recommend writing to my exhausted self who was too lazy to wake up early today.

Think of what you want to accomplish

You don’t get motivation just by feeling motivated. You get motivated when you have a clear goal in mind, a goal you really want to go. If you didn’t reach it, you would lose the game of life. And you don’t want to lose in your own life – in the game where you set the rules, don’t you?

Manage your energy well

Pushing your hustle over the limits only one day, will result in lacking energy for the next day and probably the days after. You have to recover once you stretched it too much. Rather, find a moment to stop for the day, so you can continue with fresh eyes, a recovered body and a rested mind tomorrow. There’s no rush. “Build for the long term.”

Positive thoughts are the basis for moving forward

If you set your mind into negativity, you allow to let enter strangers into your house you wouldn’t want to have there. They may appear charming at first but will destroy your furniture, your kitchen, bedroom, heck, the whole house construction will suffer and your house eventually end in fire.

To say it in softer words:

Negativity is a blanket of thorns we use to try and shield us from the world. It never works, it never lasts, and it never satisfies. — Cory Miller on Twitter

The take-away from today: You only have a certain amount of energy, a certain amount of life time. Do you want see yourself nagging your nails in the corner out of frustration, or be the hero on stage proudly standing there because of what you accomplished? Hint: Negative thoughts won’t help you that much.

This was episode 16 of the #weekdaykickoff. Every Monday-Friday morning. Colombian time. Until episode 5 I also audio-recorded on Anchor, you can find me there as “Alexander Kluge”.

On Friday I’m summing up what you learnt in the #weekdaykickoff this week.

Refresh yourself

It’s necessary that from time to time you take time for rejuvenation. It can be weekend trip, week retreat or simply a nap with a glass of fresh water. Keep yourself hydrated, and this also means to have fresh thoughts if the old ones do you a disservice.

Do what you’re vain about

What you’re vain about is something you care about. “You’re so vain. I bet you think this song is about” is what you heard when you listened to Carly Simon. It has negative connotation, but doesn’t have to be like that. A friend on Facebook, Sara from Spain, responded on the topic saying:

What an interesting thought! Usually vanity is seen as a negative concept, but I like this vision of yours of using it to discover what really drives your actions and thoughts. I’d say this happens to me when I sing or perform with my voice a text, radio scripts, etc 🙂 Yes, I am able to receive “negative feedback” (although usually I am my hardest critic) but, like you say, I engage in a pursuit of becoming exceptionally 😉

Your last words in the death bed

Do what brings you closer to your dream ultimately achieving and living the dream. Nothing is too ridiculous or too extreme as long as you don’t hurt anyway. I then got a little political ,)

Leave your passion as a hobby

When you can’t find the energy for your night passion because your day job is in the same field, it’s time to switch the job or your passion. Ideally, your day job should create excitement and suspension so when you get home you can’t wait to finally pursue your passion.

Here and there you hear to make a passion your main job and source of income. But it doesn’t have to be like that. When your day job is because it gives you a nice regularity, keep your passion as something where you can be the total irregular, the weirdo, the strange one.

And if you feel your strangeness needs more time to expressed with more output, you can overlap from your day job to your passion, making a living with your passion – if that’s the strongest urge you feel.

The take-away for the weekend: Drink, shake yourself, dance, make moves that look funny all for the purpose of refreshing or recalibrating yourself. Find your passion, the one you’re vain about and then pursue as a hobby, or, when it’s really strong, make it your full-time profession (step by step). Undertake all the ridiculous, scary, embarrassing and breath-taking things so you reach your dream, live your dream life to have the greatest story to tell – before and while your death bed is coming closer to you.

A little bonus

If you missed my sabbatical post on 10+1 steps to your dream life, I highly recommend this quick read.

This was episode 15 of the #weekdaykickoff. Every Monday-Friday morning. Colombian time. Until episode 5 I also audio-recorded on Anchor, you can find me there as “Alexander Kluge”.