You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

In our last couple +1s, we talked about the art and science of lining up our dominoes in one neat and shiny staircase to moon-heaven.     It all sounds so nice and easy when it's mapped out like that, eh? (Hah.)   But…    Alas, there are a few important asterisks to that little story.   As important as it is to have clarity on what's important and worthy of our life force, nothing is ever quite th...

The other day I headed to Google to look up the meaning of the phrase "force multiplier."    Short story: When we initially launched our Optimize Coach certification program, I said that I believed our program could be a catalytic force multiplier in helping people Optimize their lives so we can change the world together.   After the first couple of months working with our first class of Coaches,...

In our last couple +1s, we've had fun exploring some wisdom gems from my recent PhilosophersNotes binge-athon.   Today we're going to talk about another great Idea from another great Note. This one's on Stephen Cope's The Great Work of Your Life .   Quick context: Stephen is the director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living. Kripalu is the largest yoga research institute in the Wester...

In our last +1, we explored the relationship between our food rotting and us rotting. Recall: The longer the shelf life of the food we eat, the shorter our lives will be!   That wisdom was from Michael Pollan's Food Rules .    In fact, it's Rule #13: "Eat only foods that will eventually rot."   Today we're going to talk about another Food Rule.   Food Rule #57 to be precise.   "Don't get your fuel...

Why We Sleep is a life-changing kinda book.   We're going to spend a few more days mining a few more of the many gems from Matthew Walker's masterpiece.   Today we're going to flip open our virtual Optimize magazine to the kind of ad we'd allow in there.   Here it is:   " AMAZING BREAKTHROUGH! Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your mem...

In our Optimize Coach certification program, we kick the party off by establishing the game we're playing in Module I: Eudaimon-ology in which we connect ancient wisdom (Aristotle!) to modern science (Seligman!) to establish the fact that it's all about flourishing/having a "good soul" via living with virtue.   Then we move on to get clarity on how to Operationalize Virtue—going from theory to pra...

Mike Erwin joins us as a guest teacher for this class! CEO of The Character Center, co-founder of the Positivity Project, and co-author of the book  Lead Yourself First , Mike is passionate about inspiring leaders across the country. His secret sauce to leadership? Solitude! (More specifically, freedom from the input of other minds.) In this class, Mike debunks the assumption that great leaders mu...

In our last +1, we did some severe pruning with Steve Chandler and Ralph Waldo Emerson. (How'd that go for you? More specifically: What went for you? )   Today we're going to spend some more time doing creative gardening with Steve.    Now, as we discussed in our +1 on our radish farm (oops!), I'm not much of a gardener. (Hah.) So… I'd never heard of "grow lights" before but I love the way Steve c...

In our last +1, we had some fun soaking our minds in some epic "To Dare or Not to Dare" wisdom. We kicked that party off with a Søren Kierkegaard gem.   This one: "To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself."    (How's your daring going?)   Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic and religious author who is widely considered to be the...

In our last +1 we talked about the fact that, as per legendary tough guy Vince Lombardi, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all."    Then we operationalized a super-simple antidote to cowardice via a super-simple PM Bookend routine. (How'd that go for you? )   I mentioned the fact that we'd connect that fatigue-coward phenomenon to my heart rate monitor. So, let's.   Not too long ago, I introduced you t...

Michael J. Gelb is the world's leading authority on the application of genius thinking to personal and organizational development. He is a pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning, and innovative leadership. Gelb leads seminars for organizations such as DuPont, Merck, Microsoft, Nike, Roche and YPO. He brings more than 35 years of experience as a professional speaker, semin...

Continuing our time with my dear friend Katherine Collins, let's talk about another micro-moment of Divine wisdom from our recent chat.   Quick context.   As you know if you've been following along, I've spent half of the last 20 years in Founder/CEO mode and the other half in Philosopher/Lover-of-Wisdom mode.   Although I'm not really into astrological signs (lol), I happen to be a Gemini and tha...

In our last couple +1s, we talked about the 11 virtues that show up on our shiny new Optimus medallions and make an appearance in our Optimus meditation.   Wisdom + Arete + Confidence + Purpose + Self-Awareness + Telos + Energy + Presence + Courage + Love + en*theos .    I've been playing around with those virtues in my formal meditation practice and while I'm rowing and while I'm training and bef...

Continuing our exploration of how to endure the pain of walking over burning (psychological) coals in pursuit of the upper limits of our potential, let's talk about one of Matt Fitzgerald's recommended "coping strategies" to Optimize our perception of effort and get closer to that wall of our potential.   Today we're going to talk about The Psychology of Pain . (Cue weird music?)   Short story: Re...

In our last +1, we talked about you feasting on your Hero Bars—using memories of your past success as fuel to walk through fear doors today.   (You grab three for Today?)   All of those Cookies and Hero Bars remind me of an idea from former Navy SEAL Alden Mills' great book Be Unstoppable .    I read it years ago and recently re-read it with Emerson.   It's a fantastic parable about a young captai...

In our last +1, we talked about the wonderful little book-gift I received from Cal Newport and we reflected on a particular passage from that book ( Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin) that really jumped out and grabbed me.   The essence of that passage?   Our presidential luminaries differed in many ways. But they ALL shared a " fierce ambition ."   Of the heroic kind.   Today...

Continuing our theme of seeking/conquering fear, let's have some fun with Jon Eliot and his wisdom from Overachievement .   Here's how he (brilliantly!) puts it: "Working on techniques to manage stress is a bit like trying to win the Indy 500 by putting a governor on the engine of your race car or swapping out a powerful V-12 for a V-4 because it offers a 'quieter ride.' You wouldn't do that. Not...

Gary Taubes wrote a great book called The Case Against Sugar .   Basic idea: If you were a detective in charge of figuring out a series of crimes and you noticed a common pattern among those crimes, you'd be smart to put the pieces together and see if you could narrow your search down to a single suspect.   Right?   Well… That's what Taubes does in his book.   The crimes? All the chronic diseases...

In our last +1, we took a quick trip to Michelangelo's studio and saw the Optimus You sitting there in the uncarved marble. Then we did a little chiseling at some behaviors that might be getting in the way.   Today's +1 is another super-quick one.   Pop quiz: You know what moment Michelangelo decided to capture when he carved David?    Hint: It wasn't his moment of celebration right after he "offi...

In our last +1, we met Joe De Sena's kettlebell named Leo. (I laugh as I type that.)   As you may recall, little Leonidas goes everywhere Joe goes. Traveling around the world? Mr. Leo gets checked in. Heading to the office in the morning. Leo's going, too.    All day every day. Joe and his 44-pound cast-iron little Leo are BFFs.   Now, as I was preparing for Greatest Year Ever 2019 , I was reflect...

Cal Newport joins us as a guest teacher for this class! He is one of my favorite thinkers. He got his Ph. D. in Computer Science from MIT and is now a Professor at Georgetown. He's also a bestselling author of a number of books. Given the fact that the fastest way to Optimize your life is to STOP doing things that are sub-optimal AND the fact that (for nearly all of us) our use of technology is th...

Meditation.   At this point, most of us are pretty aware of the fact that it's been proven to be pretty epic for our well-being.    Congrats, high fives, curtsies, etc. if you're rockin' a meditation practice already.   If you're not investing a few minutes of your day into meditation yet, what're you waiting for?!   Perhaps you're telling yourself you don't have the time?   Well, we know that's a...

In our last +1, we talked about the Optimize Master's program (aka  Optimize Coach !) and had fun with some wisdom on moving from theory to practice—reminding ourselves that the theory (although important!) is just the rudimentary stuff. The ADVANCED work is the actual PRACTICE.   Here's what was kinda weird.   As I was drafting that +1, I was doing some quick key word searches on my Mac to find t...