You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

Latest Episodes:

Soul Force: The Equation: Superpower Math (Heroic +1 #1,355) Dec 06, 2022

Show notes

Heroic: https://heroic.us (← Get your first 14 days free)

Heroic Coach: https://heroic.us/coach (← Join 12,500+ Heroes from 110+ Countries!)

Today's Heroic +1 is inspired by wisdom from "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. Get more wisdom in less time (including Big Idea highlights of "Atomic Habits" and a 1-hour Habits 101 masterclass) with a Heroic Premium membership.

Start a FREE 7-day premium trial here: http://heroic.us

About Heroic:

Heroic integrates ancient wisdom, modern science, and practical tools into a beautifully-designed app to help activate your best. Premium Heroic members have access to 600+ of the absolute greatest personal development books distilled into 25-min PhilosophersNotes and 50+ hour-long masterclasses on all areas of a flourishing life.

SUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/3EF3hQs

#habits #consistency #wisdom #personaldevelopment #heroic

"Consistency Is a Superpower": How to Activate Your Soul Force (Heroic +1 #1,354) Dec 05, 2022

Show notes

Heroic: https://heroic.us (← Get your first 14 days free)

Heroic Coach: https://heroic.us/coach ← Join 12,500+ Heroes from 110+ Countries!)

Today's Heroic +1 features wisdom from "Discipline is Destiny" by Ryan Holiday. Get more wisdom in less time (including Big Idea highlights of "Discipline is Destiny" and a 1-hour Willpower 101 masterclass) with a Heroic Premium membership.

Start a FREE 7-day premium trial here: http://heroic.us

About Heroic:

SUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/3EF3hQs

#ryanholiday #discipline #dailystoic #wisdom #personaldevelopment #heroic

A Cold Shower a Day: Keeps the Doctor Away (Heroic +1 #1,353) Dec 04, 2022

Show notes

Heroic: https://heroic.us (← Get your first 14 days free)

Heroic Coach: https://heroic.us/coach (← Join 12,500+ Heroes from 110+ Countries!)

Today's Heroic +1 features wisdom from "The Wim Hof Method" by Wim Hof. Get more wisdom in less time (including Big Idea highlights of "The Wim Hof Method" and a 1-hour Optimal Breathing 101 masterclass) with a Heroic Premium membership.

Start a FREE 7-day premium trial here: http://heroic.us

About Heroic:

SUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/3EF3hQs

#wimhofmethod #wimhof #coldexposure #breathing #wisdom #personaldevelopment #heroic

Napitate Lately?: Nap + Meditation Does a Hero Good! (Heroic +1 #1,352) Dec 03, 2022

Show notes

Heroic: https://heroic.us (← Get your first 14 days free)

Heroic Coach: https://heroic.us/coach (← Join 12,500+ Heroes from 110+ Countries!)

Today's Heroic +1 features wisdom from "Take a Nap! Change Your Life" by Mark Ehrman and Sara Mednick. Get more wisdom in less time (including Big Idea highlights of "Take a Nap! Change Your Life"and a 1-hour Sleep 101 masterclass) with a Heroic Premium membership.

Start a FREE 7-day premium trial here: http://heroic.us

About Heroic:

SUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/3EF3hQs

#sleep #napping #wisdom #personaldevelopment #heroic

+1: The Office Is Closed (#1351) Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

"Shutdown Complete!" for the Target Swipe Win Steven Pressfield is one of my all-time favorite writers. In addition to being a brilliant writer of both fiction and non-fiction, he's a good human being. You can feel his wisdom and humility and realness with every word he writes. We've featured SIX of his brilliant books on the creative process including: The War of Art, Do the Work, Turning Pro, Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t, The Artist's Journey and his most recent book: Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be. Check out all those Notes if you want to learn more about how I approach the creative process. You can also check out Creativity 101 and the collection of Notes on the subject. As you know if you're familiar with Pressfield and his style, his books are both inspiring and beautifully pithy. btw: I just looked that word up. Yep. His books are the very definition of pithy: "concise and forcefully expressive." I read his latest book in an hour and fifteen minutes. Now… Today I want to connect a Big Idea from his latest book to my #3 Work Target: "Shut-down complete." As you know if you've been following along, "Shut-down complete!" is a Cal Newport-inspired idea. In Deep Work he tells us: "At the end of the workday, shut down your consideration of work issues until the next morning — no after-dinner e-mail check, no mental replays of conversations, and no scheming about how you'll handle an upcoming challenge; shut down work thinking completely. If you need more time, then extend your workday, but once you shut down, your mind must be left free." And, he says: "When you work, work hard. When you're done, be done." To ritualize this process, as he shuts everything down for the night, he says: "Shut-down complete!" That's exactly what I do as I shut down for the day and get my desk in a ready state for the next morning. (Which, btw, is ANOTHER one of my Work Targets: "Desk in Ready State.") Pressfield captures the same sentiment in his latest book. He tells us: "When I finish the day's work, I turn my mind off. The office is closed. The work has been handed off to the Unconscious, to the Muse. I respect her. I give her the time. If I see family or friends, I never talk about what I'm working on. I politely deflect any queries. But beyond not talking with others, I refuse to talk to myself. I don't obsess. I don't worry. I don't second guess. The office is closed." That's Today's +1. When you work, WORK. When you're done with work, BE DONE. The office is closed. Turn your brain off as you transition from Work to Love and give yourself the best shot at both enjoying your family AND training your recovery so you can show up with Heroic Energy and do it all again at the highest possible levels tomorrow. Target swipe: "Shut-down complete!" Target swipe: "Desk in Ready State" Target swipe: "LET'S GOOOOO, HERO!!!"

+1: My #1 WIN (Yours?) (#1350) Dec 01, 2022

Show notes

If All You Did Today Was This… In our last couple +1s, we talked about my Top 3 Work targets and then we talked about my #1 Target: "Recommitting to my Sacred Vow." As you may recall, these are my Top 3 Heroic Work Targets: I. Recommit to Sacred Vow (101 | 1M | 51 2051) II. #1 WIN III. Shut-down Complete Which begs the question… What are YOUR Top 3 Work Targets? I. ______________________ II. _____________________ III. _____________________ Quick check in… Have you taken a moment or three to reflect on that? If not, why not? Seriously… We're trying to move from Theory to Practice to Mastery, Hero!! Let's GOOO!!! Now… Today I want to chat about my #2 Heroic Work Target. Right after I reread and recommit to my Sacred Vow and BEFORE I allow ANY inputs into my life (no email, no smartphone, no inputs yet!), I decide what THE MOST IMPORTANT THING is that I'm going to do that day and then… I DO IT. And… As I like to say, if that was all I did that day but I did that EVERY DAY, I'd still be more effective and more productive than I was before I made this a non-negotiable habit. Now, of course, if you feel so inspired, we want to combine this AM Work practice with a good "Shut-down complete!" protocol (my #3 Work Target which is the subject of our next +1!) and all the Energy stuff that helps us show up for that WIN feeling ZESTY. Do that consistently and let's see if we can astonish yourself (and the world) with both the quantity AND the quality of your creative output. But… Don't just hit that "#1 WIN" Target once during the day. Discipline yourself to CONSTANTLY focus on WHAT'S IMPORTANT NOW! All day. Every day. ESPECIALLY… Today. Target swipe: "#1 WIN!" Target swipe: "#1 WIN!" Target swipe: "#1 WIN!"

+1: Vow > Kinda Sorta Committed (#1349) Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

The Foundation for Greatness In our last +1, I shared my Sacred Vow with you. Then I encouraged YOU to consider creating your own Sacred Vow. Today I want to continue that discussion. We'll invite Daisaku Ikeda to the party. He is the leader of Nichiren Buddhism and one of the most respected Buddhist philosophers alive whose work has inspired millions around the world. In Buddhism Day by Day he tells us about the importance of making a vow. Here's how he puts it: "In any field of endeavor, making a vow is the foundation for achieving something great. If for whatever reason a person gives up halfway or backslides, his or her commitment hasn't been based on a vow. Halfhearted desire doesn't amount to a vow." Vow. It means "a solemn promise." It's on the far right side of the spectrum of kinda sorta committed to ABSOLUTELY ALL IN (!) committed.

(Kinda sorta) (VOW = ALL IN)

A vow. A solemn promise to ourselves that we will give everything we have for however long it takes to the altruistic goal we have determined is worthy of us—whether that's actualizing our potential, raising healthy and happy kids, giving our gifts to the world or all of the above. Let's do a quick inventory. What's most important to you in your life? Your actualization? Your family? Your creative expression? ( What's your ideal outcome in those scenarios? And, how committed are you to achieving something great in each of those domains? Kinda sorta? Or have you made a solemn promise to yourself to achieve your desired outcome? We'll know by how you respond to challenges. Here's how Alex Lickerman puts it in The Undefeated Mind: "And when our response to failure is to summon an even greater determination to succeed, vowing to get back up after being knocked down not just once but again and again each day and with every obstacle that rises up to challenge us—attacking them, as Nichiren Daishonin wrote, like a 'lion king who unleashes the same power whether he traps a tiny ant or attacks a fierce animal'—then we'll have found a treasure even more valuable than any apparently foolproof plan to reach our goal: the determination necessary to seek a better one when it fails. For in demonstrating to ourselves that we can always summon more of it, our determination becomes to us like a good friend, its steady presence and our faith in its power imbuing us with confidence that no matter how many times we've failed, no matter how much we want to quit, victory can still be ours. 'When your determination changes,' Daisaku Ikeda, the third president of the Soka Gakki, writes, 'everything will begin to move in the direction you desire. The moment you resolve to be victorious, every nerve and fiber in your being will immediately orient itself toward your success. On the other hand, if you think, 'This is never going to work out,' then at that instant every cell in your being will be deflated and give up the fight. Then everything really will move in the direction of failure.'" I repeat… When your determination changes, everything changes. Let's resolve to be victorious and use every challenge as fuel to our growth. #makethevow P.S. Remember, as Daisaku Ikeda tells us: "Make goals. Whether big or small, work toward realizing them. You must be serious about and dedicated to your goals—you'll get nowhere if you just treat them like jokes. An earnest, dedicated spirit shines like a diamond and moves people's hearts. That is because a brilliant flame burns within." Plus: "When you devote yourself to achieving your goal, you will not be bothered by shallow criticism. Nothing important can be accomplished if you allow yourself to be swayed by some trifling matter, always looking over your shoulder and wondering what others are saying or thinking. The key to achievement is to move forward along your chosen path with firm determination."

+1: The Sacred Vow (#1348) Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

Here's Mine… What's YOURS? In our last +1, we talked about my Top 3 Work Targets as I encouraged you to get clarity on and then commit to and hit YOUR top 3 targets. These are my Top 3 Work Targets: I. Recommit to Sacred Vow (101 | 1M | 51 2051) II. #1 WIN III. Shutdown Complete What are YOUR Top 3 Work Targets? I. ______________________ II. _____________________ III. _____________________ Today I want to chat a little more about my #1 Work target: Recommitting to my Sacred Vow. I have done this EVERY DAY for over a year and a half. It has been an incredibly powerful thing for me and I've been told by many people that it's inspired them to create their own Sacred Vow so… Let's chat a little more about it. But… First, a little more context. As you know if you've been following along, on election night 2020, I founded Heroic Public Benefit Corporation. A couple days later I learned that the crowdfunding regulations were changing such that startups like ours could go from raising a max of $1M via the existing regulations to raising a max of $5M. It was one of those moments in my life when I didn't think we could do it, I KNEW we would be the very first company to ever raise $5M via the new regulations. Of course, all that's nice and warm and fuzzy. And… Then we had to actually do it. And, long story a little shorter, we did. On March 23rd, 2021, with the support of 2,432 Heroic Founding Investors from 75 countries around the world, we made history as the very first company to ever raise $5M via the new crowdfunding regulations. Now… Before it all became official, I had to electronically sign some documents. Before I did that, I went for a walk on our property—reflecting on the magnitude of the commitment I was making to our community. It felt like I was making a lifetime commitment to our investors that was nearly on par with the commitment I made to Alexandra when we got married. So… I decided that I should make a Sacred Vow. This is what I wrote:

I, Brian Johnson, absolutely and fiercely commit to honoring your investment in me and in Heroic by doing my best to make you proud to be a part of our movement. I hereby make a sacred vow to YOU and to everyone else in our community to honor my fundamentals and to practice my philosophy. Of course, I will not be perfect and I cannot promise any particular outcomes and I will certainly make mistakes. But I promise you that I will show up day in and day out and do everything in my power to fulfill our Mission to change the world, one person at a time, together, starting with you and me, Today. With Love + Wisdom + Self-Mastery + Courage, I say: Heroes unite!

And THAT's the vow I reread and recommit to every.single.morning. Again, ultimately this +1 has NOTHING to do with me. It's about YOU. Is there a Sacred Vow that you and your Daimon would like to draft? Perhaps we can spend a moment or three thinking about that now… _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ Target swipe: "ALL IN. LET'S GO!!" Here's to our Sacred Vows! P.S. Want to invest in our latest crowdfunding? Learn more on Wefunder here: https://wefunder.com/heroic

+1: My Top 3 Work Targets (#1347) Nov 28, 2022

Show notes

What Are YOURS? Not too long ago, we talked about my Top 3 Energy Targets. As you may recall, I said that it's really hard to have a series of really bad days when I hit my Top 3 Energy Targets. These are my Top 3 Energy Targets: I. In Bed for 9-10 Hours II. AM Meditation (1%) III. Movement (30 Min) (What are YOURS?) Today I want to chat about my Top 3 Work Targets. Here they are: I. Recommit to Sacred Vow (101 | 1M | 51 2051) II. #1 WIN III. Shutdown Complete Note: If ALL I did in any given day was hit THOSE three Targets, I'd have a pretty good day. Period. I repeat: The early research on hitting as few as three Targets on our Heroic app shows that you can boost your Energy by 40%, your Productivity by 20% and your Connection by 15%. And, I repeat with even more emphasis: The extensive research on "checklists" in general is unequivocal: Checklists work. Whether we're talking about pilots or surgeons or athletes or construction managers or aspiring Heroes, checklists help you perform at your highest possible levels. Period. Now… Back to my personal checklists while YOU think about the Top 3 Work behaviors that keep YOU plugged in and showing up at your Heroic best. I. Recommit to Sacred Vow (101 | 1M | 51 2051) First, I recommit to my Sacred Vow to do my absolute best to serve you so we can fulfill our mission. I commit to getting my Soul Force to 101 so we can help 1M of us do the same so we can help create a world in which 51% of humanity is flourishing by 2051. II. #1 WIN Second, I commit to doing what I've decided is THE most important thing I can do that day is (my "#1 WIN") and then I DO IT. III. Shutdown Complete Third, I decide when I am going to STOP working then, at the end of my day, I hit that "Shutdown complete" Target so I can transition from Work to Love as I spend time with the family and train my recovery so I can go hit it all again with Heroic Energy tomorrow. I will repeat yet again… It's REALLY (!) hard to have a series of bad days when I hit those three simple targets. Which is precisely why I use the Heroic app to recommit to those Targets every.single.morning and then strive to hit those Targets every.single.day. And… We just talked about me way too much. Today's +1 has NOTHING to do with me. It's all about YOU. What are YOUR Top 3 Work Targets? What are the three simple things you do when you're at your best Work-wise? Seriously. WHAT ARE THEY?! I. ______________________ II. _____________________ III. _____________________ Fantastic. Clarity is Step #1. Now… Is TODAY a good day to commit to and then hit those targets, Hero? Awesome. Day 1. All in. Let's go.

+1: A Brief History of the Universe (#1346) Nov 27, 2022

Show notes

13.8 Billion Years Ago to NOW In our last couple +1s, we talked about the Sun and the next-closest star, appropriately named Proxima Centauri. We did some quick math and realized that the Universe is insanely vast (yes, that's the technical description) and that 99.999% of the Universe consists of… ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Imagining the ineffable VASTNESS of our Universe should help us get a little perspective on our lives. Today I want to chat about just how OLD the Earth and the Sun and our Universe are. Why? In addition to being a fascinating intellectual exercise, it is, as Michael Singer points out in Living Untethered, an equally powerful SPIRITUAL exercise. So… Do you know how long ago the Universe was created? Somehow, scientists are able to peg the number at around 13.8 BILLION years ago. Think about that. Out of nothing came something. 13.8 BILLION YEARS AGO. My brain just exploded. !! Now… Next question. Do you know how old the Earth and the Sun are? The Sun is estimated to be 4.603 billion years old. The Earth is estimated to be about 4.543 billion years old—plus or minus about 50 million years. (Hah.) (God bless whoever did that math!) Now… Here's a follow-up question… What was happening during that 9 BILLION YEAR lag between the inception of the Universe and the creation of our solar system? Think about THAT for a moment as well. My brain just exploded again. !! Then, after a BILLION years, the first single-cell organism appeared on Earth about 3.5 BILLION years ago. Then it took another 3.25 BILLION years for dinosaurs to appear around 250 million years ago. Fast forward another quarter of a billion years and, a couple/few hundred thousand years ago depending on whose math you want to believe, early humans showed up. And… As Singer says, all of that led to your great-great-great-great grandmother meeting your great-great-great-great grandfather all of which led to EVERY SINGLE THING that had to happen EXACTLY THE WAY IT HAPPENED for the miracle that is YOU to come alive. And… Yet… In spite of the sheer miraculousness of every single moment that had to happen EXACTLY the way it happened for you to be here today… You complain about what's happening right now. As Singer says, that's so absurd it's almost funny. And that's the starting point of his philosophy. Quit arguing with reality. It's bigger than you and me. It's been around longer than you and me. It will beat you and me in an argument EVERY SINGLE TIME. We need to "surrender" to reality. We need to accept it completely. Not with foolish resentment and/or petty frustration. We need to RADICALLY accept reality as Phil Stutz would say. We need to LOVE what is, as Byron Katie would put it. This moment, with all its apparent imperfections, is a sacred gift. Let's accept it. Let's bless it. Then let's shake our heads in awe as we smile and go do what needs to get done. +1. +1. +1. All day. Every day. ESPECIALLY… Today.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected