You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

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+1: Junk Food's Junk Science (#1245) Sep 01, 2020

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In our last +1, we chatted about the fact that your food label might be lying to you by stuffing a few variations of cancer candy (aka sugar) into your jam so "SUGAR" doesn't make its way to the top slot. (Which is one of the reasons you and your Loved ones might be unknowingly consuming A LOT more sugar than you think and, unfortunately, suffering the SIGNIFICANT consequences.) Today I want to chat about some more wisdom from Mark Hyman's great book Food Fix. In our next +1, we'll focus on his #1 tip for Optimizing your personal health AND a powerful way to collectively pull a lever on systemic change. But, first, talk about the sugar = cancer candy theme for another moment. This is a BIG deal and something we want to REALLY get. So… Let's go back to Tom Rath's Eat Move Sleep again. Quick note: Tom is a super-conservative scientist at Gallup. He also has a "rare and catastrophic genetic mutation" that makes him vulnerable to cancer so he's been battling multiple cancers ALL his life—which has forced him to study the subject in depth. Here's what he tells us: "Sugar is a toxin. It fuels diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer. At the current dose we consume, more than 150 pounds per person every year, sugar and its derivatives kill more people than cocaine, heroin, or any other controlled substance around. One report aptly describes sugar as 'candy for cancer cells.' It accelerates aging and inflammation in the body and subsequently fuels tumor growth. It is now clear that if you lower your sugar intake, you reduce your odds of developing cancer." So, yah. Reduce your intake of sugar and reduce your odds of developing cancer. It's really not that complicated. Only… You know how some less-than-virtuous executives thought that it was a good idea to confuse us with misleading food labels so we didn't realize SUGAR was the primary ingredient in our jam? Well… Hate to break the news to you but they've ALSO been paying some of their friends to do some junk science to help them sell their junk food. Yep. Researchers are paid to make us think that sugar isn't THAT bad for us. Did you know that the food industry spends more than $12 BILLION a year funding nutrition studies while the National Institute of Health spends only $1 billion? Yep. (Pause and reflect on that stat for a moment. The food industry spends more than $12 BILLION a year funding nutrition studies while the National Institute of Health spends only $1 billion.) And, not surprisingly, as Mark says, "Studies funded by the food industry are eight to fifty times more likely to find a positive outcome for their products." He tells us that all this "junk science" winds up "polluting and diluting independent research, and confusing policy makers, the public, and even most doctors and nutritionists." We'll leave it at that for Today before this becomes a +33. SUGAR. IT DOES NOT DO A BODY GOOD. Period. Got any sugar-laden, ultraprocessed food you might want to throw out and quit buying? Is TODAY a good day to remove the Trigger and take the next step in Optimizing? -1 -1 -1 for the +1 +1 +1 win!!!

#1: It's Day 1 for Optimize Coach - Class III (And, well, it's ALWAYS Day 1!! :) (#29) Sep 01, 2020

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#1: TGIM!!! Let's goooo! Time to earn our Trident. TODAY! (#28) Aug 31, 2020

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#1: Constraints are good. Embrace them! (aka: Discipline = Freedom!) (#27) Aug 30, 2020

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#1: CONSTANT (!) and Never-ending (!) Optimizing Experiments! (CANOE-ing + CANI/Kaizen) (#26) Aug 29, 2020

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#1: Spiritual Windshield Wipers (How are yours?) (#25) Aug 28, 2020

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+1: #1240 What's Worse Than "Sinning"? Aug 27, 2020

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After drafting that last +1, I hit my 90-minute mark for my second Deep Work Time Block of the day, which, of course, triggered one of my keystone algorithms. "After 90-minutes of Deep Work, I take a 15-20 minute break." So… I grabbed a little bite to eat and went on a short walk around our property. As I was walking, I contemplated the whole idea of "sin" and missing the mark in our lives. Joseph Campbell (who was also raised Catholic) came to mind. I just love his wisdom on the subject. We featured it in a +1 called "Father, Bless Me." As you may recall, Campbell tells us: "Ramakrishna once said that if all you think of are your sins, then you are a sinner. And when I read that, I thought of my boyhood, going to confession on Saturdays, meditating on all the little sins that I had committed during the week. Now I think one should go and say, 'Bless me, Father, for I have been great, these are the good things I have done this week.' Identify your notion of yourself with the positive, rather than with the negative." That's awesome. Then, my thoughts were interrupted as a deer bounded away from me. She (or was it he?) paused about 50 feet away, stared at me as I stared back for an extended moment. Then she continued on her way. That's awesome. Then my mind floated to Nathaniel Branden. I couldn't remember the precise details of his thoughts on the subject, but I remembered the essence. I remembered he once said something about the fact that there's something worse than "sinning" or missing the target. You know what that might be? … What's your guess? What's WORSE than missing the mark? … I remember that he said NOT HAVING high standards in the first place was, arguably, considerably WORSE than having them but failing to meet them. I reflected on that, finished my walk and came straight to my computer for a quick search to find the precise words he used and to create this +1. Enter: Mac search: "Nathaniel Branden." Result: A couple Notes: The Art of Living Consciously and The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem. I opened The Art of Living Consciously first. That's an AWESOME book and Note but nope. Not there. So, I opened The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem. Aha!! There it is. It's the sixth and final pillar: Integrity. Here's how Nathaniel puts it: "Integrity is the integration of ideals, convictions, standards, beliefs—and behavior. When our behavior is congruent with our professed values, when ideals and practice match up, we have integrity. Observe that before the issue of integrity can even be raised we need principles of behavior—moral convictions about what is and is not appropriate—judgments about right and wrong action. If we do not yet hold standards, we are on too low a developmental rung even to be accused of hypocrisy. In such a case, our problems are too severe to be described merely as lack of integrity." Yep. That's exactly right. And… That's Today's +1. Are YOU living in integrity with your ideals, convictions, standards, and beliefs? And… Remember: That presupposes we HAVE a clear sense of standards. So… What are yours? Let's know them. And, let's live them. As we solidify our intense trust in ourselves by getting better and better at hitting the mark. TODAY.

#1: Beast mode data feast (+ Introducing Hero makers! :) (#24) Aug 27, 2020

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#1: Dynamic Equilibrium is Where it's at!! (#23) Aug 26, 2020

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Optimize: http://optimize.me/ Optimize Coach: https://www.optimize.me/coach Today we have fun talking about dropping into a data-mining Beast Mode of awesome. Hope you enjoy and LET'S DO THIS!!!

#1: A Tribute to Greatness (Anders Ericsson - A hero has fallen. :/) (#22) Aug 25, 2020

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