You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

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**You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson**

You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson features the best big ideas from life-changing books and practical tools to help you move from Theory to Practice to Mastery and flourish in Energy, Work, and Love. Get more wisdom in less time so you can activate your best, every day—so that we can change the world, one person at a time, together, starting with you and me and us, today! (Learn more about Heroic Public Benefit Corporation at https://heroic.us)

Latest Episodes:

+1: #1180 Astonishing Productivity Jun 28, 2020

Show notes

In our last +1, we had some fun playing with Cal Newport's Deep Work equation. We modified it from:

High Quality Work Produced = Time Spent x Intensity of Focus

to:

High Quality Work Produced = Time Spent x Quality of Energy x Intensity of Focus

The basic idea: You can get a TON of high quality work produced when you Focus your best Energy. Today I want to add one more variable to our equation and then do some quick math to bring the point home. Let's go back to that last sentence and drop in another variable. The basic idea: You can get a TON of high quality work produced when you Focus your best Energy on WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT NOW. Think about it. If we have GREAT Energy and we focus that like a laser beam on what's truly most important right now? And then we write some algorithms to make THAT our default so we're accreting more and more value day in and day out? We can create at an astonishing level. Enter the latest edition of our equation:

Astonishing Productivity = Time Spent x (Quality of Energy x Intensity of Focus x W.I.N.!)

Now, let's do some math to bring the point home. For the sake of very round numbers while recognizing it's much more nuanced than this, let's say your Energy is at a 10. Your Focus is at a 10 and you're working on a 10-level most important thing. That part of the equation would be 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000. Note: You could spend ONE hour working like that and achieve a 1,000 score on the Astonishing Productivity scale. (Go you!) (Reminds me of our +1 on The 1-Hour Workday. ) Now, to play with the other side of the spectrum, let's say your Energy is at a 1, your Focus is at a 1 and you're working on a 1-level of importance. That part of the equation would be 1 x 1 x 1 = 1. Note: You'd have to work 1,000 hours that day to achieve the same level of Astonishing Productivity. (Hah.) Again, it's a bit more nuanced than that and we can tweak the equation to weigh different variables differently, etc. BUT… The point remains. Get your ENERGY to as high a number as you can. FOCUS that (sun-like) Energy like a laser beam (through a magnifying glass) on THE MOST IMPORTANT THING and… VOILA. Astonishing Productivity. Do that again and again and again? And, well, you'll not just produce at an astonishing level, you'll enjoy the eudaimonic Flow that comes when you consistently high five your daimon. Let's do that. TODAY.

+1: #1175 Sugar & Depression Jun 23, 2020

Show notes

Continuing our brief tour through Kate Hefferon's textbook on Positive Psychology and the Body, let's flip open to the chapter on "Positive Nutrition." Hmmmm… I wonder what science has to say about the impact of our diets on our wellbeing… Guess where Kate starts her discussion? With sugar. She tells us: "Sugar has been a component within western diets since the sixteenth century. While 500 years ago, the average human would be lucky to come across sugar, it is estimated that today the average Westerner consumes 3 lb of sugar a week. Overall, our sugar consumption per year has risen from 5 lb per person, per year in 1700, to 152 lb per person in 2000. Recent research has found evidence that sugar, while not only bad for our waistlines, can have deleterious effects on our brain. Sugar has been found to shrink areas responsible for important functions such as memory and mood regulation, wearing on the hippocampus." We've talked about this before but let's pause and contemplate that math one more time. 500 years ago? Basically NO SUGAR. (Pause, reflect on that. Pretty please. With sugar not on top?) Then, 300 years ago, we were consuming about 5 lbs of sugar. Today? Today the average Westerner consumes 150 lbs of sugar every year. So… Millions of years of evolution. Close to zero consumption of sugar. Now 150 POUNDS of sugar on average EVERY YEAR. Hmmm… I wonder if that might have any negative consequences? Back to Kate who tells us that researchers "conducted a cross-national study (Korea, USA, France, Germany, Canada, New Zealand) on the relationship between sugar consumption and incidence of major depression. They found that 'there was a highly significant correlation between sugar consumption (cal/cap/day) and the annual rate of depression.' While this study has some major limitations, it highlights the importance of re-assessing the manufacturing of processed food and the role of sugar within our diets." Today's +1. SUGAR!!! One more time: It does a mind and body bad. Not only does it mess with our insulin/metabolism and lead to a lot of the crippling, chronic BODY diseases we're dealing with as a society, it also wreaks havoc on our MINDS and leads to a lot of the crippling psychological challenges we're dealing with as a society. I can't think of a more powerful lever to Optimize our nutrition than getting really smart on how much sugar we're consuming and having fun seeing just how much we can eliminate. So… How much sugar are YOU consuming these days? Note: It's ubiquitous and probably a LOT more than you think… Here's to the -1 -1 -1 for the +1 +1 +1 wins. TODAY.

+1: #1170 The Snow Globe Jun 18, 2020

Show notes

In the last couple +1s, we talked about The Shattered Vase (and the power of taking those pieces and making a beautiful new mosaic) then we practiced The Art of Precious Scars (as we chatted about "golden repairs"). Let's imagine that art sitting on a desk in our dojo-studio. We've got the mosaic and that golden-seamed vase. And… Right next to those pieces of art, let's put a snow globe. A snow globe? Yep. Stephen Joseph actually introduced this metaphor in his book on posttraumatic growth. He used it in the context of being shaken up after a traumatic event and the fact that it takes time for the metaphorical snow to settle in our lives. But… When I imagined that snow globe, the first thing I thought of was our minds and what we often do to them right before we go to bed. Maybe it was because I was prepping for the PM Bookend session of our Carpe Diem module in our Mastery Series. We've talked (many times!) about the fact that your day begins the night before. Want to create a Masterpiece Day that starts with waking up nice and early (without an alarm!) feeling all refreshed and ready to rock? Well… TURN OFF YOUR ELECTRONICS and GO TO BED EARLY!! (Hah.) Seriously. Science is unequivocal. All that digital stimulation—both the blue light AND the raw inputs—right before you go to bed isn't helping the Deep (And REM) Sleep cause!! You know what it's like? It's like shaking a SNOW GLOBE right before you go to bed. Your brain's all hyped up right when you want it to be relaxed. That's Today's +1. Let's leave the snow globe alone—quit shaking it by turning off all your electronic stimulation AT LEAST (!) an hour before you go to bed. Remember: Sleep. It does a body (VERY!) good. Let's Optimize ours. TONIGHT.

+1: #1165 Eudaimonic Treadmills Jun 13, 2020

Show notes

Have you ever heard of "hedonic treadmills"? We talked about them briefly a few years ago in the context of this +1 on the science of hedonic adaptation. Basic idea: We adapt to all the "things" we get in our lives. That shiny new car isn't so shiny a few months after we get it. Same thing with the new phone or TV or whatever. Sonja Lyubomirksy is one of the world's leading researchers on the subject of hedonic adaptation. In The Myths of Happiness she tells us: "Indeed, it turns out that we are prone to take for granted pretty much everything positive that happens to us. When we move into a beautiful new loft with a grand view, when we partake of plastic surgery, when we purchase a fancy new automobile or nth-generation smartphone, when we earn the corner office and a raise at work, when we become immersed in a new hobby, and even when we wed, we obtain an immediate boost of happiness from the improved situation; but the thrill only lasts for a short time. Over the coming days, weeks, and months, we find our expectations ramping upward and we begin taking our new improved circumstances for granted. We are left with 'felicific stagnation.'" So... We adapt to the hedonic pleasures in our lives. It's like we're on a treadmill. Moving faster and faster but not getting any further in our pursuit of true happiness. But... Here's some exciting news: THERE ARE NO EUDAIMONIC TREADMILLS. You know what happens when we joyfully commit to using everything as fuel for our growth while living with more Wisdom + Self-Mastery + Courage + Love + Hope + Gratitude + Curiosity + Zest? We actually get happier. That's Today's +1. Let's step off the hedonic treadmill and make some real progress in our lives as we focus on practicing our philosophy, high fiving our inner souls and FLOURISHING. TODAY.

+1: #1150 Cover It All in Leather May 29, 2020

Show notes

In our last +1, we tapped into some wisdom from Brené Brown's Braving the Wilderness as we wrote ourselves a permission slip and then hopped on the bus. Today we're going to spend some more time with Brené. And, we'll invite Pema Chodrön to the party. Brené tells us: "I love Pema Chodrön's 'Lousy World' teaching on this topic. In it, Chodrön uses the lessons of the Indian Buddhist monk Shantideva to make a very powerful analogy about moving through the world constantly pissed off and disappointed. ... [She says]: ''We're laughing, but that's what we all do. That is how we approach things. We think, if we could just get rid of everything and cover it with leather, our pain would go away. Well, sure, because then it wouldn't be cutting our feet anymore. It's just logical, isn't it? But it doesn't make any sense, really. Shantideva said, 'But if you simply wrap leather around your feet.' In other words, if you put on shoes then you could walk across the boiling sand and the cut glass and the horns, and it wouldn't bother you. So the analogy is, if you work with your mind, instead of trying to change everything on the outside, that's how your temper will cool down.'" As you may know, Pema Chodrön is a Buddhist monk and teacher. (We have Notes on two of her great books: When Things Fall Apart and The Places That Scare You.) You can watch that wonderful 2.5-minute YouTube video of her "Lousy World" teaching here. Short story: We complain about everything and everyone. All the time. It's too hot. It's too cold. He smells bad. She's wearing too much perfume. All day every day. We think the answer is to change the world—to lay leather over all the thorns and rocks in our way. The answer, of course, is to simply wrap a little leather over our feet and voila! Problem solved. btw: Here's how Shantideva puts it The Way of the Bodhisattva: "To cover all the earth with sheets of leather— Where could such amounts of skin be found? But with the leather soles of just my shoes It is as though I cover all the earth!" That's Today's +1. Let's wrap some leather (vegan alternatives available) around our feet (and brains) and joyfully walk through the wilderness of life. TODAY!!!

+1: #1145 Hero Breathing May 24, 2020

Show notes

In our last +1, we blew up some belly balloons with our kids. We breathed in through our noses, down into our bellies (can you make that balloon pop?!) then we breathed back out through our noses (slightly longer than the inhale). Ah… Repeat. ESPECIALLY when things start to get a little out of control!!! Which leads us to another little practice we've been playing around with at the Johnson House. (Note to self: This is a REALLY effective practice. Do it more!) So… You know those times when your kids start to get a little, shall we say, frazzled, which leads to you (and/or your spouse) (in my case: ME!), getting equally, shall we say, frazzled? Ahem. I know that reasonably well. Hah. So… Rather than let it all devolve into a circus, when I'm being Mr. Wise and Mindful Philosopher Guy, I remember to do wise and mindful things to smooth out the rough seas. This practice has proven to be particularly powerful. Step 1. Emerson and I leave the scene of the chaos by going to a different room in the house. Step 2. We sit knee to knee in what's wonderfully known as "hero's pose." (To strike this pose: Kneel on the floor and drop your butt on your ankles. Use bolsters if necessary. Check out Yoga Journal for tips.) Step 3. We sit up nice and tall and look each other in the eye as we pull the thread through our head, breathing in deeply (through our noses) into our bellies, then exhaling (through our noses) slightly longer than our inhale. Repeat. In just a few breaths, our nervous systems are calmed down and we're connected. Circus has left town. It's actually SHOCKING how powerful this is. The hard part (as always!) is remembering to do it in the moment we need to do it. Note to self: Do it more often. That's Today's +1. Circus come to town? Try some hero breathing!!! T O D A Y !!!

+1: #1140 How to Say "I Love You" May 19, 2020

Show notes

A little over seven and half years ago, Emerson was born at home. We had an amazing midwife (named Mary Jackson) for both Emerson and Eleanor's births. I'll never forget the very first moments of Emerson's life. I had the blessed honor of being the first to officially welcome him into the world. RIGHT after he was born (literally a couple seconds after), he looked at me and our eyes met. Then he wrapped his tiny (!) little hand right around my pinky finger. (MISTY!!!) We've recounted this special moment countless times. I like to say that we both said, "I LOVE YOU!!!" right when our eyes first connected and he wrapped that tiny hand of his around my pinky. So… One of the ways we like to recreate that moment is by holding hands while we're walking. That, in itself, will always be one of my favorite things in life. But… We like to take it one step further and say "I LOVE YOU!" to each other in our own Top Secret way. In fact, we developed our own special language. It's called Squeezy-eze. It's super easy to learn. There's actually only one phrase: "I LOVE YOU." All you have to do is grab someone's hand and… SQUEEZE IT a few times. Squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeze. I. LOVE. YOU. It's like a Morse Code of awesome. And, well, that's Today's +1. If you feel so inspired, how about a little squeezy-eze of Love? Squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeze. I. Love. YOU!!!

+1: #1135 Be Willing to Fail May 14, 2020

Show notes

Continuing our little series on the science of courage, how about some more wisdom from Robert Biswas-Diener? In The Courage Quotient, he tells us: "Herein lies the intervention related to failure: accept it. We modern people have fallen in love with the idea that we are in control of our lives, and this worldview gives rise to an impulse to resist failure, to fight against the very notion of it. But just like the modern trend to defy age, the battle against failure is a lost cause. Failure is inevitable. We all experience it, in forms large and small. It is in your past and it is in your future. People with a high courage quotient understand that failure is a risk much of the time and unavoidable some of the time. Rather than trying to tiptoe around failure, they simply accept it as part of the process of success." That's from a chapter called "Be Willing to Fail." It's packed with powerful, practical wisdom. Like this: "Failure is a fantastic learning opportunity. Think of every time you have made a mistake and said to yourself, 'Well, I will never do that again!' A single instance of failure can serve as a powerful lifelong course correction. Failure also helps us regroup mentally and improve our skills and strategy so that later attempts at goals might be more successful. Where your courage quotient is concerned, here is the tricky part: you do not have to accept that failure feels good, just that it is inevitable and often beneficial. Accepting failure is not synonymous with actively pursuing failure or enjoying failure when it crashes down upon you. The trick is to acknowledge both the positive and the negative aspects of failure. You can tell yourself, 'This does not feel good and I am very disappointed with myself,' on the one hand, even as on the other you reassure yourself by saying, 'This is also a growth opportunity for me. I will learn from this temporary experience and move on.'" And this: "Where the courage quotient is concerned it is instructive to realize that not everyone reacts to failure, or even the prospect of failure, in the same way. Some people—as I have mentioned and as we have all seen—allow failure to overshadow their lives, restricting their decisions and leaving them embarrassed, timid, or withdrawn. Other people appear to take failure in stride and are able to move beyond it after experiencing its temporary psychological sting. Thomas Edison famously said, recalling countless problematic attempts to create a working light bulb, 'I failed my way to success.' Winston Churchill too might be among the resilient. He once said, 'Success consists of going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm.' Apparently the ability to reframe failure as part of a larger process— learning, say—is instrumental in being able to cope with it." And, well, that's Today's +1. Want to Optimize your Courage Quotient? Be willing to fail. And, reframe your past failures as fantastic learning opportunities. Then get out there and give us all the Wisdom + Self-Mastery + Courage + Love you got. TODAY.

+1: #1130 Alchemizing Adversity May 09, 2020

Show notes

In our last +1, we all get issued our magic wand. It can alchemize any and all challenges into fuel for our growth. Thank you, Hermes and Epictetus!! I mentioned the fact that Ward Farnsworth shared that passage in his great book The Practicing Stoic. He shared it in a chapter on how Stoics deal with adversity in which he tells us: "Stoics avoid adversity in the ways that anyone of sense would. But sometimes it comes regardless, and then the Stoic goal is to see the adversity rightly and not let one's peace of mind be destroyed by its arrival. Indeed, the aim of the Stoic is something more: to accept reversal without shock and to make it grist for the creation of greater things. Nobody wants hardship in any particular case, but it is a necessary element in the formation of worthy people and worthy achievements that, in the long run, we do want. Stoics seek the value in whatever happens." As I read that passage and reflected on the fact that some adversity is NECESSARY for our growth, I thought of some wisdom from Robert Emmons and his great book Thanks! He tells us: "Not only does the experience of tragedy give us an exceptional opportunity for growth, but some sort of suffering is also necessary for a person to achieve maximal psychological growth. In his study of self-actualizers, the paragons of mental wellness, the famed humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow noted that 'the most important learning lessons... were tragedies, deaths, and trauma... which forced change in the life-outlook of the person and consequently in everything that he did.'" So... Facing any adversity, my beloved Hero? Let's wave Hermes' wand, alchemize it into another opportunity to practice our philosophy as we give ourselves most fully to the world. TODAY.

+1: #1125 Practicing Gratitude May 04, 2020

Show notes

In our last +1, we played the "I want to speak with your supervisor!" game. You play it yet? If not, try it. It's truly awesome. As you'll recall, the most important part of the process is to start with the end in mind—knowing that it'll end with you praising the awesomeness of the rep who helped you. (btw: When you chat with the supervisor, tell THEM how great of a job THEY must be doing to have such a great team member. Then you get a double bump of awesome. ) So… Today I want to talk about how to get some bonus points as we practice our philosophy and play the game of life well. Here it is. Before you make the call—right before you commit to ending it with the supervisor chat—take a moment to practice a little gratitude. Presumably, you're calling the company to get help with a service they provide. Well, what service is it? Recall that we have two options: We can take the service for granted OR we can take it *as* granted. As Robert Emmons tells us, we can act entitled or we can have the humble perspective to realize that we are so ridiculously blessed it's astonishing. That's Today's +1. Super simple. Let's use every opportunity we can to be grateful. As we practice our philosophy. TODAY.

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