You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

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+1: #890 Profound Service Sep 12, 2019

Show notes

This morning I was doing my normal thing. In the process, I came up with a little insight I'm excited to share. First, the quick recap of what led to the insight. Of course, my day started yesterday when I shutdown early the day before (4:00 PM; right after my every-Monday coaching call), hung out with the fam then went to bed super early (7:30 PM) and deliberately spent 10 hours in bed (getting 9 hours of sleep including 1 hour 24 min of REM sleep and 2 hours 23 min of deep sleep). Then I was up at 5:30 AM (I'm sleeping in these days, folks! lol) with an Oura readiness score of 95 (having fun gaming it). 20-min Meditation, 5-min Movement then AM1 Deep Work. I started the Deep Work with our quick "Carpe Diem" journaling session—noting my Identities + Virtues + Behaviors for Energy + Work + Love. (Note: This practice is a cornerstone of our Mastery Series/Optimize Coach program. Aspiring Coaches need to log 200 days of Optimize Carpe Diem journaling as one of the requirements to get certified.) Then I spent some time doing some strategic planning for 2020 and beyond. That journaling looked something like this. At the top I wrote "Philosopher" (technically, I drew the Φ symbol to represent Philosopher). Then I wrote "Soul Force" then "Elegant Simplicity" then "Focus" then "Flow." (Note1: Every (!) time I write down "10,000" in the +1 column in 25 years, I imagine the 70-year-old version of me smiling and waving and saying, "Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize +1!" (That actually gets me misty just typing that, imagining the potential of us hanging out for that long.) Note2: If all goes as currently planned, we'll share that +1 exactly 3 months after I turn 70 on August 22, 2044.) Below that Body of Work goodness, I sketched out the three primary components of our biz as I currently see them. These include what I call "Core Wisdom" which is basically the +1s, PNs, and 101s as articulated above in the Body of Work chart. I draw an arrow to infinity to represent my (current) plans to do those forever as the foundation of our work together. (And, so I can be like this guy.) Then I draw a big "greater than" symbol (>) to represent the fact that all that "Core Wisdom" is going to be distilled into what I'm calling a "Mastery Series." Imagine my absolute best stuff distilled into a "this will change your life" program that will, well, change your life. (lol) Then I draw a "less than" symbol () to represent that all THAT energy goes into "Optimize Coach" to represent the fact that a select group of people will go through the Mastery Series and not only master the wisdom for themselves but use our Optimize protocol to Coach others on how to Optimize their lives. Ultimately, my sketch looks kinda like this: CORE WISDOM > MASTERY SERIES But none of that is really the point of Today's +1. (Although I do like sharing my thought process and I hope you enjoy it as well. I feel like we're creating something together and I think it's important to share my (often messy!) creative process as we have fun creating something awesome together.) So… Below all THAT, I reminded myself of my/our Mission. Change the world. One person at a time. Together. Starting with you and me. Then I wrote down: "Elegant Simplicity" + "Fierce Consistency" + "Energized Tranquility" + "Operationalizing Virtue." THEN… I drew two venn circles. Next to the one on the left I wrote "ELEGANT SIMPLICITY." Next to the one on the right I wrote "PROFOUND SERVICE." And all THAT gets us to the point of Today's +1. After writing "PROFOUND SERVICE" I got up and cruised over to the dictionary. I was curious what "profound" literally meant. Do you know what the word means? Apple Dictionary tells us that profound is an adjective that has a couple definitions: 1 (of a state, quality, or emotion) very great or intense: profound feelings of disquiet | profound social changes. 2 (of a person or statement) having or showing great knowledge or insight: a profound philosopher. Those are interesting, but what I really wanted was the etymology of the word. It's from the Latin profundus—which means "deep" and is made up of two little words: pro (before) + fundus (bottom). I literally laughed when I read that. Profound. It means DEEP. As in "right before the bottom." The best part? I have a chat with Cal Newport scheduled for this afternoon. I can't wait to tell him that Deep (PROFOUND!) Work is what allows us to engage in Deep (PROFOUND!) Service. And THAT, my friend, is Today's +1. Let's serve profoundly. Today.

+1: #885 Equanimity Anchors Sep 07, 2019

Show notes

In our last +1, we talked about the Fundies and how (ahem) fundamental they are to our Optimizing and Actualizing. Eat! Move! Sleep! Breathe! Be Present! Prosper! As I said, if I could whisper one thing in my younger self's ear, I think it would be to MASTER those guys as I'm firmly convinced that when we get our PHYSIOLOGY properly Optimized, the rest tends to follow pretty smoothly via the super-strong connection we've created between our "normal" selves and our eudaimonic, Optimus-best selves. Today I want to talk about another Idea from the Big Picture lecture on the subject. Remember the Spinny Fingers we talked about back in the day? Basic recap: Find a safe place to spin around and get yourself dizzy. Then do one of two things. First: After getting yourself nice and dizzy, stop spinning and start looking aimlessly around the room. Up over there. Down there. All around. What happens when you have no central point to ground yourself? You get DIZZIER. Shake that off. Then, if you feel so inspired, get yourself nice and dizzy again. Only this time, rather than aimlessly looking around, press your palms and fingers together in front of your face (like you're praying) and STARE intently right at your fingertips. What happens when you have a central point in which you can ground yourself? You IMMEDIATELY get balanced. Dizzy begone. (Try it. It's pretty cool.) So… All of that brings us to the point of Today's +1. The next time you find yourself getting all dizzy by life, consider pausing and asking yourself three simple questions.

What's my #1 self-care habit? Am I honoring it or have I let it slip?
What's the #1 thing I could START doing that would have the most positive impact in my life?
What's the #1 thing I could STOP doing that would have the most positive impact in my life?

The #1s x 3 #1 Self-Care = ________________. #1+ = ________________. #1- = ________________. I call those "Equanimity Anchors." How are yours?

+1: #880 Jesus on Motes and Beams Sep 02, 2019

Show notes

In our last +1, we talked about lint on the projector's lens and the fact that, as per Byron Katie, "every perceived problem appearing 'out there' is really nothing more than a misperception within your own thinking." As I imagined us all busting out a nice little cloth to clean up our own lens rather than trying to change things "out there," I thought of another great spiritual teacher. He lived a couple thousand years ago. In the land of Galilea. His name was Jesus. You know what he said? Well, in our Note on The Jefferson Bible, we flip open to the Bible, Matthew 7:3 where we find this eternally epic wisdom gem: "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerst not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite! First cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Yep. That's precisely it. And, that's Today's +1. See any "mote" in thy brother's (or sister's or spouse's or child's or colleague's or…) eye? Settle down. Look in the mirror. Work on the beam in your own eye. (btw: For curious souls, a "mote" is "a tiny piece of a substance." Think: Sawdust. A beam? It's much bigger. Focus on that big thing in your own eye.)

+1: #875 FIRE: The Big 3 Aug 28, 2019

Show notes

Continuing our series on how to build a bonFIRE, today we're going to chat about The Big 3 of creating Financial Independence (and Interdependence) as we win the ultimate game of life, Realizing Eudaimonia. Let's flip open our copies of The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins for this wisdom-love. As we briefly discussed in our last +1, JL is a tough-love, lovable Uncle kinda guy. He originally shared his "simple path to wealth" via a series of letters he wrote for his daughter. Those letters became a blog series. Obviously check out the book and JL's site for the deep dive (and, I'm a lover of wisdom not a financial planner so…), but here's The Big 3 in a tiny nutshell.

1. Avoid debt.

2. Spend (WAY) less than you make.

3. Invest the rest.

That's it. Do that. Give it time. And… Voila. Well, obviously there's a LOT more to it than that. But, as they say, the NUMBERS are simple. It's the LIFESTYLE changes that are hard. One more time: 1. Avoid debt. Like the plague. Seriously. Debt is TOXIC to your freedom. Think: Shackles. 2. Spend (WAY!!!) less than you make. JL and the FIRE Co. tell us to save AT LEAST 50% of total earnings savings rate. ← Yes, you read that right. Spend AT LEAST 50% less than you make. Want to buy freedom? It's not cheap. But it's a lot more shiny than that shiny stuff. Although no longer cool, it's as wise as ever: LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS. Way below. (But only if you want what really matters: The eudaimonic happiness that freedom helps us buy.) 3. Invest the savings. More specifically: In Index funds. More specifically, in Vanguard's Total Stock Market Index Fund. This is kinda what JL is known for. He tells us we should all consider Jack Bogle a hero. Bogle founded The Vanguard Group (and invented index funds) forty years ago. JL provides some very (!) compelling arguments for why Vanguard's Total Stock Market Index Fund is the secret sauce. (Warren Buffett pretty much agrees, btw.) So… That's Today's +1. How to make FIRE. 1 + 2 + 3.

+1: #870 How to Stop Worrying Aug 23, 2019

Show notes

At this stage, most people have heard of Dale Carnegie's uber-bestselling book How to Win Friends and Influence People. It was originally published in 1936 and has sold 15 million copies. It helped kicked off the whole self-development movement and is one of the bestselling self-help book of all time. (It was #19 on Time magazines list of all-time most influential books.) Having said that, I actually avoided reading it for over 20 years. I just couldn't get past what appeared to be a pretty shallow, transactional view of human relationships so… Alas, a couple years ago I finally submitted to the pressure of countless requests to do a Note on it (hah) and really enjoyed it. But that's not quite the point of Today's +1. This is. Did you know Dale wrote another book a dozen years later called How to Stop Worrying and Start Living? It's true. And, it's AWESOME. Quick question: You ever worry? * Insert laughter here * Once again: Of course you do. You're human. Want a quick tip on how to stop worrying and start living? Dale offers a bunch of practical wisdom but this is one of my favorites: "George Bernard Shaw was right. He summed it all up when he said: 'The secret of being miserable is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not.' So don't bother to think about it! Spit on your hands and get busy. Your blood will start circulating; your mind will start ticking—and pretty soon this whole positive upsurge of life in your body will drive worry from your mind. Get busy. Keep busy. It's the cheapest kind of medicine there is on this earth—and one of the best." Obviously, it's a bit more nuanced than that but… Yep. That's about right. As George Bernard Shaw says: "The secret of being miserable is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not." And, as Dale Carnegie says: "Spit on your hands and get busy. Your blood will start circulating; your mind will start ticking—and pretty soon this whole positive upsurge of life in your body will drive worry from your mind. Get busy. Keep busy. It's the cheapest kind of medicine there is on this earth—and one of the best." * Insert spit on your hands * Let's get busy. And stay busy. While, of course, properly oscillating and shutting down completely when the time's right. Today.

+1: #865 Pilot + Co-Pilot + Autopilot Aug 18, 2019

Show notes

In our last couple +1s, we talked about Seneca's wisdom on the importance of "fortifying our pertinacity" until our will to do the right thing becomes a disposition to doing the right thing. That's basically EXACTLY what we talked about a little bit ago when we explored the Algorithms Module we recently went through in the Mastery portion of our Optimize Coach program. As you may recall (bonus points and high fives if you've already tattooed this line on your Optimizing consciousness), I often say that it's all about using our Willpower wisely to install Habits that run on autopilot via Algorithms. Here's a super-quick recap of the basic idea that I think we REALLY want to get. (btw: I just got goosebumps as I typed that.) (Yes, as we've established by this stage, I'm weird. Things like this get me that fired up.) So… Our basal ganglia is an ancient part of our brain. In fact, it's 500 million (!!!) years old. All mammals have it. Among other things, it basically figures out what behaviors seem important to us (because we do them often) and decides to save us all the effort of having to think about doing them by helping us do them automatically. Thank you, basal ganglia. Now, this is super helpful for the good stuff. My hunch is you don't need to negotiate with yourself every night when it's time to brush your teeth. And, you probably just automatically put on your seat belt when you get in a car. Thank you, basal ganglia. Of course, this isn't so helpful for the sub-optimal behaviors. We'll save that chat for another time. Today I want to talk about a handy-dandy little framework I developed for our Coaches to help them Master the process of (I repeat!) using their Willpower wisely to install Habits that run on autopilot via Algorithms. I encouraged them to think about a Pilot, Co-Pilot and Autopilot. The Pilot? That's your Daimon. That (Optimus!) best part of us that basically always knows the right thing to do and is always whispering in our ears. (If we'd only slow down long enough to listen!) The Co-Pilot? That's you. Our job, as I see it, is to simply PAY ATTENTION to what that Pilot is guiding us to do and then, of course, DO IT more consistently. The Autopilot? That's our basal ganglia. It's WAITING for us to program the optimal behaviors. It's almost like the basal ganglia is our pre-installed brain "hardware" and our job (as Co-Pilots) is to listen to the Pilot then program the behavioral "software" that gets us doing the right thing more and more consistently. Obviously, part of a longer chat but there ya go. That's Today's +1. Pilot. Co-Pilot. Autopilot. You playing your role well? What little behavioral software upgrade is your Pilot asking you to program these days? Is TODAY a good day to fortify your pertinacity such that the (Optimus!) best you becomes the default you? F A N T A S T I C. Happy Optiflying!! +1. +1. +1.

+1: #860 You and Your Gordion Knots Aug 13, 2019

Show notes

Skipping the longer philosophical chat about the ethics of being a conqueror, Today we're going to chat about Alexander the Great. More specifically, we're going to talk about him and a knot. The Gordion Knot. You know the story? Wikipedia tells us that legend has it that, once upon a time, the ancient people known as the Phrygians (who lived in what is now modern Turkey) didn't have a king. An oracle declared that the next man to enter their capital city driving an ox-cart would become king. (That's one way to do it, eh? ) So… A peasant farmer drove an ox-cart into town and, lo and behold, became king. His name was Gordias. In gratitude, his son Midas dedicated the ox-cart to the main Phrygian god (kinda like their version of Zeus) and tied it to a post with a super-intricate knot. As in, "good luck untying THAT knot" kinda knot. A Roman historian described it as "several knots all so tightly entangled that it was impossible to see how they were fastened." Fast forward. Another oracle declares that whoever can unravel the crazy knot would become the ruler of all of Asia. (That's one way to do it, eh?) Fast forward. Many men attempt to unravel the knot. No luck. Fast forward. It's now 333 bce. Alexander the Great cruises into town. He tries to untie the knot himself and has no luck. So… Being Great and all, he just decides to pull out his sword and slice the knot in half with a single blow. (That's one way to do it, eh?) And then, of course, he went on to fulfill the prophecy as he conquered Asia. Enter: The Gordion Knot. Back to Wikipedia which tells us: "It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem (untying an impossibly-tangled knot) solved easily by finding an approach to the problem that renders the perceived constraints of the problem moot ('cutting the Gordian knot')." That's Today's +1. Got any seemingly impossible knots in your life? How's the unraveling going? Is there, perhaps, a more direct and/or forceful approach to resolving the issue than you may have tried so far? Here's a sword. Just in case it comes in handy.

+1: #855 The Comparison Game Aug 08, 2019

Show notes

We're kinda on a roll with the whole envy-squishing theme, so why not one more? In our last +1, we talked about the fact that if we're going to compare ourselves to others (please don't! lol) we might as well do it right—recognizing the fact that EVERYONE experiences ups and downs en route to their particular flavor of awesome. That wisdom reminds me of some parallel wisdom from Alan Stein's great book Raise Your Game. Here's what he has to say about envy: "My friend Paul Bioncardi of ESPN loves to say, 'You will always lose the Comparison Game.' Why is that? Because it's rigged. It has no function besides enlarging self-doubt. I'm typing this chapter on board a flight to South Dakota. Among the 250 passengers on this plane, I can quickly find someone better looking, funnier, more successful, taller, more muscular, smarter. It won't take long to find someone who scores higher than me on almost any metric." Alan concludes: "If I use these people as my measuring stick—to determine my self-worth and value—I will always lose." The Comparison Game. Want to know who ALWAYS loses that game? You. And me. And everyone who plays it. But only every single time. (Reminds me of Byron Katie's wisdom: "When I argue with reality, I lose—but only 100% of the time.") (Also reminds me of Ralph Waldo Emerson's wisdom: "Envy is ignorance. Imitation is suicide.") That's Today's +1. Let's channel our inner Faulkner and play the Optimize Game: "Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." P.S. You know who ALWAYS wins the Optimize Game? You. And me. And everyone who plays it. But only every single time. (Remember: Simply striving to be your best is a pre-win.) +1. +1. +1. FOR THE WIN!!!

+1: #850 Aurelius on Death Aug 03, 2019

Show notes

In our last +1, we reflected on the idea that little (and big) oopses provide us with opportunities to appreciate that we're still alive as we practice gratitude that something much worse didn't happen. "At least THAT didn't happen!" For me, when I broke my arm, I was grateful I didn't break my neck. When I tripped and nearly fell the other day, I was grateful I had an abdominal strain and not a trip back to the ER for my arm. Whenever I think of this re-framing exercise, I think of a dear friend of mine we lost in a tragic speed-flying accident. One of the most beautiful, inspiring, energized people I've ever met. Went out for a flight off a mountain he'd jumped off countless times. Wings didn't open the way they should have. BAM. Gone. I have tears in my eyes as I type that. I often think how grateful he would be if he had just broken an arm or even his neck. Then I alchemize that pain into a virtual fist-bump and hug for his daimon and re-commit to savoring this one precious life of ours. All of which makes me think of our Stoic philosopher friends. For multiple reasons. Today we'll chat about their thoughts on death. We actually already talked about one of their practices in our +1 on Rehearsing Your Death. In that one, as you may recall, Seneca tells us: "Rehearse death. To say this is to tell a person to rehearse his freedom. A person who has learned how to die has unlearned how to be a slave." Today we'll let Marcus Aurelius add his perspective. Here's how he puts it: "Were you to live three thousand years, or even thirty thousand, remember that the sole life which a man can lose is that which he is living at the moment; and furthermore, that he can have no other life except the one he loses... This means that the longest life and the shortest amount to the same thing. For the passing minute is every man's equal possession, but what has once gone by is not ours." He also tells us: "Take it that you have died today, and your life's story is ended; and henceforward regard what future time may be given you as an uncovenanted surplus, and live it out in harmony with nature." That's one way to think about it, eh? And that's Today's +1. If you feel so inspired, let's actually do the exercise. Imagine this: You just died. Bam! You're gone. And... You got the good fortune to come back starting... … Now! OK. Now, let's see if we can live with a fresh appreciation that every (!) moment (!) is a gift. Here's to appreciating the "uncovenanted surplus" of moments. Today.

+1: #840 Happy Artists Jul 24, 2019

Show notes

This morning on the Trail I was thinking about Mister Rogers and his challenges creating (recall our "tortures of the damned"!) along with Dr. Seuss and all his creative challenges. Then I was thinking about all the challenges I (and we all) face as I (and we all) strive to do my (and our) life's work. (And… I was thinking about that gap that pretty much *always* exists between what we see in our mind's eye and what winds up on our proverbial canvases.) I thought to myself, "Are there any artists truly happy with their work?" At precisely the moment I finished framing that question in my head I glanced down and saw a snail a few feet ahead of me. And I smiled. It was a just a normal, mid-size snail. The kind we see all the time and usually just kinda take for granted and ignore. But this morning I could see just how elegantly perfectly his (or was it her?) shell was designed. I mean, it was a piece of art!!! And then it hit me… The "Guy" (or was it "Gal"? Or was it…?) who created THAT piece of art? He/She/It was definitely happy with His/Her/Its creation. Then I looked around and saw all the other imperfectly perfect art on display—from the trees to the dirt to the rocks and the weeds and the shrubs and the sky and, well, everything. It was kind of an epiphanal moment for me. That's Today's +1. Let's celebrate all the art in our lives. And try to emulate the satisfaction of the ultimate Creator as we diligently, patiently, persistently, humbly and JOYFULLY strive to make our lives (and all its creations in it) a masterpiece!

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