You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

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Interview: My Morning Routine with Benjamin Spall Jan 05, 2019

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+1: #640 Campfires and Chairs Jan 05, 2019

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Continuing (and concluding) our trip through Steve Chandler's wise brain (and great book, Reinventing Yourself), let's talk about campfires. Campfires? Yep. Campfires. So… You're out camping. It's night time. You light a fire. It keeps you warm. You wake up the next morning. The fire is out. You'll need to light another fire tonight to get warm again. Now, do you complain about the fact that you need to create another fire? Or, do you just accept that that's how it is? Unless you pretty much exclusively speak Victimese, you accept that reality and simply make another fire, right? Well… Steve tells us that the "human spirit" is JUST like that campfire. You need to re-light it EVERY SINGLE DAY. Most people don't like that fact. They want their fire to burn all day every day from the moment they wake up until the moment they fall asleep (with pleasant dreams included as well)—with as little effort as possible. That's called entitlement. You can also call it wanting to be exonerated from all future effort. As it turns out, Phil Stutz says almost exactly the same thing. Only the metaphor he uses in our chats is that of a chair. He says that when you build a chair on the physical or material plane of life, it's there the next day. BUT… (And this is another big "but"!!) On the spiritual plane, that chair you built today WON'T be there tomorrow. You need to get back to work RE-BUILDING it. Every day. Whether you like it or not. Kinda like the campfire of the human spirit. Today's +1. At the end of the day today, use the wood from the chair you built to fuel the campfire you need to build every night—knowing that you'll need to build both again tomorrow morning. And… Know that when we really get this, we're nearly invincible. Why? Well, we stop complaining when we inevitably feel a little off and simply get to work doing the things we KNOW will help us feel great. THAT is the source of ultimate confidence. And it's ours. Here's to your comfie chairs that act as kindling for your warm fires!

PNTV: The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington Jan 04, 2019

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Arianna Huffington (CEO of Thrive and co-founder + editor in chief of The Huffington Post) went from being a sleep-deprived executive to a sleep evangelist after passing out and banging her head following years of a grueling work! In this book, she brilliantly walks us through the crisis we're facing, the history of sleep, the science of sleep and, most importantly, what we can do to Optimize our sleep. I highly recommend it. Big Ideas we explore include the fact that sleep is the #1 most underrated health habit, how to master sleeping well, the #1 tip (and #2-4), how much sleep the wealthiest human on the planet gets (hint: target: 8!), how athletes train their sleep (guess what time Tom Brady goes to sleep!), and why you should set a WORK-DOWN alarm so you don't need a WAKE-UP alarm.

Interview: The Spartan Way with Joe De Sena Dec 29, 2018

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Greatest Year Ever 2019 (Intro) Dec 28, 2018

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Ready to make 2019 the Greatest Year of Your Life? Me, too. It's time to Operationalize Virtue—getting (even more) clarity on what our Optimus selves look like and getting even better at consistently showing up AS that best version of ourselves. In this class, we review why we do what we do together, take a quick trip to hell (yikes!) then to Michelangelo's studio (yay!) then we get to work sculpting our Energy, Work and Love—taking the time to wrap our souls around our Identity + Virtues + Soul Goals + Algorithms that will drive our Masterpiece Days as we Dare to step thru Fear Doors into all we're destined to be. Hope you love it and looking forward to LITERALLY making this year the greatest year of your life in an unending string of such awesome years!

PNTV: Fat for Fuel by Dr. Joseph Mercola Dec 27, 2018

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Dr. Mercola is a super-popular alternative health physician who runs the equally popular site Mercola.com. In this book, we get a look at his "Mitochondrial Metabolic Therapy" program. MMT for short. As you could probably guess, this is a high-fat (+ "adequate" protein + low-carb) diet. If that approach fires you up, I think you'll love the book. If not, well… :) Big Ideas we explore include: meeting our mitochondria (the key to health), why "adequate" protein is where it's at (not low or moderate or high but "adequate"!), mTOR (the cancer switch), good fats (vs. bad ones), peak fasting, and how to win the urge war.

+1: #630 Want to Be Great? Dec 26, 2018

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In our last +1, we talked about LeBron James and the fact that he tries to get 11 to 12 hours of sleep per day when he's training. (So does Roger Federer. And, Tom Brady is in bed at 8:30.) Let's talk about LeBron a little more today. Renowned mental toughness coach Bob Rotella kicks off his book How Champions Think with a story about how LeBron thinks. It goes something like this. Once upon a time early in LeBron's career, Rotella spent some time working with LeBron. He knew the basics. Six-eight. A chiseled two hundred fifty pounds with explosive speed. A proven superstar. But it wasn't until they sat down and chatted that he REALLY got LeBron's power. Rotella asked him about his goals. LeBron told him: "I want to be the greatest basketball player in history." Rotella thought: "Beautiful. This is a truly talented guy." He tells us what he was MOST impressed by: "It was not that he had physical gifts. It was LeBron's mind." Specifically, it was the way he saw himself that most moved Rotella: "The vital importance of that sort of attitude is the foremost thing I have learned about exceptionalism in my decades of work with people striving to be great." That's worth repeating. Rotella has worked with THE top performers for DECADES. The "foremost thing" he has learned about exceptionalism and people striving to be great? The vital importance of seeing themselves and their potential with such audacious (!) clarity. Which begs the question: How do YOU see yourself? Now, continuing our story… After LeBron told Rotella he wanted to be the greatest basketball player in history (!!!), Rotella asked him where he thought he stood in relation to that goal. LeBron told him he thought he was doing pretty well but that he wasn't going to be the greatest if his teams didn't win championships and they weren't going to do that unless he became a better three-point shooter. Long story short: Rotella told him to create a video montage of him nailing threes from every spot on the court. Set it to music. Watch it every night. FEEL it. Program his subconscious mind. And, he told him to hire a shooting coach, work with him every day and make two hundred three-point shots off the dribble every day while imagining the best defender guarding him. Then make another two hundred catch-and-shoot three-pointers. "I told him I didn't care how many shots it took to make those four hundred three-pointers, or how long it took. If he wanted to be great, he would find the time and find the energy." Rotella continues: "The actual number of shots I suggested was not as important, in my mind, as the idea that LeBron would set a practice goal for himself, commit to achieving it every day, and wait patiently for the results." Fast-forward. LeBron went from being a 29% three-point shooter in his rookie season to a 40% beast—collecting a few championships en route to his quest to be the greatest player ever. Of course, this Idea has nothing to do with LeBron James and his three-pointers. It has to do with YOU. In what domain are you committed to being exceptional? Where do you think you stand in relation to that goal? And what do you think you need to do every day (!!) to have a shot at being your exceptional best? Find the time. Find the energy. Be an exception. Be exceptional.

PNTV: Bright Line Eating by Susan Peirce Thompson Dec 25, 2018

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Susan Peirce Thompson is a Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester. She's an expert in the psychology of eating and creator of Bright Line Eating Solutions, "a company dedicated to helping people achieve long-term, sustainable weight loss." Plus... She used to be obese and, as she says, addicted to *everything.* She integrates her background in neuroscience with her personal experience conquering her diet and other addiction issues in this super popular book. Big Ideas we explore include why bright lines are where it's at, the susceptibility quiz, the saboteur, self-perception theory, and the four bright lines of eating.

Interview: Lead Yourself First with Mike Erwin Dec 22, 2018

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Solitude. It's the secret sauce to leadership. But... In their great book Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin tells us: "Solitude is a state of mind, a space where you can focus on your own thoughts without distraction, with a power to bring mind and soul together in clear-eyed conviction. Like a great wave that saturates everything in its path, however, handheld devices and other media now leave us awash with the thoughts of others. We are losing solitude without even realizing it." Big Ideas we explore include the big 4 of solitude (clarity + creativity + emotional balance + moral courage), the threats from our "Input Age," how MLK and Eisenhower used solitude, FOMO (get over it!) and how to change the world (starting with YOU!).

+1: #625 Unfortunate vs. Unforgivable Dec 21, 2018

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Today I'd like to talk about a little more wisdom from Seth Godin's Icarus Deception. As we've discussed, his book (and his entire body of work for that matter), is basically a plea for us to step up and into our highest potential. He tells us: "Your ability to follow directions is not the secret to your success. You are hiding your best work, your best insight, and your best self from us every day." That's inspiringly true. (Note the references to "your best," "your best," "your best." And, think: Optimus, optimus, optimus.) But here's the passage that's been rattling around in my head: "It's too bad that so much time has been wasted, but it would be unforgivable to wait any longer. You have the ability to contribute so much. We need you, now." It's funny because when I recalled that passage in my head, I thought he said, "It's unfortunate that so much time has been wasted. But it would be unforgivable to wait any longer." Unfortunate vs. Unforgivable. Unfortunate vs. Unforgivable. Unfortunate vs. Unforgivable. That's the phrase that's been bubbling up for me… Yah. It's a bit of a bummer we've wasted so many years (or decades!) living at less than our best. ("Gosh darnit!! GAH!!! Oh, to have that time back!!!") Yet… As UNFORTUNATE as that wasted time is, it's UNFORGIVABLE to wait any longer. So, let's capitalize all the lessons learned and GET BUSY GIVING OUR BEST SELVES MOST FULLY TO THE WORLD. How might you do that just a little more today? Remember: Unfortunate vs. Unforgivable. And give us what you've got!!

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