You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

Latest Episodes:

PNTV - Today We Are Rich by Tim Sanders Aug 15, 2015

Show notes

Tim Sanders is awesome. He was the Chief Solutions Officer for Yahoo! back in the day and wrote the uber-cool book Love Is the Killer App—which was one of the books that planted the seed for these PhilosophersNotes. In this great book, Tim shares the wisdom of his beloved Grandma, Billye, who taught him the power of total confidence. The key? As Tim says: “The secret to renewal and true confidence is simple: Get back to the basics.” In this Note, we’ll learn how to be truly rich via powerful daily practices as we become healthy-thought nuts and POETs who practice persistence. Fun!

PNTV - Toward a Psychology of Being by Abraham Maslow Aug 15, 2015

Show notes

Abraham Maslow sits in the great-grandfather slot in my spiritual family tree and is kinda the great-grandfather of the modern Positive Psychology movement. We profiled the 19 characteristics of his self-actualizing individual in our Note on Motivation & Personality in Volume I and in this Note we take a look at the essence of creativity and the fact that we all have capacities that’re clamoring to be used!

PNTV - When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron Aug 15, 2015

Show notes

Pema Chödrön is a Buddhist teacher and prolific author with an incredibly strong, yet compassionate and grounded perspective. This book is all about facing challenging times with courage as we lean into our fears and grow. We'll explore a bunch of Big Ideas on everything from why we should meditate to how long the process of actualizing takes (roughly the rest of our lives :)!

PNTV - Why We Do What We Do by Edward Deci Aug 15, 2015

Show notes

Edward L. Deci is one of the world’s leading researchers on human motivation and this book is *packed* with scientific wisdom—exploring what we know about the power of intrinsic motivation (vs. extrinsic motivation), the importance of autonomy (vs. being controlled) and the need for authenticity (vs. alienation). Hint: If you want happiness, focus on relationships, personal growth and making a contribution; don’t go after fame, wealth and beauty.

PNTV - Why Your Life Sucks by Alan Cohen Aug 15, 2015

Show notes

Why Your Life Sucks. That has to win the award for best title ever. Cohen is a very funny man. He’s also super wise and a great story teller and this book is packed with goodness on how we can unsuck our lives. My favorite Big Ideas (that we cover in the Note) include everything from tuning in to radio station “KNOW,” hiring your own thought bouncer and remembering to nourish your spirit.

PNTV - Willpower by Roy Baumeister & John Tierney Aug 15, 2015

Show notes

Willpower. It’s ESSENTIAL to optimizing our lives. In fact, in their *great* book, Willpower, Roy Baumeister (one of the world’s leading scientific researchers on self-control) and John Tierney (science writer for the New York Times) tell us that “Improving willpower is the surest way to a better life.” In this Note, we’ll learn how to eat our way to willpower (seriously), how to exercise our self-control muscles, why “precommitment” is so important and how to win the willpower game with bright lines and a great offense. :)

PNTV - Wooden by John Wooden Aug 15, 2015

Show notes

John Wooden. He’s arguably the greatest coach EV-ER and this book is essentially one Big Idea after another. Wooden is all about the fundamentals and in this Note we’ll explore a few of my favorite Big Ideas on his old-school wisdom—from the fact that full effort = full success to the importance of becoming a realistic optimist.

PNTV - The Creativity Book by Eric Maisel Aug 15, 2015

Show notes

One of the world’s leading experts on creativity, Eric Maisel is a psychotherapist who works exclusively with artists. As the sub-title suggests, this book is set up as “A Year’s Worth of Inspiration and Guidance” and provides insight into everything from dealing with anxiety to taking the next baby step and having patience. Plus, you’ll learn a new power mantra for creating. :)

PNTV - The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp Aug 15, 2015

Show notes

Twyla Tharp is awesome. One of the greatest choreographers in the world, she’d created more than 130 (!!!) dances for her company as well as for everyone from the Joffrey Ballet to London’s Royal Ballet. In this great book,. Twyla shares some uber-Big Ideas on how we can develop our Creative Habit to more consistently rock it.

PNTV - The Element by Ken Robinson Aug 15, 2015

Show notes

You might have caught Sir Ken’s genius energy in his brilliant TED talk. Not only is he one of the world’s leading experts on creativity, he’s an all-around cool guy and... he’s a KNIGHT! How cool is that?! That’s pretty saucy I say. :)