You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

Optimize: https://optimize.me/ (← Get Free Stuff + Free 2-Week Trial!) Optimize Coach: https://optimize.me/coach (← Join 2,000+ Optimizers from 70+ Countries!) Here are 5 of my favorite Big Ideas from Happy Together by Suzann Pileggi Pawelski and James Pawelski. Hope you enjoy! Suzie and James Pawelski are two of the world's leading positive psychologists. James cofounded the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania with Martin Seligman while Suzie is a graduate of the program and a leading freelance writer and consultant. Together they've written an incredible book on "Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love That Lasts." I've been waiting for a very long time for the book that would make me say: "READ THIS BOOK if you want to figure out how to integrate Ancient Wisdom + Modern Science + Practical Tools to Optimize your relationship." And, well, THIS book is it. I HIGHLY recommend it. In fact, it's not only my #1 Love book recommendation, it's also cracked the Top 10 all-time greatest list. Big Ideas we explore include The Relationship Gym (hit it!), Aristotelian Lovers (the REAL Soul Mates), SNAP (James geniuses x2), Know Thy... (self and thy partner!), and Love Is an Action Verb (let's commit to flourishing together TODAY!). Get Happy Together on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143130595 Learn more about Suzann Pileggi Pawelski and James Pawelski: https://www.optimize.me/authors/suzann-pileggi-pawelski-mapp/ https://www.optimize.me/authors/james-o-pawelski-ph-d/ ► RELATED RESOURCES: Big Idea 1: RELATIONSHIP GYM - Coping with COVID interview series via Positive Voices → https://www.positivevoices.com/copingwithcovid/ - +1: Falling in Love vs. STANDING in Love | One's a Lot Easier than the Other (#134) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/falling-in-love-vs-standing-in-love/ - +1: Fortify Your Pertinacity | Seneca Says: "Until the Will to Good Becomes a Disposition to Good" (#864) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/fortify-your-pertinacity/ - +1: Work or Play? | Masters in the Art of Living Dissolve the (Apparent) Dichotomy (#525) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/work-or-play/ - #1: Happy Playbor Day! (I'll be celebrating with some Playbor! Lol) (#35) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTeT11AzLe0&t=221s Big Idea 2: ARISTOTELIAN LOVERS - PN: The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/the-nicomachean-ethics-aristotle/ - PNTV: The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWExd__bC7A - +1: How to High Five Your Inner Daimon | My Philosophy in One Word (#3) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/how-to-high-five-your-inner-daimon/ - +1: Eudaimonism vs. Hedonism | Don't Want to Be Depressed? Science Says… (#1166) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/eudaimonism-vs-hedonism/ Big Idea 3: SNAP - +1: Commitments: 100% Is a Breeze | 99%? Not So Much. (#46) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/commitments-100-is-a-breeze/ - +1: Antifragile Confidence | ← = Agency Squared (#796) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/antifragile-confidence/ Big Idea 4: KNOW THY… - VIA Character Strengths Survey → http://www.viacharacter.org/www/ - Happy Together website → https://www.buildhappytogether.com/ - +1: What's Your #1 Self-Care Habit? | Perhaps the Most Important Question We Can Ask Ourselves (#129) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/whats-your-1-self-care-habit/ - +1: What's Your Partner's #1 Self-Care Habit? | Another VERY Important Question (#130) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/whats-your-partners-1-self-care-habit/ Big Idea 5: LOVE = ACTION VERB - How to Journal Carpe Diem Style! → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFMOrHcrGWU&t=4s - +1: How to Carpe Diem Journal (v2) | Let's Seize the Day → TODAY! (#1118) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/how-to-carpe-diem-journal-v2/ - +1: Soul Mates 2.0 | How to Find One and How to Be One (#1119) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/soul-mates-2-0/ ► FREE 14-DAY TRIAL: Get the PhilosophersNote on Happy Together and 600+ other books by starting a Free 14-Day trial membership to Optimize: https://www.optimize.me/trial/ ► MORE GOODNESS: - Get the Optimize App for iPhone & iPad: https://www.optimize.me/apps/ - Get the Optimize App for Android: https://www.optimize.me/apps/ - Subscribe to the Optimize Podcast: https://optimize.me/podcast/ - Follow Optimize on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BriantheOptimizer/ - Follow Optimize on Instagram: https://instagram.com/optimize.me/

Optimize: https://optimize.me/ (← Get Free Stuff + Free 2-Week Trial!) Optimize Coach: https://optimize.me/coach (← Join 2,000+ Optimizers from 70+ Countries!) Here are 5 of my favorite Big Ideas from The Courage Quotient by Robert Biswas-Diener. Hope you enjoy! Robert Biswas-Diener is known as the "Indiana Jones of positive psychology." As per his bio, "his research has taken him to such far-flung places as Greenland, India, Kenya and Israel." And, important note: "He is afraid of quicksand and snakes." :) Robert is also the son of one of the leading positive psychology researchers: Ed Diener. We covered a book they wrote together called Happiness. This is basically the ONLY book on science of courage. It's fantastic. Big Ideas we explore include defining the numerator and denominator of our Courage Quotient (hint: Increase your "willingness to act" and "ability to control fear"), courage's two flavors (general + personal), courage blindness (and how to heal it), the power of playing our roles well (choose a courageous one!), being willing to fail and playing to win. Get The Courage Quotient on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Courage-Quotient-Science-Make-Braver/dp/0470917423 Learn more about Robert Biswas-Diener: https://www.optimize.me/authors/robert-biswas-diener/ ► RELATED RESOURCES: Big Idea 1: THE QUOTIENT - +1: How to Flourish | Science Says: PERMA (#280) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/how-to-flourish/ - +1: Courage | How to Pump Energy to Your Virtues (#159) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/courage/ - +1: The Courage Quotient | How's Yours? (#1132) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-courage-quotient/ - +1: Aristotle's Virtuous Mean | Versus the Vices of Excess + Deficiency (#247) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/aristotles-virtuous-mean/ - +1: Aristotle's Doctrine of the (Virtuous) Mean | vs. The Vices of Excess and Deficiency (#466) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/aristotles-doctrine-of-the-virtuous-mean/ - PN: The Power of Agency by Paul Napper and Anthony Rao → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/the-power-of-agency-paul-napper-anthony-rao-ph-d/ - +1: "I'm Excited!" | What to Say to Yourself When You're Feeling Nerves (#27) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/im-excited/ - +1: Your Infinite Potential | And Where to Find It (#4) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/your-infinite-potential/ - +1: Now What Needs to Be Done? | Remember: Feelings Follow Behavior (#72) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/now-what-needs-to-be-done/ - PN: Constructive Living by David Reynolds → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/constructive-living-david-reynolds/ Big Idea 2: BLINDNESS - +1: Idiosyncratic Optimizing | Creating Your Own Unique Mixture of Awesome (#207) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/idiosyncratic-optimizing/ - FINDING JOE | Full Movie (HD) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8nFACrLxr0 - +1: Hero Bars | Your Fuel for Fear Doors (#699) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/hero-bars/ - +1: Navy SEAL Cookie Jars | David Goggins on Becoming Superman (#661) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/navy-seal-cookie-jars/ - David Goggins → https://www.optimize.me/authors/david-goggins/ - PN: It Takes What it Takes by Trevor Moawad → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/it-takes-what-it-takes-trevor-moawad/ - #1: How do you start your day? Here's how I start mine. (Breakfast of Champions + Oura 1-2-3+!) (#5) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLO3HrC6-hU Big Idea 3: ROLES - How to Act Boldly | Choose Courageous Roles (#1134) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/how-to-act-boldly/ - PNTV: How to Think Like a Roman Emperor → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHObPl342XU - Ellen Langer → https://www.optimize.me/authors/ellen-langer/ - PN: Counter-Clockwise by Ellen Langer → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/counterclockwise-ellen-langer/ - +1: You, Batman & Dora the Explorer | Time to Put on Your Heroic Costume? (#964) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/you-batman-dora-the-explorer/ - PN: The Alter Ego Effect by Todd Herman → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/the-alter-ego-effect-todd-herman/ Big Idea 4: FAILURE: ACCEPT - +1: Be Willing to Fail | Edison, Churchill and YOU! (#1135) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/be-willing-to-fail/ - +1: Creating Your Life Documentary | Note: It's All an Important Part of the Process (#1136) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/creating-your-life-documentary/ - +1: Mistakes? They're Just Mis-takes | You As the Director of Your Life (#59) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/mistakes-theyre-just-mis-takes/ - +1: A New Take on Mis-takes | Using Them as Fuel for Our Antifragile Fires (#1137) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/a-new-take-on-mis-takes/ - +1: Win or Learn | Three Questions to Ask after a Disappointing Performance (#96) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/win-or-learn/ - +1: Batting .300 | Is Hall of Fame Material (in Life + Baseball) (#499) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/batting-300/ Big Idea 5: PLAY TO WIN - +1: Playing to Win | vs. Playing Not to Lose (#1138) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/playing-to-win/ - +1: The Psychology of Hope | Goals + Willpower + Waypower (#325) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-psychology-of-hope/ ► FREE 14-DAY TRIAL: Get the PhilosophersNote on The Courage Quotient and 600+ other books by starting a Free 14-Day trial membership to Optimize: https://www.optimize.me/trial/ ► MORE GOODNESS: - Get the Optimize App for iPhone & iPad: https://www.optimize.me/apps/ - Get the Optimize App for Android: https://www.optimize.me/apps/ - Subscribe to the Optimize Podcast: https://optimize.me/podcast/ - Follow Optimize on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BriantheOptimizer/ - Follow Optimize on Instagram: https://instagram.com/optimize.me/

Not too long ago, I mentioned the virtual Optimize Local Zoom group I joined. It was such an epic hangout. I'm still beaming from the download of Love (and Wisdom + Self-Mastery + Courage + …). Seriously. It VERY MUCH reminded me of the graduation weekend where I got to hang out with 500+ of our inaugural Optimize Coaches—which will always be a highlight of my life. There's just something magical about getting together with people who share your values and are playing the same game with the same intense commitment to play it well. And, of course, as we've discussed many (!) times, the fastest way to Optimize your life ISN'T the Wisdom side of things per se. It's the COMMUNITY side of things. Join a Community with super-high standards and BOOM!—the best you is more likely to join the party. With COVID-19 taking over the world and creating the need for social distancing, we've pressed pause on our offline Optimize Local initiative. But… And I have goosebumps as I type this, we WILL be leaning back into that when the time is right. (I still can't believe we had Optimizers from over 75 countries and 750 cities around the world who raised their hands to get involved.) For now, you can join one of those virtual Optimize Zoom meetups by cruising over here. But… That's not quite the point of this +1. Today I want to chat about one of the little things that came up in our chat. One of our beloved Coaches shared how her fundamentals slipped a bit when COVID hit and she felt it. Then her Optimize Buddy challenged her to get her step count back up. So, she re-started her morning walk-hikes. And it changed her life. Then she wound up walking more and more and pretty soon she was, in her Optimize Buddy's words, kicking his butt—and he loved it! I can't remember the exact number of steps she said she was getting but I do remember the fact that she shared a WEEKLY stat. I was struck by the fact that you could have fun measuring your steps by both the DAY and the WEEK. Of course, it's obvious when I type that out but I always thought of my 10,000+ steps per day and never really thought about it on a weekly basis other than looking at the average daily count over the last week that my Suunto watch shares with me. So… 10,000 is our "go crush this!" target for our Coaches—which of course, is 70,000 steps/week. But, what's a target a little beyond that? I thought: 100,000 steps per week would be a pretty cool goal. Then I wondered: What's 100,000 divided by 7? Answer: 14,285.7 Suunto tells me that my current 7-day average number of steps is 18,794—which is a) pretty ridiculous (lol) and b) a reflection of just how much I love walking on our new Trail multiple times per day—it's the PERFECT oscillating reboot. So… 100,000. Isn't that a beautiful, round number? Wanna go to the next level with your step count and movement throughout the day and join me?! No pressure (seriously) as I know we all have different constraints in our realities and different things that fire us up. AND… Let's remember this wisdom from Kelly McGonigal's The Joy of Movement and make sure we're on the right side of these stats: "In the United States, daily physical activity—as captured by an accelerometer—is correlated with a sense of purpose in life. Real-time tracking also shows that people are happier during moments when they are physically active than when they are sedentary. And on days when people are more active than their usual, they report greater satisfaction with their lives. Other experiments in the U.S. and UK have forced moderately active adults to become sedentary for a period of time, only to watch their well-being wither. Regular exercisers who replace physical activity with a sedentary activity for two weeks become more anxious, tired, and hostile. When adults are randomly assigned to reduce their daily step count, 88 percent become more depressed. Within one week of becoming more sedentary, they report a 31 percent decline in life satisfaction. The average daily step count required to induce feelings of anxiety and depression and decrease satisfaction with life is 5,649. The typical American takes 4,774 steps per day. Across the globe, the average is 4,961." Here's to the Wisdom of knowing that movement matters and the Self-Mastery to go out and practice our philosophy when it matters most… TODAY.

Optimize: https://optimize.me/ (Get Free Stuff + Free 2-Week Trial!) Optimize Coach: https://optimize.me/coach (Join 2,000+ Optimizers from 70+ Countries!)

Optimize: https://optimize.me/ (← Get Free Stuff + Free 2-Week Trial!) Optimize Coach: https://optimize.me/coach (← Join 2,000+ Optimizers from 70+ Countries!) Here are 5 of my favorite Big Ideas from How to Think Like a Roman Emperor by Donald Robertson. Hope you enjoy! Donald Robertson is one of the world's leading thinkers, writers AND practitioners of Stoic philosophy. He's also a therapist who integrates Stoicism into his work with individuals. This is our second Note on one of his great books. The first Note was on The Philosophy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in which he connects the philosophical underpinnings of CBT (one of the most empirically-validated, effective modern therapies) to ancient Stoicism. This book is part biography and part philosophy. It's all awesome. If you want to know how to think like a Roman emperor, start here. I think you'll enjoy the book as much as I did. Get How to Think Like a Roman Emperor on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/How-Think-Like-Roman-Emperor/dp/1250196620 Learn more about Donald Robertson: https://www.optimize.me/authors/donald-robertson/ ► RELATED RESOURCES: Big Idea 1: GOAL OF LIFE - PN: The Philosophy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy by Donald Robertson → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/the-philosophy-of-cognitive-behavioural-therapy-donald-robertson/ - Stoicism 101 → https://www.optimize.me/stoicism/ - +1: Warriors vs. Librarians | Let's Not Just Catalogue these +1s, Let's LIVE Them (#66) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/warriors-vs-librarians/ - +1: The Cardinal Virtues | Of Stoicism + Science + Optimize (#1004) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-cardinal-virtues/ - +1: The Optimize Compass | And How to Make One (#1128) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-optimize-compass/ - +1: How to High Five Your Inner Daimon | My Philosophy in One Word (#3) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/how-to-high-five-your-inner-daimon/ Big Idea 2: IDEAL SAGE (+ YOU) - How to Journal Carpe Diem Style! → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFMOrHcrGWU&t -+1: What's Your 0? | Let's Turn It Into a φ (#1249) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/whats-your-0/ -+1: Pythagoras's PM Review | Via His Golden Verses (#1019) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/pythagorass-pm-review/ Big Idea 3: STOIC JOY - +1: The #1 Key to Happiness + Flourishing | Hint: Become BFFs with your Inner Soul (#2) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-1-key-to-happiness-flourishing/ - +1: The 5 (Greek) Keys to Optimizing | Areté + Eudaimonia + en*theos + Hērōs + Euthymia (#200) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-5-greek-keys-to-optimizing/ - +1: Aristotle's "Happiness" | Isn't Quite What You Think (#464) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/aristotles-happiness/ - +1: Scaffolding | Constructing Your Destiny (#174) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/scaffolding/ Big Idea 4: TIME PROJECTION - +1: Disaster = | Virtue's Opportunity (#1152) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/disaster/ Big Idea 5: CHOICE OF HERCULES - +1: The Choice of Hercules | Vice Dressed up as Virtue (#1036) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-choice-of-hercules/ - 500+ Optimize Coaches Conquer a Spartan Race → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrGspQzbzf0 - +1: +1 or -1 = Destiny Math | What Must YOU be? (#1) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/destiny-math/ ► FREE 14-DAY TRIAL: Get the PhilosophersNote on How to Think Like a Roman Emperor and 600+ other books by starting a Free 14-Day trial membership to Optimize: https://www.optimize.me/trial/ ► MORE GOODNESS: - Get the Optimize App for iPhone & iPad: https://www.optimize.me/apps/ - Get the Optimize App for Android: https://www.optimize.me/apps/ - Subscribe to the Optimize Podcast: https://optimize.me/podcast/ - Follow Optimize on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BriantheOptimizer/ - Follow Optimize on Instagram: https://instagram.com/optimize.me/

Optimize: https://optimize.me/ (← Get Free Stuff + Free 2-Week Trial!) Optimize Coach: https://optimize.me/coach (← Join 2,000+ Optimizers from 70+ Countries!) Here are 5 of my favorite Big Ideas from Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. Hope you enjoy! Cal Newport is one of my favorite thinkers. He got his Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT and is now a Professor at Georgetown. He's also a bestselling author of a number of books. Given the fact that the fastest way to Optimize your life is to STOP doing things that are sub-optimal AND the fact that (for nearly all of us) our use of technology is the #1 thing that "Needs work!," it's SUPER important for us to figure out how to best use all the technology available to us WITHOUT becoming lost in a tsunami of inputs. Enter: Our new philosophy of technology use: Digital Minimalism. Enter: My SUPER strong recommendation of the book and my ALL IN commitment to helping create a movement around the ideas in the book. As you know, I rarely say a book is a must read but this book is as close as it gets. Big Ideas we explore include the fact that your soul is engaged in a lopsided arms race, a definition + overview of digital minimalism, the importance of spending time alone (and the consequences of *not* spending adequate time alone), reclaiming leisure (get active!) and joining the Attention Resistance. Here's to Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World! Get Digital Minimalism on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Minimalism-Choosing-Focused-Noisy/dp/0525536515 Learn more about Cal Newport: https://www.optimize.me/authors/cal-newport/ ► FREE 14-DAY TRIAL: Get the PhilosophersNote on Digital Minimalism and 600+ other books by starting a Free 14-Day trial membership to Optimize: https://www.optimize.me/trial/ ► MORE GOODNESS: - Get the Optimize App for iPhone & iPad: https://www.optimize.me/apps/ - Get the Optimize App for Android: https://www.optimize.me/apps/ - Subscribe to the Optimize Podcast: https://optimize.me/podcast/ - Follow Optimize on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BriantheOptimizer/ - Follow Optimize on Instagram: https://instagram.com/optimize.me/

Get first week of Optimize Coach FREE here: https://www.optimize.me/coach-module-o/ Note: 10 more days to join us for Class III!

Optimize Coach: https://optimize.me/coach (Join 2,000+ Optimizers from 70+ Countries!) Imagine the absolute best wisdom from 600+ PhilosophersNotes, 1,000+ Optimize +1s, and 50 Optimal Living 101 classes distilled into ONE super-practical, 300-day program to help you fundamentally and permanently change your life. That's what we do in the Optimize Mastery Series + Optimize Coach program. And… September 1st was the first day of Optimize Coach - Class III. (YES!!!) We thought the best way to tell you about it and help you see if it might be a good fit for you was to share the first week's curriculum and invite you to join in. So… Here's Module O! Hope you enjoy!! (You can download the beautiful worksheets and watch the Practice video walking through them at https://www.optimize.me/coach-module-o/) Note: Our program is not just for people who want to become Coaches and/or take their Coaching practices to the next level. In fact, out of the 2,000+ people who have already gone through our program (from 70+ countries around the world!), HALF of them do it "just" to more and more consistently express the best version of themselves and give the world all they've got.