

You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson
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)
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 4, 2020 • 9min
#1: God, please grant me the virtues to make Today a masterpiece! (#32)

Sep 4, 2020 • 24min
PNTV: It Takes What It Takes by Trevor Moawad (#394)
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 It Takes What It Takes by Trevor Moawad. Hope you enjoy! Trevor Moawad is a mental conditioning coach to elite performers. He is well known for being the mental coach to Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and has worked closely with prestigious NCAA football programs and coaches, the US Special Operations community, Major League Baseball, and the NBA. This book is, as per the sub-title, all about "How to Think Neutrally and Gain Control of Your Life." I loved it and, if you're also equally fired up by the mental toughness in sports and life genre, I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. Big Ideas we explore include neutral thinking (much better than positive or negative), goats and G.O.A.T.s, the law of substitution (focus!), the illusion of choice (if you're REALLY ALL IN, there is no choice), and drawing a line in the dirt (and getting to it… again and again and again!). Get It Takes What It Takes on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Takes-What-Think-Neutrally-Control/dp/0062947125 Learn more about Trevor Moawad: https://www.optimize.me/authors/trevor-moawad/ ► RELATED RESOURCES: Big Idea 1: NEUTRAL THINKING - PN: Rethinking Positive Thinking by Gabriele Oettingen → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/rethinking-positive-thinking-gabriele-oettingen/ - +1: Etiology vs. Teleology | Freud vs. Adler (and Campbell and Me and…) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/etiology-vs-teleology/ - +1: First Things First | Second Things? Not at All (#275) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/first-things-first/ - +1: What's Important Now? (Part 2) | How to Win 28 Olympic Medals (#276) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/whats-important-now-part-2/ - +1: WIN! WIN! WIN! | What's Your Next Most Important Thing? (<- Crush That. Repeat.) (#421) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/win-win-win/ Big Idea 2: GOATS + G.O.A.T.S. - +1: Goeswith | Our New Wisdom Word (Thanks, Alan Watts!) (#639) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/goeswith/ Big Idea 3: LAW OF SUBSTITUTION - +1: A Wandering Mind | Is an Unhappy Mind (#1234) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/a-wandering-mind/ Big Idea 4: ILLUSION OF CHOICE - +1: Commitments: 100% Is a Breeze | 99%? Not So Much. (#46) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/commitments-100-is-a-breeze/ - +1: Proving Yourself Right | vs. "I Hope This Works Out Alright" (#215) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/proving-yourself-right/ - +1: Sacrifices vs. Decisions | There's a Big Difference Between the Two (#65) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/sacrifices-vs-decisions/ - +1: Deciding vs. Wishing | 3 Steps on How to Get What You Want (#101) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/deciding-vs-wishing/ Big Idea 5: DRAWING YOUR LINE - Joe De Sena → https://www.optimize.me/authors/joe-de-sena/ - +1: The Paradox of Choice | Maximizer vs. Satisficer <- Which Are You? (#416) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-paradox-of-choice/ - PN: The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/the-paradox-of-choice-why-more-is-less-barry-schwartz/ ► FREE 14-DAY TRIAL: Get the PhilosophersNote on It Takes What It Takes 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/

Sep 3, 2020 • 28min
PNTV: Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg (#393)
BJ Fogg, founder of the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University, discusses the core elements of his Fogg Behavior Model and how habit change can be easier than we think. He explores the three elements that drive behavior, the ABCs of Tiny Habits, the power of anchor prompts, and the importance of celebration. The podcast also covers the science of behavior design, installing and deleting habits, and provides an overview of Optimize.me offerings and the Optimize Coach certification program.

Sep 3, 2020 • 16min
#1: How to Optimize your behavior design (B = MAP!!) (Note: Start with Trigger-Prompts!) (#31)

Sep 2, 2020 • 25min
PNTV: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker (#392)
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 Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. Hope you enjoy! Matthew Walker is one of the world's leading neuroscientists and sleep experts. He's a professor at UC Berkeley (and former professor at Harvard) who has spent decades studying why we sleep and how to, as per the sub-title of this book, unlock the power of sleep and dreams. As you know if you've been following along, I'm a HUGE advocate of Optimizing our sleep as a fundamental practice in Optimizing our lives. This book has made me EVEN MORE bullish about the power of sleep. The consequences of chronically depriving ourselves of the sleep we need? Well, they're astonishingly devastating—dramatically increasing the odds of having everything from mood disorders to cancer (and everything else we don't want). Big Ideas we explore include the fact that you're more likely to get struck by lightning than have the gene that let's you get by on less than the recommended sleep, the universality of sleep (even worms sleep!!), resetting baselines, the iPad effect (did you know how much using one before sleep messes w/your melatonin?), and some tips to Optimize your sleep TONIGHT!! Get Why We Sleep on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501144324 Learn more about Matthew Walker: https://www.optimize.me/authors/matthew-walker-phd/ ► RELATED RESOURCES: Big Idea 1: FOUNDATION VS. PILLAR - PNTV: Future Visions by Abraham Maslow (#391) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncur6rCM2-0 - PN: Future Visions by Abraham Maslow → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/future-visions-edward-hoffman/ - +1: Sleep: Even Worms Do It | Plus: One-Eyed-/Half-Brained-Bird Sleep (#744) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/sleep-even-worms-do-it/ - +1: Sleep: Before + After Edison | Know How Much Your Great Grandparents Slept? (#217) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/sleep-before-after-edison/ - +1: A Brief History of (Blue) Light | Save It for the Daytime (#915) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/a-brief-history-of-blue-light/ - +1: Digging Foundations | What the World's Tallest Building Can Teach Us about Building the World's Tallest You (#58) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/digging-foundations/ - +1: Foundation vs. Pillars | Our #1 Fundie? Sleep! (#911) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/foundation-vs-pillars/ - Oura Ring → https://ouraring.com/ - +1: Sleep Efficiency | Want 8 Hours? Be in Bed for 9! (#913) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/sleep-efficiency/ - +1: Think You Can Get By on Little Sleep? | Science Says: Think Again (Struck by Lightning Lately?) (#742) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/think-you-can-get-by-on-little-sleep/ - +1: Seneca: The Worse a Person Is the Less He Feels It | Aurelius: Don't Like Yourself? Why Would I Care Whether or Not You Like Me? (#381) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/seneca-the-worse-a-person-is-the-less-he-feels-it/ - +1: Sleep: Crazy Stats | To Make Your Heart Skip a Beat (#747) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/sleep-crazy-stats/ Big Idea 2: THE BRIDGE FROM DESPAIR → HOPE - +1: Despair --> Hope | The Best Bridge? (#948) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/despair-hope/ - +1: The Optimize Compass | And How to Make One (#1128) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-optimize-compass/ Big Idea 3: PM BOOKEND - PM Counts Twice | PM → AM + DAY + PM = #carpediem (#1007) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/pm-counts-twice/ - +1: AM + PM Bookends | How to Create Masterpiece Days: Start Here! (#78) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/am-pm-bookends/ - +1: "Shut-Down COMPLETE!" | Not "Shut-Down ALMOST Complete!" (#1171) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/shut-down-complete-2/ - PNTV: The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/the-sleep-revolution-arianna-huffington/ - PN: The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington (#390) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc41NbQoaw0 - "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti → https://www.optimize.me/authors/jiddu-krishnamurti/ - +1: Sleep Q: How Little Light Is Too Much? | A: Not a Lot! (#741) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/sleep-q-how-little-light-is-too-much/ Big Idea 4: #1 TIP = DIGITAL SUNSET - +1: Digital Sunset | Bedtime for Your Electronics (#152) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/digital-sunset/ Big Idea 5: PRO TIP = EATING SUNSET - +1: Sleep Curfews | Caffeine + Exercise + Eating + Screens + Work (#917) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/sleep-curfews/ - +1: Got Glymph? | How to Wash Your Brain (#895) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/got-glymph/ - PN: The Longevity Paradox by Dr. Steven Gundry → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/the-longevity-paradox-steven-gundry/ - +1: Glymph for the Win | Crazy Stats from My Oura Ring (#896) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/glymph-for-the-win/ - #1s: Behind the Scenes → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuDYg_teIIc&list=PLj3yWdMwimwnHBIHfq6smL9JSwrTpU_ge ► FREE 14-DAY TRIAL: Get the PhilosophersNote on Why We Sleep 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/

Sep 2, 2020 • 11min
#1: My new favorite virtue: Encourage (Your Top 3?) (+ a Trail walk + Yoda love) (#30)

Sep 2, 2020 • 28min
PNTV: Future Visions by Abraham Maslow (#391)
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 Future Visions by Abraham Maslow. Hope you enjoy! As you know if you've been following along, I love Abraham Maslow and feel a deep kinship to him and his work. We have featured two of the books he published during his lifetime: Toward a Psychology of Being and Motivation and Personality. Although this book has only ONE review on Amazon and I could only buy a used copy of it, I knew I'd love it. And, although I had already been deeply influenced by Maslow and his thinking, there was something about reading his unpublished essays and journal thoughts that made me feel that much more connected to this great man. Big Ideas we explore include Maslow's thoughts on the "eupsychian ideal" (aka: the "eudaemonic ideal"!), the psychology of happiness (eudaimonology!!), Stoic philosophy (Maslow was a fan), vicious cultural influences (Maslow was NOT a fan!), and the Jonah Complex (ANSWER YOUR HEROIC CALL, already!!). Get Future Visions on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Future-Visions-Unpublished-Papers-Abraham/dp/0761900500 Learn more about Abraham Maslow: https://optimize.me/authors/abraham-maslow ► RELATED RESOURCES: - All PhilosophersNotes TV episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj3yWdMwimwmSz4DXwtJkCeQ958RHnOfj - PN: Motivation and Personality by Abraham Maslow → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/motivation-and-personality-abraham-maslow/ - PN: Toward a Psychology of Being by Abraham Maslow → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/toward-a-psychology-of-being-abraham-maslow/ - +1: Eudaimōnology | The Study of a Good Soul (#997) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/eudaimonology/ - The Optimize Coach program → https://optimize.me/coach/ - Martin Seligman → https://www.optimize.me/authors/martin-seligman/ - PN: Flourish | A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being by Martin Seligman → https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/flourish-martin-seligman/ - +1: The #1 Key to Happiness + Flourishing | Hint: Become BFFs with your Inner Soul → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-1-key-to-happiness-flourishing/ - +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: 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: Put Your Virtues in Action | How to Flex Your Flourishing Muscles → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/put-your-virtues-in-action/ - +1: How to Flourish | Science Says: PERMA (#280) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/how-to-flourish/ - +1: Mediocrity vs. Excellence | How to Avoid Getting Stuck in the Middle of a Rugged Mountain (#95) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/mediocrity-vs-excellence/ - +1: Hedonic Eudaimonia | A Close Relative of Flow Junkies (#908) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/hedonic-eudaimonia/ - 14-Day Free Optimize Trial Membership → https://optimize.me/trial/ - +1: +1 or -1 = Destiny Math | What Must YOU be? (#1) - Ellen Langer → https://www.optimize.me/authors/ellen-langer/ - +1: The Psychology of Possibility | Celebrating with 300 Burpees (#1009) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-psychology-of-possibility/ - +1: Prior Best = New Baseline | Your Best Days? That's Your New Normal (#264) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/prior-best-new-baseline/ - +1: Capacities Clamoring to Be Used | Answering Your Soul's Cries (#403) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/capacities-clamoring-to-be-used/ - +1: Optimize = Optimus | = The Best Version of You (#367) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/optimize-optimus/ - Hērō = protector - +1: The Optimize Compass | And How to Make One (#1128) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/the-optimize-compass/ - +1: Hērōs | Building Strength for 2 (#107) → https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/heros/ ► FREE 14-DAY TRIAL: Get the PhilosophersNote on Future Visions 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/

Sep 1, 2020 • 11min
#1: It's Day 1 for Optimize Coach - Class III (And, well, it's ALWAYS Day 1!! :) (#29)

Sep 1, 2020 • 5min
+1: Junk Food's Junk Science (#1245)
In our last +1, we chatted about the fact that your food label might be lying to you by stuffing a few variations of cancer candy (aka sugar) into your jam so "SUGAR" doesn't make its way to the top slot. (Which is one of the reasons you and your Loved ones might be unknowingly consuming A LOT more sugar than you think and, unfortunately, suffering the SIGNIFICANT consequences.) Today I want to chat about some more wisdom from Mark Hyman's great book Food Fix. In our next +1, we'll focus on his #1 tip for Optimizing your personal health AND a powerful way to collectively pull a lever on systemic change. But, first, talk about the sugar = cancer candy theme for another moment. This is a BIG deal and something we want to REALLY get. So… Let's go back to Tom Rath's Eat Move Sleep again. Quick note: Tom is a super-conservative scientist at Gallup. He also has a "rare and catastrophic genetic mutation" that makes him vulnerable to cancer so he's been battling multiple cancers ALL his life—which has forced him to study the subject in depth. Here's what he tells us: "Sugar is a toxin. It fuels diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer. At the current dose we consume, more than 150 pounds per person every year, sugar and its derivatives kill more people than cocaine, heroin, or any other controlled substance around. One report aptly describes sugar as 'candy for cancer cells.' It accelerates aging and inflammation in the body and subsequently fuels tumor growth. It is now clear that if you lower your sugar intake, you reduce your odds of developing cancer." So, yah. Reduce your intake of sugar and reduce your odds of developing cancer. It's really not that complicated. Only… You know how some less-than-virtuous executives thought that it was a good idea to confuse us with misleading food labels so we didn't realize SUGAR was the primary ingredient in our jam? Well… Hate to break the news to you but they've ALSO been paying some of their friends to do some junk science to help them sell their junk food. Yep. Researchers are paid to make us think that sugar isn't THAT bad for us. Did you know that the food industry spends more than $12 BILLION a year funding nutrition studies while the National Institute of Health spends only $1 billion? Yep. (Pause and reflect on that stat for a moment. The food industry spends more than $12 BILLION a year funding nutrition studies while the National Institute of Health spends only $1 billion.) And, not surprisingly, as Mark says, "Studies funded by the food industry are eight to fifty times more likely to find a positive outcome for their products." He tells us that all this "junk science" winds up "polluting and diluting independent research, and confusing policy makers, the public, and even most doctors and nutritionists." We'll leave it at that for Today before this becomes a +33. SUGAR. IT DOES NOT DO A BODY GOOD. Period. Got any sugar-laden, ultraprocessed food you might want to throw out and quit buying? Is TODAY a good day to remove the Trigger and take the next step in Optimizing? -1 -1 -1 for the +1 +1 +1 win!!!

Aug 31, 2020 • 10min


