You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

After drafting that last +1, I hit my 90-minute mark for my second Deep Work Time Block of the day, which, of course, triggered one of my keystone algorithms. "After 90-minutes of Deep Work, I take a 15-20 minute break." So… I grabbed a little bite to eat and went on a short walk around our property. As I was walking, I contemplated the whole idea of "sin" and missing the mark in our lives. Joseph Campbell (who was also raised Catholic) came to mind. I just love his wisdom on the subject. We featured it in a +1 called "Father, Bless Me." As you may recall, Campbell tells us: "Ramakrishna once said that if all you think of are your sins, then you are a sinner. And when I read that, I thought of my boyhood, going to confession on Saturdays, meditating on all the little sins that I had committed during the week. Now I think one should go and say, 'Bless me, Father, for I have been great, these are the good things I have done this week.' Identify your notion of yourself with the positive, rather than with the negative." That's awesome. Then, my thoughts were interrupted as a deer bounded away from me. She (or was it he?) paused about 50 feet away, stared at me as I stared back for an extended moment. Then she continued on her way. That's awesome. Then my mind floated to Nathaniel Branden. I couldn't remember the precise details of his thoughts on the subject, but I remembered the essence. I remembered he once said something about the fact that there's something worse than "sinning" or missing the target. You know what that might be? … What's your guess? What's WORSE than missing the mark? … I remember that he said NOT HAVING high standards in the first place was, arguably, considerably WORSE than having them but failing to meet them. I reflected on that, finished my walk and came straight to my computer for a quick search to find the precise words he used and to create this +1. Enter: Mac search: "Nathaniel Branden." Result: A couple Notes: The Art of Living Consciously and The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem. I opened The Art of Living Consciously first. That's an AWESOME book and Note but nope. Not there. So, I opened The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem. Aha!! There it is. It's the sixth and final pillar: Integrity. Here's how Nathaniel puts it: "Integrity is the integration of ideals, convictions, standards, beliefs—and behavior. When our behavior is congruent with our professed values, when ideals and practice match up, we have integrity. Observe that before the issue of integrity can even be raised we need principles of behavior—moral convictions about what is and is not appropriate—judgments about right and wrong action. If we do not yet hold standards, we are on too low a developmental rung even to be accused of hypocrisy. In such a case, our problems are too severe to be described merely as lack of integrity." Yep. That's exactly right. And… That's Today's +1. Are YOU living in integrity with your ideals, convictions, standards, and beliefs? And… Remember: That presupposes we HAVE a clear sense of standards. So… What are yours? Let's know them. And, let's live them. As we solidify our intense trust in ourselves by getting better and better at hitting the mark. TODAY.

Optimize: http://optimize.me/ Optimize Coach: https://www.optimize.me/coach Today we have fun talking about dropping into a data-mining Beast Mode of awesome. Hope you enjoy and LET'S DO THIS!!!

More Optimizing goodness: https://www.optimize.me

More Optimizing goodness: https://www.optimize.me/

As we've discussed countless times, I start my days with at least a minute or three of journaling. These days it's a super-quick sketch of our Optimize Virtue Compass then a quick trip through the Big 3 x 2 +1. So… The other day I sat down to begin my Deep Work session with the quick sketch of our compass. And… You know what I saw right after I wrote down the four cardinal virtues of Wisdom + Self-Mastery + Courage + Love? A cardinal. Hah! I kid you not. I'm sitting there at my desk in my new outdoor office and glance up from my journaling (right after writing those cardinal virtues!) to see a beautiful red cardinal perch itself on the limb of a tree a couple dozen feet away. And, I thought to myself: Thank you, Optimizing gods. Then it became official. I now have a new favorite bird: The cardinal. Which, of course, led me to Google. Google: "Why are cardinals the bird called cardinals?" (Slightly awkward phrasing but it got the job done. Thank you, Google.) Enter, our first result: "Northern cardinals are named for the males' brilliant red plumage, which reminded European settlers of the rich red vestments of Catholic cardinals in the church hierarchy. The bird's crest is also reminiscent of the headgear of some higher religious officials." Fascinating. Then it was time for a trip to our friendly dictionary for Today's etymological lesson. The Dictionary tells us that the noun form of cardinal can refer to either our friendly bird or Catholic dignitaries. The adjective form means "of the greatest importance; fundamental." As in: "The four cardinal virtues are worth journaling every morning to remind ourselves of the game we're playing and how to play it well." Now for the ancient origins of the word. Let's see… Here it is: Back in the day when Latin was all the rage, the word cardo (from which we get cardinal) meant "hinge." As in, the hinge of a door. Makes sense. Those cardinal virtues? They're the hinges on which the door to our Optimus-best self opens. Let's push that door open. TODAY.