Optimize With Brian Johnson | More Wisdom In Less Time

In our last +1 we talked about the fact that, as per legendary tough guy Vince Lombardi, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”    Then we operationalized a super-simple antidote to cowardice via a super-simple PM Bookend routine. (How’d that go for you?)   I mentioned the fact that we’d connect that fatigue-coward phenomenon to my heart rate monitor. So, let’s.   Not too long ago, I introduced you to my Suunto watch. Love it. Works great.    … Except when it doesn’t!   Every once in awhile, I’ll be training at a mellow pace and my watch will be telling me that my heart rate is WAY higher than it could possibly be.    To put it in perspective, my target Maffetone-approved aerobic zone is 131 to 141. I usually train in that zone every other day. On my mellow recovery days, I do the same trail at a slower pace and stay well below that 131.   So, imagine my surprise one day when I’m going at a super mellow pace and look down at my watch to see it telling me that I’m at 160-something. I’m like, “Reall

Michael J. Gelb is the world’s leading authority on the application of genius thinking to personal and organizational development. He is a pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning, and innovative leadership. Gelb leads seminars for organizations such as DuPont, Merck, Microsoft, Nike, Roche and YPO. He brings more than 35 years of experience as a professional speaker, seminar leader and organizational consultant to his diverse, international clientele. Michael Gelb is the author of 14 books on creativity and innovation including the international best seller How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day. (1998) How to Think Like Leonardo has been translated into 25 languages and has appeared on the Washington Post, Amazon, and the New York Times best seller lists.

Continuing our time with my dear friend Katherine Collins, let’s talk about another micro-moment of Divine wisdom from our recent chat.   Quick context.   As you know if you’ve been following along, I’ve spent half of the last 20 years in Founder/CEO mode and the other half in Philosopher/Lover-of-Wisdom mode.   Although I’m not really into astrological signs (lol), I happen to be a Gemini and that myth happens to describe one of my primary challenges pretty well.   I often feel a pull to be one OR the other.    A CEO or a Philosopher.   Which recently made me think of the word ambivalence.   Which led to a trip to my 2,084-page American Heritage dictionary.   I flip to page 56. Here’s the definition: “the state of having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.”   Alright. Got it.    But what I’m really interested in is the etymology of the word.   Get this: ambi means “on both sides of” and valence comes from the same root as valor and valence—it bas

In our last couple +1s, we talked about the 11 virtues that show up on our shiny new Optimus medallions and make an appearance in our Optimus meditation.   Wisdom + Arete + Confidence + Purpose + Self-Awareness + Telos + Energy + Presence + Courage + Love + en*theos.    I’ve been playing around with those virtues in my formal meditation practice and while I’m rowing and while I’m training and before I fall asleep and after I wake up and, well, a lot. (Laughing. “That’s like me!”)   I’ll either go through the meditation we walked through in our last +1 (with the I Am [Insert Virtue] on the inhale followed by the power-statement on the exhale) or just pull a virtue out that I think would be useful in the moment and repeat it in my mind—feeling its power flowing through me.   Which makes me think of mantras.   And makes me surprised we’ve done over 700 (!) +1s so far (go us!) and we haven’t talked about one of the most powerful tools to train our mind.   I mean…   Do you know what the

Continuing our exploration of how to endure the pain of walking over burning (psychological) coals in pursuit of the upper limits of our potential, let’s talk about one of Matt Fitzgerald’s recommended “coping strategies” to Optimize our perception of effort and get closer to that wall of our potential.   Today we’re going to talk about The Psychology of Pain. (Cue weird music?)   Short story: Researchers have studied how different people deal with pain and have discovered that some people are MUCH better at dealing with it (and, as a result, perform at a much higher level in the midst of experiencing pain).   Get this: There are basically two ways you can deal with the prospect of experiencing pain. You can accept it. Or you can try to suppress it.   (Which one do you think is more effective?)   Here’s how Matt puts it: “Research on the psychology of pain has produced similar findings. A number of studies have compared the effects of two contrasting anticipatory attitudes—acceptance and sup

In our last +1, we talked about you feasting on your Hero Bars—using memories of your past success as fuel to walk through fear doors today.   (You grab three for Today?)   All of those Cookies and Hero Bars remind me of an idea from former Navy SEAL Alden Mills’ great book Be Unstoppable.    I read it years ago and recently re-read it with Emerson.   It’s a fantastic parable about a young captain who meets a wise, older mentor-captain who teaches him how to Optimize and actualize his potential to become a “Master and Commander.”   Emerson and I loved it.   The Master Captain (who goes by Persistent Pete), has eight actions he teaches his young protégé. (One of which reminds me of the Hero Bars! We’ll talk about it tomorrow.)    The Actions form the acronym UPERSIST.   Emerson can rattle them off.   In fact, let’s invite him in so he can share!   Action #1: Understand Your Why Action #2: Plan Action #3: Energize to Execute (Alden may go with “Exercise” to Execute but we expanded it

In our last +1, we talked about the wonderful little book-gift I received from Cal Newport and we reflected on a particular passage from that book (Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin) that really jumped out and grabbed me.   The essence of that passage?   Our presidential luminaries differed in many ways. But they ALL shared a “fierce ambition.”   Of the heroic kind.   Today I’d like to talk about another passage from the book. This one’s from page 106. I actually STARTED reading the book on this page because, in his thoughtful gift note, Cal told me that the wisdom on that particular page made him think of me and of our recent chats.   Here’s how page 106 starts: “What fired in Lincoln this furious and fertile time of self-improvement? The answer lay in his readiness to gaze in the mirror and soberly scrutinize himself. Taking stock, he found himself wanting. From the beginning, young Lincoln aspired to nothing less than to inscribe his name into the book of communal memory.

Continuing our theme of seeking/conquering fear, let’s have some fun with Jon Eliot and his wisdom from Overachievement.   Here’s how he (brilliantly!) puts it: “Working on techniques to manage stress is a bit like trying to win the Indy 500 by putting a governor on the engine of your race car or swapping out a powerful V-12 for a V-4 because it offers a ‘quieter ride.’ You wouldn’t do that. Not if you were after the checkered flag. Not if you were racing star Jeff Gordon. No superstar is about to give his opponents an edge. Nor should you by trying to relax when the pressure’s on.”   So…   Important question.   Do you want to win the race of life?   Or…   Would you simply prefer to have a “quieter” ride?   (I say “YES!!!” to both, please! lol)   Ideally, we show up with THE most powerful engine possible AND we have fun learning how to handle that Beast as we drive at record-shattering speeds, eh?   Let’s do that.   But let’s agree not to get so overwhelmed by the sensations of fear that

Gary Taubes wrote a great book called The Case Against Sugar.   Basic idea: If you were a detective in charge of figuring out a series of crimes and you noticed a common pattern among those crimes, you’d be smart to put the pieces together and see if you could narrow your search down to a single suspect.   Right?   Well… That’s what Taubes does in his book.   The crimes? All the chronic diseases wreaking havoc on our society—from diabetes and obesity to heart disease and cancer.   Short story: All those chronic diseases are associated with metabolic dysfunction.   And the fastest way to make your metabolism dysfunctional? Sugar.   Enter: The case against it.    Remember our Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn? She discovered telomerase—the stuff that replenishes telomeres.    Here’s how she puts it in The Telomere Effect: “When we want to spot the parties responsible for metabolic disease, we point a finger at the highly processed, sugary foods and sweetened drinks. (We’re looking at you,

In our last +1, we took a quick trip to Michelangelo’s studio and saw the Optimus You sitting there in the uncarved marble. Then we did a little chiseling at some behaviors that might be getting in the way.   Today’s +1 is another super-quick one.   Pop quiz: You know what moment Michelangelo decided to capture when he carved David?    Hint: It wasn’t his moment of celebration right after he “officially” became a hero by defeating Goliath.    It was his moment of DECISION.   It was the moment he DECIDED to step up and do his best to serve profoundly and, ultimately, heroically.   That (and I have goosebumps as I type this) was what Michelangelo (rightly) considered the most heroic moment of David’s life—the moment he DECIDED to step up and strive to be a hero.    Guess what?   (Echo!!)   We get to make those micro-decisions all day every day.   Here’s to choosing wisely, David.

In our last +1, we met Joe De Sena’s kettlebell named Leo. (I laugh as I type that.)   As you may recall, little Leonidas goes everywhere Joe goes. Traveling around the world? Mr. Leo gets checked in. Heading to the office in the morning. Leo’s going, too.    All day every day. Joe and his 44-pound cast-iron little Leo are BFFs.   Now, as I was preparing for Greatest Year Ever 2019, I was reflecting on that epic love story and thinking about the importance of having symbols to capture our most important intentions.    For Joe, that kettlebell represents his commitment to obstacle immunity and to honoring the pledge he’s made to help 100 million people Optimize their lives via his Spartan Races—which I find to be SUPER inspiring.   I wondered: What symbol can I create for myself that will capture my commitment to stepping up and into the next-best version of myself as a social entrepreneur and leader—doing my part to help 100 million (!!) people Optimize their lives by combining the power of Wisdom

Cal Newport joins us as a guest teacher for this class! He 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.

Meditation.   At this point, most of us are pretty aware of the fact that it’s been proven to be pretty epic for our well-being.    Congrats, high fives, curtsies, etc. if you’re rockin’ a meditation practice already.   If you’re not investing a few minutes of your day into meditation yet, what’re you waiting for?!   Perhaps you’re telling yourself you don’t have the time?   Well, we know that’s a pretty flimsy excuse (hah!) but if you’re not meditating and you have a tough time falling asleep at night, here’s some fun little data from Arianna Huffington’s The Sleep Revolution that will help us quantify the IMMEDIATE time-ROI you’ll get by meditating.   Arianna tells us: “A 2009 Stanford study found that a six-week mindfulness meditation course helped people who have trouble sleeping fall asleep twice as quickly, in fifteen minutes instead of thirty-three minutes.”   Recap: If you have trouble falling asleep, learning to meditate (and doing so consistently) can help you fall asleep twice a

In our last +1, we talked about the Optimize Master’s program (aka Optimize Coach!) and had fun with some wisdom on moving from theory to practice—reminding ourselves that the theory (although important!) is just the rudimentary stuff. The ADVANCED work is the actual PRACTICE.   Here’s what was kinda weird.   As I was drafting that +1, I was doing some quick key word searches on my Mac to find the quotes I wanted to pull. I grabbed one from Ernest Holmes’s Creative Mind and Success and one from Vernon Howard’s The Power of Your Supermind.    But before I found the right quote from Holmes, I opened up another one of our Notes on another one of his great books The Art of Life.    (Fun note: I went through a phase where I was REALLY into understanding what all the old-school New Thought guys thought and read basically all their stuff.)   Anyway…    As I did that little searching and opened up a few PDFs, I noticed that the first Big Idea from both The Art of Life and from The Power of Your Supe

In our last +1, we talked about our inaugural Optimize Coach program (there’s still a little more time to sign up and join hundreds of other passionate Optimizers in making this the greatest year of our lives while helping others in our lives do the same, btw).   Specifically, we discussed the very first email we send out with the very first micro-exercise to invite Optimus Us to the party.   It goes like this:    Stand up. Expand. Relax. Pull the thread thru your head. Take a deep breath (in thru the nose, down into the belly, etc.). Chest up. Chin down. Relax a little more. Expand a little more. Smile.   “Hi, Optimus!!”   We’re going to start (and end) every single one of our 43 weekly sessions together with that exercise. CONSTANTLY remembering to physically flip the switch from the not-quite-Optimus version of ourselves to the “Let’s do this!!!” Optimus version of Us.   As I wrapped my brain around the importance of this little exercise and how to integrate it in our lives, I was thinking

In our last +1, we took a nice stroll down Brian’s Biographical Byway—exploring the power of flipping Identity switches. (You make any distinctions? Flip any switches?)   btw: That Seneca quote with which we wrapped up that +1 always knocks my socks off: “It is not because things are difficult that you do not dare. It is because you do not dare that things are difficult.”    Today I want to go back to Atomic Habits and explore an Idea that didn’t make it into the Note.    It has to do with Michael Phelps. And his genes. And how they impacted his pants inseam length. And how that affected his Olympic greatness.   Get this: At this stage, we all know that Phelps is one of the greatest athletes of ALL TIME. He’s won more gold medals (23!!) than anyone in the history of the Olympics.    He’s a case study in grit. In his autobiography No Limits, he shares the key character traits he believes led to his astonishing success.   But…   One of the things he doesn’t mention is the fact that his body ju

In our last +1, we talked about how to make yourself a quadrillion (!!!) times better. The recap there: Just let the magic of compounding 1% gains work for you. Every day. 10 years. Boom!   Of course the fine print includes the fact that, although inspiring, that’s (obviously) pretty much impossible as NO ONE, not even the best among us, are perfect (thanks, Maslow!) and we won’t be the first. But contemplating the sheer potential force of compounding tiny gains is pretty inspiring.   Now, as I wrapped my brain around that power and imagined each of us stepping into that next-best version of ourselves (then repeating the spiraling up again and again!), Ralph Waldo Emerson came to mind.     In Self-Reliance, he has a great line about the fact that great human beings have an aura about them. He says that it’s almost as if they have a bunch of angels escorting them.    As he puts it: “The force of character is cumulative. All the foregone days of virtue work their health into this. What makes t

In our last +1, we talked about how the Peak Performance guys recommend we craft our optimal work-to-rest ratio.    Pop quiz: You recall the ratio?    Pop answer: 50 to 90 minutes ON. 7 to 20 minutes OFF. Making nice rhythmic waves…   (More importantly: You practice it yesterday?)   Today, as promised, I want to talk about the importance of creating boundaries lest we teeter into the realm of burnout and/or never leave the realm of sub-awesome performance.   First, let’s talk about the boundaries required to get into true, 100% ON mode.    Guess what… All that multi-tasking? Flitting back and forth from one thing to another? That’s NOT awesome. (Cap’n Obvious here with a friendly public service announcement.)    We need to create bright-line boundaries and focus on ONE Thing—the most important thing—if we want to have a shot at operating in our upper threshold of productive performance.    We all know that. (Right?)   Yet…    Do you still paper cut your attention and never really go deep be