Optimize With Brian Johnson | More Wisdom In Less Time

In our last +1, we spent some more time with Trevor Moawad and explored some more wisdom from his great book, It Takes What It Takes.   As you may recall, we chatted about neutral thinking.   As Trevor says: “No matter where I work, the same truth keeps emerging. Neutral thinking is the key to unlocking a set of behaviors that can turn also-rans into champions and champions into legends.”   Today I want to bring that wisdom to life with a little personal example from the Johnson Ranch here outside Austin.    So…   As I was reading the book, I took a break and explained this idea to Emerson.    Here’s the example I used: Our chickens. And their poop.    Quick context: As we’ve discussed, we just moved to the country. We got some chickens because we thought they’d be awesome. They are. The kids love them, etc.    And...    Those gals (and guy) sure know how to poop! And, they seem to especially love to do their work under our beautiful back patio where I often meditate in the morning as the su

Today we visit the barn-studio to hang out with 500+ of my favorite books as we check out the studio set up for the upcoming Top 3 Most Life-Changing Book series! :)

As I was prepping for our upcoming Top 3 Most Life-Changing Books series, I realized I could create a little video on my Top 3 favorite teachers. Here it is!

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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 Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday. Hope you enjoy! This is our fourth Note on one of Ryan Holiday’s books. Ryan is one of my absolute favorite writers. One of the testimonials in the front of the book perfectly captures my sentiment. Screenwriter and director Brian Koppelman (Rounders, Ocean’s Thirteen and Billions) puts it this way: “I don’t have many rules in life, but one I never break is: If Ryan Holiday writes a book, I read it as soon as I can get my hands on it.” (btw: Cal Newport’s the first testimonial. He says: “Some authors give advice. Ryan Holiday distills wisdom. This book is a must read.”) Penguin Random House sent me an advance copy of this book. As I knew it would be: It’s fantastic. Of course, the book’s packed with Big Ideas and I’m excited to share some of my favorites so let’s jump str

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Scott Barry Kaufman is one of the world’s leading positive psychologists.   We featured one of his earlier books called Wired to Create. So, when a bunch of our Optimizers recommended his new book called Transcend I was eager to get it. (Thank you!! Keep ‘em coming, please!)   It’s FANTASTIC.   In short, it’s an update on Abraham Maslow’s thinking—moving us beyond self-actualizing into the ULTIMATE realm of “transcending” ourselves in service to the world. Or, as Scott puts it in the sub-title to the book: “The New Science of Self-Actualization.”   It’s an important, wise book. If you’re into the science of Optimizing and Actualizing, I think you’ll love it as much as I did. Check out the Notes, get it, etc.   So…   I imagine we’ll talk about a number of Big Ideas from that book. Today I want to chat about one in particular.    Have you ever heard of “The Jonah Complex”? I hadn’t before Scott introduced me to it.    We meet Jonah in the Old Testament. God has big plans for him.    But…

Larry King + James Pawelski interview link: https://the.positivevoices.com/live-audience-yes Optimize: https://optimize.me/ (Get Free Stuff + Free 2-Week Trial!) Optimize Coach: https://optimize.me/coach (Join 2,000+ Optimizers from 70+ Countries!)

From Notes on Jim Afremow's Champion's Mind: https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-notes/the-champions-mind-jim-afremow/https://www.optimize.me/philosophers-... “Take a minute right now to think about your performance when you did not believe a good or respectable outcome was possible but you still found a way to make it happen. There is beauty in being ugly but effective (UBE) or having a good bad day (GBD) while you are not at your finest. Keep your head in the game and grind it out.” There’s a powerful beauty in being ugly but effective and having good bad days. UBE + GBD. This is big. If we want to cultivate truly intense trust in ourselves, we need to know that we can pull it together when things start falling apart. Jack Nicklaus called it playing poorly well. Afremow tells us Rory McIlroy calls it “scrappy golf.” Step #1 to making that happen is to KNOW that you will have x bad shots per round. It’s the unhealthy perfectionists among us (*waving to my old self!*) who struggle with this the most— thinkin

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 crac

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 (choos

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

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

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