Synopsis
OPTIMIZE with Brian Johnson features the best Big Ideas from the best optimal living books. More wisdom in less time to help you live your greatest life. (Learn more at optimize.me.)
Episodes
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+1: #340 How to Win the Cancer War
11/03/2018 Duration: 03minContinuing our Anticancer theme, let’s chat about another brilliant idea from David Servan-Schreiber’s book, Anticancer. Imagine this. It’s 1942. Hitler has amassed an army of one million Nazi soldiers. They’re pushing to take over Russia — which finds itself so undermanned that adolescents and schoolgirls who have never used a firearm are joining the fight. Miraculously, the Russians are able to resist. But, knowing they can’t sustain the defense, their leader shifts their strategy and decides to attack the German supply lines deep within German-controlled territory. And, it works. Without the supply lines, the million soldiers are forced to retreat. That’s the Battle of Stalingrad — one of the most influential battles of the European front in World War II. And, David tells us, that’s the PERFECT metaphor for how we need to approach cancer. We need to cut off the supply lines. And FORCE cancer’s retreat. How? Well, we talked about the four levers a few +1s ago: Environment +
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+1: #335 Meet Your Telomeres
06/03/2018 Duration: 04minElizabeth Blackburn won a Nobel Prize for her research on telomerase — the enzyme that nourishes our telomeres. She wrote a book called The Telomere Effect with another world-class researcher named Elissa Epel in which they tell us just how powerful our telomeres are. Today, we’re going to meet our telomeres. But first, a quick pronunciation lesson: I always thought “telomeres” was pronounced “tell-o-meres” but, apparently, it’s pronounced “tee-lo-meres.” Alright. With that out of our way, here’s what we need to know: The length of your telomeres is one of the most important indicators of your overall health and/or lack thereof. Here’s how to think about them. You know those little caps at the end of your shoelaces? Those plastic little guys that keep your laces all neat and tidy? They’re called “aglets.” Once they go, your shoelaces are pretty much done, eh? Well, that’s almost exactly how your telomeres work. Our chromosomes are the shoelaces and our telomeres are the aglets. He
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+1: #330 Hit the Rock
01/03/2018 Duration: 02minIn our last +1, we took a quick look at Warren Buffett’s three-step goal setting process and then chatted about how it fits into our Big 3: Energy + Family + Service. First, pop quiz: Did you do that exercise? If not, all good but… If we want to move from theory to practice and from merely consuming these ideas to actually deeply thinking about and LIVING these ideas, we’ve gotta do the work. The image that comes to mind for me is a stonecutter. Imagine a guy (or gal) banging away at a HUGE rock with a sledgehammer. He pounds and pounds and pounds at that rock with his sledgehammer again and again and again. And absolutely nothing happens. Just a big rock. And a sweaty sledgehammer guy. Then, apparently out of nowhere, on the next strike the rock splits. YAYUH!!! Now, if you happened to be walking by that guy right when he made the swing that cracked open the rock you might think that a) the guy was super strong and/or b) splitting rocks is easy. But… You missed all the tiri
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Conquering Cancer 101 (Intro)
25/02/2018 Duration: 12minReady to conquer anxiety? Our first step is to embrace the fact that it happens and then we’ll quit making it worse as we choose a target (calm confidence!), get our fundies in order, remember to breathe (deeply + properly), turn the serenity key in our brains, do some Olympic-style focus training so we see challenges not threats as we exit our mind and enter the moment. We’ll also look at how to create calm confidence in 5 steps and how to tap into infinite calm confidence. Tame those gremlins and rock it!
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+1: #325 The Psychology of Hope
24/02/2018 Duration: 05minRick Snyder was the founder of research into the science of hope. And, he was one of the pioneers of the positive psychology movement. In fact, he literally wrote the textbook on “Positive Psychology.” He documented just how important hope is to our overall well-being and tells us that there are three primary components to having high hope: Goals + Willpower + Waypower. It all starts with a Goal. Happy people have projects. And, happy, hopeful people have GOALS! They have a future they’re excited about. Then we have what Rick calls “Willpower.” In this context, Rick tells us that Willpower is that spark of determination that says, “We’ve got this!!” It needs to be there in the beginning AND it needs be there after you get knocked down a few times. (Rick’s protege Shane Lopez described this as “Agency” — a sense of personal power that we have what it takes to make our dreams a reality.) Then we have what Rick calls “Waypower.” Waypower is all about mapping out the plans for how you
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+1: #320 You, Buddha and Your Fundies
19/02/2018 Duration: 03minIn No Mud, No Lotus, Thich Nhat Hanh tells us that when he was a young monk he thought the Buddha never suffered. Then, as he matured, he realized that OF COURSE the Buddha suffered. He had a body so he had to at least occasionally get a headache or a stomachache. And, when a friend died, he’d feel sad. He was a human being. Therefore, he experienced pain and suffering. Of course, he was also the enlightened Buddha so he was very good at regaining his equanimity. Which leads to another interesting discussion. If the Buddha was enlightened, Thich Nhat Hanh asks, then why did he still meditate after attaining his enlightenment? Hmmm… Fascinating question, eh? Answer: Because the Buddha’s happiness and equanimity was, like EVERYTHING else in the world, IMPERMANENT. The Buddha needed to tend to his own well-being. Every day. Even after his enlightenment. Now, if the Buddha needed to keep on doing his fundies after he attained his enlightenment, I’m pretty sure that means we
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+1: #315 Expecto Patronum!
14/02/2018 Duration: 06minContinuing our Harry Potter theme, let’s explore how to deal with dementors in your life. Recall that dementors are big, ugly, wraith-like creatures that feed on and suck all the happiness out of you. And, if they’re feeling really feisty, they’ll give you a kiss that sucks your soul right out of you. (Yikes!) Also recall that there’s a special way to deal with these foul creatures. It’s called the Patronus Charm. Here’s how Professor Lupin describes it to Harry in The Prisoner of Azkaban: “The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the dementors can’t hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it.” Harry wonders what the Patronus looks like and Lupin tells him that “each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it.” How do you conjure it? Well,
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+1: #310 The 2nd Arrow
09/02/2018 Duration: 03minIn No Mud, No Lotus, Thich Nhat Hanh tells us that suffering is a part of life. You can’t create a beautiful lotus flower without some stinky mud. As he says, lotuses don’t grow in marble. And… You can’t create a happy, flourishing life without some suffering. That’s just how it is. We need to embrace that reality. In fact, Thay (as he’s known to his students) tells us that a big part of happiness is learning how to “suffer well.” We want to quit making our suffering worse than it needs to be. To bring the point home, the Buddha shared a story about two arrows. The first arrow strikes you and it hurts. But, if a second arrow hits you in the exact same spot, the pain won’t just double, it’ll go up TEN fold. (Ouch!) But, here’s the deal. WE are the ones shooting ourselves with that second arrow. How? By complaining about it, wishing it didn’t happen, moping around, etc. In Self-Compassion, Kristin Neff tells us the same thing in a slightly different way. She tells us that pain is ine
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PNTV: The Art of Connection by Michael Gelb
07/02/2018 Duration: 17minMichael Gelb is one of the world’s leading creativity teachers. He’s also a qi gong and aikido master who wrote one of my favorite books: “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci.” In this book, he teaches us the art of creating connection. Big Ideas we explore include how to optimize our ability to connect (practice with the little moments!), The Pygmalion Effect (aka the self-fulfilling prophecy), the importance of centering for conflict resolution, and how our addiction to digital devices (ADD) is leading to attention deficit disorder (ADD) which is leading to troubles in connecting and what to do about it.
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+1: #305 Spiritual Farts
04/02/2018 Duration: 03minIn our last +1, we explored the analytics of American farting behaviors and compared that to the even more prolific Facebook-liking behaviors. (Laughing.) Today, we’re going to explore the subject of farts a little more. A particular, shall we say, spicy variety of farts. Spiritual farts. Yes, spiritual farts. What are spiritual farts, you ask?
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PNTV: Wired to Create by Carolyn Gregoire and Scott Barry Kaufman
02/02/2018 Duration: 17minThis book started out as a blog post by Carolyn Gregoire based on Scott Barry Kaufman’s work that went viral: 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently. Scott is one of the world’s leading creativity researchers. Carolyn is a senior writer at the Huffington Post. Together, they wrote a great little book on the mysteries of the creative mind. Big Ideas we explore include: the fact that creativity is a messy business (embrace complexity!), the power of walking for daydreaming (all the cool philosophers do it!), creating a nice home for your genius to visit (she’s got the magic!), creating again and again (and again), unitask rather than multitask (unless you want to atrophy the best part of your brain), and STAMP your life with your own personality (but only if you want to be great … and happy!).
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PNTV: The Happiness Track by Emma Seppala
31/01/2018 Duration: 16minEmma Seppälä is the science director of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. She also has a popular blog called Fulfillment Daily. In this great little book, she walks us through the latest scientific research on everything from resilience, willpower and compassion to positive stress, creativity, and mindfulness. Big Ideas we explore include how to find fulfillment (hint: it’s in this moment—right now!), how to skillfully surf stress waves, the most powerful lever to optimize your mind (hint: your breath), how to succeed in failure Jack Ma style, and the science of compassion.
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+1: #300 Play Well the Given Part
31/01/2018 Duration: 04minEpictetus told us that we don’t always get to pick the position we have in life. Our job is to make sure we play that role well. Specifically, he said: “Remember that thou art an actor in a play of such a kind as the teacher (author) may choose; if short, of a short one; if long, of a long one: if he wishes you to act the part of a poor man, see that you act the part naturally; if the part of a lame man, of a magistrate, of a private person, (do the same). For this is your duty, to act well the part that is given to you; but to select the part, belongs to another.” James Stockdale personified this wisdom when he found himself in a prisoner of war camp as the clandestine, commanding officer of what became hundreds of soldiers. He didn’t choose that role. But he did choose to play that given part as well as he possibly could. Viktor Frankl echoed this wisdom. In the midst of his own experience in the horrors of a concentration camp, he chose to play his role well and told us: “The meaning of o
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Abundance 101 (Intro)
28/01/2018 Duration: 08minI created 25 classes before we got to money/wealth/etc. That was deliberate. (Virtue for the win!) And… It was fun to create this class and share my thoughts on how to create true wealth. First idea? We’ve gotta remember that the Ultimate Currency/the reason we do *anything* is to be Happy. Therefore, we want to run our pursuit of material abundance through that lens. Then we talk about how to become psychologically wealthy (billionaires, baby!) (and look at how to Optimize your balance sheet), redefine economics from a spiritual plane and then… We talk about how to make and enjoy some more money. The theme? Wealth thru Profound Service. We talk about investing in the best stock on the market: You, Inc. And, we integrate Cal Newport’s Passion + Craftsman mindsets with what I call a “Servant” mindset for a new hedgehog-like concept plus we look at Ray Dalio’s 5 Steps to Getting What You Want in Life model—which is super powerful, kinda like WOOP by an uber-practical genius. Plus some other goodness I hope you
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PNTV: Head Strong by Dave Asprey
26/01/2018 Duration: 16minDave Asprey is a fascinating guy. He’s a professional bio-hacking machine whose publicly-stated goal is to live to 180. We covered his last book called The Bulletproof Diet and our kitchen’s pantry is filled with a bunch of his Bulletproof products. In this book, he unveils his best bio-hacks for, as the sub-title suggests, “activating untapped brain energy to work smarter and think faster.” Big Ideas we explore: Your brain on energy, kryptonite dust (what’re yours?), mitochondria (one QUADRILLION!), EZ water (how to drop into that spot between a gas and a liquid), and junk light.
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+ 1: #295 Newton's First Law: Fine Print
26/01/2018 Duration: 04minIn our last +1 we talked about Isaac Newton and his First Law of Motion. Recall the basics: An object at rest will stay at rest. An object in motion will stay in motion. Today I’d like to look at the fine print of that Law. Let’s dust it off and read the whole thing again. *unfurls parchment* “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by some outside force.” Oh! We missed the last part in our last +1. “… an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by some outside force.” So, for example, if I start doing some Deep Living (whether that’s Working or Connecting), I’ll keep on doing some Deep Living UNLESS I’m “acted upon by some outside force.” What outside force could possibly act upon me? Hmmm… Maybe a push notification? Or an email alert? Or simply having your smartphone in sight? (Hah.) This is why, if we really want t
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PNTV: The As If Principle by Richard Wiseman
24/01/2018 Duration: 17minWilliam James once said: “If you want a quality, act as if you already have it.” In this book, Richard Wiseman, Britain’s official professor in “the Public Understanding of Psychology” walks us through the astonishing array of research that proves what he calls the “As If Principle.” Big Ideas we explore include an exploration of the fact that feelings follow behavior, how to make yourself happy, the paradox of rewards, and how to create a new you.
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PNTV: Trying Not to Try by Edward Slingerland
18/01/2018 Duration: 13minEdward Slingerland is one of the world’s leading experts on both ancient Chinese thought AND modern cognitive science. This book is a melding of those two realms. It’s a truly fascinating read. I read it in a day and felt like I was spending the day hanging out with a brilliant thinker—getting privileged access to twenty years of deep thinking. If you’re into ancient wisdom and modern science I think you’ll love the book as much as I did. Big Ideas we explore include defining wu-wei + de (one of the coolest words/concepts ever), what Confucius + Lao Tzu + Mencius + Chuang Tzu have to say about wu-wei, and the spontaneity of mirrors.
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+1: #285 How Are You Intelligent?
15/01/2018 Duration: 03minIn our last +1, we had fun hanging out with your Genius. Recall: EVERYONE in ancient Roman times was said to have their own guiding spirit, or “genius” that helped them rock it. That reminds me of Sir Ken Robinson. In The Element, he tells us that our whole concept of “intelligence” is backward. Rather than ask, “How intelligent are you?” we SHOULD be asking “HOW are you intelligent?” We all have our own Geniuses. And… We all have our own different kinds of Intelligence. So… How are you intelligent? As we get clarity on that, Sir Ken tells us that we all have the potential to connect to what he calls “the Element.” It’s that force within us that allows us to live with deeper meaning and mojo and joy. The Element has two parts: Passion + Aptitude. Two questions will help us +1 our clarity: What do you LOVE to do? As in, you’d do this in your free time or even pay to do it? This is your passion. What are you naturally good at? What can you do relatively easily
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PNTV: Breathe by Belisa Vranich
12/01/2018 Duration: 15minBreathing. It’s obviously important. And... I’m beginning to realize *just* how important it is. In fact, breathing properly is quickly becoming my #1 fundamental. Belisa Vranich is a clinical psychologist and one of the world’s leading experts on how to breathe right. In this Note, we take a quick peek at why breathing is so important, learn how to measure your Vital Lung Capacity, observe the difference between Clark Kent and Superman and get to work on training the most important and underappreciated muscle in your body (hint: your diaphragm).