Optimize With Brian Johnson | More Wisdom In Less Time

Once upon a time, no British cyclist had ever won the Tour de France. Over 100 years of trying, and, precisely, zero wins. Then a guy named Sir David Brailsford stepped in and created Team Sky. He said that a British cyclist would win the Tour within five years. People thought he was crazy. Until they won it in two years. Then, for good measure, they won four of the next five races as well.  How’d he do it? Marginal gains. He looked for all the tiny little places where he could Optimize.  Things like making sure the riders uniforms were always washed in the same skin-friendly detergent for a little more comfort.  Things like making sure the riders always slept on the same exact mattresses every night to give them the best shot at a good night of sleep.  Things like making sure the hotel rooms were always properly vacuumed to reduce potential infections. TINY little things. Any one gain wouldn’t do a whole lot, of course. But, as we know, when you aggregate and compound enough of those tiny little incremental

Continuing our theme of sharpening our saw and resting before we get tired, let’s figure out how to avoid burnout.   Tal Ben-Shahar wrote a great book on how to quit being a perfectionist. He tells us that the root cause of fatigue, anxiety, depression and burnout in the corporate world “is not hard work; the problem is insufficient recovery.”   Think about that for a moment.   The problem isn’t that we WORK too hard per se. It’s that we don’t RECOVER enough.   That’s a really powerful distinction.    Which, of course, begs the question: Are YOU recovering enough?   Tal recommends we think about recovery on three levels: Micro + Mid + Macro.   Micro-level recoveries include things like taking a 15-minute break every 60 to 90 minutes.   Mid-level recoveries include things like making sure you have a shut-down complete that helps you get 7-9 hours of sleep every night and that you take at least a day off every week.   Macro-level breaks include taking 2-4 weeks off every year.   Let’s do a

We’re officially on a roll with the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. We’ve covered Habit #1: Be Proactive and Habit #2: Begin with the End in Mind.   Today? Habit #3: Put First Things First.   Here’s the short story: Covey tells us that some things matter and other things don’t. Highly Effective People know the difference and they “Put First Things First.”   As Goethe said: “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.”   Covey shares a handy-dandy four-quadrant model to help us get clarity on what’s really important. He organizes activities by Urgency and Importance. So, something can be Important or not and Urgent or not.    In Quadrant I we have things that are both “Urgent and Important.” These are fire drill-like activities. Unfortunately, way too many activities fall into this category. We need to do a better job of reducing the amount of stuff that shows up here or we’ll be constantly stressed and burned out.   In Quadrant II we have things that are N

When Peyton Manning was released from the Indianapolis Colts after fourteen seasons, a number of teams recruited him. He picked the Denver Broncos.   Now, when he decided to go with the Broncos, he didn’t say to himself, “I hope this works out alright.”   He decided to PROVE HIMSELF RIGHT.   There’s an epically huge difference between those two perspectives.   In one, you kinda-sorta hedge and never really go all in. It’s a good way to protect yourself from the risk of being wrong but it’s also a really good way to be mediocre.   When you make a real decision, you, by definition, cut off all the other options and go ALL IN. Then you’re not interested in hedging. You’re interested in winning. So, you go to work, HUSTLING to make sure you prove yourself right.   Today’s +1.   Quick check in: What’s important to you right now? Like super important. If you could wave a wand and make THIS wildly important thing happen, what would it be?   Got it? You willing to really dream? Fantastic.   Now, are you

Legend has it that when Michelangelo stepped up to a block of marble, he could see the finished statue in his mind’s eye. His job was simple: Get rid of what was in the way. That’s a pretty powerful image. Let’s apply it to our lives. Step back from your current life for a moment. Fast-forward 5-10 years. Look within the block of marble that is you and your potential.  SEE the best version of you sitting within that block of marble. Can you see it? You at your best.  Now… What’s in the way of you expressing that heroic version of you more and more consistently?  What little habits do we need to chip away at to reveal the most beautiful version of you hidden within that marble? And, what’s the one little habit we’re going to let go of today to reveal just a little more of the awesome? Fantastic. Here’s a chisel. Let’s do this!  How? +1. +1. +1. 

William Shakespeare once told us (via Polonius in Hamlet): “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” For some reason, as a 15-year old in high school, I decided THAT would be the very first quote I ever wrote down and committed to memory. I can still vaguely see my handwriting on a little index card in my mind’s eye. I laugh with joy as I think of that awesome younger version of me thinking that was a quote worthy of my attention.  “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” To thine own self be true… Are you? Emerson echoed this wisdom centuries later when he said: “Trust thyself. Every heart vibrates to that iron string!” Trust thyself… Do you? Today’s +1. Let’s live the wise words of our dear friends Will and Ralph just a little more today.

Want this year to be the greatest year of your life? Here's how to go about making that happen. We’ll start with a quick inventory of what’s awesome. And, what needs work. Then we’ll move on to imagine THE (!) best version of you in 10 years and 25+ years (eulogy you!) while reflecting on how to make the prior best version of you your new baseline. Then… It’s all about being that version of you NOW. We’ll revisit the fundies and your Big 3 while creating Masterpiece Days, avoiding the pickles and kryptonite dust, WOOPing everything and playing the game that is our lives as well as we can.

Pierre Hadot was one of the most influential historians of ancient philosophy. In this book, he gives us an incredible look at Marcus Aurelius and his classic Meditations. You can feel Hadot’s incredible intellectual rigor and equally incredible passion for engaged philosophy. It’s inspiring. Big Ideas we explore include spiritual exercises, your inner citadel, your daimōn, amor fate, turning obstacles upside down and carpe areté.

Got problems with your soul? These days, you’d see a psychotherapist. But, back in the day, it was the philosopher who’d help you optimize—they were the preferred physician of the soul. This book is about the philosophical roots of modern psychotherapy. Specifically, it outlines the connection between cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Stoicism. Big Ideas we explore include being a warrior of the mind vs. a librarian of the mind, your highest human purpose, getting on good terms with your inner daimon, practicing the reserve clause and modeling your ideal sage.

This book combines two of my favorite things: Stoicism + Ryan Holiday’s wisdom. Stoicism was one of the most influential philosophy of the Roman world and has continued to influence many of history’s greatest minds. As Ryan says: It’s time to bring it back as a powerful tool “in the pursuit of self-mastery, perseverance, and wisdom.” This is one of the my favorite books ever. Big Ideas we explore: the #1 thing to know about Stoicism, how to create tranquility, a good answer to “What’s the latest and greatest?!,” the 2 essential tasks in life and the art of acquiescence (aka amor fati).

In one of my coaching sessions with Phil Stutz he told me to write something down. (He often does that.

Do you know how caffeine actually works? Most of us think that caffeine gives us energy. But what it actually does is mask our fatigue—making us feel more energized than we actually are. Here’s the quick story on what’s going on behind the scenes. One of the by-products of being awake and having your neurons fire is a neurotransmitter called adenosine. As adenosine accumulates in your brain, you get tired—cueing you to go to sleep to recover. Caffeine is structurally very similar to adenosine. So similar, in fact, that it can actually sneak into those little adenosine receptors and block the adenosine from doing its job of letting us know we’re tired. And voila! You feel energized. Obviously, that’s pretty cool. (Hah.) Today’s +1: Two things we want to consider as we optimize our caffeine intake. 1. We want to know that when we use caffeine we’re “borrowing” energy. Therefore, we’d be wise to use caffeine strategically rather than habitually. If we need caffeine to get going in the morning, what we

Darren Hardy is the publisher of SUCCESS magazine. His message is clear: We are living in the era of greatest opportunity in human history. There’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur. NOW IS THE TIME to hop on the entrepreneur roller coaster. Big Ideas we explore include the importance of getting super freaky, practicing getting up after getting knocked down, setting the pace as an effective leader and remember it’s the fear of fear we fear.

In our last couple +1s, we’ve been hanging out in an fMRI scanning our brains and seeing some fascinating stuff. Let’s stay in there for one more study on how your brain lights up in different ways depending on the food you eat. First, a little background: David Ludwig is a professor and researcher at both Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. He has both an M.D. and a Ph.D. and is one of the world’s leading researchers on the science of optimal nutrition. He’s overseen dozens of diet studies and authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles. In his great book Always Hungry?, he tells us about some powerful research. Get this: You can bring people into a lab and have them drink a milkshake that’s identical in every way but one. One shake has “fast-acting” carbs and the other has “slow-acting” carbs. You have the people in the study drink their shakes and then, a few hours later, you scan their brains. Guess what. Well, before we even get into that fMRI machine, we see that the individu

This is a quick-reading, smart, practical guide on how to, as the sub-title suggests, “Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done. My kind of book. I *highly* recommend it. Big Ideas we explore include rats + rewards (real vs. random), progress hacks to conquer the progress paradox, saying “YES!!!” en route to saying “No” plus the physics of emails and 21st century superpowers.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is one of the world’s leading researchers studying the science of well-being. He co-founded the Positive Psychology movement with Martin Seligman and has written landmark books on Creativity and Flow. After surveying thousands of people, Mihaly was able to shine some light on that elusive state in which we’re at our best. In fact, he’s the one who coined the word “Flow.” Here’s the basic idea: Imagine drawing two lines. On the x axis we have our Skill level. On the y axis we have our Challenge level. If the Challenge is high but your Skill is low, what will you experience? ANXIETY. On the other hand, if your Skill is high, but the Challenge is low, what will you experience? BOREDOM. Now, what if your Skill level matches the Challenge? Enter: FLOW. So, Today’s +1: A quick inventory. Are you feeling Bored? Increase the level of Challenge. (For example, if you’re doing a mundane, repetitive task, see how flawlessly you can do it or how quickly or both!) Feeling Anxious? Decrease