Optimize With Brian Johnson | More Wisdom In Less Time

Gay and Katie Hendricks are among the world's top relationship experts. In this Note we'll check out some Big Ideas on how to get our Love on—including the importance of appreciation and the need to create at least a 5:1 ratio of positive interactions to negative interactions if we want to have great relationships. (Did you know that when you appreciate people their value appreciates?! Yepperz!) Plus we'll look at the importance of re-committing and the acid test of healthy relationships.

You can dramatically improve the overall quality of your life far faster than you might think possible. All you need is the desire to change, the decision to take action, the discipline to practice the new behaviors you have chosen, and the determination to persist until you get the results you want.

This is Dan Millman's magnum opus where he walks us through "The Twelve Gateways to Personal Growth" and in the Note we check out Big Ideas ranging from the importance of discovering our self-worth (and how to do so) to the fact that, although "Carpe diem!" sounds good, it's impossible to do. We can’t "Seize the day!" but we *can* "Seize the moment!" or , as Dan says: "Carpe punctum!"

Dan Millman (author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior and other great books) introduced me to this book as he's been deeply influenced by David Reynolds' integration of Zen Buddhism and Western Psychotherapy. In this Note, we'll explore some Big Ideas on how to live with greater self-mastery by more effectively relating to our emotions and consistently asking ourselves: "Now what needs to be done?!"

Gay Hendricks is a close friend and mentor of mine who encourages us to create a life of our own design as we enjoy the magic that unfolds when we truly commit to living an extraordinary life. In this Note, we'll explore Ideas on how to get our conscious living on including letting go of the past and the importance of having *both* goals AND moment to moment flow.

Dan Milllman's a former world champion gymnast and coach of the Stanford and Berkeley gymnastic teams whose got some Big Ideas on how to achieve Body, Mind and Spirit mastery. In this Note we explore a bunch of 'em including how to deal with the fear of failure, what we can learn from babies and how to build new habits as we become masters of our lives who shine everywhere!

Zen Master Genpo Roshi spent decades figuring out how to best help people develop enlightened awareness and came up with his revolutionary process called "Big Mind." In this Note, we'll take a peek at some Big Ideas from the Zen Master including how the root of suffering (dukkha) is getting stuck in one perspective and how that's about as effective as having a Maserati stuck in first gear. We'll also explore the place beyond idiot compassion as we become integrated human beings giving ourselves joyfully to the world.

This is pretty much the Bible on the Law of Attraction and in this Note we'll take a look at how Esther and Jerry define The Law of Attraction (they say it's kinda like tuning your radio to the right station so you can hear the music you love!), how to use your Emotional Fuel Gauge (that's one of my favorite Ideas ever) and how to create intentions throughout your day to put yourself in the driver's seat of life.

Oprah and Tolle rocked the wisdom from this great book in their special program and in the Note we'll explore Big Ideas ranging from how your pain body and shadow projections are getting in the way of your happiness to the secret of the art of living as we create the consciousness in ourselves that will help create a new heaven on earth. (We also have a Note on Tolle’s "Power of Now" so you'll be sure to get your ET on!)

Krishnamurti was the spiritual bomb (technical description, of course J) in the 20th century. A no-nonsense, find-your-own-path kinda guy, his books are packed with wisdom. In this Note, we'll look at some of his Biggest Ideas—including the importance of dealing with problems quickly before the roots get strong, how reading about these Ideas but not *living* them is like a pretty flower with no scent and a lot of other great stuff.

This book is like a greatest hits collection of Castaneda's best passages. In the Note we'll look at the need to transcend our conditioning as we develop our personal power, the importance of choosing a path with heart (aka following your bliss), using death as an advisor and living with impeccability as we achieve no stress success.

This book is one of the most densely packed with goodness books out there and in the Note we're going to explore the different brain waves and the fact that stress causes faster brain waves than relaxation along with how and why we want to drop into "alpha" as often as possible. Plus, we'll look at how to turn fear into excitement (really cool Idea!), the seven hermetic laws and the five rules for happiness.

Wallace D. Wattles. Funny name and funny looking dood but lots of great wisdom. In this Note, we'll have fun looking at how to get our greatness on. Big Ideas include the fact that we've gotta move beyond our fears, obey our souls (always), be patient, pay attention to our habitual thoughts and, perhaps most importantly, if we want to be great we've gotta SERVE greatly.

How's your Supermind? Find out what Vernon's talking about and how to turn up your Supermind's power with this wisdom-packed Note. We'll explore everything from psychic spankings (codeword for suffering) to causes and effects and we'll see how detecting negativity is actually a very positive thing.

Ah, The Power of Myth. This book is based on the amazing PBS interview series Bill Moyers did with Campbell shortly before he passed away and captures some of the 24 hours of filmed wisdom that hit the cutting floor. We'll learn how Campbell came up with the admonition to "follow your bliss!" (hint: it's from the Upanishads), the importance of loving our fate, how we're helped by hidden hands when we really commit to our paths and so much more.

Did you know the word decide comes from two little Latin words that literally mean "to cut off"?! Yep. To make a decision means to cut off other options and commit to one and this old school New Thought classic helps us get our power of decision crankin'. In the Note, we'll explore some Big Ideas including lowering our guilt load, watching our moods and planting good thought seeds.

Walter Russell was a 20th century genius, a renaissance man who excelled in the sciences, arts, sports and life in general. He was also a deeply spiritual guy and this book captures his wisdom on the art of living well. We'll look at the importance of connecting to the Universal Self, focusing our intention, and trusting the Divine Intelligence that's guiding our actions as we give our gifts in greatest service to the world.

We've gotta think big if we want to live big, eh? From learning to kick the dreaded "excusitis" disease to developing our "stickability," this classic is packed with fun, super practical wisdom. In the Note we'll also explore the facts that action cures fear (!!!), we've gotta make a compromise with perfection and to think confidently we’ve gotta act confidently. And, of course, we've gotta think big.

Ah, The Fountainhead. It's always fun to distill a 752-page magnum opus into a 6-page PDF and 20-minute MP3. Ayn Rand is intense and this book is packed with Big Ideas. We'll explore a few of my favorites, including our responsibility to own our greatness, not live as a second-hander (someone who is over-concerned about other people’s opinion of them), love what we do and know what we want.

Ervin Seale is an old-school New Thought guy with a great, simple style and super practical wisdom. In this Note, we'll have fun seeing how our minds are like crazy, drunk, swinging monkeys (and how we can tame them!) and explore a bunch of other Big Ideas—including the importance of ignoring what others think of us and seeing the Divine within ourselves (and others).