OPTIMIZE with Brian Johnson | More Wisdom in Less Time

Have you ever heard about the Invisible Gorilla?

In the Mastery component of our Optimize Coach program, we recently spent three weeks chatting about Algorithms. In Part 1 we focused on the Big Picture and how important it is to, as I like to say, use our Willpower wisely to install Habits that run on autopilot via Algorithms. 

In our last +1, we hung out with Kobe Bryant and Alan Stein in the gym at 4am. Doing what? HAMMERING our fundamentals, of course.

In our last +1, we chatted about The Comparison Game with Alan Stein. Remember: The odds of us losing that game are (precisely!) 100%. So… Let’s stop playing it. (Heal those soul ulcers, yo!!)

We’re kinda on a roll with the whole envy-squishing theme, so why not one more? In our last +1,  we talked about the fact that if we’re going to compare ourselves to others (please don’t! lol) we might as well do it right—recognizing the fact that EVERYONE experiences ups and downs en route to their particular flavor of awesome.

In our last couple +1s, we talked about the toxicity of envy (soul ulcers!) and a potential antitode (celebratory mudita love!). Today I want to revisit Paul Jarvis’s brain for one more take on how to deal with envy.

In our last +1, we chatted about the fact that ancient lovers of wisdom and modern scientists agree: Envy is toxic. As Socrates so poetically put it: “Envy is the ulcer of the soul.”

In our last couple +1s, we talked about a couple of ways to reframe life’s lemons into a little more Optimizade.

In our last +1, we reflected on the idea that little (and big) oopses provide us with opportunities to appreciate that we’re still alive as we practice gratitude that something much worse didn’t happen. 

The other day I was out on the Trail enjoying a run. Then I kinda tripped and then slipped and then caught myself before falling. Oops.

In our last +1, we talked about some stat-busting luminaries including Stephen Jay Gould and Scott Adams. Today I want to talk about another guy who refused to believe the “impossible” was actually “impossible.”

Not too long ago, Emerson lost his first tooth. As any parent of a missing-tooth child knows, it’s pretty epically cute and awesome. The tooth fairy might have visited and we celebrated the wonderful gap in his mouth.

This morning on the Trail I was thinking about Mister Rogers and his challenges creating (recall our “tortures of the damned”!) along with Dr. Seuss and all his creative challenges.

At this stage, most of us know that JK Rowling was rejected twelve (!) times before she finally found a publisher who believed in her and her wizard Harry Potter. 

Continuing our trip through Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky’s brilliant brains and equally brilliant book Make Time, Today we’re going to have fun with a little history lesson combined with a super-simple way to start chipping away at all those twitchy smartphone touches.