Core Wisdom

In his great book Happier, Tal Ben-Shahar tells us that we have all the wisdom we will ever need—as evidenced by individuals who undergo a traumatic life experience and then radically transform their lives.

In Greatest Year Ever 2019, we kicked the party off by reminding ourselves of the ultimate game we’re playing—leaning into Aristotle’s wisdom (yet again!) that the summum bonum of life (the highest good!) is to experience the joy of flourishing by having a great relationship with our inner soul.

Are you familiar with the physics of dominoes?

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that the word character comes from the Greek word for “chisel.”

Speaking of perfectionism, let’s look at the essence of Tal Ben-Shahar’s great book The Pursuit of Perfect.

Before we bid farewell to George Leonard, how about ONE more little idea from the Aikido (and life) master?

In our last +1, we talked about the idea that the siren you might hear today wails for YOU. Then I suggested you actually IMAGINE yourself being put on that gurney at the end of your life.

In our last +1, we talked about the importance of Virtue Management vis-a-vis Energy Management and Time Management.

The other day we chatted about my recent staycation with my Stoic friends.

In Getting Grit, Caroline Adams Miller walks us through the science of grit and then helps us apply it to our lives.

As you may have noticed (ahem and hah!), I’m super fired up about the launch of our 2020 Mastery Series and Heroic Coach certification programs.

Steven Kotler wrote a great book called The Rise of Superman. In it, he challenges some myths of mastery—telling us that it’s not so much about having the right DNA or the willpower to delay gratification for 10,000 hours.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been having fun hanging out with some Stoics—some modern guys and some ancient ones.

Emily Fletcher was a Broadway performer living the dream.

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that the law does not concern itself with trifles and we busted out some old-school Latin and applied it to our lives.

In our last +11 (that got long didn’t it?!), we talked about my love of the word forge and I invited you to join our Heroic Soul Force Forge.

As we discussed in Greatest Year Ever 2019, one of my core themes for this year is to operationalize virtue—to help us (really!) move from theory to practice. More virtue and less chit chat style. 🤓

Abraham Maslow studied the greatest people of his generation. People like Eleanor Roosevelt and Albert Einstein.

In our last +1 we met our Angel’s Advocate via Michael Gelb’s great book How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci.

In our last +1, we talked about Abraham Maslow’s wisdom and the ancient etymology of the word clamor in the context of your capacities clamoring to be used (aka you doing what you’re here to do!).

Jack Nicklaus once said that the real key to being a great golfer was “playing badly well.”

To the extent that there’s a gap between who you’re capable of being in any given moment and who are actually being in that moment, you will experience a level of discontent. Regret. Anxiety. Depression.

In our last +1, we talked about Martin Seligman and the science of flourishing.

Dan Siegel is one of the world’s leading mindfulness / neuroscience / interpersonal neurobiology experts.

Have you ever heard of “activation energy”?

Imagine your ideal self.

We’re hitting another exciting milestone in our +1 series today: #200.

Phil Stutz and Barry Michels wrote a great book called The Tools. There are five Tools in the book and we may chat about others later but I want to focus on the first for now.

Speaking of heroes and the reverse indicators we can expect to see on our heroic, dragon-slaying quest(s), do you know what the word “hero” actually means?

David Emerald wrote a great book called The Power of TED*.

In his great book Antifragile, Nassim Taleb walks us through the fact that there’s a big difference between being fragile, being resilient, and being ANTIfragile.

In our last +1, we talked about Seneca’s take on flexibility.

While we’re chatting about the science of hope, let’s focus on a key leadership stat.

In our last +1, we talked about Stephen Covey’s Habit #1: Be Proactive. How? Be response-able. Step into the gap between stimulus and response and choose the optimal response.

In our last +1, I casually mentioned the fact that our heroic reframing of challenges is something we will work on forever.

Continuing our theme of how to become Antifragile Heroes, let’s look at another way to rock it.

Joseph Campbell once said that we can’t have a resurrection without a crucifixion.

In our last +1 we had fun with our new mantra: “No pressure, no diamonds.”

Let’s talk some more about how to become Antifragile.

Once upon a time (1938 to be precise) there was a pistol shooter. He was incredibly good. Hoped to be the very best, in fact.

In our last few +1s, we’ve been chatting about reaching the Peak of our potential.

In our last +1, we spent some time hanging out with my friend Katherine Collins who is, I am quite sure, the only human on the planet who has run a multi-billion dollar mutual fund AND gone to Harvard Divinity School.

Georges St-Pierre is one of the greatest mixed martial artists in the world. Ever.

Although I’m not a huge fan of some of the drawbacks of animal testing, this study is astonishing and worth knowing about.

In our last +1, we talked about paying the price to achieve our wildly important goals—whatever they may be. I shared a partial accounting of the price I’ll be paying to have a shot at one of my big goals and we checked in on YOUR accounting. (How’d that go for you? 🤓)

Vice Admiral James Stockdale was shot down during the Vietnam War. He spent seven and a half years in a brutal prison camp. He spent four of those years in solitary confinement and two years in leg irons. He was tortured fifteen times.

True confidence doesn’t come from thinking everything will always go perfectly.

In our last +1, we talked about inviting the Conquering Hero to your mind-wandering party and escorting out the Suffering (Whiney) Martyr.

In our last +1 we had fun exploring the ancient wisdom that led Joseph Campbell to tell us: “Follow your bliss!”

Continuing our heroic theme, let’s talk a little more about how to build antifragile, heroic confidence.

In our last +1, we had fun applying Rumi’s wisdom that God turns us from one feeling to another so we have two wings to fly and not one.

One of our very first +1s was on a brilliant line from Steven Kotler. At the end of our interview about his great book The Rise of Superman, I asked him what one piece of wisdom he’d share with someone passionate about (and committed to!) Optimizing their lives so they could actualize their potential.

A little while back, we talked about the keynote talk I was getting ready to present (as part of the Pritzker Group Venture Capital’s annual event for the 60+ portfolio CEOs). Today I’d like to give a quick update on how it went and then talk about how I dealt with my nerves leading up to it—with an emphasis on a little distinction I made about how to apply the “Bring it on!” and “I’m excited!” tools.

Idiosyncratic.

Imagine yourself as the Director of a movie.

Ultimately, what we want to get *really* (!!!) good at alchemizing any and all challenges into fuel for the bonfire that is our passionate commitment to living a heroic life in service to something bigger than ourselves.

In our last +1, we talked about you feasting on your Hero Bars—using memories of your past success as fuel to walk through fear doors today.

Our last +1 was about a modern-day warrior, Georges St-Pierre.

In our last +1 we chatted about the fact that, as Campbell tells us, when we go for bliss on our hero’s journey we need to remember that there’s always the chance for a fiasco. (Hah!)

In our last +1 we had fun cultivating a strong Self-Image via “That’s like me!” imprints.

At this point, most of us know that Roger Bannister was the first person to break the 4-minute mile. Very smart people of his era said that it was impossible. Period. End of story. He, of course, wasn’t so sure.

We’ve talked a lot about how important it is to get out of our comfort zones.

Deo volente.

Osho had a great line.

So, we have the ONE thing you’re going after in your epically awesome heroic quest. (Right? You identify that dream with a ton of pull power?)

Angela Duckworth created the science of Grit. It’s fascinating. She defines it as intense passion + intense perseverance. In short, you’re REALLY fired up about something and you’re willing to show up every day for however long it takes to make your dream a reality.

Yesterday we talked about our motivation equation. You know: Motivation = Value x Expectancy / Impulsivity x Delay

David Reynolds wrote what might be the best book you (and most other people) have never heard of.

Jason Selk is one of the world’s leading mental toughness coaches. He tells us that the best among us have a “relentless solution focus.”Note: RELENTLESS solution focus.

So, let’s say you’ve decided to embark on a heroic quest. It’s time for you to leave the normal, routine life and really go for it—stretching yourself to dare greatly and do what you’re here to do.

In our last +1, we talked about Professor Harari’s two world maps—one before The Scientific Revolution that was all filled in (including areas they knew NOTHING about) and one after that had plenty of empty spaces (accounting for all they things they didn’t know).

As we’ve discussed, years ago I did 1-on-1 coaching with one of my favorite authors, Steve Chandler. It was awesome.

Whether you’re an athlete, entrepreneur, teacher, parent, manager, or — fill in the blank here —, what percentage of your game do you think is mental?

Returning to our Hero’s journey theme, imagine yourself at the start of an epic journey. You’re looking out across a canyon. You can see a shimmering oasis on the other side of the canyon. It’s epic. Super bright and shiny and awesome. And it’s yours. You know it. You can feel it.

Continuing our theme of spending time with some of the best productivity thinkers on the planet, let’s cruise on over to Harvard Business School and spend some time with its head of research, Teresa Amabile.

In our last +1, we met our telomeres and learned how important they are in protecting our chromosomes so they can do their job and keep us nice and healthy. (Recall that they’re kinda like the end caps on our shoelaces and the offensive linemen that protect our quarterbacks!)

Gabriele Oettingen is a world-class researcher who has spent her career studying the science of making your dreams come to life.

In our last +1, we took a quick trip to hell in which (in the last moment of your life!) we met the version of you that you COULD have been.

In our last couple +1s we talked about taking the decade-long view of our lives. Then we chatted about how to create great days consistently.

Continuing our theme of feelings following behavior, let’s chat about some wisdom from the author of Resilience.

In our last +1, we talked about the PM ritual Pythagoras came up with 2,500 years ago (!) that the Stoics liked to follow:

In our last +1, we talked about Martin Seligman’s ideas on the science of having a Job vs. a Career vs. a Calling. I proposed we aim to have ALL THREE such that our work involves us using our signature strengths in greatest service to the world WHILE getting paid well AND having fun mastering our chosen domain.

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that we need to train our recovery the same way we train our Deep Work. We want to create nice, rhythmic waves in our lives and prioritize rest. One great way to do that? Deep Play.

In our last +1, we talked about living your eulogy virtues TODAY. We don’t want to think of our eulogy virtues as some abstract notion of the ideal you, but as a moment to moment compass that points you in the direction of the most exemplary, noble version of yourself.

Last night as I was falling asleep, I was reflecting on the wonderful time I spent with a dear friend who came up to Ojai for a hike to chat about his next hero’s journey.

Legend has it that when Michelangelo stepped up to a block of marble, he could see the finished statue in his mind’s eye.

In our last +1, we talked about Matthew Kelly’s encouragement to slow down, step back, and take the decade view on our lives.

Carpe Diem!!

The other day, Phil and I were celebrating some Heroic goodness including exciting opportunities on the Social side of things (!) and the fact that over 400 Coaches signed up in the first week (yay!).

In our last +1 we talked about the three reasons why we err: necessary fallibility (we’re not omniscient and some things are outside of our human capacity; therefore, we err), ignorance (we may not know what to do; therefore, we err), and ineptitude (we know what to do but we don’t do it; therefore we err).

Continuing our good times with our Stoic friends, how about couple more gems from Seneca and Aurelius?

In our last +1, we talked about an exercise to get a little more clarity on the trade-offs you might be making in regard to your top priorities and your tech usage.

In our last +1, we celebrated our prior Declarations of Independence (and successful Revolutionary Wars) and we made a new Declaration of Independence from a current bad habit that’s tyrannizing us.

In our last +1, we got some great marriage advice from the Roman Socrates, Musonius Rufus.

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that we can’t seize the day per se—we can only seize the moment.

Here’s another way to create a Masterpiece Day filled with you at your best.

Once upon a time (1897 to be precise), an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto was studying wealth and income distribution in England. He discovered that a small percentage of individuals owned the majority of land and wealth.

In The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy makes the important point that we have more control over the very beginnings of our day and the very ends of our days than we do over the middle of the days.

In our last couple +1s, we retraced my steps through the Heroic Stoic library of wisdom—going from Musonius Rufus’s Lectures and Sayings to Massimo Pigliucci imaginary dialogues with Epictetus’s in How to Be a Stoic.

In our last +1, we spent some time with our snow globe and, if we’re practicing our shared philosophy, we DIDN’T shake it in the hour before we went to bed last night. (Aka, we honored a Digital Sunset by shutting down all electronics at least an hour before bed.)

A couple +1s ago we had some fun with Nietzsche. We left his company all too quickly. Today we’ll take a quick look at another one of my all-time favorite aphorisms.

Let’s revisit Cal Newport’s Deep Work for another genius idea.

In our last +1, we talked about the importance of making the connection between your two ADDs: your addiction to digital devices and your attention deficit disorder.

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that Suffering = Pain x Resistance.

We know it’s important to take good breaks. We want to work for a certain period of time (NASA says no more than 90 minutes or so) and then take a break. Repeat. Making waves as we oscillate from being on to being off.

First: Welcome to our 100th +1. It’s a special milestone. Kinda excited about it. 😃

In our last +1, we talked about our inaugural Heroic Coach program (there’s still a little more time to sign up and join hundreds of other passionate Heroes in making this the greatest year of our lives while helping others in our lives do the same, btw).

Alison Wood Brooks is a researcher at Harvard Business School. She studies the most effective strategy for dealing with acute stress.

Grant Cardone wrote a great book called The 10X Rule.

Ken Wilber tells us there’s a big difference between what he calls “states” and “traits.”

In our last +1, we talked about the two facets of Emotional Stamina.

In our last +1, we talked about LeBron James and the fact that he tries to get 11 to 12 hours of sleep per day when he’s training. (So does Roger Federer. And, Tom Brady is in bed at 8:30. 😴)

Today we hit another special milestone. 451.

A couple +1s ago, we talked about the power of buoyancy and the optimal ratio of positive to negative.

Creative and reactive.

Let’s chat about something called “Dust.” It’s a secret tool I recently learned from Phil Stutz.

Piers Steel is a leading research scientist. After analyzing hundreds of studies on motivation, he came up with a little equation to capture the essence of motivation. It’s a little abstract on first blush but worth internalizing and using as one of our tools. I recommend keeping this ready at hand and using it often to see where your motivation may be waning and how to keep it strong.

Deep Work.

The creator of Dilbert wrote a great book called How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.

Multitasking is a myth.

The very first thing Phil Stutz taught me in our very first session together was the fact that Speed Is a Force.

In our last +1, we talked about the research on the fact that The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking.

As we’ve discussed many times, one of my absolute favorite things to do in life is curl up in bed next to Emerson and read together. It’s an essential part of our PM Bookend and one we miss only on rare occasions.

You know those times when you need to initiate a tough conversation and you’re kinda sorta dreading it and avoiding it?

Here’s another really powerful tool from The Tools guys, Phil Stutz and Barry Michels.

As you might have noticed, it’s easy to stress ourselves out as we strive to step up to our heroic potential.

In the last couple +1s we talked about the power of Gratitude and Grateful Flow.

In our last +1, I made the case for why the virtue of encouragement should be elevated to its proper status in the pantheon of how to best express our love for people in our lives.

Martin Seligman is basically the Godfather of the Positive Psychology movement. He’s written a number of seminal books on the science of well-being.

As we’ve discussed, I absolutely love Love 2.0 by Barbara Fredrickson.

In our last +1, we talked about Love. Specifically, we talked about Love 0.0. Love 1.0. Love 2.0. And, Love 3.0.

In Self-Image 101, we talked about how to create the most heroically awesome version of yourself by integrating the “Optimus” you and the “en*theos” you into the “Hērōs” you.

At the end of my recent talk I keep on talking about 😉, one of the CEOs came up and asked me how to apply the wisdom I shared to his parenting. He had a 5-year-old like me.

In our last +1 we chatted about the difference between FALLING in love and STANDING in love.

As we discussed not too long ago, I recently had an epic party with some Stoics.

We’ve all heard of the Golden Rule.

As we’ve discussed, Michelle Segar is one of the world’s leading researchers studying the science of how to Optimize our health behaviors.

In our last +1, we talked about the importance of identifying and installing your #1 self-care habit.

In our last +1, we talked about you and your donkey and the fact that you can’t please everyone all the time.

While we’re on a roll with the 4 Disciplines of Execution, let’s circle back and talk a bit more about the Lead vs. Lag Measures.

Ray Dalio is one of the most successful people alive. Time magazine says he’s one of the 100 most influential people on the planet while Fortune magazine says his company (Bridgewater Associates) is the fifth most important private company in the U.S. and Forbes tells us he’s one of the 100 wealthiest people alive.

I don’t know about you, but I’m still kind of attached to the idea that I should never make a mistake.

In our last +1, we talked about my Yoda schooling me on how to apply dark energy to my life by aligning with that Force that’s driving the expansion of the Universe at a mind-exploding velocity.

In our last +1, we talked about zero-based thinking and reflected on the powerful question of asking ourselves whether, knowing what we now know, we’d have started doing some of the things we’re doing.

In our last +1, we talked about doing what you say you will do.

Have you ever made a mistake?

In our last +1, we entered our World Champion You Training Camp.

Do you know what the Tibetan word for “guilty” is?

James Clear wrote a great book called Atomic Habits. One of the things I most love about it is the fact that he quantified our +1 game for us. 🤓

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that the world needs DEMONSTRATION more than it needs instruction. We also talked about cleaning up some 💩. (Hah. And d’oh.)

If you’re feeling a little less than motivated and tempted to procrastinate on stuff, you might find this distinction helpful.

As we’ve discussed, Ray Dalio is one of the most influential (and wealthiest) people on the planet. In his great book Principles, he walks us through HOW he created his success and wealth.

Continuing our theme of powerfully facing our challenges, let’s talk about THE most powerful way science says we can rock it.

So, we’re ready to go ALL IN and make that 100% commitment with super bright lines.

Anders Ericsson is the world’s leading authority on the science of what makes great performers great. If you’ve ever heard of the “10,000-hour rule” you have him to thank. (In a future +1 we’ll talk about the fact that the 10,000 hours idea is a little more nuanced than we’ve been led to believe.)

Jim Rohn tells us that our success in life is all about the two easies. It’s all about consistently doing the tiny (!) fundamentals that are simultaneously super easy to do and super easy not to do.

After selling my first business over fifteen years ago, I had enough money to spend some time figuring out what I wanted to do when I grew up.

Stephen Guise wrote a great little book called How to Be an Imperfectionist. As a still-recovering perfectionist, I found it very useful.

Let’s say you’re building a new habit a la the Quick How to on Habits +1.

In our last couple +1s, we talked about the power of tiny little daily 1% Optimizations compounded over an extended period of time. (Let’s all take a moment and wave to our quadrillion angels. 😇)

Alan Cohen tells us to quit being a hardaholic—making everything harder than it needs to be.

One of my favorite gems from the Buddha is this wisdom: “Little by little one becomes evil, as a water pot is filled with water. Little by little one becomes good, as a water pot is filled with water.”

In our last +1, we talked about the power of recommitting. You make a big commitment, then you fall a little off track. No big deal, REcommit and continue on.

In Coming Alive, Barry Michels and Phil Stutz say that if we want to tap into the Life Force that will empower us to reach our infinite potential, we’ve gotta focus on the small things.

In our last number of +1s, we’ve been having fun swimming in and out of the Atomic Habits pool. Most recently, we had fun measuring Michael Phelps’ inseam and noticing the fact that it PERFECTLY matched the domain he chose to dominate. (Does YOUR soul-inseam fit your life?)

Continuing our quick tour through James Clear’s Atomic Habits, let’s talk about the importance of your Identity in forming better habits (and breaking the bad ones). (Soon we’ll get into the nuts and bolts of his 4 Laws of Behavior Change.)

In our last +1, we talked about the renowned Vipassana meditation teacher S.N. Goenka and his mantra: “Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently. Patiently and persistently. And you’re bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.”

In our last +1, we talked about the few key behaviors that are most helping us Optimize 80/20-style.

I dropped out of law school before a semester was over but I do remember one Big Idea from Contracts class.

So, as per our last +1, bright lines are super helpful in making deals with ourselves.

Adam Alter wrote a great book called Irresistible in which he walks us through how we become addicted to technology and tells us about the businesses built on hacking our brains to capture our attention and create those addictions. It’s a powerful read and goes nicely with the must-see 60 Minutes special on Brain Hacking.

In our last +1, we talked about some crazy stats re: smartphone usage from David and Austin Perlmutter’s new book called Brain Wash.

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that you’re ALREADY solid gold. Like, 100% jumbo-solid gold.

So, we’ve been pretty intense lately with all this “Champion” talk. Before we go any further, I want to make one thing REALLY clear.

In our last +1, we talked about Phil Stutz’s idea on Unilaterality.

As we go ALL IN on optimizing our lives, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

In our last +1, we talked about mastering Ownish and noticing when we slip into Victimese. (We also talked about going all in and mastering the dialect of Extreme Ownish—which, I’m told, is where it’s REALLY at. 🤓)

William James is considered the father of modern psychology. He once said: “If you want a quality, act as if you already have it.”

Continuing our Antifragile theme, let’s talk about another way Nassim Taleb tells us to approach things if we want to avoid being fragile. He’s using this example in the context of investing but I love to apply it to EVERYTHING.

In our last couple +1s, we’ve had fun chatting about a few of Phil Stutz’s Tools found in the Laws of Action aisle of our ever-expanding inventory of Tools we want to have ready at hand in our Optimizing Toolshed.

Gratitude is a very powerful thing. Shockingly so.

Charisma.

In our last +1, we talked about the power of self-mastery. We took a quick look at Nietzsche’s admonition that one who cannot command should obey.

As you probably know by this point, I’m a big fan of Stoicism in general and of my favorite living Stoic philosopher Ryan Holiday in particular.

Albert Bandura is one of the most respected psychologists in the world. He studies the science of self-efficacy. Also known as: The science of confidence.

Get this: Scientists can bring people into a lab and have them hold a pen in their mouths in one of two different ways to elicit two very different outcomes.

In our last +1, we talked about getting really good at recovering from our inevitable glitches.

In our last +1, we talked about how to be like Mike sans the sugar-laden Gatorade. 🤓

Viktor Frankl was a remarkable human being.

Related to our magical doubling penny and its demonstration of the power of compounding growth, we have clock time vs. horticultural time.

You’ve probably heard the whole “magic of compounding interest as told through the doubling penny” story.

One more +1 on the fundamentals theme to finish our trifecta following Greatness = Consistency on the Fundamentals and Coach Wooden teaching us How to Put on Our Life-Socks.

Penguin Random House recently sent me an advanced copy of a book called An Audience of One. It’s great. Check out the Notes on it. Thank you, Penguin Random House!

Robin Sharma tells us that greatness is all about consistency on the fundamentals.

John Wooden’s UCLA basketball teams won 10 NCAA championships in 12 years, including an 88-game winning streak. (Go Bruins!)

What do you say to yourself when things don’t go as planned?

Stephen Covey‘s seventh habit of Highly Effective People is “Sharpen the Saw.”

Today we have a Heroic +11. (Hah.)

Not too long ago, we talked about the four cardinal virtues of ancient Stoicism then connected those virtues to the six core virtues of the modern positive psychology movement THEN distilled all those virtues into the four cardinal virtues of Heroic.

In Energy 101, we talked about a lot of ways to give our souls the energy they need to help us live our greatest lives. Eating. Moving. Sleeping. Breathing. Meditating. Stuff like that.

Josh Waitzkin is a fascinating guy. You know that movie Searching for Bobby Fisher featuring a little chess prodigy kid?