OPTIMIZE with Brian Johnson | More Wisdom in Less Time

Continuing (and concluding) our trip through Steve Chandler’s wise brain (and great book, Reinventing Yourself), let’s talk about campfires. Campfires? Yep. Campfires.

Arianna Huffington (CEO of Thrive and co-founder + editor in chief of The Huffington Post) went from being a sleep-deprived executive to a sleep evangelist after passing out and banging her head following years of a grueling work!

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that YES lives in the land of NO. We drew two circles. A big one (for the Land of No) and then a small one within that big one (for the Land of Yes).

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.) Today we’re going to talk about one of the things Victims dread the most.

In Steve Chandler’s great little book called Reinventing Yourself he makes a distinction between being an “Owner” vs. a “Victim.” (It’s very much like our whole “Victim vs. Creator” paradigm.) One of the things he points out is that the LANGUAGE of an Owner is very different from the language of a Victim.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote Self-Reliance in 1841. (For curious souls, he was 38 at the time.) Among many other notable and quotable passages from that must-read essay, he tells the story of a “sot” being picked up off the street and treated like a prince.

As you know if you’ve been following along, I’m a bit obsessed with Aristotle’s idea that the whole point of life, the ultimate target, the SUMMUM BONUM (the highest good!!) is to have a “good soul”—to be a eudaimōn.

Emerson and I recently enjoyed some Greek mythology via the D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths. It was fun to spend some time hanging out with Zeus (the God not our dog—lol), Hercules, and some of the other epic gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters.

In our last +1, we talked about planting our most important seeds in the spots that get the most sun. (Quick check in: Are YOUR most important goal-seeds getting the best energy from you on a consistent basis?!)