The Bryant Chambers Movement

Before we post all the notes from the show, here are all the links Bryant promised would be in the show notes. 

Good Life Playbook Coaching Program - learn.bryantchambers.com
Understanding Your Destiny - destiny.bryantchambers.com
Change Your Life - 30days.bryantchambers.com

Show notes follow:

PAGE 0 - Henry Miller Quote - Open with this. 

Elaborate on the idea of stifling creativity to "live" the way others consider "living"

PAGE XI - Dark Night of the Soul

I find that the videos and podcasts I make best serve people who are vividly aware they are either at or just beyond their all is lost moment. 

I don't really make things for people who are satisfied with their lives. Happy? Sure. But never satisfied. There is always more we can do; more and better we can become. If you don't believe this, I will guess you probably only casually consume what I make. 

But if you are one of my 2% of people who get it. You probably listen to this podcast and watch my videos like a madwoman or man. I know I have my creators that I do this with. Because I will forever be unsatisfied. 

And anytime I feel like I'm getting close to satisfaction I will sabotage it with a much bigger and harder-to-achieve goal. Right now, I'm working on reaching 100M people. So I should be good for a while. 

PAGE 3 - 5 - THE HERO'S JOURNEY

Use the book & reading excerpts to break this down. 

PAGE 12 - A GIFT FOR THE PEOPLE

Read the page and discuss freestyle

PAGE 16 - HOW SUBJECT ARISES

Read the page and breakdown. 

PAGE 25 - AN ARTIST HAS A STYLE

Read the page. Freestyle.

PAGE 32 - WHAT IS THE ARTIST'S JOURNEY

Read the highlights. Freestyle. 

PAGE 37 - THE ARTIST'S JOURNEY IS SOLITARY

Read the page. Freestyle. 

PAGE 41 - THE ARTIST'S JOURNEY IS SELF-DISCOVERY

Read the page. Freestyle. 

PAGE 43 - THE ARTIST'S JOURNEY IS DANGEROUS

Read the page. Freestyle. 

PAGE 44 - ALL YOUR ENEMIES ARE MENTAL

Read and drive home that what holds people back the most is in between their ears. 

PAGE 45 - ALL ENEMIES ARE SELF-GENERATED

Read the page. Freestyle. 

PAGE 49 - STOP TELLING THE TRUTH

Read this page. Linger here about your biggest mistakes.  

PAGE 52 - The Unconscious

Read. Freestyle. 

PAGE 57 - MAKING IT UP AS WE GO ALONG

Read. Freestyle about not having a plan. Just winging it. 

PAGE 80 - LETTING GO

Read. Freestyle. 

PAGE 87 - HANDLING PANIC

Read. Freestyle. 

PAGE 91 - ARTISTS ARE BRAVE

Read. Freestyle. 

PAGE 97 - THE BLANK PAGE

Read. Freestyle. 

PAGE 102 - WHAT SCARES AN ARTIST

Read. Freestyle. 

PAGE 112 - PERSONAL IDENTITY

Read. Freestyle. 

PAGE 123 - WHAT IS RESISTANCE

Read Highlight. Freestyle. Overcome resistance with 30-Day Challenge

PAGE 129 - THE ARTIST'S VOCATION

Read Highlights. Freestyle. 

PAGE 145 - DO YOU HAVE A DAIMON

Read. Freestyle. 

PAGE 173 - A BODY OF WORK

Read. Finish!

"Philosophy is a hypothetical interpretation of the unknown, or of the inexactly known; it is the front trench in the siege of truth." Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy.

In this episode, Bryant discusses Will Durant's book The Story of Philosophy. Specifically, he discusses the life and ideas Socrates and Plato put forward for our consideration. 

"Life without discourse would be unworthy of a man."

Another school, like Nietzche, claimed that nature is beyond good and evil; that by nature all men are unequal; that morality is an invention of the weak to limit and deter the strong. 

"Woe to him who teaches men faster than they can learn."

Connect with Bryant and check out some of his online courses at

https://bryantchambers.com
30days.bryantchambers.com
learn.bryantchambers.com

People tend to wear the mask that shows them off in the best possible light--humble, confident, diligent. They say the right things, smile, and seem interested in our ideas. They learn to conceal their insecurities and envy. 

If we take this appearance from reality, we never really know their true feelings, and on occasion, we are blindsided by their sudden resistance, hostility, and manipulative actions.

Fortunately, the mask has cracks in it. 

Listen as Bryant talks about how to find these cracks, see people for who they really are, and disguise yourself with the situation calls for it. 

https://bryantchambers.com 

Narcissism is actually a healthy personality trait when deployed properly and kept in check. 

The Law of Narcissism - "We all naturally possess the most remarkable tool for connecting to people and attaining social power--empathy." 

Look behind almost any human action, and you will see the need we all have to get the attention of those around us. 

In this episode, Bryant shares his own struggles with narcissism to help the listener understand both how important it is to have empathy and why every human struggle with being self-absorbed and narcissistic. 

One of Bryant's combat veteran friends messaged him and asked him this powerful question:

"Hey B, I wanted to reach to you as a fellow vet that can give better advice on this.
 
Do you ever feel like the shadow of war is still following you despite being a civilian now?

I mean that shadow part of you that has gone through the battlefield but cannot be embodied or expressed in this civilian world, because of how alien and frightening it comes across to others.

I don't know, I'm trying to make peace with it, but don't know if this a feeling shared by other vets or something else. 

What can you advise?"

This podcast is Bryant's answer to all of you who understand this struggle. 

Stay strong!

If you come across any special trait of meanness or stupidity...you must be careful not to let it annoy or distress you, but to look upon it merely as an addition to your knowledge--a new fact to be considered in studying the character of humanity. Your attitude towards it will be that of the mineralogist who stumbles upon a very characteristic specimen of a mineral. - Arthur Shopenhauer.

This quote from Shopenhauer comes from the book the Laws of Human Nature by Robert Green. Grab the book here - https://amzn.to/3a64uiq

Here is Robert Green giving the Google talk on the book - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcaVhMt71qE

And it's the topic we will be discussing on the podcast for the next few sessions. 

Today's topic, Bryant will cover the law of irrationality. The tendency for our brains to make us react immediately and emotionally to the world around us. 

This podcast will also share solutions to overcome this. 

As coalitions of females, pandering politicians and fearful men organize to child-proof our world, to ban guns and regulate violent sports, actual men retreat to redoubts of virtual and vicarious masculinity like video games and fantasy football because it's all they have left. 

This is an excerpt from Jack Donovan's book The Way of Men.

And this is what Bryant is discussing in today's podcast. 

Cop the book here - https://amzn.to/3icxHuS

Being a good man has to do with ideas about morality, ethics, religion, and behaving productively within a given civilizational structure. 

Being good at being a man is about being willing and able to fulfill the natural role of men in a survival scenario. 

If you want to be successful and happy in your life, you will need other people to help you get there.

If you want people to help you achieve your dreams, you will need to have an influence.

To have influence, you must master these six principles:

1. Reciprocity
2. Liking
3. Consistency
4. Social Proof
5. Authority
6. Scarcity

To learn these skills at a deeper level, join our Good Life Playbook - learn.bryantchambers.com

It's time for the Art of War. 

THESIS - Thus it is said that the one who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be endangered in a hundred engagements. 

The person who is violently self-aware and intimately familiar with their problems and why they are the way they are will always win. 

1. Warfare is the greatest affair of state. (Will Durant - How a Nation Eats)

     The basis of life and death

     The way (Tao) to survival or extinction

     It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed

2. Warfare is the Way (Tao) of deception - Tell Danny Roulier story about Football

3. Subjugating the enemy's army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence

     Highest realization of warfare is to attack the enemy's plans

     Next, their alliances

     Next, their army

     Next, their fortified cities

4. In antiquity, those who excelled in warfare FIRST made themselves unconquerable in order to await the moment when the enemy could be conquered. 
     The ancients who excelled in warfare excelled in beating the easy to beat (Army tactics)

     Victory was about minimizing and eliminating errors. Not acts of heroism

     If you are to excel at warfare (life) you must first establish yourself

     Winners define victory then attack. Losers attack hoping to attain victory

     The combat of the victorious is like the sudden release of pent-up torrent down 1000-fathom gorge

5. Thus one who excels at warfare (life/business) seeks victory through strategic configuration of power, not from reliance on men. 

6. In combat, the most difficult thing to do is turning adversity into advantage.

7. LOVE AND LEADERSHIP - When the general regards his troops as young children, they will advance into the deepest valleys with him. When he regards the troops as his beloved children, they will be willing to die with him. 

There are scientifically proven ways to generate and sustain true happiness. In this podcast, we will talk about a few of them and why you may not be consistently achieving them.

Grab Jonathan Haidt's book The Happiness Hypothesis.
Join Bryant's Good Life Playbook Program. 

Show Notes:

Page 2 - Human thinking depends on Metaphor. The way we perceive something new is often by comparing it to something we already know. (I used to review video games professionally)

The Metaphor Happiness Hypothesis uses is a Child Riding an Elephant where the Elephant is the primitive emotional brain and the Child is the rational and verbal mind. Imagine a child trying to steer an elephant. 

Page 3 - Freud said that the mind is divided into the ego (conscious, rational self), superego (the conscience, which sometimes holds us in contempt unnecessarily), and the id (the desire for pleasure NOW). 

Page 29 - Negativity Bias - we are wired to pay attention to negativity.

Page 38 - Depression - for example, if you take a look at depressed people, we are often caught in a feedback loop in which distorted thoughts cause negative feelings. Those feelings further distort thoughts. And so on. 

Page 47 - Reciprocity - is a deep human instinct; it is the basic currency of social life.

Page 60 - WHY THE NEWS IS SO ENTICING (AND EVIL) Scandal is great entertainment because it allows people to feel contempt, a moral emotion that gives feelings of moral superiority while asking nothing in return.

Page 61 - APPEARANCE OVER SUBSTANCE - The great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are.

Page 82 - THE PROGRESS PRINCIPLE - King Solomon would be the happiest man in the world ever if money and success were the answer. Yet, he spent much of his later life battling the disappointment of success. That's because the pleasure of getting what you want is often fleeting. True pleasure comes more from making progress toward goals than from achieving them. Shakespeare said it right: Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing. 

Page 87 - EARLY HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS - Buddha and Epictetus believed that true happiness comes from within, and it cannot be found by making the world conform to your desires. 

Page 88 - HAPPINESS CAUSES MARRIAGE - Happy people marry sooner and stay married longer than people with a lower happiness setpoint. Both because the mates are more attractive to one another and are easier to get along with. 

Page 91 - HAPPINESS FORMULA - H (Happiness) = S (Happiness Set Point) + C (Life Conditions) + V (The Voluntary Actitivites You Do)

Page 92 - CONDITIONS THAT AFFECT HAPPINESS - Noise, Commuting, Lack of Control, Flow (being immersed in a challenging activity that is well matched to your abilities)

Page 96 - PLEASURE MUST BE SPACED OUT TO MAINTAIN POTENCY - Pleasure sued by both savored and varied.

Page 135 - THE PURPOSE OF ADVERSITY - Read Meng Tzu's quote

Page 152 - WHY I AVOID IGNORANT PEOPLE - Ignorant people see everything in black and white--they rely heavily on the myth of pure evil--and they are strongly influenced by their own self-interest. The wise can see things from other's points of view. 

THERE IS HAPPINESS IN WISDOM - The best place to find wisdom is in the mind of your opponents.