Optimize With Brian Johnson | More Wisdom In Less Time

David Allen is widely recognized as the world’s leading expert on personal and organizational productivity. He is the engineer of GTD, the ground-breaking Getting Things Done methodology that has shown millions how to transform a fast-paced, overwhelming, overcommitted life into one that is balanced, integrated, relaxed, and has more successful outcomes.

We've all heard that championship athletic performance is 90% mental. But that applies to EVERYTHING in our lives. Here are three ways to train your mind.

An untrained elephant grabs bananas and coconuts as it cruises thru the market. Your untrained mind does the same thing. The trick? Pick up a stick!

You want a great relationship? Fantastic. Start by dialing in your relationship with yourself! Know your #1s. And, support your Love by knowing *their* #1s.

Imagine someone following you tomorrow and keeping notes on EVERY single moment of your day--from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep. And they document it all to share with the world. Change anything?

Did you know the word mediocre comes from the Latin words medius ("middle") + ocrus ("rugged mountatin")? It literally means to settle halfway up a rugged mountain. Let's not do that. Let's embrace excellence and summit the peak of our potential!

There's a gap between your comfort zone and your discomfort zone. That's where we're able to get our incremental improvement on. Let's play there. Stretch don't snap!

What do you want? Are you willing to pay the price? Fantastic. That's the ticket. (And, if you're feelin' it, go make 1,300 three-pointers every day like Kobe.)

We all know the slow and steady tortoise beats the bunny that burns himself out. But what if there was a creatture that combined both speed AND endurance. Meet your new friend Smokey!

Did you know that you can strike a power pose and boost your testosterone by 20% in 2 minutes? While dropping your cortisol 20%? Nuts, eh? Yet it's true. Weak poses = the opposite: 10% reduction in testosterone + 15% increase in cortisol. Wow.

He's tiny. Almost invisible. But he has a HUGE mouth and he's constantly telling you why you can't win. That's Mr. Mediocrity. We need to silence him.

The Pain Paradox: Only doing the easy stuff today makes it more difficult later. Paradoxically, doing the hard stuff now makes things easier in the future. Think cows vs. buffalo! :)

Feeling anxious or bored? Here's a quick look at how you can get into flow!

Although, as per the sub-title, the book is ostensibly about “How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra),” it’s really about excelling at learning and at LIFE! Barbara Oakley is an award winning engineering teacher who used to struggle mightily with math and science. She walks us through the latest research in neuroscience and learning as she shares fascinating biographical sketches of scientific + mathematical luminaries along with wisdom from other world-class teachers. Great stuff.

If you’re looking for a smart, grounded, funny and well-written introduction to the Paleo movement, this is the perfect place to start. Big Ideas we explore include the five ages of our origins (Animal + Paleolithic + Agricultural + Industrial + Information), poisons vs. fountains of youth, the importance of meaning (and how to dial it in) and alarm clocks for bed time.

Stephen Cope is the director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living—the largest yoga research institute in the Western world. In this great book, Stephen brings the Bhagavad Gita to life and helps us apply this ancient wisdom to our modern lives. Big Ideas include the four keys to living your dharma, creating the right conditions, dealing with difficulties, training elephants, and reducing yourself to zero!

Greg Krech is one of the world’s leading teachers of Japanese psychology. This book integrates three core facets of the work he has done for the last 25+ years: Morita Therapy + kaizen + Naikan. Big Ideas we explore include understanding what is within our control and what is not (hint: thoughts and feelings are not; behaviors are), how to create momentum in your life and the importance of constant incremental improvement.

You ever struggle with perfectionism? If so, it’s time to learn how to be an imperfectionist! Stephen Guise (author of Mini Habits), shows us the way. Big Ideas include being a poser, living within floors and ceilings, thinking vs. doing, pulling the lever, and cultivating result apathy.

Bernard Roth has been a Professor of Engineering at Stanford for over FIFTY (!!) years. A pioneer in the field of robotics, Bernie is one of the founders of the famed d.school at Stanford. In this great book, he brings the concepts of design thinking to life in the context of our most important design project: designing our optimal lives. Big Ideas we explore include the 5 elements of design thinking, doing vs. trying, ignoring odds, and being the cause.

This is a fantastic, old school psychology classic. Written in 1975, Albert Ellis (see Notes on A Guide to Rational Living) says it’s “One of the best self help books ever written.” Lazarus and Fay walk us through 20 of the most common mistakes that can ruin our lives and, of course, how to correct them. Big Ideas include myths about change, the 2 things we need to do to change, and optimizing our locus of control.