Optimize With Brian Johnson | More Wisdom In Less Time

Brendan Brazier is a former professional Ironman triathlete who lived on nothing but plant-based foods—no meat, no dairy… just plants. In the Note, we'll explore some Big Ideas on how to optimize our diets and experience more vitality in our lives as we quit leaking energy, go for high net-gain foods and rock the alkalinity!

Jack Canfield, the creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, gives us a book packed with Big Ideas on the fundamentals of success. In the Note, we explore some of my favorites—including an awesome exercise on how to discover our purpose, the importance of taking responsibility in our lives (that's Principle #1!!!), becoming an inverse paranoid (think: “OMG the universe is out to help me!!”), and recognizing that 99% commitment to something is a bitch and 100% is a breeze.

Deepak is one of my favorite authors and this book is all about harnessing the power of "synchrodestiny" to rock it. We'll explore the power of letting go of our fear and worry and anger and hesitation as we discover our deeper purpose and live from our souls with the intention to serve.

Denis Waitley's been rockin' the self-development world for several decades now and captures a lot of his wisdom in this popular book. In the Note, we'll explore the importance of taking responsibility for our attitude (echo!), staying on target, maintaining optimism and enthusiasm, concentrating all of our energy on whatever we're doing, and taking the time to plan our ideal lives.

David Emerald's wonderfully wise fable rocks. In this Note, we'll take a quick look at one of my favorite books as we explore the importance of stepping out of DDT (the Dreaded Drama Triangle) and stepping into TED (The Empowerment Dynamic) as we learn to more consistently live from a Creator's perspective (rather than a Victim's) and learn how to hold the tension between our ideals and our current realities by taking baby steps.

This is Eckhart Tolle's first uber-best-selling classic where we learn how to watch the thinker, reconnect with Divine Intelligence, accept whatever's happening to us as if we had chosen it (that's a *really* Big Idea), clock time vs. psychological time (a lot of peeps think that just b/c you’re in the Now you can't set goals… not so much… we'll look at what Eckhart's really teaching on this), and the importance of taking responsibility in our lives.

I love Dyer and this book rocks. In the Note, we'll have fun learning about the fact that floatation wasn’t discovered by contemplating the sinking of things (and how you’ve gotta focus on what you WANT if you wanna see it come to life), how to "act as if" (and not be a weenie about it), how kindness releases the same drugs pharmaceuticals pump into anti-depressants (so get your fix by being kind!) and a lot of other great stuff.

We've all got places that scare us and in her great book, Pema Chodrön helps us shine a compassionate light on them. We'll explore some Brilliant Ideas including the fact that being mad at someone and holding a grudge is kinda like eating rat poisoning thinking you're going to hurt the rat. Not so much. We'll also look at idiot compassion and the practice of rejoicing in others' good fortune and other wonderfulness.

Robert Fritz tells us that our souls will not invest themselves in a compromise and then lays out the way for us to rock it. In this Note, we'll take a peek at what keeps us stuck (or, as he says, "oscillating" between our ideals and our limiting beliefs that we can’t attain 'em), and how to create healthy tension where we know what we want and we consistently take baby steps in the right direction in line with our deepest commitments.

You ever procrastinate? Me, too. D'oh! This is an *awesome* book to help get at the underlying psychological issues/behaviorial patterns that are driving the show when we procrastinate (The Pursuit of Perfect is another great one for that, btw) and we'll have fun getting out of perfectionism and into facing our fears with baby steps in the right direction as we replace the self-defeating thoughts with more empowering ones.

Don Miguel Ruiz's classic has inspired millions. From being impeccable with our word and not taking things personally to not making assumptions and always doing our best, we'll have fun exploring his four agreements and how we can apply them to our lives TODAY!

Ariane de Bonvoisin is the founder of First30days.com and her great book is packed with wisdom on navigating the first 30 days of any (and all) of the changes we inevitably encounter. In the Note, we'll look at how to become a change optimist as we see all the amazing opportunities that come in a time of change and as we work out our change muscles and battle the change demons! Good times.

How's your shadow? (You know, that part of yourself you just don't like too much that you try to repress/ignore/etc.) Debbie Ford's great book is a classic at helping us shine some light on our dark spots and live more fully integrated, authentic, compassionate and creative lives and in this Note, we'll have fun looking at how to find the gold in the dark.

Are you ready to make the Big Leap into your Zone of Genius where you expand in creativity and love and abundance every day as you inspire those around you to do the same? Sweet! Then you'll love the Note where we look at a bunch of Big Ideas on how to make that leap. We'll have fun learning how to wave at our fears, get over our worry and honor the handshake deal we made with the Universe when we were born.

The third Abraham-Hicks title we profile, this one's all about aligning our desires and beliefs and taking inspired action to go "downstream" and rock it. In the Note, we'll explore the difference between deliberate creation and creating by default along with another peek at the importance of using our emotions as a guidance system and how it's always best to start with something *easy* and then develop our confidence and skills from there!

This classic has sold 15 million copies and was the first self-development book I read back in the day (1995 to be precise). In this Note, we'll take a quick look at all 7 Habits—from being proactive (huge!) to beginning with the end in mind, putting first things first, thinking win/win, seeking first to understand, synergizing and sharpening the saw. Lots of goodness here to help us develop our character to create our ideal lives as we most fully give ourselves to the world.

Did you know 20% of beer drinkers drink 80% of the beer? And that 20% of streets account for 80% of the traffic? And that most peeps wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time? And that 20% of customers/products usually account for about 80% of profits? Yepperz. In this Note, we’ll explore the 80/20 principle and how we can apply its power to every aspect of our lives to "achieve more with less."

Shawn Phillips is all about empowering us to create physical and mental "Strength for Life." In this Note we'll learn the difference between transformation and change, the incredible benefits of consistent training and the importance of focusing our minds along with all kinds of other Big Ideas on how to get our strength on.

Michael Beckwith runs the Agape church in Los Angeles and is one of the most plugged in human beings I've ever seen. In this Note, we'll explore some of his many Big Ideas—including how important discipline is and the fact that as we rock it, our discipline turns to blissipline. We'll also see how to avoid spiritual constipation by PRACTICING what we study and how even enlightened beings burn their bagels on occasion (so we can prolly relax into our own imperfections).

We've got three Notes on Wayne Dyer (see The Power of Intention and Your Erroneous Zones) and in this Note we'll have fun learning about the power of "acting as if" (Dyer's got an awesome description of how to rock this!) along with the importance of committing your ideal to paper, disdaining all disbelief and asking "How can I serve?!"