You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

Ready to get your brain right? Start with your gut! In this compelling book, Dr. David Perlmutter walks us through the leading-edge science on how to dial in our microbiome to optimize our brain + overall well-being. In the Note, we explore Big Ideas ranging from the power of probiotics and your second brain to the importnace of focusing on root causes rather than just symptoms along with the 6 keys to feeding your microbes.

David Perlmutter, MD combines his deep knowledge in neuroscience + nutrition in this hard-hitting, scientifically rigorous look at how, in short, grains are destroying our brains. Dementia. ADHD. Epilepsy. Anxiety. Chronic headaches. Depression. They all have their roots in neurological dysfunction and they are all impacted by our nutrition. In the Note we take a look at some powerful Big Ideas to optimize.

Ready to apply mindfulness to learning and teaching? That's what this book is all about as Ellen Langer challenges seven pervasive myths related to learning. In the Note we explore Ideas ranging from reframing, ever-present gratification and creating options to mindful presentations and celebrating confusion.

Ellen Langer is one of the world's leading researchers studying the science of well-being. This book was was published over 25 years ago—before the concept of “mindfulness” went mainstream. Ellen takes a Western scientific orientation to mindfulness (vis-a-vis an Eastern mystical) as she challenges us to overcome our mindless patterns, let go of false limits, focus on the process and notice all the wonders present in our lives.

Alberto Villoldo is a shaman and medical anthropologist who has studied the spiritual practices of the Amazon and the Andes for over 25 years. In this book, we tap into their wisdom on how to shamans dream the world into being. Big Ideas include choosing between casting yourself as a victim or a hero, letting go of perfection, cultivating mindfulness and being ready to die at any moment.

Ellen Langer is a professor of psychology at Harvard and one of the world's leading reseachers who has been exploring what she calls the "psychology of possibility" for over three decades. This book is packed with amazing research stories and wisdom to bring more mindfulness to our lives and tap into our latent potential.

Tal Ben-Shahar is one of the most popular professors in Harvard’s history and does a great job of integrating the rigor of the science of happiness with the fun of self-help. Drawing on the latest psychological research, this book walks us through 101 choices we make throughout our lives. Big Ideas include finding happiness boosters, joining the failure hall of fame, focusing on your strengths and cocreating your reality.

Do you want to lead the field? Earl Nightingale is our guide in this old-school guide to rockin' it. Big Ideas include seeing the acres of diamonds in our own backyards, being able to immediately articulate our goal in a single sentence, seeing that if we want more we need to serve more and knowing that TODAY is the day to show up and shine!

James Stockdale spent 7 1/2 years as the highest ranking prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. 4 years in solitary confinement. 2 in leg irons. This book is about how he endured all of that with the wisdom of Stoic philosopher Epictetus in mind. In the Note, we explore the key tenets of Stoicism, the Stockdale Paradox, playing your role well and mastering your emotions.

Would you like to find the Zone more often? Well, yah! Leading sports psychologist Michael Lardon, M.D. shows us how. 10 core lessons. In the Note, we'll look at why you want to have two scorecards, the importance of activation energy (451 degrees, please!!) and how to keep your confidence dialed in.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist Zen master and one of the world's leading spiritual teachers. In this great book he teaches us how to access the power of quiet in a noisy world. Big Ideas include bringing awareness to the "Four Nutriments" we consume, tuning in to the right radio station in our minds and creating an island of self.

Resilience. As Eric Greitens tells us, it's not so much about bouncing back as it is about moving through. And this former Navy SEAL, Rhodes Scholar, boxing champion and humanitarian who's been recognized as one of the greatest leaders in the world, knows a ton about how to cultivate it by embracing failure, forging our purpose and living with virtue.

Eric Greitens is pretty much a superhero. Part humanitarian and part warrior, he's an integrated man committed to serving profoundly. In this book, he shows us how to combine strength and compassion, find our purpose through service and cultivate practical wisdom

This is basically Earl Nightingale's greatest hits album, er, book. The editors of the book combed through over 700 (!!) hours of Earl's audio programs and pulled out the things he came back to again and again. The book is packed with wisdom. In the Note, we explore how to deal with your worries, the importance of active patience, and finding our second wind as we go from being a rowboat to an ocean liner.

Originally published in 1974, this book is, as the sub-title suggests, the classic guide to the mental side of peak performance and transcends tennis/sports. If we want to win the game of life, we've gotta start by winning the inner game. In the Note, we'll take a quick look at how to do that, learning about Self 1 + Self 2 (and how to help them get along), quieting our mind and asking for qualities we aspire to have.

Spartan Up!! Want a swift kick in the optimizing butt?! This is the book for you. It truly is "a take-no-prisoners guide to overcoming obstacles and achieving performance" delivered with enthusiasm by Joe De Sena--the renowned endurance/adventure racer who created Spartan Race. We'll look at what's impossible vs. just really hard, how to pass the cookie test as we develop grit and learn how to get to the next telephone pole in the race of life.

How'd you like to be perfectly yourself? In this great book, Matthew Kelly shows us how to become the-best-possible-version-of-yourself by doing the next right thing, making virtue our goal, building discipline, simplifying and finding ways to serve!

Concentration. As we know, the sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. This is an old school manual on how to cultivate our strength of mind to set our lives on fire. In the Note, we'll look at some Big Ideas to cultivate our concentration, sticktoitiveness and make every moment a part of our practice.

Og Mandino was the most popular inspirational author of his era. Before that he was a 35-year-old drunken derelict! In this book, he tells us how he found "a better way to live" and shares his 17 Rules to Live By so we can rock it as well. We'll start by building foundations below our air-castles, counting our blessings, going the extra mile and learning from Lady Liberty's Hair-do.

This little book features a mysterious master who teaches his secrets to living in harmony with Universal Law. I love stories like this. It’s a super quick-reading, invigorating little tale. In the Note we'll have fun exploring how to clean up our mental house, the importance of focusing on our ONE thing and keeping Mr. Mo on our side!

Jim Rohn influenced a generation of self-help gurus and this book lays out his "five major keys for the life puzzle." We'll take a quick look at your life philosophy, what you're doing with the 86,400 ticks each day, how to finish before you start as you design your ideal life and other such goodness.

The-best-version-of-yourself. That's what Matthew Kelly is committed to helping us become and that's what this book is all about. In the Note, we have fun getting in tune with the Rhythms of Life as we explore the fact that everything is a choice, look at what we want to give our WHOLE life to and discover the mojo of great questions.

Would you like to be the greatest version of you? Og Mandino's classic can help with that. The best selling book on sales ever written is really a fun fable about how to achieve success in any/ever domain. In the Note, we unroll the "10 ancient scrolls" of wisdom to discover that obstacles are our friends, good habits are essential and other such goodness.

Want to know the strangest secret? Here it is: “We become what we think about.” That's it! Thank you, Earl Nightingale (and all other gret teachers who echo this wisdom!). In the Note we'll unpack Big Ideas from this uber-classic recording and learn how to optimize our thinking so we can actualize our potential.

This is one of Steven Pressfield's favorite books. When I heard that, I immediately got it. Brilliant. Patricia Ryan Madson is Emerita of Stanford University where she taught for three decades in the Drama Department. We'll have fun looking at her 13 maxims for improv living from this quick-reading, fun, smart, practical book.

Nonviolent Communication has sold over 1,000,000 copies. Why? It works. There are four key components to NVC: Observations + Feelings + Needs + Requests. In this Note, we'll take a quick look at each of them along with some other Big Ideas to communicate more compassionately.

Play! Stuart Brown, one of the world's leading play researchers, tells us that it's more important than you may think. We'll take a quick look at why it's so important, why you don't want to be a sea squirt and how to make your life one big sand box while infusing more joy into your life.

The ONE Thing. What's yours? Gary Keller (his Keller-Williams real estate is THE largest real estate company in the world--I bet that was a ONE Thing goal at some point!) shares his wisdom in this BRILLIANT book. We'll have fun exploring a few of my favorite Big Ideas: dominoes + extreme Pareto and other goodness.

Do you think you can or do you think you can't? As Henry Ford told us, either way you're right. Orison Swett Marden (who created Success magazine) walks us thru some old-school no-nonsense mojo in this great little book. In the Note, we'll look at the power of being a functional dreamer and bringing ourselves to a 212 degree boil!

How'd you like to have an undefeated mind while constructing an indestructible self? (I'll take 'em!) Alex Lickerman, MD shows us how--blending Western science with practical Eastern mysticism in this powerful book. In the Note, we'll explore how to find your mission and turn poison into medicine.

Want to wake up every morning like it's Christmas? (Or otherwise fired up if xmas isn't your thing?) Well, it's time to make your mornings miraculous and Hal Elrod shows us how with his Life S.A.V.E.R.S. Do more before 8am than you thought possible and crush it day in and day out.

Pete Carroll is the Super Bowl-winning coach of the Seattle Seahawks. His Win Forever philosophy was inspired by an awesome hybrid of Abraham Maslow, John Wooden and his own commitment to always competing while having a whole lotta fun. In the Note, we'll check out a few of my favorite Ideas to help us Win Forever in all facets of our lives.

Stephen King has written over 50 books. ALL of them (that would be every.single.one) have been international best-sellers. (Wow.) It’s fair to say he knows a thing or two (or 350 million) about writing. He shares that wisdom in this book and we'll take a quick look at a handful of my favorite Big Ideas in this Note.

This is a tiny little book PACKED with wisdom. Written in a classic, hard-hitting, early 20th century old- school-cool style, it reminds me of a cross between Samuel Smiles’ Self-Help and James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh. In fact, the title “As a Man Willeth” would fit quite nicely. We'll unpack some goodness in the Note.

Eknath Easwaran is one of my favorite teachers and one of the most beloved spiritual teachers of the 20th century. He walked with Gandhi in his native India and shows us to be the change while making our life our message. We'll explore how to change the gears of our thinking, detox from mas media and engage in practical idealism.

Turning Pro. Steven Pressfield tells us that's how we win The War of Art against our nemesis Resistance. Brilliant stuff. In this Note, we'll take a quick look at Shadow Callings (w/a look at mine!), the blissful hell of Epiphanies and more goodness on how to officially turn pro.

This is a SHOCKINGLY good book. Want to get your mind right? Lanny Bassham, an Olympic gold medalist, has been teaching the art of mental training/peak performance for decades and this book tells us just how to rock it. In the Note, we'll look at the importance of making the process primary and other fundamentals of mental mastery.

DC Gonzalez is one of the world's leading peak performance/mental training experts and this quick-reading manifesot on the art of mental training is fantastic. In the Note, we'll take a quick look at why mental training is so improtant, the critical three (breathing + relaxation + imagineering) and the most important lesson of all.

Kristin Neff established self-compassion as a field of study almost a decade ago—bringing the Buddhist practice of self-compassion into her labs so the benefits could be empirically validated. In this Note, we explore the three core elements of self-compassion (self-kindness + common humanity + mindfulness) and why it's so important for us to cultivate!

We go to the gym to work out our bodies. But what about our minds? We need a mind gym!! This is one of the top books on mental training. Focused on athletes but we're all athletes in the bigger game of life. In this Note, we'll hit the mind gym hard--learning how to move beyond our perceived limits, manage pressure, build confidence and show up consistently.

Mindsight. It's the seventh sense you didn't know you had! Can you pay attention to the inner workings of your own mind? That's what Dr. Dan Siegel, one of the world's leading neuroscientists + psychotherapists, helps us do in this phenomenal book. We'll explore Big Ideas ranging from the basics of brain hygiene to the power of integration and how to live with more flexibility and coherence as we leverage the best of modern neuroscience.

How'd you like to tap into the power of radical contentment? (Sign me up!) Alan Cohen shows us the way to as he teaches us how to quit being a hardaholic and/or a precrastinator as we embrace the three facts of life and eliminate the terrorists from our minds. Enough already. It's a wonderful place to be.

I'm convinced Mark Divine is a superhero. Seriously. And in Unbeatable Mind, the former Navy SEAL gives us the handbook on mental toughness. In the Note, we'll look at the keys to cultivating our confidence, the importance of cultivating our concentration, learning how to control our breathing and other goodness that will make you unbeatable.

Darren Hardy is the Publisher of SUCCESS magazine and knows a thing or 1,000 about success. It's all boiled down into this little manifesto on The Compound Effect. The equation? Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE. In the Note, we'll check out the power of compounding and how to welcome Mr. Mo to the party and create your greatest life.

The Practicing Mind. It’s the key to true inner peace and contentment. In a world that conditions us to obsess about goals and outcomes, it’s easy to miss the importance of the process. The PRACTICE. Thomas Sterner brilliantly (!) helps us bring discipline and focus into our lives to experience the presence and joy that comes as a result. (Bonus: We also create a frictionless path to our goals as well!)

Would you like to ignite and sustain the fire of genius? Well, Michael Gelb's your guy, then. Gelb is one of the world's leading thinkers + teachers on applied genius creativity. He wrote the life-changing book, "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci" and is back with more goodness in this gem. Specifically, he teaches us how to cultivate our creative mindset + creative mojo via tapping into universal life force, or qi = good stuff!

Teddy Roosevelt told us that it's not the critic who counts. It's all about the individual who is actually in the arena--whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood... Who dares greatly. Brene Brown takes that spirit and runs with it--showing us how we can only dare greatly when we are willing to live Wholeheartedly, embracing our vulnerability as we cultivate our courage, compassion and connection.

Introverts unite!! Did you know that the majority (!) of Americans are actually introverted? Yep. But... Our society overly values the extroverted/social side of things and doesn't teach us how to cultivate the internal goodness. Fear not, Dr. Helgoe is here to help us learn how to be psychologically patriotic as we build solitude skills and tap into our introvert power.

Sleep. It's powerful. Way more so that you may think. And Dr. James Maas, a leading sleep scientist, gives us the lowdown on how to optimize our sleep for peak performance. In the Note, we'll look at why sleep is so powerful, signs you're not getting enough of it, and some best practices on how to rock it. We'll add a few more zzz's to your zzz's!

You want to be superhuman? Tynan tells us it's *all* about the habits. I agree. And this book is a genius little manifesto on how to rock it. In the Note, we'll look at some Big Ideas on the basic mental mechanics of installing habits that'll help you reach your potential. Keys: focusing on consistency (!), using your mistakes to your advantage, getting rid of negative habits and focusing on the finish line as you rock the process.