A short podcast episode by Brian Johnson that centers on self-mastery. Johnson reads and reflects on Nietzsche’s line from Thus Spoke Zarathustra (“he who cannot command himself should obey”) and underscores the need to both command and obey oneself. He invokes Leonardo da Vinci on self-mastery, poses a practical prompt (identify the key command your wiser self would give and whether now is the time to obey it), and concludes with a promotion of his Philosopher's Notes summaries and Optimal Living 101 classes/membership.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche tells us, he who cannot command himself should obey. And many can command themselves, but much is still lacking before they can obey themselves. How epic is that? Let's slow down and read it again. He who cannot command himself should obey, and many can command themselves, but much is still lacking before they can obey themselves. To translate. Can't figure out what you should do? No big deal. Just get used to following orders from someone else. Have a sense of what you should do, but can't follow through. Well, much is still lacking then, my friend. We must be able to command ourselves, then obey those commands. It's why Leonardo da Vinci said one can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself. And, well, pretty much everyone says that self mastery is the secret sauce to being the boss of your own life. It's also why if I had to summarize my entire philosophy in one word, I'd go with Arete. Check out that plus one. So today's plus one. What's the most important command the wise commander in chief version of you would give to the rest of you, AKA what's the number one thing you know you could be doing that you're not doing? And is now a good time to obey that wise commander? Fantastic. Command, obey, repeat, spiral up. Today.
Isn'T it a bit odd that we went from math to science to history, but but somehow missed the class on how to live? For some wacky reason, optimal living 101 never made the schedule.
Of course, it's too late to go.
Back and change that, and you're too busy to read full time to catch up. But if you're like us, you're all about optimizing your life and actualizing your potential. So imagine this. Imagine having someone read the best books on how to optimize your life and pull out the big ideas that can really change your life. You know those sections you underline and asterisks and mark all up? Then imagine that guy me connecting those awesome ideas to other great books and helping you actually apply the wisdom to your life today. Well, that's what I do with something we call Philosopher's Notes, where I've distilled hundreds of great books into 20 minute super practical summaries. Then imagine me taking the absolute best big ideas from those great books and sharing them with you in hour long Optimal Living 101 classes on everything from productivity, purpose and confidence to nutrition, goal setting and conquering procrastination. Helping you optimize every facet of your life so you can actualize your potential. You've got a personal trainer. I'm kind of like your personal philosopher. Ancient wisdom plus modern science plus practical tools. That's what our optimized membership program is all about. If you're feeling it, we'd love to have you join us.
