17 Dec 2025 · 3 min
Brian Johnson argues that self-actualizing people dissolve the boundary between work and play. Maslow called this the resolution of dichotomies, the 19th characteristic of self-actualized people. When you pursue excellence, work becomes play and play becomes work.
You're listening to optimize with bryan johnson. More wisdom in less time. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. In our last plus one we talked about WH Auden's genius quip that routine in an intelligent person is a sign of ambition. I laugh with joy pretty much every time I've typed that and as we talk about it now, then we did a quick check in on your ambition and hopefully we dialed it up a notch and made sure that your routines were reflecting that strong desire to optimize and actualize in service to your family, community and world. Today I want to talk about work and play. A lot of people think those two things are separate. I think you're doing it wrong if your work isn't play. Abraham Maslow would agree. He once said that one of the hallmarks of self actualizing people is that they get to a place where apparent dichotomies are dissolved in motivation and personality. He has a chapter in which he describes the 19 characteristics of the self actualizer. Check out the notes for a super quick look at all 19 of those self actualizer characteristics. For now, know this the 19th characteristic of self actualizers is their resolution of dichotomies. For example, he tells us, the dichotomy between selfishness and unselfishness disappears altogether in healthy people because in principle every act is both selfish and and unselfish. End quote. Another dichotomy that dissolves for self actualizers the dichotomy between work and play. What happens when work is play and when play is work? Well, then you get a statement like this from author James Mishner in his autobiography where he tells us, again I quote, the master in the Art of Living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he's always doing both. End quote. That is the way to roll. Here's to mastering the art of living. Let's have fun writing the rules to the game that is our lives and then playing it with the joy and intensity and excellence we can muster, letting others decide whether we're working or playing. For us, we're always doing both. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Optimize with Brian Johnson. To find out more, go to Optimize Me.
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