Brian Johnson argues that brief uncomfortable conversations are worth having. He uses Joseph Campbell's hero's journey to frame the risk and reward, shares a painful past conversation as a learning moment, and offers mental tools like chanting 'bring it on' and visualizing success to get through them.
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You're listening to the Optymyze with Brian Johnson podcast. Unlock the full Optymyze experience and join over 10,000 premium members at Optimize Me. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. You know those times when you need to have a tough conversation and you're kind of sort of dreading it and avoiding it? One of my old mentors once told me that you just need to move through what he called sweaty five minute conversations to get to the other side of clarity and resolution. Most of us avoid the challenging conversations because we aren't willing to endure those few minutes of discomfort. I definitely used to avoid them. Now I remember that speed is a force. Then I whoop it, chant bring it on and I'm excited and jump in. It's become a really powerful practice for me as I've mastered it over the years. But here's the funny thing. Once upon a time, I needed to have one of those sweaty conversations with that mentor of mine. And guess how it turned out? It was by far literally the worst conversation I've ever had in my life. I kid you not. As Campbell said, when you dare to go after bliss, there's always the chance for a fiasco. Here's how he puts it. The hero journey is one of the universal patterns through which that radiance shows brightly. What I think is a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again. You are called to the realm of adventure. You are called to new horizons. Each time there is the same problem. Do I dare? And then if you do dare, then the dangers are there. And the help also. And the fulfillment or the fiasco. There's always the possibility of a fiasco, but there's also the possibility of bliss. So today's mission, should you choose to accept it, the next time you find yourself avoiding a challenging conversation, see if you could recognize the fear and then get to work on it with one or more of our growing array of tools. Perhaps you can remember that your infinite potential exists on the other side of that fear and chant bring it on to yourself. Maybe you can practice active love on the person who's currently stressing you out. I definitely recommend you whoop it, wave the wand, create your wish, see it going perfectly, experience the benefits, then anticipate the obstacles and make your plan to deal with them. Then, if you feel that now's the time, jump in and move through those few seconds or minutes of sweaty palms and make it happen. You'll win. Or you'll learn. And a little P.S. here. I know for a fact that if I had that challenging conversation of a decade ago today, it would have ended so much better. But I never would have gotten to where I am without the pain of that fiasco. And so it is. Hey, this is Brian with a quick question for you. Do you know what the word optimize literally means? It's from the Latin optimus, which means the best. In our case, we're talking about helping you create the best version of you. So another quick question. What's the best version of you look like? How does that version of you show up in the world? Helping you be that version of yourself all day, every day is what our Optimize membership program is all about. Now, we obviously give away a ton of content for free and we give our 10,000 premium members a ton more. Members get hundreds of Philosopher's Notes, which are 20 minute book summaries that help you apply the best big ideas from the best optimal living books to your life to get today. Plus members get dozens of hour long optimal living 101 masterclasses, more wisdom in less time for your busy life on everything from the science of setting and achieving goals, how to optimize your energy via the fundamentals of nutrition, movement, sleep and meditation, and how to be super productive day in and day out. While of course enjoying the whole process. Every facet of your life optimized equals you at your absolute best.
