Brian Johnson explains how to treat life's problems as fuel for growth, not obstacles. He uses the literal meaning of propellant—something that drives you forward—and a scene from Hobbs & Shaw where flipping a switch gives extra speed. The idea: flip your own switch on challenges and use them to prosper.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. Today I'd like to revisit our how to Prosper theme for a moment or two longer. In almost all of the Mastery coach sessions, I emphasize the importance of being antifragile, using life's inevitable challenges as a source of fuel. So, as I was preparing for the lecture, I plan to talk about using our problems as. As antifragile. Fuel. But I wanted a pro word for fuel. Hmm. I reached down to pick up the 8.2 pound dictionary now residing on the floor near my desk. And yes, I just weighed it to see if I could find some good words for fuel that started with pro. Pro. Pop quiz. Can you think of any? Well, can you? As I was opening the dictionary, I thought of propane. But then I thought, meh, that's kind of cool. I mean, you can throw propane on a fire and it will definitely grow, but I'm not sure that's quite it. So I continued scanning for better words, and then I found it. Propellant. Yeah, that's it. Propellant. It literally means to drive forward. So are you facing any challenges as you strive to prosper? Fantastic. Of course you are. Use them as propellant for your growth. Then I laughed because, and I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this, but I had just watched the latest Fast and Furious movie, Hobbs and Shaw. It was, ahem, philosophical research, folks. And, well, the Rock is persistently fun, funny, ridiculously awesome. So there I am in the movie theater, and get this. There's a scene in that movie that perfectly captures the power of antifragile propellant. Here's the short story. The bad guys are chasing the good guys. They're all racing around in crazy cars. I mean, it's the Fast and Furious series, right? The good guys are about to lose. Then they have the brilliant idea to flip the switch that gives them the extra jumbo juice. Propellant that somehow makes them go way faster, AKA drives them forward so they can win the battle with the bad guys. Was that a spoiler alert? And. Well, that's today's plus one. Got a challenge? Use it as a propellant to drive you forward. Flip the switch, invite Optimus to the party and go crush it. The bad guys won't stand a chance.
