17 Dec 2025 · 4 min
Brian Johnson explores radical acceptance using Phil Stutz's teaching and a surfing metaphor: you can't control when challenges arrive, but you can choose how to respond. The key is seeking appropriately-sized challenges to grow and meeting them with curiosity instead of complaint.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plos one. In our last PLOS One, we revisited our thinking on our targeted thinking practice. As you may recall, we added a step zero to the protocol that involved accepting our reality completely before we shift to figuring out how we'd like to create a better reality and what specifically we will do right now to create it. Today I want to chat more about acceptance. We'll bring my Yoda, Phil Stutz back to the party to tap into more of his near infinite wisdom. By the way, Phil and I have been working together for nearly six years now. It's remarkable to me just how deep we can go these days as I have fun truly practicing my and our philosophy at deeper and deeper levels. By the way too, the reason I'm able to practice even more deeply is, is because I have taken on bigger and bigger challenges. As Phil says, I'm dealing with real bullets now. And as another friend and dear mentor of mine, Matt McCall puts it, I'm officially working out in the big boy gym lifting real weights versus styrofoam weights for the win, folks. Check out that plus one I just referenced. Now, Phil doesn't tell us to just accept reality. He tells us that we need to radically accept reality. And one of the metaphors he likes to use is to imagine that you're a surfer when you're surfing. You have zero control of when and how the waves show up, right? But you have pretty much complete control over how you choose to respond to any given wave. Right? Now. That's part one of this plus one. The wise eudaimonic surfer embraces those facts. How? By not complaining about the waves. They are what they are. And the wise life surfer knows that the waves, when viewed properly, are what make the whole experience fun. No waves, no fun. Now for part two, Question time. Two parts to the question. First, if you're really committed to becoming a really great surfer, do you go to the beaches with the tiniest waves? Or do you find the beaches with the right sized big waves to have the most fun challenging yourself with your current level of skill? Note finding the right size waves is an important distinction. That's part of a longer chat. We want to make sure we find our flow channel. Not too little or too much stress or we'll be bored or anxious. Super you for the win. Check out that one second when you arrive at the beach and swim out to start catching the right size appropriately big waves. Do you complain when a big wave approaches or do you smile and get after it? Seeing just how well you can ride it, while, very importantly, enjoying the thrill of the experience. Of course, unless you're crazy, you enjoy those appropriately big waves. And that's the whole reason you showed up at the beach in the first place, right? And that is how we want to approach our lives and all the inherent waves, challenges that show up on our heroic quests. Friendly reminder, this is what we've trained for. Hiro. So, got any waves in your life right now? Awesome. Surf's up. Let's go get it. As we enjoy the ride.
