APN100 - Think Areté – The Manifesto

You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson. More wisdom in less time. This is a mini chapter from Brian's book, A Philosopher's Notes. You can find it on Amazon.

The last mini chapter of the entire book is called Think the Manifesto. What would you do if you weren't afraid? Okay, so what exactly are you waiting for? This isn't a dress rehearsal. Wake up. Here's the deal. What we can be, we must be. Period. There's no getting around that one. So turn off the tv, put down your drink, get off the medication, quit numbing yourself. The pain's not going away. Not until you think Arete. Think Arete. Yep, Gandhi got it, Einstein got it, Benjamin Franklin got it, Bono gets it, the Dalai Lama gets it, Oprah gets it, and the Greeks definitely got it. Get this, guys like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle said that if you want happiness, you better live with arete. A word that literally means virtue or excellence, but has a deeper meaning, Something closer to living at your highest potential. Moment to moment to moment. Arete. It was one of the highest ideals of Greek culture. It should be one of ours. Tragically, it's not. We seem to be more interested in resumes, accolades, and 401ks. Speaking of retirement, who came up with that? Work our asses off doing something we're not passionate about so we can accumulate enough money to pay the bills from our stress, cause illnesses while we bitch about what we should have done while when we were still young. Hmm. Can't quite figure that one out. Seems like it makes a bit more sense to go ahead and dare to live now. Why not? Think, Arete? Live at your highest potential. Moment to moment to moment. Not in the mood? Fine. Then live with regret, anxiety and disillusionment. Your call. Think about it. When do you feel most alive? Exactly. When we're being ourselves, our highest selves. You want happiness? Think arete. Live. Love, smile, hug, laugh, dream. Do. Create. Have fun. Be intense. Be audacious. Be unreasonable. Act impeccably. Breathe. Be you. Be different. Be patient. Get paid to do what you love. Dance in your underwear on your way to work. Why not Ditch the tie? Escape the cube. Leave the eight to five. Trash the resume. Ignore the critics and the cynics. Burn the corporate ladders. Laugh at the ceilings. Quit the bitching. Open your mind. End the laziness. Overcome the fear. Transcend the conditioning. Why not move the world? Change the world. Push the human race forward. Whatever you call it, go out and do it. When? Now? Not when you have enough money? Or once you do this or do that. That's nonsense. It's not going to be easy. But go out and live your dream now. You deserve it. And if that doesn't move you, the world deserves it. Think Arete. Well, there you go. That's the final big idea. A hundred of my favorite big ideas that I personally strive to embody in my life that I found to be the most powerful in living a life truly aligned with virtue and with integrity, such that I can consistently plug into my highest self and shine with a radiant enthusiasm. I really hope you enjoyed it and I'd also like to share the remaining section in the book which is on my top 50 books. As I say in the book, here's a quick look at 50 of my favorite optimal living books from old school classics to modern self development. Tap into the wisdom that matters and I list all 50 or 50, I should say, of my favorite books. We start with the old school classics and we have 10 here letters from a Stoic by Seneca Seneca was born around the same time as Jesus and was one of the leading figures of the Roman Empire. He was also one of history's leading Stoic philosophers along with Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus. The big ideas from his book include the the purpose of philosophy, the importance of focusing our attention, and the mojo we get from facing our fears. Next book is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius was a 2nd century philosopher and emperor of the Roman Empire. Meditations is a collection of journal entries he wrote to himself. Big ideas include the importance of never confusing ourselves with visions of a lifetime all at once, not worrying about what others think of us and living a life of purpose and service. The next book is Rumi Daylight by Rumi. Rumi was a 13th century Sufi mystic and professor of religion who lived in Konya, Turkey, which was the capital of the dominant Seljuk Empire. His poetry is stunningly beautiful and big ideas include the importance of having patience, seeing challenging times as God's way of strengthening us and working hard and going for it. The next book is the Analects by Confucius. Confucius was a 6th century sage from China whose wisdom formed the basis of the philosophy known as Confucianism. Big ideas include the importance of being a passionate and patient student of life while striving to do our best. Good stuff. Next book is the Bhagavad Gita. This is the classic text of Hinduism starring Krishna King counseling, the reluctant warrior Arjuna. Big ideas include the importance of meditation, the fact that making mistakes is an inherent part of our growth process and the uber importance of letting go of our attachment to results. The next book is the Dhammapada by Buddha. The Buddha was rocking it in India about the same time Confucius and Lao Tzu were sharing wisdom in China and not too long before Socrates hit the scene in Greece. A core text of Buddhism, the Dhammapada literally means the path of truth and righteousness. Big ideas include living our dharma as we develop self mastery. Next book is the In Charidian by Epictetus. Epictetus was a former slave who became a leading Stoic philosopher of his era, the first and second century of the Roman Empire. Big ideas include if we want to be happy, we've got to realize the only thing we have control over is our response to a situation. The next book is the Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ralph Waldo Emerson is a hero of mine. He occupies the great, great great plus grandfather swat in my spiritual family tree. And his essays, although written in 19th century prose, totally fire me up. Big ideas include self reliance, trusting yourself, the power of enthusiasm and the fact that God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. The next book is the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Lao tzu was a 6th century Chinese philosopher and his Dao de Jing is the core text of Taoism. Big ideas include letting go of attachments, gracefully rolling with the flow of life. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. You've probably heard that one before and many others. And the final of the 10 Old School Classics I'm recommending here. Thus Spoke Zarathustra by by Friedrich Nietzsche. 19th century Nietzsche was said to deliver his philosophy with a hammer and this book definitely nails his disdain for conditioning and conformity. Big ideas include the Uberman. Our worst enemy is often inside our own heads and pushing ourselves to discover how far we can go. All right, now we've got some positive psychology classics I think you'd love. The first is Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman. Martin Seligman is essentially the father of the positive psychology movement. Big ideas from his book include using our signature strengths consistently throughout our day to day lives and moving from a job to a career to a calling as we live a life of meaning and purpose. Next title is Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. One of the classics of positive psychology, Goleman's Emotional intelligence established the fact that IQ doesn't account for why some of us succeed and function well and others don't. Big ideas include the power of delaying Gratification, How Worrying Can Create Self Fulfilling Prophecies and other tips on building emotional intelligence. The next book is Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Along with Seligman, Csikszentmihalyi is one of the founding fathers of positive psychology. Flow is all about the science of optimal human experience and big ideas from the book include what the flow state is and how to live in it. Hint be fully engaged in an activity that matches your skills with the challenge and also controlling the contents of our consciousness to relieve anxiety and boredom. The next book is Happier by Tal Ben Shahar. Ben Shahar taught one of the most popular classes in Harvard University's history and this book captures the essence of his class on positive psychology, sharing the best of what we scientifically know about how to create happier, more, more fulfilled lives. Big ideas include the importance of having goals and living in the moment. Going for it Gratitude and Happiness Rituals the next title is Happy for no Reason by Marci Schimoff. Schimoff created Chicken Soup for the woman's Soul and integrates inspiring stories about happy people with scientifically established ways to boost our happiness in this fun book. Big ideas include the practice of happiness, set points, ants, gratitude and Kaizen. The next book is Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. Frankl is a leading 20th century psychologist who survived the horrors of the Holocaust and describes his logo therapy in this classic book. Big ideas include our attitudes determine our happiness and the fact that no one can ever take away the freedom for us to choose our response to any given situation. The next book is Motivation and Personality by Abraham Maslow. Maslow tells us what one can be, one must be. I love that he was a 20th century humanistic psychologist who defined the hierarchy of needs and studied the most exceptional people of his era. Big ideas include the self actualizer and the 19 characteristics that make them rock. The next book is the Gifted Adult by Mary Elaine Jacobson. Jacobson is one of the world's leading authorities on gifted adults and this book is packed with wisdom on how what she calls everyday geniuses can rock it. Big ideas include how to develop our evolutionary IQ as we work hard, silence the inner and outer critics and learn how to bounce back as we become co creators and in liberating our everyday genius.

We hope you enjoyed this mini chapter from Brian's book A Philosopher's Notes. Want more wisdom in less time delivered in your inbox? Sign up for Brian's free daily newsletter the Optimizer and get the full ebook and audiobook at brianjohnson me apn.