17 Dec 2025 · 0 min
Brian Johnson uses two metaphors: a car running on empty and a man sawing without sharpening his blade. His point: you're too busy to skip exercise, meditation, rest, and relationships. Those practices aren't luxuries. They're what keeps you functional.
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.
Next up, we've got energy. As always, we've got a handful of my favorite quotes. We'll start with Will Rogers, who tells us that the best way to make a fire with two sticks is to make sure one of them is a match. Joshua Rosenthal tells us, the more I observed human behavior, the more convinced I became that the key to health is understanding each person's individual needs rather than following a set of predetermined rules. I saw plenty of evidence that having happy relationships, a fulfilling career, an exercise routine, and a spiritual practice are even more important to health than a daily diet. Sonia Liebomersky tells us no one in our society needs to be told that exercise is good for us. Whether you are overweight or have a chronic illness or are a slim couch potato, you've probably heard or read this dictum countless times throughout your life. But has anyone told you, indeed guaranteed you that regular physical activity will make you happier? I swear by it. Eric Butterworth tells us the goal should not be to make money or acquire things, but to achieve the consciousness through which the substance will flow forth when and as you need it. And finally, Eknath Eswaran tells us, meditation is warm up exercise for the mind so that you can jog through the rest of the day without getting agitated or spraining your patience. So energy. We're going to have a hard time living at our highest potential if we have a hard time getting out of bed or out of debt, Eh? We've got to create mind, body, spirit, health so we have the mojo to rock it. The first mini chapter in this section is called Gas and Saws. Are you too busy to take care of yourself if you said yes or even had to think about it for a bit? Um, well, hmm. That's kind of like saying you're too busy driving to stop for gas. Makes no sense. And whether you want to stop for gas or not, drive long enough and you'll need to. Same thing with life. If we ignore our emotional and physical fuel gauge and just keep driving and driving and driving, sooner or later we're going to run out of gas and rather than that annoying and embarrassing call for help and or walk to the gas station, we find ourselves laid out in bed and or in the hospital or worse. If you think you're too busy to take care of yourself, you really need to take care of yourself, whether that's developing a regular meditation practice, going to the gym five times a week, getting a massage once a week, or reading in the bath more often. We all need to fill up. So quit being a martyr. Say no to some of the stuff that just isn't really that important, and take care of yourself. Oh, one more thing. Ever hear the story about the guy who runs into another guy who's sawing down a tree? He's watching the guy work and work and work, and he's like, hey dude, you might want to sharpen that saw. I think it'll make everything a lot easier. And the other guy says, no way, man. I'm way too busy to slow down long enough to sharpen this thing. Don't be that silly. Sawing guy. Pretty please.
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.
