Brian Johnson (Heroic +1) presents a short episode inspired by Arnold Bennett's essay How to Live on 24 Hours a Day. He contrasts common money-budget thinking with Bennett's recommendation to budget and prioritize daily time, quotes Bennett directly about the fixed 24-hour allotment and the urgency of using it well, and issues practical prompts (start/stop one thing today) and a pro-tip to remove negative habits. The episode also references Cal Newport and James Clear as related self-development influences and includes a brief promo for Johnson's Masterpiece Days 101 class.
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How to Live on 24 Hours a Day
August 14, 2024
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. In our last couple 1s we spent some time with Cal Newport. As you may recall, I am deeply inspired by his wisdom admonition don't take breaks from distraction, instead take breaks from focus. That's a big idea. We also discussed the fact that Cal showed up in a recent Economist article that featured a couple of self development gurus, James Clear and Arnold Bennett. If you're even remotely interested in self development and or have been even remotely following along, I'm 99% sure you know that James Clear is the best selling author of Atomic Habits. Check out those notes for more. But even if you're really into self development, you probably haven't heard of, let alone studied Arnold Bennett and his great little book how to live on 24 hours a day. So that's what we're going to discuss today. Let's get to work. Arnold Bennett was born in 1867. He was an English novelist and playwright and he was a contemporary of Dale Carnegie. I got this great little book after Carnegie raved about it in his book how to Win Friends and Influence People. Now in his tiny little booklet, Bennett tells us that most people focus on how to get by on a budget of X dollars per day when. But what we really should be thinking about is how we can most effectively use the precious 24 hours we're given every day. Here's how he puts it, and I quote Arnold, you have to live on this 24 hours of daily time. Out of it you have to spend health, pleasure, money, respect and the evolution of your immortal soul. Its right use, its most effective use, is a matter of the highest urgency and of the most thrilling actuality all depends on that. Your happiness, the elusive prize that you are all clutching for my friends depends on that. Strange that the newspapers, so enterprising and up to date as they are, are not full of how to live on a given income of time instead of how to live on a given income of money. He continues by saying, which of us is not saying to himself, which of us has not been saying to himself all his life, I shall alter that when I have a little more time. And he says, we never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had all the time. There is. It is the realization of this profound and neglected truth that has led me to the practical examination of daily time expenditure. And that's today's one. We'll explore some more great ideas from his great little book in our next 1s for now, what's one thing you know you could start doing today that would help you get the most out of the next 24 hours? You got it. Awesome. Go crush it. And what's one thing you know you could stop doing today that would help you get the most out of the next 24 hours? You got it. Awesome. Stop doing that. And a pro tip. Reminder. Remember, remember, the fastest way to change our lives is almost always removing the negative habits or kryptonites that are depleting our power. Here's to squeezing the joyful juice out of our next 24 hours. It's day one. We're all in. Let's go, little P.S. here. Check out Masterpiece Days 101. An old school class I taught years ago for more goodness on the subject.
