Brian Johnson explains "I sleep in the Citadel," a stoic practice for managing nighttime rumination. When racing thoughts start, focus on breathing and recite mantras to fall back asleep. Users who complete basic training are 10 times more likely to adopt the practice.
Questions this video answers
Over 75,000 targets.
June 16, 2024.
10 times more likely.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic plus one. In our last plus one we talked about the fact that I hit a dozen heroic targets within minutes of waking up. As I have fun doing the little things that keep me plugged in and making my prior best, my new baseline and all that. I share the fact that I've hit over 75,000 targets in our heroic app in the past two years. I also shared the fact that it's really hard to have a really bad day, let alone a series of bad days when I do the things I know help me show up as my best. Obviously we all have highs and lows, but our highs get higher and our lows get higher when we do the things that we know are best for us but don't believe me. Test it out yourself. I hereby challenge you to spend 15 to 30 minutes setting up your Heroic protocol, getting clarity on who you are at your best, then adding the top three things you do in your energy or work and love when you're at your best, then commit to being the best version of you in the morning and actually do those things. It's just not possible to spiral out of control when you do that again. Don't believe me? Test it. Note our data shows that you're 10 times more likely to set up your big three protocol if you've gone through basic training in the app. So go through basic training if you haven't yet. Now, today I want to chat about one of my heroic targets I hit first thing in the morning that I mentioned yesterday. You may have seen a couple of them and wondered what the heck they were. These two in particular. I sleep with tape and I sleep in the Citadel. The first one is Inspired by Patrick McGown. Learn more about that in our notes on the Oxygen Advantage and in Breathing101. Today I want to chat about this target I sleep in the Citadel that's inspired by Pierre Hadou. He wrote a great book all about the stoic spiritual practices of Marcus Aurelius called the Inner Citadel. It's fantastic. The Inner Citadel is what he calls the well trained mind. The mind that doesn't let anything into it without express consent. When we establish that inner citadel, he tells us, and I quote, Pierre Hadou, from now on, it feels nothing can invade or disturb it. It is like a cliff against which the crashing surf breaks constantly while it remains standing unmovably as the waves come bubbling to die at its feet. Now, every morning I commit to hitting that target, reminding me to never allow my mind to ruminate on things in the middle of the night when I go to bed. My thinking for the day is over. I sleep in a citadel. Of course on many nights the less than enlightened voices in my mind might want to chat about a million things. That's when I remember my target and the fact that I sleep in a citadel. Then I run the if then implementation intention algorithm that goes like this. If my mind starts ruminating at night, then I focus on my breathing and recite my prayer mantras. Then I fall back to sleep. Not always immediately but much faster than if I allowed the little thieves into my citadel via the back door. And that's today's plus one. If you feel so inspired, perhaps you can strengthen the fortification of your inner citadel and sleep safely within that inner fortress. Tonight it's day one. We're all in and we're having fun dominating our idiosyncratic protocols all day, every day, especially today and tonight.
