Interview: The Game-Changers Blueprint with Robin Sharma

You're listening to Optimize with Brian Johnson.

More wisdom in less time. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to the Optimal Living Interview series. Today I am thrilled to be chatting with Robin Sharma. Robin is one of the world's leading leadership experts. He works with the top companies in the world to help them perform at their absolute best. He also does a ton of stuff online. You can find him@robinsharma.com if you aren't familiar with his work yet. I was first introduced to Robin when I picked up the Greatness Guide. Finished it in one read. The thing is just awesome and packed with wisdom. Somehow we connected and I wound up buying copies of that book for everyone on our team and a bunch of friends. And then we got together for breakfast and. And I drove him to the airport. We wound up looping around LAX chatting. I felt like I met a soul brother. One of my deepest influences and inspirations. And he wrote, just so you know, the other books, the Greatness Guide, the Monk who Sold His Ferrari. Awesome fable about fulfilling your dreams and reaching your destiny. If you haven't read that yet, check it out. And then his most recent book, the Leader who Had no title. All are awesome. Robin, I appreciate you taking the time and just being who you are and doing the work you do.

Wonderful to reconnect. Brian, congratulations on all the great things you're doing in the world.

Thank you. The fun has just begun and I'm excited to talk about. Let's just go straight there. Greatness. So in your books you come back to a number of themes again and again. And you talk a lot about greatness. Can you tell us what greatness means to you?

If.

And then we can talk about kind of how we can each embody the potential within?

Well, you know, I think, I know we need to be inspirational and high energy and tactical, but I mean, I think one of the greatest sadnesses of life is we're born into this greatness. We're born into this genius. And what that means to me is each of us has this incredible glory within us. We have fearlessness. We're born into fantastic health in many ways. We're born into creativity. We're born into a connection to our talents. But as we leave the perfection of early childhood, those around us start to pull the wool over our eyes, you know, to borrow a line from, from the Matrix. And so those around us tell us, you know, like, don't, don't laugh too loud. Don't release your potential. Don't dream too big. Don't speak with Your authentic voice. And so what happens is this greatness and this is really just our true power, it begins to be stifled and we sort of become like everyone else and we lose that connection with our best selves. And then we actually resign ourselves to aver. And we think that, you know, the Elon Musk's and the Ludwig van Beethoven's and the great. The great ones are somehow cut from a different cloth, which just isn't true. Each of us can do amazing things with our lives in our own unique way. If we start to own that greatness or that true power within us.

That starting point again, it's such an awesome theme throughout your books is greatness is not reserved to the few. It's within you. Now let's tap into it before we jump into the greatness. I wanted to connect that to leadership. So greatness and leadership are two super powerful themes in your work. Can you describe leadership for us and how that parallels greatness?

Well, as you mentioned, I've written a whole book called the Leader who Had no Title, which contains my philosophy summarized in a line. It's anyone can lead without a title. The old model of leadership, Brian, is only prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, people at the top of an organization are leaders. And everyone just has to follow. And, you know, I believe we're now in Leadership 2.0. The whole idea of there's been a democratization of leadership. And so now I think not only the opportunity, but the responsibility of every one of us in work, in our communities, in our home lives, in our personal lives, is to really get that leadership isn't about a title. It's not about some position or an office. It's a mindset. And one of the best examples I can give to you. A couple of summers ago, I was in Johannesburg and I went into the airport and I went into the men's room and I hear this booming voice, welcome to my office. And here was this South African janitor who really worked like Picasso painted. I mean, his eyes sparkled. He felt he was an ambassador for South Africa. He was warm. His office was impeccable. And to me, that that's really what a leader without a title is. It's basically no matter what you do in the world, understand that your work is an opportunity to serve people, to allow people to grow as a human being. And all work has dignity to it.

That's amazing. So I'd love to look at some of the ways that we cultivate that within we discover, cultivate, and then really shine and express it. So Much of your work comes back to the power of our mind and our thoughts. And I love the intensity with which you communicate the importance of this. Can you talk to us about why it's so important to, to master our minds and some tips on how to do it?

Well, you know, I think the fundamental thing is your outer life never rises any higher than your self belief and your identity. I mean, that's the fundamental psychological principle. So it's the old, the old truth which is actually borne out by a lot of the new science and psychology, which is we don't see the world as it is. We see the world as we are. You know, and I'll repeat it again because I think it's so important, you know, we don't see the world as it truly is. We see the world as we are. We see, to use Joseph Campbell's wonderful idea, the stained glass window. But we see everything through our own stained glass window of our thoughts and our beliefs. And it's such a seduction and a hypnosis that, you know, we go out in the world and we have a fight with a loved one or a difficult client, or, you know, we stumble because a project doesn't work, or we get heartbroken and we blame it on the world without realizing it really is our belief system that is causing us to feel a certain way and behave in a certain way. And it's such a simple truth. But when you start to look at your own beliefs, you look your own stained glass window. When you clean up your own heart so that you start to forgive the unforgiven, so you start to clean up your mind to release the toxicity of fear, so you feel bravery. Then obviously you go in the world and you see a fundamentally different world. You don't see problems, you see possibilities, you don't see negative people, you see human beings doing the best that they can do. You don't see, you see opportunity. So the starting point really is understanding that we are creating our world. It's not about metaphysics, although I believe in metaphysics borne out by quantum physics. You know, it's simple. It's simply remembering that our outer behavior reflect our deepest beliefs. And our deepest beliefs are picked up from our mom, our dad, our teachers, Society, our peers, etc. And once you start to look at that, it's totally a game changer.

Okay, so I want to talk more about identity and self image, which is a theme that a lot of our members come back to often. And I forgot to mention that Robin and I are in the documentary On Joseph Campbell called Finding Joe. If you haven't checked that out yet, I think you'll love it. All about the hero's journey. And Robin is of course awesome in that. And let's go back to identity. So identity and self image. How do we cultivate a stronger identity and a stronger self image? What are some practical things we can think about?

Well, practical things to think about is simply the idea that there are no extra people on the planet today. You know, practical things to think about is, you know, even if you're a janitor in a, you know, in a men's room, in a washroom in Johannesburg, or even if you're a street sweeper, you know, there's an opportunity there, there's dignity there, there's, there's the chance for you to say, you know what? I'm going to do a beautif job. I'm going to inspire every person I counters encounter today. So I leave them better than I found them. I'm going to do what's right. Not because there's applause and people watching, but because it raises my own self identity, you know. And then if you're looking for the tactics to rewire your thinking, I mean, your people are smart, you're smart, you know, all of these. It's the fundamentals, you know, number one, getting your words right. Shifting from victim speak. Like you hear victim speaking every day. I hate this job. I'm sick of this customer. I can't do this. Or they say to you, please don't forget versus please remember to bring home the milk or the bread. So shifting from victim speak to leadership language. Leaders without titles totally get that the words you use affect your identity. They affect your mindset. They frame a context for the way you're seeing adversity into opportunity. They affect your energy. So number one, get your words right. Understand that the words you use each day are unbelievably power powerful not only for your mindset, but for other people's mindse. Secondly, the importance of your conversations. I mean, you become your conversations. I wrote that in the Greatness Guide. Anyone who's interested in what we're sharing about would love the Greatness Guide and thank you for your generous words on it. But if you're the smartest person on your street, maybe today is the time to find a new street. If you're the most optimistic person in your community, maybe it's time to move to a new community. If you are the fastest, bravest, most optimizing person in your social circle, maybe you'll have the guts today to to find an even better social circle. So number two, it's your community and conversations. Number three, learning. I mean, we live in a world addicted to distraction, right? Like people are busy being busy watching kittens on YouTube. The game changing move is falling in love with learning. Like outlearn everyone around you. Go to the conferences every quarter, invest in Brian Johnson's programs, invest in the audio books. Pour your income into learning and you double and triple your income and impact. We could keep on going on. What else can I say? Get into amazing physical fitness. The Spartan Warriors. What did they say? He who sweats more in training bleeds less in war. So start your day. The first 20 minutes I can run through my 20, 2020 formula. It's become pretty famous across the world. But the first 20 minutes of your day, intense exercise is another game changer. Why? Because you release bdnf. Brain derived neurotrophic factor. A lot of pundits like, like Dr. Rady and I think he did a piece on Spark. Beautiful book. He says BDNF is miracle grow for the brain. You can actually regrow damaged brain cells that have been deteriorated by stress. Those are just some of the fundamental tactics. But I guess I would wrap that up with a bow for you and simply say, what makes genius is less genetics and more your habits. Get your daily habits right until they reach a point of automaticity. So you just run them automatically and a world life unfolds for itself.

So good, let's run with that into fundamentals. One of my favorite phrases, and I'm just going to paraphrase my recollection of your wisdom, but something along the lines of you've worked with and studied great human beings for a long, long time at this point. And although they differ in what they do, they all have a ruthless, fierce commitment to their fundamentals. Can you talk to us about that more? I just get so fired up about that.

Well, you know, a couple examples. I was skiing in New Zealand in 2009 when I wrote the leader had no title. And as I was skiing, you know, I really work on my skiing. And my instructor pointed out an Olympic champion for New Zealand. And he goes, he goes, look at her. And she was pretty much doing the snowplow, Brian. I mean, and I go, what is she doing? She's a world class skier and her coach, her coach is getting her to do a snow plow. And he goes, you know, that's where the work is done. It's iterating and optimizing the fundamentals. Second example is, you know, I run an event every year called the Titan Summit and it's this world class four day event. Last year we had Richard Branson as one of the speakers on my faculty and everything. Richard Branson, I mean, he's one of the most admired entrepreneurs on the planet. Everything he said was about the fundamentals is like, treat your team well, deliver good value to your customers, enjoy what you do, etc. So I guess what I'm suggesting in response to your question is world class performers are less about complexity and more about optimizing simplicity. I mean, you've got a lot of entrepreneurs who listen, there's nothing they don't currently know in scaling a world class business. It's about the fundamentals. But small daily improvements on the fundamentals every day done with ridiculous consistency creates insane revolutions over time. So that's really the secret of greatness, not only for entrepreneurs, but in your health, in your love life, in your interior life, in your service to the world. Use every single day as a platform for tiny optimizations and iterations done with consistency. And the days slip into weeks, the weeks slip into months. And those little steady improvements, they seem so small, you know, we're seduced into thinking they don't matter. But if you do it with, with intense consistency, you get to the next 10 years, the next 20 years, or the last hour of your last day and you go, I lived at iconic.

I'm sitting here shaking my head in inspiration. Ridiculous consistency. What was that phrase? Ridiculous consistency. I had no idea it was so good.

I just, you know, I mean, I just think, speak from the heart, right? Speak from the heart and let it flow.

This is so good. So optimizing simplicity, ridiculous consistency compounded over time leads to iconic Titan esque true greatness and whatever expression that is for us. Let's loop back to 2020. For those who aren't familiar with that, can you give us the high level overview of 2020?

Absolutely. So maybe I'll share some of my protocols for greatness in world class. So the first One is the 2020-20 formula, well known around the world for the 5am Club. What I suggest is while you're in the habit of getting up at 5am, it'll take you about 66 days according to the latest science. Then what do you do? Simple first 20 minutes, intense exercise. Why? You get the BDNF going in your brain. You release dopamine, which is the inspirational neurotransmitter, you release serotonin which makes you feel pleasure. So why wouldn't you do that even if you don't feel like doing that? Second 20 minutes thinking. And I love to journal. So the next 20 minute pocket 202020 formula. Write on paper in your journal. Write about your fears, write about your hopes, write about your pain, write about your goals, write about your ideal day. Write about what you've learned from life. Get to know yourself so you'll live a much more intentional, conscious, gorgeous day. Final 20 minute pocket 202020 formula learn. So podcasts, Brian Johnson information, you know, Ted talks, reading a book like Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, one of my favorite books. I know you love it too, but use that learning. If you give yourself the gift of those first 60 minutes of glory, you're, you know, just. I would lovingly encourage, encouragingly ask your many listeners, listeners from across the planet. Trust me on this. You know, millions of people have used the 2020 formula and it changes not only your days, but you get this momentum. Your life begins to change, your mindset begins to change, your energy changes, your results and execution begins to change. Want me to share some more tactics?

Yes, please.

The second the 20 the 1991 rule. The first 90 minutes of your workday for your next 90 days singularly focused on your single biggest opportunity to change the game within your company and within your industry. What do most people do? Average performers, they chit chat, they surf the Internet, they use their finest hour for their least leverage activities. The 90901 rule. First 90 minutes of your workday for the next 90 days, schedule it so it gets done. Focused on your single biggest project or opportunity. Third thing I'd simply share would be the 6010 method. And this is simply Science has shown us that the best producers, the uber productive performers, they don't work in a linear way. They don't go, oh, let me work from 9 o' clock to 10 o'. Clock. That actually depletes your productivity and your focus. What you want to be doing is 60 minute intense bursts of monomaniacal focus and production and then go for a walk for 10 minutes or meditate for 10 minutes and then do another cycle. And I'm going to be a little bit challenging and disruptive. But you know, if you do that, then working for four hours a day is pretty much all you need to do. Then after that, do what I do. Hop on your mountain bike and go for a ride.

This is. I want to go back to the. The 90. Was it 99? One rule.

Is that how you described it the 1991 rule.

So I got 90 minutes and the one is the one most important. Am I missing something in between? I just want to make sure I get this.

Yeah, yeah. You know, no, you're. I'm sorry if I didn't 99 1. Clearly.

Okay, got it. Cool.

The first 90 minutes.

Yep.

For the next 90 days.

Got it.

Monomaniacally focused on the single biggest project. Because I guess what I was suggesting behind that is the secret to genius is simplicity. Focusing on one thing versus what most of us do. We're addicted to distraction. We try to do all these great opportunities so we're average at many things.

That's so good. Okay, cool. I just want to make sure that I and Our listeners got it 90, 91 Rule number one, biggest project is big thing that we talk about. Deep work, deep focus, get rid of the distractions.

Got it.

This is so good. And then the 60 10, kind of a Jim Lore style, making waves. Right. Of being intensely on and then recover, rest. And as you said, I interviewed Steven Kotler, the rise of Superman, and he was talking about getting in flow and how expensive of a state it is. We want to be there. But that's expensive. Right. We've got to recover if we want to be able to maintain that level of intensity. So I love the 60 10. And then I want to go back to your 5am Club, which was one of the things I wanted to make sure we talked about. You inspired me to get up before 5am every morning, talk to us about why that's so important. And then I also want to talk about how and what practices people need to bake into their lives in the PM in order to make that an effortless transition.

Sure. Well, you know, I think all of us are busy. The world has never been so complex. I mean, that's all just obvious. And so here's the quote unquote magic behind the 5am club. The time between 5am and 8am is still the quietest, least distracted time in the world. So, you know, there's a lot of competition in the world, but yet most people will never get up at 5am and so you get up at 5. There's still not a lot of traffic. You know, people are still not firing off emails at you. There's still not a lot of knocks on your door, metaphorically speaking. And that's why, you know, and it's just a wonderful time to do your powerful inner work. And that's why a lot of the monks and sages for many years have got up at even 4 o' clock in the morning. So it's just a very special time of the day. And if you give yourself that gift of those 60 minutes, then what happens? What happens is you actually get that 60 minutes to prime yourself so you're not chasing after your day. You've actually centered your mindset, centered your emotional life, centered your physical life and centered your spiritual life. So your day is a fundamentally different day.

Yep. And it's. You say it in a different way. And the leader who had no title. But I like to say it's hard to have a bad day when you start off like that and put positively you create that momentum that over time compounded, as we discussed, is huge. What tips do you have for people? Obviously it starts with a commitment of I'm going to do this, but what tips do you have to shift if they're currently on the other end of the spectrum? What do you recommend? What did you do when you started building this practice or that you've counseled, you know, however many people you've worked with on this?

Absolutely well. So let's go to some of the research. University College of London relatively recently found that it takes not 21 days to install a new habit, but it takes 66 days to reach the point of what they call automaticity. That's a game changing insight. Why do a lot of the books we read don't work? Why do a lot of the rituals we try to install don't get installed? It's because we don't stay with it for 66 days. Second thing I would say is simply all change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end. I'll repeat it again because I think that's been very helpful to so many of our clients. All change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end. So if it's not disruptive and messy and scary and uncomfortable at the beginning, it's not real change. So with that understanding, as you try to install the 5am club, just get it that the next 66 days will be uncomfortable, messy, confusing. And that's simply because you're dismantling old mindsets, old habits, old neuropathways. And over time you're going to get to a place with practice, consistency, patience, grit, 66 days where it will then be easier to get up at 5am than not to get up at 5am Another quick tips would simply be make sure you do get enough sleep. 5:00am Club is not about sleep deprivation, it's about Getting into bed a little bit earlier. Actually, there's a lot of science saying that what we do between 11 and 12 is pretty toxic. It's news, it's often alcohol, it's junk food. So getting into bed a little bit earlier will bring good things into your life. Then a very sort of. It sounds a little silly, but it's worked so well for me. I take my alarm clock next to my bed and actually put it 45 minutes ahead of the actual time. Brian. I don't know why it works, but I get up and I go, oh, it's 5:45 or 6:15 or whatever it is. And it's actually 5:00am But I get out of bed. Final thing, just because I love you. Few things will allow you to get up earlier than getting into professional athlete physical condition that just makes you bound out of bed and sort of release your genius into the day because you're so fit.

I love it. It's another one of the highlights I wanted to touch on is you come back to the athlete so often and so powerfully and so it just brings it all home. Right. Imagine an athlete that wouldn't put in this level of attention to their physical body and to their energy levels, et cetera. So love that. We can talk about that in different contexts than we have. But I would like to highlight goals really quickly. Obviously goals are important, everyone talks about it. But the way that you articulate the power of goals I find extraordinary. Can you give us a quick kind of highlight on how you approach goals and how you recommend we approach goals?

Sure. So in the Monk who Sold His Ferrari, there's a lot of great information for anyone looking on visions, collaging goals, how to execute on your dreams. I mean, that's what the Monk is all about. What I would say is this, you know, clarity breeds mastery. Vague visions lead to vague execution. So you know, greatness and a beautiful life and love and prosperity and great health and world class work. This is meant for every single one of your listeners. And they might not believe me, but that's just because there's disbelief installed within their programming. And the reality is world class performers reach that place. Those with gorgeous lives haven't got there by luck. They've got there by strategy and execution. And one of the starting points, if you really want to make today the first day of a whole new life, is getting great clarity on what's most important to you. And it sounds so obvious, but most people really do spend more time planning their grocery lists and their summer vacations than they do, considering their lives. The starting point is what I call the big five. And I was in South Africa on a safari and the game warden said, you know, Robin, we're going to go have a look at the big five game. You know, that's what the game hunters do. And I went back to my hotel later that day and I asked, I pulled out my journal. I, I adore journaling. And I ask myself, what is my big five? I mean, for however long I get to live and serve, what are the five things that must occur before the last hour of my last day for me to feel I lived a world class life. And I look at those on a consistent basis. Then you look at your annual five. Those are the five things that need to happen over the next 12 months for you to feel this was the single greatest year you've been on the planet. Then you do your quarterly five and then you come down incrementally to your daily five. Five little wins that need to happen today before you close your sleep in bed for you to feel this was a good day. And if you did that after 12 months, we know what it is, right? It's 1850 little wins. After 10 years, 18,000 little wins. How could you not get to world class even at the end of the next 12 months if you didn't run this Daily 5 protocol?

I'm sitting here with a standing ovation, in awe of silence. Big five boiled down to its essence, your lifetime. What do you need to do break it all the way down this year? Quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily, boom. Get it done. 1850 wins over the year. 18,500 wins over the next 10 years. Good luck doing that and not achieving whatever it is you aspire to achieve. Right, right.

And we've covered so much information, some of your, your listeners might be going, well, I'm overwhelmed. How could I do all that? You don't. You pick and choose all of the, you know, the buffet of ideas and tactics we've journeyed through and you pick and choose what works and feels right for you. You know, I mean that's what we're serving. I mean, I think that's what leadership is. I mean, you know, my dominant obsession in my, I've been at this 20 years and you know, I, I could spend my days skiing and mountain biking, but I'm working harder than ever before. I still get on airplanes. I do Facebook posts four times a day. We're doing this new product that we discussed in the pre call the game changers blueprint. Why I want to serve. I think ultimately leadership and what you do, Brian, it's about service. When I was growing up, my dad really installed into my wiring intellectually. He used a quote and it was, son, when you were born, you cried while the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way that when you die, the world cries while you rejoice. To lead is to serve. Greatness is ultimately using your life, no matter what you do, to lift the world and other human beings by your presence, by your mindset and by your work.

It's an amazing way to. To conclude our chat, there's some other things I want to talk about, but I just love that the essence of that, I mean that is the through line. Let's become what we're capable of being so we can give our gifts in greatest service to the world. Let's talk more about the Game Changing Blueprint, the Game Changers Blueprint. This is Robin's newest work. I'm really excited about it. And can you tell us more about that and where people can learn more?

Absolutely. So I'm amped on this. This is basically, I think we are going into a lot of disruption, even more disruption, economic, economically, societal, wise, globally in the coming months and years. For the ordinary performer, these are going to be terrifying times. A lot of unemployment, economic collapses, etc. Etc. For the leader and the game changer, these are going to be exciting, inspiring times. What I've done over the past year is I've taken the best ideas I've learned on high performance, greatness, leadership, service, a world class life, and I've put them into a single online program called the Game Changers Blueprint. You know, the latest, newest, greatest information that I have accumulated working, you know, with NBA players and billionaires and superstars, etc. Anyone who's interested in learning more about it, just go over to my Facebook page, you know, just google robinsharma.com facebook or go over to robinsharma.com or get onto my list. I don't spam. We offer great value. And then over the next week or two, they're going to learn all about the Game Changers Blueprint and learn how to get a membership into the program.

That's awesome. I like to end these chats with one final question. If you could share just one piece of wisdom with someone passionate about optimizing their lives, what would that one piece of wisdom be?

Less ego, more service. I mean, you know, life is incredibly short and it's not about the things that we think success and greatness are about and we can each get seduced into, oh, how many Facebook followers do I have? Oh, how much money do I make? Oh, do I live in the right home or homes? Oh, do I have the beautiful people around me? And it's not about any of that stuff. And sadly, a lot of us don't really get to that until we're too old to do anything about it. And I think ultimately, you know, it's about service, it's about love, it's about humanity, it's about decency. And you know, I think doesn't mean you can't be brave and strong. I mean, loving and serving and being decent and optimistic and sweet. I mean, that man in that Johannesburg washroom is my hero. And he's my hero because he didn't buy into the trappings of society's measures of success. He, he understands that he's alive for a reason and he's, he's doing his work like it's the most important job in the world. And so the final thing I would just say is, you know, everyone who's listening, you matter. There's a reason you're, you're alive on the planet today and you know, make it less about your ego and more about serving and giving and birthing your potential into the world. And yes, it's hard because if it was easy, everyone would be world class.

Beautiful. Thank you, Robin. I appreciate you.

Great, Brian, thank you for your time.

Isn't it a bit odd we went from math to science to history, but somehow Matt missed the class on how to live? For some wacky reason, optimal living 101 never made the schedule. Of course it's too late to go back and change that and you're too busy to read full time to catch up yet. If you're like us, you're all about optimizing your life and actualizing your potential. So imagine this. Imagine having someone read the best books on optimal living and pulling out the big ideas that can truly change your life. You know those sections you asterisks and underline and mark all up? Then imagine that guy me, connecting those ideas to other great books and helping you apply them to your life today. Well, that's what I do is something we call Philosopher's Notes where I break down each great book into a simple 6 page PDF, 20 minute MP3 and 10 minute Philosopher's Notes TV episode. Then imagine me taking the absolute best big ideas from those great books and sharing them with you in fun, inspiring, super practical optimal living 101. Classes on stuff like purpose 101, confidence 101, business 101, meditation 101, that sort of thing. You've got a personal trainer? I'm kind of like your personal philosopher. Ancient wisdom plus modern science plus common sense. Virtue plus mastery plus fun. That's what our optimized membership program is all about. We'd love to have you join us.

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