Micro Class - No Pressure No Diamonds

You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson. More wisdom in less time. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another micro class. This one's inspired by a chat I had yesterday with Steven Kotler, who wrote the great book the Rise of Superman. That's you with your cape on, flying away. The Rise of Superman, which is all about getting into the flow. State my interview. I asked Stephen, who's one of the world's leading experts on the science of flow, he created something called the Flow Genome Project. Check that out. I said, what's one of the best ways to get into flow? And he said, risk. You need to be willing to stretch yourself. We've talked about this a lot. Stretch, but don't snap. 4% is the place to go, right? Just outside of your current level of skill. Challenge to skill ratio is one of the hallmarks of flow, which we talk about all the time. That's flow. Here is your challenge. Here is your skill. If your challenge is too high relative to your skill, you're going to be anxious. The challenge is too low relative to your skill, you're going to be bored. Right. Challenge, skill, etc. So risking yourself by pushing yourself a little bit past your comfort zone is a great way to rise. At the end of our interview, I asked Stephen, as I ask all of my guests, what's one piece of wisdom that you would give someone who's committed to optimizing their lives and actualizing their potential? And he said this. No pressure, no diamonds. Quoting someone from a few hundred years ago. I don't recall who it was, but I love the idea. No pressure. Here. Here's a lump of coal. Isn't that pretty? It's just a lump of coal. Then what happens? Then it goes under unbelievable pressure for an unbelievable extended period of time. And what do you get out of it? Isn't that a gorgeous diamond? You get an amazing bling, bling, bling, bling diamond, but you only got it because of the pressure that it was under a significant amount of pressure, under a significant amount of time or over an extended period of time, right? And here we are again. Here's the little version of us, right? We push ourselves. Pressure, boom. Got a little bit bigger. Pressure, boom, boom. Put that out all the way over weeks and months and years and decades. And what do you have? You have a glittering, beautiful diamond of a life, but if you're never willing to put pressure on yourself, you're never going to get there. So what can you do to stretch a little bit more? Again, don't Snap. Ouch. Stretch. What's one thing you could do today? Number one thing. This is the most important part of all these classes. Theory to practice. What can you do to stretch a little bit more today? No pressure, no diamonds. Let's exert a healthy amount of pressure consistently let the compound effect go to work and watch our lives glitter shine. Let's do this. Hope you enjoyed. Look forward to sharing more. No pressure, no diamonds. Hi, this is Brian. I hope you enjoyed that micro class. If so, I think you'll enjoy everything else we offer at BrianJohnson me. Two basic things one our free newsletter. It's called the Optimizer. Over 50,000 people start their day with it and they tell us it's pretty awesome. And 2 our optimal living Membership program. This is where I put all my best stuff. 10 bucks a month for a ton of wisdom. Two primary things in there philosopher's notes plus optimal living 101 classes. When you sign up, you'll get instant access to 250 philosopher's notes, which are basically six page PDFs and 20 minute MP3s where I capture my favorite big ideas from great books. The PNTV episodes are kind of a mini version of all that goodness. You'll also get instant access to all my Optimal Living classes. This is where I take all the ideas we cover in the Philosopher's Notes and boil it down to the most practical stuff you can apply today. Classes include Confidence 101, Getting Stuff Done 101, Relationships 101, Habits 101, etc. You'll also get access to what we call micro classes that I think you'll love. We aim to astonish and we're blessed to have thousands of members telling us we're helping them change their lives and that this is the best 10 bucks they invest in themselves every month. Go to BrianJohnson ME membership to learn more. Thanks for your support and have an awesome day.