Micro Class - Tents + Towers

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 on tents and Towers. It's inspired by an interview I did with Tom Morris in relationship to his books that I will put links to below. Tom Morris wrote a book called True Success. He also wrote Philosophy for Dummies. He's a dual PhD from Yale in religious studies and philosophy. Taught at Notre Dame for decades. Extraordinary human being. We were chatting about a lot of things and the importance of fundamentals. Fundamentals are essential for success. Doing the little things as well as we can. The ancient philosophers talked about it. Aristotle told us that excellence, or arete, is not an act, but it's a habit. We are what we repeatedly do, right? So we need to do the little things well, consistently. And Tom shared this metaphor that I just loved. He said, look, if you're putting up a tent, hello, little tent, you're just pitching a tent. You don't need a strong foundation. But if you want to put up a tower, this is your tower, right? A life that you're proud of, well, guess what? That requires a different level of fundamentals, a different foundation than your little tent. If all you want is a little pop tent, it's not a big deal, and that's fine. If that's all you want, you can just sweep area underneath where you're gonna put the tent. Put in a stake, put in another stake, boom, done, call it a day. Not a big deal. But if you want to create a great life, a tower that you're proud of, you need to dig a really, really, really deep foundation. You need to focus on the fundamentals, which of course is the same root word, right? Foundation. Fundamentals. The fundamentals are the foundation to your success. May not seem like it's a big deal. John Wooden talked about this. People laughed at some of the things that he did. He taught his players how to put on their socks, as we talked about in a recent micro class. But those fundamentals were essential to their ultimate success. So if we want to actualize our potential, we can't do that without a really, really strong foundation, period. So identify what your foundation looks like. What are your fundamentals? You do these things on the days that you are rocking it, and you're going to commit to doing them more and more consistently, because this is what you're committed to creating and actualizing your pot. Then of course, we're going to focus on this one. The top thing that you do that keeps you plugged in that is your new or your continued non negotiable habit. Tents and towers. Keep that in mind as you're architecting your ideal life. And remember, it's fine, no foundation necessary for the tent. But if you want a great life that can endure a big windstorm that would knock this over, then you'd be wise to focus on your fundamentals. Hope you enjoyed. Look forward to sharing more. Have another awesome day. See ya. 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.