More Metaphorical Performance Pills: Are You Popping Them? (Heroic +1 #1863)

Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. In our last one, we spent some time with one of Europe's greatest peak performance coaches, a guy named Dave Allred. As we discussed, he wrote a great book called the Pressure Principle. That's all about how to handle stress, harness energy and perform on accounts. Check out the notes now. He playfully described the language we use when we talk to ourselves as the ultimate performance enhancing drug. I repeat, it has been said that it is the most powerful drug known to mankind. The performance edges. Then he's got his health disclaimers and some other great wisdom there. And I drove the point home by referencing Darren Donnelly's brilliant wisdom. Don't listen to yourself, talk to yourself. I also promised to share some of my other favorite references to metaphorical pills. So let's get to work. First, we have Matthew Walker. In his great book, why We Sleep. Check out those notes. He tells us about a, and I quote, amazing breakthrough, all caps bold. Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes you look more attractive. It keeps you slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off colds and the flu. It lowers your risk of heart attacks and strokes, not to mention diabetes. You even feel happier, less depressed and less anxious. Are you interested? Wow. Yes, I'll take it. He continues by saying, while it may sound hyperbolic, nothing about this fictitious advertisement would be inaccurate. If this were a drug, many people will be disbelieving. Those who were convinced would pay huge sums of money for even the smallest dose. Should clinical trials back up the claims, share prices of the pharmaceutical company that invented the drug would skyrocket. He says. Of course, the ad is not describing some miracle new tincture or a cure all wonder drug, but rather the proven benefits of a full night of sleep. The evidence supporting these claims have been documented in more than 17,000 well scrutinized in scientific reports to date. As for the prescription cost, well, there isn't one. It's free. Yet all too often we shun the nightly invitations to receive our full dose of this all natural remedy with terrible consequences fail. By the lack of public education, most of us do not realize how remarkable a panacea sleep truly is. Thank you, Matthew. Sleep, it does the body good. Then we have Jonathan Haidt's similar ad for meditation. In the Happiness Hypothesis. He tells us, and I quote him, suppose you read about a pill that you could take once a day to reduce anxiety and increase your contentment. Would you take it? Suppose further that the pill has a great variety of side effects, all of them good increased self esteem, empathy and trust. It even improves memory. Suppose finally that the pill is all natural and costs nothing. Now, would you take it? The pill exists. It's called Meditation. I'll take it. Check out Meditation 101 for more on that. Then there's John Ratey's thoughts on the magic of exercise. In his great book Spark. He tells us, and I quote him, I tell people that going for a run is like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin because like the drugs, exercise elevates these neurotransmitters. It's a handy metaphor to get the point across, but the deeper explanation is that exercise balances neurotransmitters along with the rest of the neurochemicals in the brain. And he says, as you'll see, keeping your brain in balance can change your life. Check out the notes on Spark and check out movement 101 for more. And that's today's plus one. I forgot to say check out sleep 101 too. How we talk to ourselves matters. So does how we sleep and meditate and exercise. How can you pop a little metaphorical performance enhancing pill to take your energy to the next next level? Get on that and make today another great day.