Optimal Breathing 101 (Intro)
17 Dec 2025 · 5 min
Brian Johnson introduces Self Image 101, outlining 10 core ideas for building an optimal self-image. He contrasts the optimus you (your best self) with the entheos you (your heroic, divinely inspired self), then previews exercises, frameworks, and practices like mirror work and affirmations to help you become that version.
You're listening to the Optimize with Brian Johnson podcast. Unlock the full optimize experience and join over 10,000 premium members at Optimize Me.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to the Optimal Living 101 Masterclass Series. Today I'm thrilled to be chatting About Self Image 101, how to Create the best, most authentically heroic version of you. As always, we have 10 big ideas. Let's take a quick look and then we'll dive in. Alright, so when we talk about self image, we need to step back and look at our first big idea, which is the true you. The true you, I propose is a constellation of both the optimus you and the entheos U which equals hero you. We're going to talk about the Latin root of the word optimus, the Greek root of the words entheos and hero, and how that relates to you and the self image we want to create today. The second big idea is optimus you. We're going to drill into that. Optimus, of course, is the root of the word optimal, which means the best, the best version of you. As Abraham Maslow says, what one can be, one must be. So the question is, what must you be? We want to get clarity on that and actualize your potential. We'll talk about how we'll walk through a lot of the exercises, or a few of the exercises, I should say, from purpose 101 that will help us get clarity there. We've got to see that best version of us so we can create this optimal self image. Our third big idea is entheos U. We are going to talk about a Joseph Campbell idea. Am I the bulb or am I the light? He says yes. We're going to talk about entheosu, Greek entheos, God within. The divine is within you. We need to allow it to flow through us. We're going to talk about how to go about doing that. The fourth big idea is we need to see it. We need to actually step back and see the best version of us and that entheos divinely inspired version of us. We're going to do a little exercise with our mirror and we're going to invite Michelangelo to the party. Fifth big idea, you need to see it. And then the fifth idea is you need to be it. We're going to talk about 3D's, 1A and 2T's, the 3D's Daimon, Dreamer and doer. We're going to talk about the relationship between those three, the one A arete, which again, if I had to summarize my entire philosophy in one word. There it is. Arete. Express the best version of yourself moment to moment to moment. The two T's are tools and turnarounds. We need to get really good at noticing when we are not connected to the best among us and create that new self image by turning it around quickly, making it a game using our tools. 3Ds 1A 2T's our sixth big idea. The old you plus the new you. We're gonna do a demolition on the old you while we do a never ending construction project on the new you. We're gonna identify what you need to stop doing, what you need to start doing to create that best, most heroically awesome version of you. Self image 101 style. 7th big idea. We want to give it a context. We want to create this new self image within the context of your most important goal. So what's the number one most wildly important goal in your life right now? Your wig, as the four disciplines of execution guys put it. What is that? We're gonna whoop it and then we're gonna win. We're going to hold that vision into the present moment and we're gonna do what's important now. W I n what's important now. We're gonna win, win, win in pursuit of that wildly important goal. Wig. And you're gonna do that as the new version of you gonna have that context. The eighth big idea.
Antifragile.
Confidence and buoyancy. If there's one quality that I think is most important for this new self image, it's anti fragility. We're gonna talk about what that means. Fragile, resilient, Antifragile. We're gonna talk about confidence, which is not the idea that something's gonna go right. It's that it doesn't matter how it goes. It you know, you have what it takes to respond to it. Then we're going to talk about buoyancy. Really cool idea from Barbara Fredrickson, the leading researcher on the science of positivity. You don't want to be too positive and obviously you don't want to be too negative. You want to be grounded. You want to have both, what she calls levity and gravity. When you hold both, then you have proper buoyancia, empowered, grounded energy. We'll talk about how to do that. Antifragile style. Our ninth big idea is affirmations versus affirmations. Affirmations versus affirmations. There's actually something called self affirmation theory.
Which is really powerful.
But it's different than what you probably think about when you think of affirmations. We're also going to talk about self talk and that it's a lot more powerful, paradoxically, to ask yourself questions. Interrogative self talk is what researchers call it versus making declarations. I'm awesome versus am I going to be able to do this the way I want? You'll find some surprising answers to the power of those two approaches. Then we have affirmations. At the end of the day, all that matters is are you being that best version of you. Act as if you are not in a fake it till you make it kind of way, but in a be the best version of you right now kind of way. Talk about how to go about doing that. The tenth big idea in self image 101 is other and image 101. How do you see other people? That's a reflection of how you're seeing yourself. We want to go with Walt Whitman's wisdom, which is in the faces of men and women. I see God. Let's practice seeing that in the mirror. And then as we go through our day, love 2.0 style, etc. And then we're gonna have a bonus 11th big idea. Arete, Arete. Arete. We want a high five. High five. High five. Our inner daimon again and again and again. Such that we bring our optimus and our entheos version of ourselves together and we can express the most heroic within ourselves more and more consistently and in the process construct the best, most heroically awesome version of you. That's the quick look. Let's dive in.
Hey, this is Brian with a quick question for you. Do you know what the word optimize literally means? It's from the Latin optimus, which means the best. In our case, we're talking about helping you create the best version of you. So another quick question. What's the best version of you look like? How does that version of you show up in the world? Helping you be that version of yourself all day, every day is what our optimized membership program is all about. Now, we obviously give away a ton of content for free and we give our 10,000 plus premium members a ton more. Members get hundreds of Philosopher's notes, which are 20 minute book summaries that help you apply the best big ideas from the best optimal living books to your life today. Plus members get dozens of hour long optimal living 101 masterclasses. More wisdom in less time for your busy life. On everything from the science of setting and achieving goals, how to optimize your energy via the fundamentals of nutrition, movement, sleep and meditation and how to be super productive day in and day out. While, of course, enjoying the whole process. Every facet of your life optimized equals you at your absolute best.










