Brian Johnson records a short Heroic +1 podcast episode reflecting on concentration and mitochondrial health. He opens with Peter Drucker’s advice that effectiveness requires concentration and sustained, uninterrupted time blocks, references Johann Hari’s Stolen Focus on causes of attention loss, and summarizes key claims from Robert Lustig’s Metabolical that chronic disease equals mitochondrial dysfunction. He notes mitochondria counts per cell vary by tissue, highlights the brain’s high energy demand, and cites a ChatGPT-derived estimate that the body contains roughly 3.5 to 6 quadrillion mitochondria. The episode frames caring for mitochondria via fundamentals — eating, moving, sleeping, breathing, focusing — as essential to health and productivity.
Questions this episode answers
10:47am Central Time
2 hours and 25 minutes
Stolen Focus by Johann Hari; Metabolical by Robert Lustig
Approximately 3.5 quadrillion to 6 quadrillion mitochondria (assuming ~500 mitochondria per cell in 7–12 trillion non-red blood cells).
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. I typed this on a Wednesday morning. It was 10:47am Central Time and I was 2 hours and 25 minutes into a deep work block. So far that morning as part of my deep work week, as I hammered to get ahead on content so I could focus my energy on the next win note, I was employing one of my favorite ideas from Peter Drucker's Effective Executive, this one he once told us, if there is one secret of effectiveness, it is concentration. Effective executives do first things first and they do one thing at a time. There are always more important contributions to be made than there is time available to make them. That's a very important point. Therefore, he says there is always a time deficit. The more an executive focuses on upward contribution, the more will he require fairly big continuous chunks of time. The more he switches from being busy to achieving results, the more will he shift to sustained efforts, efforts which require a fairly big quantum of time to bear fruit. Yet to get even that half day or those two weeks of really productive time requires self discipline and an iron determination to say no. Similarly, he says, the more an executive works at making strengths productive, the more will he become conscious of the need to concentrate the human strengths available to him on major opportunities. This is the only way to get results.
End quote.
Now I just finished my notes on Johann Hari's great book Stolen Focus, in which he walks us through the 12 causes of why you can't pay attention and how to think deeply again. Now when I finish one note on days like this, before I take a break, I like to immediately start the next note to keep the momentum going and get my energy focused on my next micro win. In this case, the next note I'm working on is a book called Metabolical by Robert Lustig, subtitled the Truth About Processed Food and How it Poisons People in the Planet Metabolical. I have to say that the title alone creeps me out a bit and I must say that this was a tough book to read. Let's just say that it's not a warm and fluffy super inspiring self development book. As per the inside flaps of the book, Lustig documents how processed food has impacted each of the eight pathologies that underlie all chronic diseases, quote unquote over the last 50 years to ruin our health, economy and environment. And he proposes an urgent manifesto and strategy to cure both us and the planet. He insists that if we do not change the way we eat, we will continue to court chronic disease, bankrupt health care, and threaten the planet. But there is hope. This book explains what's needed to fix all three. Now. Although not warm and fluffy, it is incredibly sobering and ultimately inspiring. But that's not quite why I started writing this. Plus one this is Lustig, who is one of the world's leading experts on the root causes of chronic diseases, tells us chronic disease is mitochondrial dysfunction and mitochondrial dysfunction is chronic disease. They are one in the same. I repeat, chronic disease is mitochondrial dysfunction and mitochondrial dysfunction is chronic disease. They are one in the same. Now you remember your high school biology class? Neither do I. If you do, you might remember that mitochondria are the little energy engines inside nearly every single one of your cells that isn't a red blood cell. There are about 7 to 10 trillion non red blood cells in your body. The number of mitochondria within each of those cells varies. The cells that require the most energy have the most mitochondria. For example, your skin, which doesn't require much energy, only has a few hundred mitochondria in each cell, while high energy cells like your muscles and your liver have thousands. But you know what has the most mitochondria? Your brain cells. Remember, although your brain only accounts for 2% of your body weight, it uses 20% of your energy. And all that begs the question, how do we make sure we're taking good care of our mitochondria, to which I say dominate your fundamentals. Eating, moving, sleeping, breathing and focusing. Every single one of the little things we talk about all the time is helping you optimize the little engines inside your body, which helps you not only avoid chronic diseases in the future, but but enjoy your life by activating your heroic energy today. Oh, forgot to mention you know how many mitochondria we have when you add them all up? ChatGPT tells me that if we conservatively assume an average of 500 mitochondria per cell, then in 7 to 12 trillion cells, the total number of mitochondria could range from 3.5 quadrillion to 6 quadrillion. Therefore, ChatGPT says the human body likely contains several quadrillion mitochondria in total, though the exact number can vary based on individual factors like activity level, health and specific cell function. Let's take care of those little guys all day, every day. Especially today.
What's up? This is Michael, president and head coach at Heroic. One quick note before we go. I just think it's so amazing that Brian keeps reading all these books and distilling them into more wisdom in less time by the way. Thank you Brian for continuing to read the books distill them for us. I love not having to read the book, just getting them more wisdom and less time to the plus ones of Philosopher's Notes. And if you're into this kind of thing, expressing the best version of yourself and using your greatest gifts make a positive impact on the world. Make sure you head to Heroic Us to check out all the other resources that we have available to you. You can download a bunch of free goodies including Philosopher's Notes, masterclasses and our scientifically proven Heroic app. You can also explore advanced resources to help you go next level including live and virtual workshops, working one on one with a Heroic performance coach or even becoming a certified coach yourself as you master heroic performance, the fundamentals of coaching Excellence and Heroic Coaching prosperity. Again, head to Heroic Us to get the ancient wisdom, modern science and practical tools you need to activate your heroic potential and and change the world together. And please do hit subscribe, Appreciate you have a fantastic day and see you again soon.
