Brian Johnson, creator of Optimize and the Founder + CEO of Heroic, joins Commander Divine to discuss creating heroic technology for a virtuous world. They explore the challenges between hedonistic happiness and true fulfillment, the importance of courage in a hero's journey, and the role of technology in empowering users to lead disciplined, focused lives. The chapter also touches on Brian's background, the negative effects of a culture of comfort, and the upcoming launch of the Heroic app and social platform.
Follow your bliss and embrace challenges on your path to personal growth and transformation.
Heroes are created through the practice of showing up and choosing to act with love and courage.
Heroic technology empowers users to lead disciplined lives and engage in virtuous practices.
Deep dives
The Birth of Heroic: A Call for Change
The podcast episode explores how the speaker had an awakening and felt a deep desire to create a more noble and virtuous world, especially for his children. This led to the birth of Heroic, a social training platform aimed at providing an alternative to the negative impact of the attention economy. The speaker shares his ambition to train heroes through personal transformation, leading to massive social change. The creation of Heroic also involved a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign, raising $11 million in a short period of time.
The Hero's Journey and Personal Transformation
The podcast episode delves into the concept of the hero's journey and its importance in personal growth and transformation. The hero's journey is characterized by three central components: feeling a call and being willing to enter the unknown, going on the journey and facing challenges, and returning with newfound strength and wisdom. The speaker encourages individuals to follow their bliss, embrace challenges, and have the courage to live as the best versions of themselves. They emphasize the need for self-awareness and the practice of virtues to navigate the journey and create a meaningful and fulfilled life.
Generosity and Democratizing Access to Wisdom
The podcast episode highlights the speaker's generosity in sharing knowledge and wisdom. They discuss how they made their vast catalog of philosophers' notes and master classes available for free, providing access to valuable teachings from renowned leaders and thinkers. Additionally, the speaker stresses the importance of coaching and mentoring as a means to deepen knowledge and wisdom. They mention discounting their coaching program to enable more coaches to share the wisdom and inspire others to live with courage, wisdom, temperance, and justice. The ultimate goal is to democratize access to wisdom and empower individuals to earn and live virtues.
Taking control back of your life
The podcast episode emphasizes the importance of taking control back of your life in a world filled with anxiety, doubt, and external influences. The speaker highlights the need to counter victimization by cultivating dependency on oneself and disciplined habits rather than relying on corporations and governments. By taking control back of one's mind, life, and through collective efforts with families and communities, individuals can regain agency and create the reality they want to see. The podcast draws parallels to ancient Stoic wisdom and discusses the challenges posed by the attention economy and virtual reality. Ultimately, the speaker encourages listeners to awaken to the truth, commit to doing the work, and become the best, most heroic version of themselves.
Moving from theory to practice with heroic technology
The podcast explores the concept of moving from theory to practice and the role of technology in nurturing virtue and personal growth. The guest discusses the launch of a new platform, Heroic, which aims to provide a transformative and immersive experience. The platform emphasizes a commitment to heroic technology, which leverages the best of behavioral design to facilitate habit formation, virtuous actions, and personal development. This includes features like a morning recommitment process, mastery programs, and a social platform focused on creating intimacy and offline connections. The speaker highlights the importance of authenticity, trust, and creating an environment where individuals can show up as their best selves and support each other on their heroic journeys.
Today, Commander Divine talks to Brian Johnson about creating heroic technology to build a more virtuous world. Brian Johnson is the creator of Optimize and the Founder + CE? of Heroic. He's spent half of the last twenty-five years as a Founder/CEO and the other half as a Philosopher. As a Founder/CEO, he's raised $20M+ and built and sold two market-leading social platforms.
Key Takeaways: Our paths are not always obvious, but they can be found by following our bliss--however bliss is not to be confused with hedonism. If the path is too comfortable, you're not on your path; you're following someone else's.
Hero means protector in ancient Greek. Heroes are not born--they are created from the practice of showing up and choosing to act from a place of love and courage.
The challenge we face today between hedonistic happiness and a true fulfilling journey is not a new challenge. Humans have faced these same struggles for thousands of years. The addition of technology has only amplified this battle, as well as increased temptation exponentially.
The most crucial element involved in a hero's journey is courage.Courage feeds all other virtues. It takes courage to show up every day, and show.up.every.day you must!
Heroic technology is the antithesis of inhumane technology. It is an application of technology that empowers users to lead disciplined, focused lives, and show up for the important practices that feed their virtuous selves. Links Optimize Me Instagram LinkedIn
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