Get
Your
Coaching
Business
On!
 Success
Principles
for
Coaching
Entrepreneurs
 








An
Inspiring
Interview
with
Entrepreneur
Extraordinaire:

 Brian
Johnson
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Brought
to
you
by

 Coaches
Rising

Interview with Brian Johnson




1

Interview
with
Brian
Johnson










 JM:
 Okay,
welcome
to
the
Coaches
Rising
Summit.
This
is
the
third
in
a
series
of
 seriously
empowering
free
teleseminars
with
world‐class
experts
and
visionaries.
 Welcome
to
our
ever‐growing
community
of
practitioners
wherever
you
are
and
 whatever
time
of
day
it
is,
especially
our
listeners
from
Malaysia
who
contacted
us.
 They’re
having
a
very
late
night
or
early
morning,
depending
on
which
way
you
see
it.
 The
sole
purpose
of
these
seminars
is
to
empower
you
to
build
a
thriving
sustainable
 coaching
or
consultancy
practice
that
is
in
complete
alignment
with
your
strengths,
 expertise,
gifts
and
personality.
I’m
Joel
and
I’m
joined
again
in
the
studio
by
my
dear
 friend
and
business
partner,
Laurens
van
Aarle.
How
are
you
doing,
Laurens?
 
 LV:
 I’m
doing
great.
I’m
looking
forward
to
the
call
with
Brian.
 
 JM:
 Great.
We’re
slowly
moving
through
the
10principles
and
tonight
we’re
going
to
 be
addressing
Principle
#4
which
is
Cultivate
an
Entrepreneurial
Mindset.
And
the
core
 question
we’re
going
to
be
exploring
is
how
to
be
a
successful
entrepreneur.
So
we’re
 really
excited
tonight
to
be
joined
on
the
line
by
someone
who
we
believe
is
really
 qualified
to
talk
about
this,
Brian
Johnson.
How
are
you
doing,
Brian?
 
 BJ:
 I’m
doing
great.
How
are
you
Joel
and
Laurens?
 
 JM:
 I’m
very
good,
thanks.
 
 LV:
 Good.
 
 BJ:
 Great.
 
 JM:
 I’ll
just
introduce
you
a
bit
more,
Brian,
before
we
carry
on
with
the
interview.
 Brian
has
not
only
grown
a
number
of
successful
entrepreneurial
ventures
such
as
 eteamz
and
Zaadz
which
is
now
known
as
Gaia,
but
he
has
recently
gained
himself
a
 PhD
in
wisdom
by
disseminating
the
essence
of
100
of
the
best
wisdom
books
into
sort
 of
nugget‐sized
pdf’s
and
short
audio
descriptions.
We
think
this
is
just
a
great
resource
 for
people
who
are
wanting
to
work
on
themselves
and
coaches.
Also,
it’s
a
great
 example
of
how
you
can
combine
your
deepest
passions
with
an
entrepreneurial
 mindset.
So
we’re
really
excited
to
have
you
on
the
line,
Brian.
I
think
we’ll
do
an
 interview
with
Brian
and
then
we’re
going
to
be
opening
up
to
questions,
so
just
be
 thinking
about
what
you’d
love
to
ask
Brian.

 
 To
kick
off,
Brian,
maybe
you
could
tell
us
about
your
entrepreneurial
journey,
you
 know,
what’s
worked
for
you
and
what’s
not.


Interview with Brian Johnson

2


 
 BJ:
 Yeah.
Well,
it’s
interesting
that
you
led
the
introduction
that
way,
of
just
really
 bringing
together
my
passions
in
the
business
because
that’s
really
what
I’m
all
about
 and
I’m
almost
an
accidental
entrepreneur.
I’m
passionate
about
following
my
heart
 and
creating
things
that
really
excite
me
and
inspire
me
and
give
myself
to
the
world
 most
fully.
It
happens
that
for
me,
business
is
a
great
context
and
kind
of
a
canvas
on
 which
I
can
express
that
creativity
and
PhilosophersNotes,
my
most
recent
and
current
 project,
was
really
all
about
that.
It
was
literally
an
exercise
in,
I
felt,
an
inspiration
to
 give
myself
a
PhD
in
optimal
living
and
how
to
live.
And
I
wanted
to
study
everything
 from
philosophy
and
positive
psychology
and
mysticism
and
creativity
and
business
 and
abundance
creation,
health
and
fitness,
all
of
these
things,
and
I
couldn’t
find
a
PhD
 program
in
the
traditional
world
that
met
those
needs,
so
I
decided
to
give
myself
my
 own
PhD.
And
then
I
decided
I’d
get
a
Masters
when
I
had
distilled
a
hundred
of
these
 favorite
self‐development
books
from
the
classics
to
the
modern
into
these
summaries.
 But
for
me
it
was
very
important
that
I
not
only
summarize
them
and
share
them
with
 my
friends
and
family,
but
created
a
profitable
business
sharing
them
and
really
 merging,
I
like
to
say,
spirituality
and
capitalism
and
demonstrating
that
it’s
possible
to
 identify
what
we’re
most
passionate
about
and
then
go
out
and
get
paid
to
do
it.
 
 For
me,
my
business
is
really
an
expression
of
what
I’m
most
passionate
about
and
I’m
 really
committed
to
demonstrating
that
anything’s
possible.
I’m
essentially
getting
paid
 to
read
which
I
thought
was
absurd
when
I
first
thought
of
the
idea
nine
years
ago,
but
 that’s
really
what
drives
me
is
doing
that
for
myself,
demonstrating
what’s
possible
and
 inspiring
and
empowering
other
people
to
discover
what
they’re
most
excited
about
 and
to
see
how
they
can
create
value
in
the
world
that
leads
to
revenue
and
profits
and
 sustainable
living.

 
 JM:
 That’s
great.
It’s
really
good
to
hear
that
story.
That’s
one
of
the
reasons
why
we
 got
you
on
the
call
because
that’s
something
we
really
believe
ourselves.
It’s
like
you
 can
combine
purpose
and
profits
and
really
create
a
living
doing
what
you
want
and
 that’s
something
we
want
to
encourage
in
our
listeners.
Could
you
tell
us
more
about
 that
journey
of—were
there
times
when
you
thought,
“Oh
no.
It’s
not
possible
to
do
 this”?
 
 BJ:
 Yep.
Well,
for
me,
there’s
been
many
of
those
kind
of
micro‐episodes
as
I’ve
 been
building
this
venture,
but
it’s
been
a
real
process
for
me
that
started
about,
wow,
 14
years
ago,
now
that
I
look
back.
I
was
studying—just
to
kind
of
give
you
a
quick
 overview
of
kind
of
where
I’ve
been—studied
psychology
at
UCLA
and
decided
to
get
 my
PhD
and
realized
that
wasn’t
quite
it
and
then
got
recruited
to
do
consulting
and
 accounting
at
Arthur
Andersen
and
I
spent
a
year
there.
I
think
I
hold
the
record
for
 most
service
lines
in
less
than
a
year.
I
was
trained
in
audit
and
tax
financial
planning



Interview with Brian Johnson

3


 and
business
consulting
and
none
of
those
were
mine.
They
were
awesome
in
giving
 me
a
lot
of
opportunity
to
discover
things.
None
of
that
was
what
I
really
felt
passionate
 about.
And
I
should
say
on
the
first
week
of
that
job,
I
literally
pulled
off
on
the
side
of
 the
freeway
and
threw
up.
I
was
nauseous.
I
couldn’t
eat.
And
just
this
idea—at
the
 time,
I
was
raised
blue‐collar,
Catholic
family,
really
conservative
and
had
no
real
idea
 of
what
I
wanted
to
do
or
mentorship
on
how
to
figure
out
what
I
wanted
to
do.
I
just
 knew
that
wasn’t
it.
And
so
I
went
to
this
service
line
and
that
service
line.
None
of
it
 was
really
it
and
I
had
no
grounding
in
self‐development
and
stuff
at
that
stage
in
my
 life.
I
was
just
not
happy
and
looking
for
what
really
made
me
inspired.

 
 Long
story
a
little
shorter,
I
wound
up
saying,
okay,
I’m
going
to
go
to
law
school.
I’ll
go
 to
law
school
and
I’ll
show
that
I’m
the
smart
guy
and
can
kind
of
make
my
six
figures
 for
the
rest
of
my
life
kind
of
thing.
And
went
to
the
top
10
law
school
here
in
the
States
 and
I
knew
before
I
went
that
I
didn’t
want
to
go
there.
And
showed
up,
didn’t
make
it
 through
a
semester.
I
just
knew
it
wasn’t
it.
Dropped
out.
The
only
thing
I
knew
I
 wanted
to
do
at
that
time
was
burn
my
resume
and
coach
a
little
league
baseball
team,
 coach
just
a
group
of
kids
playing
baseball.
That
was
the
only
thing
I
knew
I
wanted
to
 do.
I
was
23
years
old
at
the
time.
I
moved
back
in
with
my
mom
and
did
that.

 
 Now,
in
hindsight
I
can
see
that
I
was
following
the
core
truth
that
I’ve
discovered
in
all
 the
stuff
I’ve
been
studying
of
following
my
bliss,
as
Joseph
Campbell
would
say.

 
 JM:
 We
read
a
book
on
that
just
last
night.
 
 BJ:
 That
gives
me
goose
bumps,
that
recognition.
That
idea
that
I
had
a
tiny
inkling
 of
bliss.
I
was
totally
depressed,
just—all
I
did
was
read
and
just
think
of
very
negative
 things
in
my
life
and
just
couldn’t
see
how
I
could
show
up
fully
in
the
world,
but
I
 worked
with
these
kids.
What
wound
up
happening
was
we
were
terrible.
I
had
no
idea
 what
I
was
doing.
We
were
0‐5
and
it
led
to
me
thinking,
you
know
what,
there’s
got
to
 be
a
way
to
have
coaches
become
better
coaches.
Everyone’s
a
volunteer.
What
can
we
 do?
And
I
quickly
saw
that
in
a
matter
of
time,
every
single
team
and
league
in
the
 world
would
be
using
the
web—this
was
in
1998—for
everything,
schedules
and
 standings,
instructions
coaches
can
use
to
coach
their
kids
better,
pictures
Grandma
 and
Grandpa
could
check
on
if
they
couldn’t
make
it
to
the
game.
And
I
wound
up
 creating
a
business
out
of
that
that—we
won
the
Business
Plan
Competition
at
UCLA.
 We
raised
$5
million.
I
hired
the
CEO
of
Adidas
to
be
our
CEO
and
replace
me
as
the
 CEO.
We
had
an
extraordinary
experience
and
I
never
could
have
predicted
that.
Never
 could
I
have
scripted
that
that’s
what
would
have
happened
when
I
dropped
out
of
law
 school.
And
the
irony
was
I
wound
up
hiring
the
law
firm
that
I
would
have
wanted
to
 work
for
by
the
time
I
would
have
graduated.
And
I
was
being
ridiculed
when
I
dropped
 out
of
law
school.
I
felt
terrible.
But
I
followed
that
tiny
bit
of
bliss
that
I
could
recognize



Interview with Brian Johnson

4


 and
it
led
to
great
things
and
that’s
happened
to
me
several
times,
both
times—all
 three
times,
I
should
say—in
the
businesses
I’ve
created.
Very
untraditional.
Couldn’t
 have
scripted
it.
It
was
scary.
It
was
ugly.
It
was
not
pretty.
But
there
was
this
bigger
 narrative
unfolding
as
I
learned
to
trust
myself
more
and
more
and
now
it’s
becoming
 more
graceful
and
a
lot
more
fun.
But
I
think
that’s
the
heart
of
it,
is
learning
to
trust
 ourselves
and
just
to
go
for
it.

 
 JM:
 Yeah.
Yeah,
I
get
that
sense
that
you
had
to
take
a
risk.
I
love
that—what
an
 obvious
sign
that
you
have
to
pull
over
to
the
side
of
the
road
to
puke
up.
It’s
like—it
 sounds
like
a
horrible
thing
but
in
a
way,
that’s
a
beautiful
sign
that
you
need
to
try
 something
else.
I
got
the
sense
you
really
had
to
take
a
risk,
you
know.
Even
though
you
 didn’t
know
where
this
was
going,
it
involved
taking
a
risk
and
following
that
bliss.
It’s
 funny.
We
were
just
talking
about
that
last
night
and
it
speaks
to
me
of
that’s
your
 purpose,
like
you’re
tuning
into,
“Yeah,
this
is
my
purpose.”
I
think
it’s
a
muscle
you
can
 build.
It
sounds
like
you’re
getting
more
skillful
with
that.

 
 BJ:
 Exactly.
Absolutely.
And
the
distinction
you
just
made
with—it’s
a
great
thing
 that
I
pulled
over
and
had
a
physical
response
to
doing
something
I
wasn’t
passionate
 about.
It
reminds
me
of
Esther
and
Jerry
Hicks
who—you
know,
Abraham
Hicks
and
 their
work.
They
have
a
lot
of
great
stuff
that
I
profile
in
the
PhilosophersNotes.
And
 they
base
some
of
their
work
on
Joseph
Campbell.
So
Joseph
Campbell
says
“Follow
 your
bliss.”
Abraham
Hicks,
Esther
and
Jerry
Hicks,
say
you
want
to
experience
joy.
 Your
job
in
this
world
is
to
experience
joy
because
when
you’re
experiencing
joy,
you’re
 connected
to
source.
You’re
connected
to
your
highest
self.
Now,
if
you’re
feeling
 despair
and
helplessness
that
leads
to
nausea
and
vomiting,
that’s
a
pretty
good
sign
 that
you’re
not
connected
to
source.
The
practice
is,
which
for
me,
as
I
was
thinking
 about
our
call,
it’s
all
about
practicing
these
things.
It’s
not
about
intellectualizing
them.
 It’s
about
practicing
them.
So
for
me,
they
describe
emotional
guidance
systems
and
 then
we
have
an
emotional
guidance
system
that’s
just
like
a
gas
tank.
If
you’re
on
 empty
and
you’re
feeling
despair,
that
means
you’re
not
connected
to
source,
your
 highest
self,
to
your
bliss.
When
you’re
feeling
great
and
you’re
joyful
and
you’re
 appreciative
and
you
love
what
you’re
doing
and
you
feel
a
sense
of
freedom
and
 empowerment,
that’s
when
your
tank
is
on
full.
Your
emotional
guidance
is
going
to
tell
 you
you’re
connected.
And
we
really
want
to
start
paying
attention
to
that
more
and
 honoring
it
as
we
take
the
risks
and
kind
of
develop
that
muscle.

 
 JM:
 Yeah.
I
totally
get
that
sense
of
the
times
when
I’ve
been
in
flow
in
my
life,
when
 it’s
just
like
I’m
feeling
that
sense
of
joy
and
things
just
start
happening
and
it’s
like
it’s
 kind
of
easy
going.
I
also
recognize
the
times
when,
as
an
entrepreneur,
I’ve
been
in
a
 place
of
fear
and
really
struggling
and
trying
to
make
things
work
and
it’s
not
quite
 working.
And
I’m
like,
“Whoa.
Where’s
the
next
paycheck
coming
from?”
Could
you
tell



Interview with Brian Johnson

5


 us
any
more
practices
or
tips
on
how
you
might
shift
from
that
place
of
fear
or
despair
 into
joy,
into
following
your
bliss
and
in
that
sense,
grow
your
business
more
 successfully?
 
 BJ:
 Yeah,
well
there’s
a
couple
things
that
come
to
my
mind.
One
is
kind
of
a
high
 level
vision
exercise
that
I
use
often
by
Jim
Collins.
Are
you
familiar
with
the
hedgehog
 concept?
 
 JM:
 Oh,
yeah.
Okay.

 
 BJ:
 So
we
can
talk
about
that,
but
I
want
to
hold
that
vision
of
the
ideal
with
the
 very
practical
practices
because
I’m
all
about
connecting
the
two.
I
think
we
need
to
 hold
the
tension
between
our
ideal
and
our
current
reality.
And
we
do
so
by
taking
baby
 steps
day
by
day
and
I
think
consistency
on
the
fundamentals
is
one
of
the
absolute
 keys.
So
if
we’re
currently
feeling
stressed
and
despair
and
overwhelm
and
fear
and
all
 those
gremlins
that
we’ve
all
experienced,
some
on
more
than
one
occasion,
I
think
we
 need
to
do
both.
We
need
to
dream
but
we
also
need
to
make
sure
we’re
taking
care
of
 ourselves.
I
think
our
consciousness,
our
psychology,
our
physiology,
our
emotional
 well‐being
needs
to
be
addressed
and
for
me,
that’s
what
it’s
all
about.
I
really,
really
 honor
consistency
on
my
fundamentals
which
is
a
phrase
I
got
from
Robin
Sharma,
one
 of
the
awesome
leadership
coaches
out
there,
who
says
that
as
he
studied
greatness,
 he’s
discovered
that
greatness
manifests
in
many
different
ways,
uniquely
for
all
of
us
 really,
when
we’re
really
expressing
our
highest
selves.
But
what
he
found
common
 among
all
of
them
was
consistency
on
the
fundamentals.
And
the
fundamentals
 obviously
change
depending
on
whether
you’re
a
tennis
player
or
an
entrepreneur,
a
 CEO
or
a
mom
or
an
artist.
But
for
me
in
my
work,
it’s
getting
clear
on
what
my
 fundamentals
are
and
then
challenging
people
to
discover
their
fundamentals,
which
 will
be
different
than
mine.
Mine
are
things
like
meditation,
having
regular
rest
rhythms
 and
getting
enough
rest,
exercise,
eating
well,
creating
consistently.
These
are
my
 fundamentals
and
as
I
do
those,
I
feel
good.
And
as
I
feel
good,
I’m
more
open
to
all
the
 possibilities,
etc.

 
 So
that’s
kind
of
the
mundane
practical
side
of
things,
is
to
identify
our
fundamentals
 and
then
to
practice
them
consistently.
I
like
to
say
what’s
the
number
one
thing,
not
10
 things,
but
number
one
thing
you
could
start
doing
now
that
you
just
know
would
have
 the
most
positive
impact
on
your
life
if
you
did
it
consistently
and
start
doing
it
now
and
 make
it
a
100%
commitment.
Not
a
99%
but
a
100%
commitment
and
do
it.

 
 Then
hold
that
practice
with
the
ideal
vision
of
that
hedgehog
concept
which
I’m
a
huge
 fan
of
and
I’ve
done
this
probably
hundreds
and
hundreds
of
times,
definitely
dozens
 and
dozens
of
times,
where
I
draw
the
little
three
circles.
If
you
imaging
the
Venn
circles



Interview with Brian Johnson

6


 where
you
have
three
that
are
intersecting
so
there’s
a
center
point.
The
first
circle
 represents
roughly
what
you
can
be
the
best
in
the
world
at.
Right?
So
kind
of
what
 your
unique
gifts
are
that
only
you
can
do.
I
often
like
to
think,
“What
is
it
that
I
and
only
 I
can
give
to
the
world?”
Deepak
Chopra
has
a
question,
if
you
had
all
the
time
and
all
 the
money
in
the
world,
what
would
you
do?
Which
is
often
very
similar
to
what
can
you
 be
the
best
in
the
world
at?
Not
from
a
competitive
“I
want
to
show
off”
and
all
that
 stuff,
but
just
what
can
you
really
truly
be
world‐class
at?
That’s
the
first
circle.
The
 second
circle
is
what
do
you
love
to
do?
Like
what
just
makes
you
giddy
where
you
 jump
out
of
bed
and
you’re
like,
“Really?
I
get
paid
to
do
this?”
Like
I
personally
pinch
 myself
often
that
I
get
paid
to
have
conversations
like
this,
to
read,
to
hang
out
with
 cool
people
and
to
inspire
people.
That’s
amazing.
And
then
the
third
circle—so
that’s
 the
second
circle:
What
do
you
absolutely
love
to
do
that
you
would
pay
to
do?
Right?
 You
love
it
so
much
that
you
would
actually
pay
to
do
it.
And
it’s
something
more
 creative
than,
well,
traveling.
Well,
that’s
cool.
We
all
love
to
travel
and
we
all
do
that
if
 we
have
resources,
but
there’s
something
deeper
within
us
that
we
really
love
to
do
 that
really
lights
us
up.
So
then
the
third
circle—so
the
first
circle
was
what
can
you
be
 the
best
in
the
world
at?
The
second
one
is
what
do
you
love
to
do?
And
the
third
one
is
 what
will
the
world
pay
for?
What
does
the
world
need?
What
does
the
world
 fundamentally
need
that
they’d
be
willing
to
pay
for?
The
economic
driver
of
the
 business.
And
those
are
the
three
circles
that
Jim
Collins
identified
as
the
hallmarks
of
 great
businesses
that
have
endured
for
decades.
They’ve
answered
those
questions
and
 they
have
a
focus
at
that
point
where
those
three
circles
intersect
and
I
found
it
really
 helpful
for
myself
as
I
plan
what
I’m
going
to
do,
in
the
face
of
all
kinds
of
possibilities
 and
ideas,
can
narrow
my
focus
down
consistently
to
these
three
circles
and
the
 intersection
of
them
where
I’m
really
excited
about
it,
I
think
I
can
be
really,
really
great
 at
it
and
I
think
the
world
needs
it.
And
that’s
what
I’m
doing
right
now.
 PhilosophersNotes
is
“more
wisdom
and
less
time.”
I
think
I
can
be
among
the
best
in
 the
world
at
giving
distilled
wisdom
in
a
really
fun,
really
inspiring
way,
and
I
happen
to
 be
pretty
good
at
doing
that.
I
love
doing
that.
I
don’t
like
writing
long
stuff
anyway.
I
 love
sharing
things
in
quick,
awesome,
fun
ways.
And
the
world
needs
it.
We’re
busier
 than
ever
and
we
need
the
wisdom
more
than
ever
and
people
are
willing
to
pay
for
 that.
So
that’s
kind
of
the
intersection
of
PhilosophersNotes
and
it’s
an
exercise
that
I
 do
often
on
the
specific
business
of
PhilosophersNotes
and
on
my
life
at
large,
one
 that’s
been
really,
really
helpful
for
me
that
I
highly
recommend.

 
 JM:
 Great.
Great.
I
think
that’s
something
we’re
coming
back
to
time
and
again
in
 this
series,
is
making
sure
that
your
business
is
something
you
are
just
so
passionate
 about
you
jump
out
of
bed
in
the
morning
and
you’re
just
like,
“Yes!”
Because
being
 connected
to
that
passion
is
going
to
fuel
you
through
the
ups
and
downs
and
it’s
going
 to
really
show
speaking
to
potential
clients,
customers
and
so
on.
But
also,
like
you
said,

 


Interview with Brian Johnson

7


 you’ve
got
to
think
about
what
does
the
world
need.
If
you
leave
that
out,
then
it’s
a
 really
big
part
of
the
equation,
isn’t
it?
 
 BJ:
 Absolutely.
 
 JM:
 I’m
also
getting
a
sense,
when
you’re
talking
like
this—me
and
Laurens
often
 talk
about
how
we
see
this
as
being
an
emerging
sort
of
consciousness
in
the
world,
 people
who
really
have
decided
to
align
their
deepest
passions
and
purpose
with
what
 they
do
for
work
and
what
do
you
think
about
that
kind
of
thing?
Do
you
see
that
 happening
in
the
States
and
people
you
speak
to?
Obviously
it’s
something
that
you’ve
 done.
 
 BJ:
 Yeah,
well,
it
gives
me
goose
bumps.
The
idea—A
friend
and
mentor
of
mine,
a
 guy
named
John
Mackey
who
is
the
CEO
of
Whole
Foods,
do
you—I
don’t
know
if
you
 guys
have
those
out
there.
You’ve
got
one
in
England,
but
it’s
a
big
business
here
in
the
 States.
He’s
just
an
extraordinary
guy
and
invested
in
my
last
business.
I
got
to
know
 him.
He’s
debated
Milton
Friedman.
He’s
a
classic
libertarian,
free
market
idealist
who’s
 created
one
of
the
most
powerful
conscious
businesses
on
the
planet
and
just
a
brilliant
 guy
who’s
really
inspired
me
deeply.
He’s
coined
a
phrase
and
a
movement
called
 “conscious
capitalism”
and
I
contributed
a
chapter
to
the
book
that
he
and
his
co‐ founder
of
that
movement
wrote
called
“Be
the
Solution.”
The
idea
of
through
 entrepreneurialism,
entrepreneurs
can
solve
all
of
the
world’s
problems
and
it’s
 basically
this
idea
that
with
freedom,
with
free
markets,
with
conscious
entrepreneurs
 who
are
choosing
to
give
their
greatest
gifts
in
greatest
service
to
the
world,
we
can
 solve
all
the
world’s
problems
and
I
contributed
a
chapter
in
that
book
on
the
 consciousness
of
the
entrepreneur.
They
were
talking
about
legal
systems
and
 environmental
rights
and
all
these
different
aspects
that
go
into
the
solutions
we
need
 to
create
from
a
free
market
perspective
and
I
talked
about
the
entrepreneur
because
I
 think
this
is
absolutely
where
we
need
to
put
our
attention
and
if
we’re
serious
about
 both
enjoying
our
lives
and
making
a
big
difference
in
the
world,
I
think
we
pretty
much
 have,
from
my
vantage
point,
a
moral
imperative
to
figure
out
how
we
can
get
paid
to
 do
what
we
love
to
do
and
to
use
our
greatest
gifts
in
greatest
service
to
the
world.
To
 go
to
a
job
we
don’t
love
and
then
to
go
to—I’m
all
about
people
and
I
applaud
people
 who
go
to
soup
kitchens
and
do
those
sorts
of
things
and
spend
an
hour
doing
that
a
 week,
but
I
frankly
think
that’s
immoral
relative
to
the
latent
gifts
and
the
potential
that
 we
have
that
we
can
shine
100
hours
a
week
by
really
giving
ourselves
to
the
world
and
 then
how
do
we
figure
out
how
to
create,
whether
it’s
a
consultancy
in
the
coaching
 practice
or
a
small
business
or
a
large
business,
but
to
find
the
way
where
we’re
creating
 value
in
the
world
such
that
money,
wealth
in
the
form
of
money,
is
circulating
back
to
 us
so
we
can
sustain
that
operation
and
give
ourselves
in
whatever
way
we
feel
inspired
 to
do.
So
I’m
obviously
deeply
passionate
about
the
subject.
I
went
to
a
seminar
with



Interview with Brian Johnson

8


 John
Mackey,
the
CEO
of
Patagonia,
Men’s
Wearhouse,
Jamba
Juice,
Life
is
Good,
on
 conscious
capitalism
and
talking
about
all
of
these
ideas
of
how
do
we
really
create
and
 crystallize
this
movement
so
more
and
more
people
are
doing
this
kind
of
thing.
So
 much
potential
on
this
front.

 
 JM:
 Yeah.
I
agree
completely.
I
just
meet
more
and
more
people
who
are
waking
up
 to
the
fact
that
they
can’t
go
and
work
for
the
big
company
and
sit
behind
this
desk
and
 invest
their
lives
in
something
that
they
just
really
don’t
care
about
that
much.
I
just
see
 growing
and
growing
numbers
of
people
looking
to
become
an
entrepreneur,
looking
 to
find
work
which
does
all
the
things
you’ve
just
talked
about.
I
think
it’s
what
the
 world
needs.
Because
when
a
business
is
giving
value
to
the
world,
then
it’s
more
 socially
orientated
and
environmentally
orientated
and
spiritually
orientated
and
it’s
a
 really
healthy
thing.
What
do
you
think
about
attitude
when
it
comes
to
being
an
 entrepreneur?
I
know
you’re
a
big
fan
of
positive
psychology
and
that’s
something— maybe
you
could
wax
lyrical
about
that?
 
 BJ:
 Yeah,
for
sure.
I
want
to
come
back
really
quickly
on
just
the
fact
that
we’re
 having
this
call
because
you
guys
have
had
the
vision
of
inspiring
coaches
and
 consultants
who
are
empowering
entrepreneurs
and
empowering
individuals
to
 discover
their
greatest
gifts
because
I
think
that
that’s
one
of
the
true
leverage
points
in
 catalyzing
the
type
of
change
we
want
to
see
in
the
world
is
for
people
who
have
 decided
to
dedicate
themselves
to
inspiring
and
empowering
other
people
through
 coaching
and
consulting
to
embody
the
ideas
they’re
passionate
about
and
to
create
a
 business
that
demonstrates,
again,
even
the
consultancies
and
coaching
practice,
that
 demonstrates
the
ideals
they
believe
in
which
I
believe
is
always
the
strongest
way
to
 teach,
right,
is
to
be
the
change
we
want
to
see
and
demonstrate
it.
You
know?
 Emerson
says
what
you
do
speaks
so
loudly
I
cannot
hear
what
you
say.
You
know,
so
 we
need
to
do
these
things.
Wallace
Wattles,
the
great
guy
who
wrote
The
Science
of
 Being
Great
and
The
Science
of
Getting
Rich,
two
weird
titles
but
awesome
books—He
 said
“The
world
needs
demonstration
more
than
it
needs
instruction.”
And
this
idea
 that
we’ve
got
to
demonstrate
what
we
believe
in,
and
as
coaches
and
consultants,
I
 think
there’s
such
incredible
power
for
us
to
really
catalyze
incredible
change,
to
 demonstrate
what’s
possible,
what
we
believe
in
and
creating
successful
business
that
 do
good
in
the
world,
and
then
working
with
clients
to
really
help
bring
out
the
best
in
 them.
So
I
just
wanted
to
kind
of
put
an
exclamation
point
on
that
idea
that
this
call
is,
I
 think,
really
important
for
more
and
more
coaches
to
get
empowered
and
go
out
and
 do
great
work.

 
 JM:
 Hey,
thanks
for
saying
that,
Brian,
because
that
really
speaks
to
why
we
started
 Coaches
Rising
and
I
agree
completely
with
everything
you
just
said.
We
need
to—we

 


Interview with Brian Johnson

9

want
to
inspire
these
coaches
and
then
they
can
spread
out
and
inspire
others
and
it
 just
magnifies
and
ripples
out.
So
I’m
really
glad
you
spoke
into
that.
 
 BJ:
 Yeah,
awesome.
Well,
it
gave
me
goose
bumps
again.
I
really
appreciate
what
 you
guys
are
doing.
This
was
a
big
part
of
my
last
business,
Zaadz,
which,
as
you
 mentioned,
is
now
called
Gaia.
But
I
was
really
passionate
about
inspiring
and
 empowering
the
influencers,
the
people.
I
think
that’s
how
we
change
the
world.
We
 really,
really,
as
influencers
and
people
who
are
fortunate
enough
to
be
where
we
are
in
 our
lives
and
have
committed
to
making
a
difference
by
serving
other
people
in
this
 way,
that’s,
I
think,
one
of
the
primary
catalytic
points
to
really
see
the
change
we
want
 to
see.
 
 So
that’s
that
idea.
And
then
in
terms
of
attitude,
yeah,
I’m
a
huge,
huge
believer
that
it
 all
starts
with
attitude
and
I
describe
it
as
optimism.
One
of
the
things
I’ve
seen
in
the
 hundred
books
that
I’ve
written
notes
on
and
the
hundreds
of
books
that
I’ve
read
over
 the
last
x
years
is
there’s
a
set
of
principles
that
kind
of
show
up
and
I
got
my
Masters
 when
I
distilled
these
hundred
notes
and
created
a
profitable
business
and
now
I’m
 working
on
my
dissertation
which
is
a
book
that
synthesizes
all
of
the
1000
big
ideas
 from
these
100
great
books
into
a
really
fun,
inspiring,
smart,
practical
philosophy
for
 the
21st
century
and
I’m
working
on
that
book
now.
I’m
really
excited
about
it.
There
are
 ten
principles.
The
number
one
principle
is
optimism.
All
of
the
great
teachers
say
that
 if
you
can—from
Buddha
and
Lao‐Tzu
and
Marcus
Aurelius
up
to
the
modern
day
self‐ development
gurus
like
Eckhart
Tolle
and
Byron
Katie
and
(inaudible)
and
everybody,
 and
then
the
scientists,
the
positive
psychologists,
they
all
say
the
same
thing.
If
you
 can’t
control
and
shape
the
contents
of
your
consciousness,
nothing
else
matters.
All
of
 the
idealism,
all
of
the
vision
in
the
world
doesn’t
matter
if
we’re
dominated
by
fear
and
 anxiety
and
depression
and
helplessness
and
all
these
different
things.
So
learning
 optimism
and
learning
how
to
shape
our
minds
in
effective
ways
is
principle
number
 one.
So
I’m
a
huge
believer
in
that
and
talk
about
it
a
lot
throughout
the
notes
and
I’m
 going
to
talk
about
it
a
lot,
god
willing,
over
the
next
decades.

 
 JM:
 Just
before
you
move
to
principle
two,
how
could
you—what’s
a
really
good
way
 of
developing
optimism?
You
know,
you
said
you
can
learn
it.
 
 BJ:
 Well,
the
first
most
important
thing
is
to
realize
how
pernicious
it
is
to
not
be
in
 an
optimistic
state.
There’s
a
book
called
Learned
Optimism
by
Martin
Seligman
who’s
 fantastic
and
you
know
his
work
with
authentic
happiness
and
he’s
kind
of
the
 godfather
of
the
positive
psychology
movement
and
he
juxtaposes
learned
 helplessness,
which
is
what
he
spent
the
first
couple
of
decades
of
his
career
studying
 where
they
could
literally
bring
animals
into
a
laboratory.
Imagine
two
dogs
that
are
 being
tested.
You
have
random
shock
being
administered
to
one
dog.
So
there’s
two
 different
dogs
and
two
different
conditions
and
there’s
shock
being
applied.
The
first



Interview with Brian Johnson

10


 dog
can’t
do
anything
to
get
out
of
the
shocks,
right?
The
second
dog
can
do
a
certain
 movement
of
some
sort,
hit
a
certain
lever
or
something,
and
the
shocks
will
stop.
He
 learns
how
to
do
that
and
he’s
happy.
The
other
dog
can’t
change,
can’t
figure
out,
and
 there
is
no
way
for
him
to
stop
the
shocks,
and
what
he
does
is
he
learns
helplessness.
 He
literally
will
crawl
up
into
a
corner
and
give
up
because
he
has
no
control.
He
gives
 up
and
he
learns
helplessness.
Now
what
was
fascinating
was
they
then
took
those
two
 dogs
and
they
put
them
into
a
second
phase
of
the
experiment.
In
this
phase,
both
dogs
 had
the
ability
to
get
out
of
the
shock
very
simply.
The
healthy
dog
that
knew
it
could
 get
out
of
the
shocks
figured
it
out
immediately
and
jumped
out
of
the
situation
and
 was
happy
and
totally
fine.
The
second
dog,
although
in
this
current
situation
he
could
 get
out
of
the
shocks
very
easily,
he
doesn’t
even
try
and
he
just
curls
up
in
a
corner
and
 continues
to
get
shocked
and
shocked
and
shocked.
Seligman
described
it
as
learned
 helplessness
where
you
literally
give
up
and
you
learn
to
be
helpless
and
to
give
up.
 Now
learned
helplessness
is
the
strongest
predictor
of
depression.
When
we
feel
that
 we
have
no
control,
we
have
no
influence
over
a
situation,
we
literally
crawl
up
into
a
 ball
or
in
our
bed
and
don’t
get
out
and
don’t
do
anything
to
try
to
get
out
of
the
shocks
 of
the
world.
When
we
do
that,
everything
suffers,
our
relationship,
our
immune
 system,
our
emotional
well‐being,
everything
goes
down
the
hill.
So
the
idea
is—
 
 JM:
 It’s
like
you
go
from
the—you
go
into
victim
mode,
don’t
you?
 
 BJ:
 Exactly.
Yeah,
victim
versus
creator
and
what
Seligman
says
is
you
can
learn
 optimism.
You
can
learn
helplessness
and
you
can
learn
optimism
and
it’s
the
most
 important
thing
we
can
learn.
So
I
think
the
first
step
is
just
to
recognize
when
we’re
 falling
into
helplessness
and
it’s
the
emotional
guidance
system
again.
The
lowest
part
 of
the
emotional
guidance
system
is
helplessness,
disempowerment.
The
highest
is
 empowerment.
We’ve
got
to
remember
that
in
any
given
situation,
we
can
choose
our
 response.
It
doesn’t
matter
what’s
happening,
whether
we
just
got
laid
off
or
we’ve
got
 a
certain
amount
of
debt
that
we’re
ashamed
of
or
afraid
of.
Whatever’s
going
on,
we
 always
have
a
choice
of
how
we
can
respond
and
that’s
the
essence
of
optimism
and
 then
he
goes
into
the
details
of
explanatory
styles
and
actual
systematic
tools
that
we
 can
talk
about,
I
talk
about
in
the
PhilosophersNotes
and
he
talks
about
in
Learned
 Optimism,
but
the
basic
idea
is
we
always
have
a
choice
of
how
we
can
respond
and
we
 can
learn
optimism
and
I
would
offer
that
it’s
the
most
important
skill
we
can
learn.

 
 JM:
 Great.
Great.
I
think,
like
you
said,
you
move
from
the
victim
to
the
creator
and
I
 can
see
how
being
an
entrepreneur
would
be
so
useful.
Laurens
has
got
his
hand
up
and
 that
means
he
wants
to
ask
a
question.
 
 LV:
 One
of
the
things
I’m
curious
about
is
I
think
you
also
mention
optimalism.
How
 does
that
tie
in
with
optimism?


Interview with Brian Johnson

11


 BJ:
 That’s
really
cool.
So
optimalism
is
a
word
coined
by
Tal
Ben‐Shahar
who,
if
 Martin
Seligman
is
the
godfather
of
the
positive
psychology
movement,
Tal
Ben‐ Shahar
is
one
of
the
golden
children
of
the
positive
psychology
movement.
He
taught
 one
of
the
most
popular
classes
at
Harvard,
awesome
guy
who
blends,
in
his
words,
 “the
fun
of
self
help
with
the
rigor
of
science.
He
wrote
a
book
called
The
Pursuit
of
 Perfect
where
he
basically
said
there
are
two
forms
of
perfectionism.
There’s
actually
a
 healthy
perfectionism
and
an
unhealthy
perfectionism
and
he
thought
they
were
so
 different
that
he
kept
the
unhealthy
perfectionism
as
perfectionism
and
he
coined
a
 new
word,
optimalism
for
a
healthy
version
of
perfectionism
where
we’re
really
 passionate
about
living
an
extraordinary
life.
We’re
really
passionate
about
doing
 wonderful
and
great
things,
but
we’re
not
tied
into
unrealistic
expectations,
we’re
 optimalists.
We
deal
with
reality.
We
realize
that
failure
and
mistakes
and
all
of
the
kind
 of
bumps
in
the
road
are
an
inevitable
part
of
the
process
and
we’re
optimalists
rather
 than
perfectionists.
There’s
24
hours
in
a
day,
seven
days
in
a
week,
x
decades
in
a
 lifetime.
There’s
only
so
much
we
can
do
and
we’re
going
to
fall
short
at
times
and
 often
as
we
push
our
edges.
So
he
just
had
that
beautiful
idea
of
an
optimalist
and
one
 of
the
key
ideas
he
has
which
ties
into
the
optimism
in
terms
of
an
attitude
is,
he
says
 our
ideals
we
should
look
at
as
a
guiding
star
not
as
a
distant
shore.
We’re
never
going
 to
attain
our
highest
ideals,
ever,
ever.

 
 JM:
 I
can
feel
myself
relaxing
already.

 
 BJ:
 Yeah.
A
perfectionist
thinks
they
will
and
they
won’t
be
happy
until
they
get
 there
and
then
so
they
really
never
try
because
they
can
never
be
perfect.
But
the
 optimalist
says,
“You
know
what,
my
ideals
are
just
a
guiding
star.
I’m
never
going
to
 get
there.
I
can
love
this
moment.
Wow.
I
create
goals
that
inspire
me
and
I
move
 toward
my
ideals.”
And
you
relax
when
you
feel
that,
right?
 
 JM:
 Yeah.
Absolutely,
yeah.
It
really
helps
me
to
get
in
touch
with
the
joy
of
the
 journey
again,
you
know?
It’s
like
just
enjoy
it
and
have
a
great
time
and
have
these
 ideals
and
aim
for
them
but
don’t
be
bound
to
them
where
they
become
these
heavy
 things
that
weigh
you
down.

 
 BJ:
 Exactly.
He’s
actually
got
a
great
idea
on
that,
too,
in
his
other
book.
I
profiled
 two
of
his
books,
The
Pursuit
of
Perfect
and
Happier.
Happier
was
essentially
his
 positive
psychology
class
at
Harvard
and
he
does
an
amazing
job
of
describing
the
four
 different
archetypes
and
how
they
relate
to
being
happy
in
the
moment
versus
always
 looking
to
the
future.
He
describes
most
people
are
in
a
rat
race
where
they
aren’t
 enjoying
the
moment
and
they’re
always
thinking
that
they’re
going
to
get
somewhere
 in
the
future
where
they’ll
be
happy.
That’s
a
rat‐racing
archetype.
Then
people
toggle
 out
of
that
and
they
going
into
the
hedonist
archetype
where
they
just
love
the



Interview with Brian Johnson

12


 moment.
They
no
longer
ever
set
goals
and
they
just
want
to
be
in
the
moment
which
is
 really
just
a
response
to
all
the
anxiety
and
frustration
that
one
experiences
when
 they’re
attaches
to
goals.
So
you
go
either/or.
Either
I’m
in
the
moment
and
I’m
happy
 or
I’m
just
chasing
goals.
I
think
I’m
going
to
be
happy
and
I
never
really
am,
and
when
 I’m
just
in
the
moment,
I’m
never
really
happy
because
you
need
goals.
You
need
to
be
 inspired
by
things
that
are
driving
you.
And
then
there’s
the
third—so
we
have
the
rat
 race
archetype
and
the
hedonist
archetype
and
then
we
have
the
nihilist
archetype
 which
basically
says
f
it
to
all
of
it
and
I
give
up.
It
all
sucks
and
I’m
going
to
go
in
this
 corner
and
just
be
a
cynic
and
a
critic.
Those
are
three
archetypes
that
lead
to
 unhappiness.
The
fourth
archetype
he
suggests
is
the
happier
in
happiness
archetype
 which
is
“I
have
goals
that
inspire
me,
that
are
my
guiding
stars,
and
I
love
the
 moment.”
And
he
says
it’s
not
like
wandering
aimlessly
on
a
mountain
which
would
be
 the
hedonist
just
being
in
the
moment
or
only
wanting
to
get
to
the
top
of
the
 mountain,
it’s
wanting
to
get
to
the
top
of
the
mountain
while
loving
each
step
of
the
 way,
which
is
a
truism
but
the
archetypes
and
the
way
he
lays
it
out,
I
think,
are
really
 cool.
I
think
a
lot
of
people
toggle
between
the
rat
racer
and
the
hedonist.
They’re
 either
all
about
goals
and
they’re
attached
or
they’re
all
about,
I
call
it
the
Tolle
trap,
 where
we
mis‐read
his
ideas
on
being
in
the
moment
and
the
Power
of
Now
and
they
 give
up
the
vitality
of
goals
which
psychologically‐‐
Mihály
Csíkszentmihályi
talks
about
 this
in
Flow.
You
have
to
have
goals
to
get
into
a
state
of
flow
because
you’ve
got
to
 have
a
certain
set
of
what
you
want
to
see
happen
in
order
to
get
your
consciousness
 dialed
into
this
moment
enough
to
experience
that
state
of
flow,
which
is
ultimate
 happiness.
So
part
of
a
longer
conversation
but
fun
ideas
in
there.
 
 JM:
 Yeah.
I
was
just
about
to
say
before
that,
I’ve
seen
that
in
spiritual
circles,
often.
 It’s
like
it’s
wrong
to
have
goals.
That’s
just
going
to
create
suffering
and
I
think
it’s
a
 real
trap
and
I
can
see
people
just
lose
their
energy
for
life.
They’re
okay
there
for
a
 while.
It’s
like
everything’s
in
the
moment
but
they
lose
that
kind
of
vitality
that
you
 gain
from
pursuing
your
goal.
I’ve
seen
that.
Maybe
I’ve
experienced
that
myself
at
 times
as
well.

 
 BJ:
 Yeah.
I
definitely
have.
Powerful,
huh?
 
 JM:
 It
is,
yeah.
You
mentioned
there
was
like
10principles.
I’m
just
thinking
time‐ wise
it’d
be
good
to
move
through
the
rest.
What’s
number
two?
 
 BJ:
 Cool.
So
give
me
a
sense
of
the
timing.
How
much
time
do
we
want
to
create
for
 the
questions?
 
 
 


Interview with Brian Johnson

13


 JM:
 Good
question.
Normally
we
do
about
45‐50
minute
interview—excuse
me,
 altogether.
So
we’ve
done
like
36
minutes
now.
So
time‐wise
we’re
getting
pushed.
I’m
 wondering
what
the
best—have
you
got
a
solution,
Laurens?
 
 LV:
 I
think
if
you’re
available,
Brian,
maybe
we
can
do
10more
minutes
for
the
 interview
and
then
five
or
10minutes
for
questions?
 
 BJ:
 I
would
love
to.
I’ll
be
here
as
long
as
you
guys
want
to
chat.

 
 LV:
 Awesome.
Great.
 
 JM:
 Cool.
And
we
can
always
aim
to
schedule
another
conversation
in
the
future
or
 something
like
that.
I’ve
just
thoroughly
enjoyed
this.
 
 BJ:
 I’d
really
enjoy
that,
too.
This
has
been
a
lot
of
fun.
 
 JM:
 Great.
Okay,
so
principle
number
two.
 
 BJ:
 Great,
to
quickly
go
through
them.
Principle
number
one
is
this
idea
of
optimism
 and
that
we’ve
got
to
gain
control
over
the
contents
of
our
consciousness
and
realize
 we
can
shape
that
and
that
we
can
really
create
whatever
we
want
to
see
in
our
lives.
 Hope
and
optimism
are
a
big
aspect
of
my
life
and
of
that
principle.

 
 Principle
number
two
is
vision
or
dharma.
It’s
this
idea
of
if
you
could
create
anything,
 what
would
you
create?
If
you
had
all
the
time
and
all
the
money
in
the
world,
what
 would
you
do?
When
we
talked
about
those
circles,
and
what
can
you
be
the
best
in
the
 world
at?
What
do
you
most
love
to
do?
Where
do
the
world’s
needs
meet
those
two
 other
circles?
That
would
be
vision.
If
you
could
have
anything
you
want
in
your
life,
 what
would
it
look
like?
That’s
principle
number
two.
Most
people
have
a
really
hard
 time
answering
that
question
because
they
lack
self‐awareness,
which
is
principle
 number
three.
And
that’s
Socrates’
“Know
thyself.”
We’ve
got
to
have
a
sense
of
who
 we
are.
Martin
Seligman
would
say
we’ve
got
to
know
our
signature
strengths.
We’ve
 got
to
know
what
our
gifts
are,
when
we
feel
most
alive,
just
who
we
are,
what
our
 values
are.
Abraham
Maslow
talks
about
that,
the
importance
of
knowing
what
we
 stand
for
and
that
self‐actualizing
individuals
have
a
very
good
sense
of
what
their
 values
are
whereas
the
average
person
doesn’t
at
all.
So
those
are
the
first
three
 principles—optimism,
vision,
self‐awareness.
 
 The
fourth
one
is
goals.
We’ve
got
to
have
goals.
We’ve
got
to
take
it
out
of
the
abstract
 and
put
it
into
practice.
And
it
can
be
anything
from
I
want
to
get
out
of
bed
tomorrow
 morning
when
my
alarm
goes
off
and
meditate
or
do
whatever
it
is
I
committed
to



Interview with Brian Johnson

14


 doing
or
I
want
to
run
this
10K
or
do
the
triathlon
or
write
the
business
plan
or
whatever
 it
is.
Meditate
for
a
year,
not
missing
a
day.
Whatever
the
goal
is,
we’ve
got
to
have
 goals
that
align
our
energy.

 
 The
fifth
principle
is,
I
call
it
just
doing‐it‐ness.
None
of
that
other
stuff
matters
if
we
 aren’t
taking
action,
right?
I
think
a
lot
of
people
get
stuck
here.

 
 JM:
 Yes.
 
 BJ:
 So,
I
say
pay
attention
to
guru
Nike,
just
do
it.
Like
what
needs
to
be
done?
Do
 it.
And
that’s
ultimately
how
we
hold
the
tension
between
the
vision
and
our
current
 reality
is
by
just
doing
it
and
taking
baby
steps.
We
talk
about
that
a
bunch
through
the
 notes.

 
 The
sixth
one
is
energy.
So
I
say
that
you’re
going
to
have
a
hard
time
living
at
your
 highest
potential
if
you
have
a
hard
time
getting
out
of
bed.
We’ve
got
to
honor
certain
 things
that
we
just
know
lead
to
higher
levels
of
energy,
proper
nutrition,
proper
 exercise,
proper
rest.
It’s
not
complicated.
We
want
to
chase
the
latest
belly
fat
scheme
 or
whatever
it
is
but
we
just
need
to
do
simple
thinks.
Drink
more
water.
Eat
more
 greens.
Exercise
regularly
and
get
plenty
of
rest.
It’s
not
complicated.
Right?
So
that’s
 principle
number
six.
And
then
I
kind
of
draw
a
circle
around
all
of
that
stuff
so
far
and
 principle
number
seven
comes
into
play.
I’ve
got
a
little
schematic
here
but
principle
 number
seven
is
wisdom.
This
is
where
loving
what
is,
the
Power
of
Now,
comes
into
 play
so
we
can
see
the
bigger
picture
here.
We
can
see
the
gestalt
of
it
all.
We
don’t
get
 manically
obsessed
with
goals
or
with
doing
whatever
we
said
we
would
do
without
 seeing
the
big
picture
of
things.
This
is
also
where
we
tap
into
the
wisdom
of
teachers
 that
inspire
us
and
actually
live
these
truths,
etc.
That’s
principle
number
seven.
 
 Principle
number
eight,
I
draw
a
box
around
all
those
other
principles
we
talked
about
 so
far
and
love
is
the
eighth
principle
which
kind
of
envelops
everything
we’ve
talked
 about.
None
of
that
stuff
matters
unless
we’re
living
from
a
place
of
love.
It’s
about
 more
than
just
us.
We’ve
got
to
be
able
to
say,
Ayn
Rand
says,
“You
have
to
be
able
to
 say
the
I
in
I
love
you.”
Right?
We
can’t
stop
at
I.
We’ve
got
to
say
love
you.
So
there’s
 that
sense
of
having
a
strong
sense
of
self
and
realizing
that
true
meaning
only
comes
 when
we
serve
something
bigger
than
ourselves.
So
that’s
principle
number
eight.
All
 the
great
teachers
talk
about
that.

 
 Principle
number
nine
is
on
the
top
of
that
box
and
it’s
courage.
The
word
courage
 comes
from
the
French
and
Latin
words
for
heart.
So
courage
is
literally
the
virtue
that
 beats,
that
pumps
blood
to
all
the
other
virtues.
Right?
So
it’s
like
a
heart
pumps
blood
 to
all
the
other
organs.
Without
courage,
none
of
the
other
stuff
matters
because



Interview with Brian Johnson

15


 you’re
not
going
to
actually
stand
for
your
ideals
when
it
really
counts.
So
that’s
the
 ninth
principle,
courage.

 
 Then
the
zero
principle,
the
tenth
principle
that
I
call
zero,
is
at
the
center
of
everything
 we’ve
talked
about
and
it’s
the
circumference.
It’s
spirit.
It’s
the
sense
of
the
universal
 power
that’s
beating
our
hearts
right
now,
everyone
who’s
listening
to
this
and
 participating
in
this
call.
It’s
a
miraculous
thing
when
I
think
about
it.
What’s
that
force?
 What’s
the
force,
the
same
force
that’s
keeping
the
planets
in
line
right
now?
So
that
 god,
spirit,
universe,
whatever
we
call
it,
that’s
the
heart
of
everything
and
it’s
the
 circumference
of
everything
and
ultimately
what
we
want
to
do
is
connect
to
that.

 
 So
the
book
is
going
to
be
called
Entheos,
which
is
the
root
of
the
word
enthusiasm.
It’s
 Entheos,
god
within.
So
my
big
thing
and
my
highest
goal
in
life
is
to
connect
to
god,
 source,
universe,
whatever
we
call
it,
consistently
and
go
from—and
let
it
shine
through
 me
and
go
from
being
a
20‐watt
bulb
to
can
I
create
a
1000‐watt
bulb
that’s
kind
of
like
 a
lighthouse.
It’s
just
steady
and
plugged
in
and
then
radiate
enthusiasm
in
my
life
as
 I’m
more
connected
to
my
highest
self.
Here
we’ll
talk
about
things
like
everything
 we’ve
talked
about,
living
on
purpose,
meditation.
The
true
essence
and
the
meaning
of
 life,
I
think,
is
to
connect
to
and
express
the
god
within
us.
So
that’s
a
really
quick
 overview
of
the
10principles
and
then
each
of
them
has
exercises
and
ideas
and
all
that
 good
stuff.

 
 JM:
 I’m
really
excited
to
hear
you
talk
about
this.
The
thing
is
I
want
to
jump
in
at
 every
point
and
expand
on
that
and
talk.
It’s
one
of
my
favorite
subjects
and
I
know
it
is
 with
Laurens,
too.
It’s
really
difficult
to
let
it—to
sort
of
skim
over
it
but
it’s
just
exciting
 to
hear
it.
I
want
to
open
it
up
for
some
questions
now
from
both
our
phone
callers
and
 from
the
people
listening
by
webcast.
So
Laurens
is
just
pulling
up
the
questions.
Okay,
 we’ve
got
a
Jawari
el‐Hazimi.
I
managed
to
pronounce
it
wrong
last
time.
He’s
saying,
 “Hi,
Brian.
Really
inspiring
and
passionate
talk.
I’d
like
to
know
your
experience
with
 New
Economy,
e.g.,
people
not
asking
for
money
when
they
provide
services
but
have
 their
clients
decide
what
they
would
like
to
pay
or
providing
books
online
for
free.”
 
 
 BJ:
 Yeah,
I
think
that’s
a
great
question.
I
think
that’s—for
me
it
always
comes
back
 to
what
feels
right
for
us.
I
think
clearly
we’ve—currently
we
have
an
economy
which
 requires
a
certain
flow
of
currency
so
we
can
pay
our
rent,
we
can
buy
food
and
do
all
 those
things.
But
I
think
having
the
discretion
to
help
people
decide
what
they
want
to
 pay
is
awesome
if
it
feels
right.
What
I
do
with
PhilosophersNotes
is
we
set
a
price.
I
 contemplated
running
PhilosophersNotes
as
a
non‐profit.
I
contemplated
running
it
a
 number
of
different
ways.
And
I
decided
that
what
we
would
do
is
create
a
price
point
 that
we’re
really
excited
about
that
is
incredible
value
which
is
currently
$49
for
100
of



Interview with Brian Johnson

16


 the
digital
things.
We’re
actually
going
to
be
changing
it
to
$79
soon
and
we
have
a
 physical
version
as
well.
But
what
we
did
was
we
offered
scholarships.
So
I’m
doing
this
 because
I
obviously
want
to
get
paid
to
do
what
I
love
to
do
but
for
me
it’s
way
bigger
 than
that.
I’ve
shifted
my
highest
goal
to
what
I
just
described
and
I
want
money
to
be
 able
to
circulate
and
be
able
to
advertise
and
do
all
the
things
I
want
to
do
to
be
able
to
 have
impact
but
I
don’t
want
money
to
get
in
the
way
of
me
being
able
to
give
the
 wisdom
away.
The
digital
product
costs
us
basically
nothing
to
give
away.
After
I’ve
put
 in
two
years
of
effort
to
build
it
and
several
hundred
thousand
dollars
to
build
all
the
 things
around
it,
at
this
stage
the
incremental
cost
to
give
it
away
is
nothing.
So
we
 have
a
scholarship
and
we
give
away
one
scholarship
for
every
one
we
sell.
So
anyone
 who’s
in
financial
need
can
go
to
philosophersnotes.com
and
apply
for
what
we
give.
So
 we
found
a
creative
way
to
meet
that
need
of
an
alternative
economy
if
you
will.
And
I
 think
that
as
coaches
and
consultants,
it’s
really
a
creative
process
of
what
feels
really
 good?
What
inspires
you?
One
of
my
values
is
kindness
and
generosity.
I
get
a
lot
out
of
 giving
to
the
world.
When
I
read
these
scholarship
applications,
it’s
awesome.
So
I
think
 as
we
create
our
businesses,
we
want
to
find
a
way
that
really
serves
us,
where
we’re
 taken
care
of
and
we’re
getting
the
value
we
deserve
for
the
products
and
services
 we’re
offering
and
we
feel
like
we’re
able
to
offer
what
we
want
to
offer.
So
whether
it’s
 letting
people
set
the
price
or
saying,
“This
is
how
much
it
costs
per
hour
and
I
offer
 scholarships
and
a
certain
number
of
people
can
work
with
me
on
a
sliding
scale”
or
 whatever.
I
would
say—I
just
said
a
lot
but
I
would
boil
that
down
into
do
what
feels
 best.
That’s
always
the
ultimate
answer
for
me.
 
 JM:
 I
think
that’s
really
true,
isn’t
it?
If
you
feel
comfortable
with
it
and
then
it
works
 for
you,
then
that’s
obviously
the
right
way
to
go.
I
want
to
open
it
up—sorry?
 
 BJ:
 One
more
thing
on
that.
Test
it.
The
other
thing
that
I’ve
learned
as
an
 entrepreneur
is
there’s
never
the
answer
that’s
just
solved.
There’s
always
an
evolution.
 What
worked
a
year
ago
isn’t
necessarily
going
to
work
today.
What
worked
today
isn’t
 necessarily
going
to
work
tomorrow.
Being
willing
to
be
inconsistent
as
we
discover
 what
feels
best
is
really
important.
I
used
to
get
really
stressed
when
I
would
think
I
had
 to
figure
IT
out
once
and
for
all.

 
 JM:
 Yeah.
I’ve
been
there,
too,
and
you
just
can’t
do
that.
Okay,
I
also
want
to
get
a
 question
or
two
from
the
live
listeners
on
the
phone.
I
forgot
to
say
this
before
but
if
 you’re
listening
by
phone,
you
can
raise
your
hand
and
we
can
come
to
you.
If
you
press
 *2
on
your
handset,
then
it
will
raise
your
hand
and
we
can
come
to
you
and
you
can
 ask
your
question
to
Brian.
So
we’ve
got
somebody
there.
My
trusty
assistant’s
just
 navigating
the
software.
Okay,
we’re
going
to
go
to
Larry
Owsley
in
Waynesville.
How
 are
you
doing,
Larry?
 


Interview with Brian Johnson

17


 Q1:

 Great!
I’m
inspired
as
usual,
Brian.
Thank
you
so
much.

 
 BJ:
 Awesome,
Larry.
Thank
you.

 
 JM:
 Awesome,
wow!
You
know,
since
you’ve
had
such
wide
experience
in
research,
I
 am
a
United
Methodist
minister
myself
so
I’m
a
Christian.
I
wonder
would
you
mind
 sharing
your
own
personal
spiritual
world‐view?
 
 BJ:
 Sure.
My
spiritual
world‐view
was
raised
Catholic
and
went
to
Catholic
school
 for
12
years
and
have
a
deep
level
of
respect
for
my
family
as
Catholic
and
as
Christian.
 For
me,
what
it
comes
down
to
as
I
look
at
Jesus
and
I
look
at
Buddha
and
I
look
at
Lao‐ Tzu
and
I
look
at
Rumi,
they’re
saying
very,
very
similar
things.
My
world‐view
is
to
live
 it.
I
think
that
when
I
imagine
Jesus
alive
in
the
21st
century,
I’m
not
so
sure
he’d
be
 Christian.
I
think
that
he
might
be
very
similar
to
how
he
was
when
he
was
alive
which
is
 really
pushing
back
against
the
systems
of
Judaism
in
his
era,
in
our
era
it’s
Christianity,
 and
saying,
“Look,
you
aren’t
following
the
heart
of
the
religion.
He
would
probably
be
 persecuted
in
exactly
the
same
way
and
he’d
be
intense
about
it.
He’d
do
the
exact
 same
thing,
the
equivalent
of
turning
over
money
tables
in
the
temple
which
led
to
his
 crucifixion.
He’d
do
it
on
some
televangelist’s
show.
He’d
somehow,
you
know,
bust
in
 and
commandeer
the
channel
and
go
off
on
it
and
he’d
be
killed
for
it.
So
I
think
that
 the
thing
for
me
is
whatever
our
belief
system,
whether
it’s
Christianity
or
Buddhism
or
 Judaism
or
Islam
or
Sufism,
are
we
living
it?
Are
we
living
our
ideals?
And
that’s
kind
of
 my
dynamic.
And
what
I
do
personally
and
what
I
like
to
do
in
my
work
is
to
challenge
 people
to—well,
what’s
important
to
you?
My
sister
is
a
devout
fundamentalist
 Christian
but
she’s
one
of
the
most
Christian
people
I’ve
met,
one
of
the
most
kind‐ hearted,
open‐hearted,
beautiful
human
beings.
We
don’t
agree
on
all
of
the
 ideological
ideas
but
I
really
honor
the
fact
that
she’s,
in
my
mind,
a
beautiful
 demonstration
of
the
ideals
of
Christianity.
So
to
me,
that’s
what
it
comes
down
to.
 
 Q1:

 Oh,
that’s
awesome.
Thank
you
so
much
for
sharing.

 
 BJ:
 Thanks
for
the
provocative
question.
That
was
great.
 
 JM:
 Thanks,
Larry.
I
think
we’ve
got
time
for
one
more
question
and
it
is,
basically,
a
 good
little
question
actually.
Andrew
from
Munich
was
saying,
“I
love
the
idea
of
 PhilosophersNotes.
If
Brian
was
to
add
one
more
personal
and
original
thought,
what
 would
it
be?”
 
 BJ:
 Love
the
idea
of
PhilosophersNotes.
One
more
personal
thought.
What
do
you
 think
he
means
by
that?
 


Interview with Brian Johnson

18


 JM:
 I’m
not
sure
but
I
just
thought
it
was
like
a
bit
of
a
challenge
there.
“If
Brian
was
 to
add
one
more
personal,
original
thought”—maybe
it’s,
I
don’t
know,
just
to
share
 something—it
could
be
what
was
the
one
thing
you
wish
you’d
known
when
you
started
 out
as
an
entrepreneur?
 
 BJ:
 Okay,
we
can
go
with
that.
What’s
the
one
thing?
You
know,
I
would
say
that
 this
idea
of
impossibility,
of
what’s
possible
and
what’s
not
possible—what
went
 through
my
mind,
just
to
give
you
a
glimpse
into
what
I
went
through.
When
I
first
 starting
my
entrepreneurial
kind
of
career
if
you
will,
I
talked
to
a
couple
of
different
 people
who
I
knew
who
were
really
successful
and
my
idea
for
eteamz
at
the
time,
I
 wanted
to
have
a
million
teams
use
our
system
in
five
years.
That
was
my
vision.
I
could
 just
see
it,
that
every
team
and
league
in
the
world
would
be
using
it,
using
the
web,
 and
I
wanted
to
be
the
leading
provider
of
that.
I
remember
talking
to
a
guy
who
was
 really,
really
successful,
the
chairman
of
a
Fortune
500
business
in
fact
who
was
the
dad
 of
one
of
my
friends
at
UCLA
and
he
basically
told
me
I
was
insane
and
that
as
a
law
 school
dropout
with
no
business
experience,
there
wasn’t
even
a
market
need.
At
the
 time,
no
one
had
a
need
for
the
product
that
I
was
creating.
He
basically
told
me
I
was
 insane.
Someone
else
told
me
to
“take
another
hit
on
that
pipe.”
Pipe
dream.
So
to
me,
 at
the
time,
for
whatever
reason,
that
just
catalyzed
me
to
want
to
do
it
even
more
and
 we
got
to
a
million
teams
in
four
years,
not
five,
and
there’s
now
three
million
teams
 that
use
it
and
Little
League
Baseball
is
one
of
our
official
clients
now.

 
 So
that
idea
of
just
really
inspiring
people
to
believe
in
their
dreams
and
to
believe
that
 whatever
we
truly
have
as
a
heartfelt
desire,
not
a
“I
want
to
get
a
Porsche
so
I
can
 impress
my
neighbors”
which
is
fine,
I’ve
had
my
Porsche
and
I’ve
impressed
my
 neighbors.
I
now
drive
a
Prius.
We
all
go
through
phases.
The
heartfelt,
truly
authentic
 desires,
the
creative
desires
that
we
have,
again,
whether
it’s
being
an
extraordinary
 parent
or
artist
or
entrepreneur,
whatever
that
is,
I
truly
believe
that
we
have
the
ability
 to
bring
it
to
life.
And
Ralph
Waldo
Emerson,
who
was
a
minister
when
he
started
his
 career—and
I
should
say,
too,
to
Larry
as
well—when
I
was
dropping
out
of
law
school,
I
 wrote
down
I
would
be
an
evangelist
if
I
only
had
a
religion
in
which
I
believed.
So
I’ve
 always
been
a
bit
of
an
evangelist.
Now
I
think
I’ve
found
my
religion.
But
this
idea
of— Emerson
said
that
nature
is
not
capricious.
Nature
doesn’t
play
games
and
the
 implanting
of
a
desire
foreshadows
our
ability
to
bring
it
to
fruition,
to
bring
it
to
life.
If
 we
have
an
authentic
desire,
we
have
the
ability
to
bring
it
to
life.
So
that’d
be
the
thing
 that
I
would
want
to
encourage
myself
before
I
did
any
of
this
and
today,
continuously
 as
I
continue
to
grow
and
dream,
and
all
of
us
participating
in
this
call,
is
that,
is
if
you
 really
have
a
heartfelt
desire,
trust
it.
Believe
that
it’s
something
bigger
than
you.
It’s
 that
spirit,
that
god
force
within
that’s
asking
you
to
give
your
gifts
to
the
world
and
 really
just
trust
that.
That
would
be
one
big
idea
I’d
love
to
teach
myself
at
that
phase.
 


Interview with Brian Johnson

19


 JM:
 Fantastic.
I
think
that’s
a
great
place
to
end
the
interview.
I
just
want
to
thank
 you,
Brian.
I’ve
been
totally
inspired
by
the
interview.
We’ve
gone
all
over
the
place
and
 I
feel
like
we
could
carry
on
talking
for
another
hour
on
this
subject
so
thank
you
so
 much.
I’m
sure
it’s
been
an
inspiration
to
all
our
listeners.
Laurens,
do
you
want
to
say
a
 quick
thanks?
 
 LV:
 Yeah.
Thanks,
Brian.
I
also
light
up
by
everything
you’ve
said.
I
really
enjoyed
it.
 
 BJ:
 Thank
you
guys
and
I
would
say
I
think
we
could
have
talked
for
about
another
 week.

 
 JM:
 Yeah,
I’d
love
to
do
this
again
sometime
in
the
near
future
if
you’re
up
for
that.
I
 think
that
could
be
another
great
call.
Do
you
want
to
tell
us
your
website
address.

 
 BJ:
 Sure.
Yeah.
The
website
is
philosophersnotes.com,
they’re
both
plural.
Yeah,
 like
I
said,
we’ve
got
the
digital
and
physical
product
and
we’ve
also
got
the
 scholarships.
If
money’s
an
issue,
sign
up
for
a
scholarship.
We’ll
hook
you
up.
Then
I
 also
have
PhilosophersNotes
TV
episodes
where
I’m
doing
10‐minute
episodes
on
a
few
 of
my
favorite
big
ideas
from
all
100
of
the
books
that
I
profile.
We
didn’t
mention
it,
 but
you
can
get
the
PhilosophersNotes
in
6‐page
pdf
and
in
a
20‐minute
mp3.
So
we’ve
 got
thousands
of
people
who
have
signed
up.
My
number
one
payment
is
the
emails
I
 get
from
all
the
people
who
are
fired
up,
so
it’s
just
amazing,
what
people
are
telling
 me.
I’m
just
really
inspired
by
it.
But
I
want
to
thank
you
guys.
I
really
appreciate
what
 you’ve
put
together
and
this
has
been
a
lot
of
fun.
Just
let
me
know.
Send
me
an
email
 and
let
me
know
when
the
next
time
is
you’d
like
to
connect
and
I’m
on.
 
 JM:
 Great.
Thanks,
Brian.
I
just
have
to
say
to
everyone
listening
that
it
is
a
great
 resource,
PhilosophersNotes.
Both
myself
and
Laurens,
we
just—It’s
just
great.
You
can
 really
dig
into
these
big
ideas
in
a
very
short
space
of
time
and
especially
for
coaches
 out
there.
If
you’re
coaching
other
people,
it’s
just
a
fantastic
resource.
Thanks
again,
 Brian.
 
 BJ:
 Thank
you,
Joel.

 
 JM:
 I
just
wanted
to
put
a
call
to
action
to
people
listening.
If
you
found
today’s
call
 helpful,
just—there’s
been
so
much
great
information
in
today’s
call—I’d
invite
you
to
 share
it
with
anyone
else
you
think’s
going
to
benefit
from
it,
coaches,
change
agents,
 consultants.
You
can
tell
them
to
sign
up
at
the
Coaches
Rising
Summit
at
 www.coachesrising.com.
Tweet
about
it,
put
it
on
your
Facebook
profile.
We
really
 want
to
spread
the
word
and
let
as
many
people
know
about
this
as
possible
so
just
get
 on
and
do
that.
We’re
also
excited
that
the
premium
version
of
the
summit
is
going
to



Interview with Brian Johnson

20


 be
coming
soon,
the
Coaches
Rising
Business
Acceleration
Program,
the
full
mp3
 recordings.
You
can
take
them
anywhere
you
want,
listen
to
them
in
the
car
or
at
the
 gym.
Transcripts
of
the
interviews.
Action
guides
that
we’ve
created
from
the
 interviews
and
there’s
going
to
be
some
more
bonuses
coming
up,
too.
It’s
going
to
be
 a
great
package.
Lastly,
I
want
to
thank
everybody
who’s
been
listening
in
today.
 Wherever
you
are,
whatever
time
it
is,
just
enjoy
the
rest
of
your
day
or
have
a
great
 night’s
sleep
and
thanks
very
much.
We
will
speaking
next
week—who
are
we
speaking
 to
next
week,
Laurens,
I’ve
forgotten.

 
 LV:
 Alexander
Osterwalder.
 
 JM:
 That’s
right.
He’s
going
to
be—he’s
a
business
model
alchemist
and
he’s
going
 to
be
talking
about
traditional
business
models
and
new
innovations.
He’s
a
really
cool
 dude
so
make
sure
you
tune
into
that
one.
Thanks
very
much
everyone
and
see
you
 soon.
 
 THE
END


Interview with Brian Johnson

21