This is a book summary of Areté: Activate Your Heroic Potential by Brian Johnson (Amazon).
Premium members have access to the companion post: 🔒 Brian Johnson Synthesis: How to Optimize & Activate Your Heroic Potential (+ Infographic)
For a video intro:
Quick Housekeeping:
- All content in “quotation marks” is from the author (otherwise it’s paraphrased).
- All content is organized into my own themes (not the author’s chapters).
- Emphasis has been added in bold for readability/skimmability.
Book Summary Contents:
Activate Your Heroic Potential: Areté by Brian Johnson (Book Summary)
About the Book Areté
“I could have delivered a standard 200- to 300-page book with a few dozen (or even one hundred) potentially life-changing ideas. I decided to OVERLOAD and give you a 1,001+ page book with 451 potentially life-changing ideas. I want you to FEEL the explosive power of the ideas in this book as we get to work blowing up everything that may be in the way of us actualizing our potential so we can win the ultimate war between vice and virtue we are ALL waging all day every day.”
- “Pithy microchapters + dense brick of a book. You can start from the first page and systematically work your way through the seven objectives (with the interleaving and spaced repetition!). Or you can open up to any page and, hopefully, get inspired by one of the 451° Ideas in a minute or three … 451° ideas to help us move from Theory to Practice to Mastery Together—closing the gap between who we’re capable of being and who we’re actually being as we activate our Heroic potential and give the world all we’ve got … All of these +1°s aren’t ideas to be cataloged in the libraries of our minds. These are ideas to be LIVED in the moment-to-moment experiences that determine our destiny.”
- “If I had to summarize my entire philosophy in one sentence: ‘What one can be, one must be’ (Abraham Maslow). At a certain stage of our development, our need to actualize our potential is as real as our need to breathe.”
- “Empowering you to more and more consistently be that best, most Heroic version of yourself is what this book is all about. Literally everything we do together will be with THAT ultimate goal in mind … Helping you operationalize THAT wisdom so you can activate YOUR Heroic potential is what this book is all about.”
- “If it’s so obvious that the ultimate purpose of life is to express the best version of ourselves (in service to the world) by putting our virtues in action, then why isn’t that the ultimate aim of all of us living today?”
Areté, Hero, & Eudaimonia
“If we wanted to summarize this entire book (and my entire philosophy) into a single word, ARETÉ is it—which is precisely why I have ARETÉ tattooed on my right forearm and why you’ll see that word emblazoned on the cover of the book.”
Areté:
“We translate the ancient Greek word Areté as ‘excellence’ or ‘virtue’ but it also has a deeper meaning—something closer to ‘expressing the best version of yourself moment to moment to moment.'”
- “When we live with Areté, we’re closing the gap between who we’re capable of being and who we’re actually being … What if we CLOSED THE GAP between who we are capable of being and who we are actually being as we show up as the best version of ourselves?! … To the extent you ARE NOT showing up as the best, most Heroic version of yourself and there is a GAP between who you are capable of being and who you are actually being, YOU WILL SUFFER.”
- “Living with Areté so we can be HEROIC is the ultimate game of life.”
- “Remember the ultimate game. Hint: ARETÉ = HEROIC.”
Hero:
“The word hero doesn’t mean ‘killer of bad guys’ or ‘tough guy’ or anything like that it. It means ‘PROTECTOR.’ A hero has strength for two.”
- “A hero is willing to do the hard work to have that strength for two.”
- “Do you know what the secret weapon of the ancient hero was? LOVE. It’s love that fuels our commitment to do that hard work to have the strength for two.”
- “Heroes have strength for two. Our secret weapon is love.”
Eudaimonia:
“THAT is the ultimate game we’re all playing all day every day. When we close the gap and choose to do the things that help us show up as the best version of ourselves, we feel a deep sense of joy. The ancient Greek and Stoic philosophers had a word for that as well. They called it eudaimonia.”
- “Aristotle tells us that the summum bonum (or ‘highest good’) of life is to live with what the ancient Greeks (and Stoics) called eudaimonia. That beautiful word literally means ‘good soul.’ We weakly translate it into English as ‘happiness’ but eudaimonia has a deeper meaning—something closer to ‘experiencing the joy of fulfilling your highest potential’ or, in a word, to ‘flourish.'”
- “Two forms of ‘happiness’: hedonic vs. eudaimonic. Hedonic pleasure is, basically, what you feel when you do what ‘feels’ good. Of course, a good life includes a certain amount of hedonic pleasure but… As you may have noticed, society is CONSTANTLY (!) seducing us with the hedonic side of things while dressing up vice as virtue.”
- “Ancient wisdom and modern science agree. The ultimate game of life is to flourish (eudaimonia!) by living with virtue (Areté).”
Virtues
“Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science agree: The ultimate meaning of life is to flourish by putting our virtues in action. Or, if you prefer to go old school, to live with eudaimonia via Areté … The ultimate game is won by putting our virtues in action.”
Ancient Cardinal Virtues:
“First, the ancient Greek and Stoic philosophers. Think: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, plus Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. They all agreed on their four cardinal virtues: Wisdom + Temperance + Courage + Justice.”
- Wisdom: “The ancient Stoics told us that Wisdom is, in fact, THE virtue of which all the other virtues are simply expressions.”
- Temperance: “Then we have Temperance. That’s a REALLY weak word for what all the ancient wisdom teachers were REALLY getting at. It’s not so much that we don’t drink too much or eat too much per se, it’s that we have self-mastery or DISCIPLINE. So, that’s our second virtue.”
- Courage: “Then we have Courage. We’ll keep that one as is and talk about it a LOT. Btw: Did you know the word courage comes from the word that means ‘heart’? Yep. Just as your heart pumps blood to your arms and legs and all your other vital organs, courage is the virtue that vitalizes all the other virtues—which is why Aristotle considered courage THE most important virtue.”
- Justice: “Then we go to Justice. Now… If you study the Stoics, you know that their sense of ‘justice’ is more appropriately called LOVE. These guys were ALL IN on serving humanity as profoundly as they could.”
Modern Virtues & Character Strengths:
“When Martin Seligman and his colleagues kicked off the positive psychology movement, they started by cataloging all the virtues of all the ancient wisdom and spiritual traditions. Think: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, plus the ancient Greek philosophers, Taoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Of course, those traditions differed on cultural details, but the researchers found an astonishing coherence among all of them. So, they took the four cardinal virtues we just discussed (Wisdom + Courage + Temperance + Justice) that showed up in ALL traditions and they added two more virtues to the mix: what they called ‘Transcendence’ and ‘Humanity.'”
- Character Strengths (or sub-virtues): “Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence, Bravery, Creativity, Curiosity, Fairness, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Hope, Humility, Humor, Integrity, Kindness, Leadership, Love, Love of Learning, Open-Mindedness, Persistence, Perspective, Prudence, Self-Regulation, Social Intelligence, Spirituality, Teamwork, and Zest. Positive psychologists call those twenty-four sub-virtues ‘Character Strengths.’ They’ve found that people who use their top strengths often in their day-to-day lives are happier. They also created a powerful little survey to help us get more clarity on our Top Five virtue-strengths—which they call ‘signature strengths.’ Cruise on over to VIAcharacter(dot)org and join over 15 million people who have taken the survey. It’ll only take you ten minutes and I promise (!) it will be some of the best time you’ve ever invested in yourself.”
- Zest: “Positive psychologists arm wrestle a bit on which of the virtues is the #2 most powerful virtue. Is it Hope or is it Gratitude? But they agree that ZEST is the #1 virtue most highly correlated with our eudaimonic flourishing. ‘Zest’ is bit of a weird word for what we’re going to call ‘Energy.’ And, I repeat, THIS IS THE #1 PREDICTOR of your psychological well-being.”
- Gratitude + Hope + Zest + Curiosity + Love: “In addition to those UNIQUE Top Five Virtues, science also says that there’s a UNIVERSAL Top Five set of virtues. These virtues have been most robustly correlated to our eudaimonic flourishing: Gratitude + Hope + Zest + Curiosity + Love.”
8 Heroic Virtues:
“By the time we’re done playing together, we will have the WISDOM to know the game we’re playing and how to play it well. We will have the DISCIPLINE to actually play that game well today. And, we will have the LOVE to deeply and joyfully connect with others. And, we will have the COURAGE to be willing to act in the presence of fear. WISDOM + DISCIPLINE + LOVE + COURAGE. Operationalizing those virtues is, ultimately, what it’s all about.”
- Wisdom: “I know the ultimate game and how to play it well.”
- Discipline: “I forge antifragile confidence with every action I take.”
- Love: “I am joyful, connected, and encouraging.”
- Courage: “I am willing to act in the presence of fear.”
- Gratitude: “I appreciate all the blessings and gifts in my life.”
- Hope: “I have inspiring goals, agency, and pathways.”
- Curiosity: “I pay attention to what’s working and what needs work.”
- Zest: “I dominate my fundamentals so I have Heroic energy.”
7 Objectives
The entire book is presented in the following 7 objectives…
Objective 1: Know the Ultimate Game
“The first thing we need to do is step back and make sure we’re playing the right game. Fact is, in such a profoundly sick society, we almost certainly aren’t.”
- “The ultimate game we’re playing is to express the best version of ourselves more and more consistently by living with Areté as we put our virtues in action.”
Objective 2: Forge Antifragile Confidence
“You can be fragile and break easily. You can be resilient and withstand more stress before breaking down (and then bouncing back a little quicker than most). OR… You can be the OPPOSITE of fragile. What would happen if, the MORE you got kicked around, the STRONGER you got? Seriously. What would that be called? You’d be ANTIFRAGILE.”
- “The word confidence comes from two little Latin words: con and fidere. The word literally means ‘with intense trust.’ Intense trust in WHAT? Not that everything will go perfectly. That, of course, is crazy. We need to cultivate an intense trust in ourselves such that it DOESN’T MATTER what happens because we know that we are the type of people who can do what needs to get done whether we feel like it or not.”
- “The Heroic mantra isn’t ‘OM.’ It’s ‘OMMS.’ As in: ‘OBSTACLES MAKE ME STRONGER.'”
- “Response-Ability—an essential component to forging Antifragile Confidence.”
Objective 3: Optimize Your Big 3
“A good life (essentially) comes down to getting our Energy, Work, and Love optimized.”
- “First, we need to know who we are at our best: Energy, Work, and Love wise. We’ll refer to those best versions of ourselves as our ‘Identities.’ Then we want to get clear on what Virtues that best version of ourselves embodies. Then, most importantly, we need to DO the things that best version of ourselves would do. We’ll call those ‘Behaviors.’ Enter, our second Big 3: Identity, Virtues, and Behaviors.”
- Genius Work equation: “Genius Work Produced = ENERGY x Time Spent x Intensity of Focus”
- Heroic Identity creation formula: “IDENTITIES → Behaviors → FEELINGS I have committed to being the sort of person who does x, y, and z so I DO those things whether I feel like it or not and, interestingly, I often wind up feeling GREAT after engaging in the behavior I used to avoid while becoming the person I was always destined to be. To recap: Don’t let your FEELINGS drive your Behaviors. Start with your IDENTITIES and let those drive your Behaviors.”
Steps:
- Step 0: “Set up your Big 3 protocol by getting clarity on who you are at your best in your Energy, Work, and Love along with the virtues that best version of you embodies and what, SPECIFICALLY, you will actually DO TODAY to be in integrity with that best version of yourself.”
- Step 1: “Commit to being that best version of yourself and doing those things TODAY. Note: As we like to say (and I promise to repeat myself!)… New Year’s Resolutions are nice and warm and fuzzy. New DAY’s Resolutions are where it’s at if you actually want to consistently perform at the highest possible levels.”
- Step 2: “Hit your targets. ALL DAY. EVERY DAY. ESPECIALLY TODAY! And even more importantly… Commit and hit them on those days when you don’t (insert whiny voice) feel like it as you forge your invincible, antifragile confidence.”
- Step 3: “Repeat. Forever.”
Objective 4: Make Today a Masterpiece
“We know the ultimate game we’re playing. We’re forging antifragile confidence and we’re optimizing our Energy, Work, and Love. Now, it’s time to seize the day as we systematically architect our Masterpiece Days. Before we go any further, let’s summarize this objective in three simple words. We’ll bring back the all caps and all bold so we don’t miss it. Here it is… TODAY’S THE DAY!!! I repeat: TODAY’S the Day to move from Theory to Practice to Mastery, Hero!”
- “It’s time to get the fact that TODAY’S THE DAY to move from Theory to Practice to Mastery. We’re going to help you become a master at creating Masterpiece Days. We’ll start with your AM and PM Bookends and we’ll teach you the fact that, somewhat paradoxically, a great day begins with the END of your prior day.”
- “As we set out to make TODAY a masterpiece, here’s the first thing we need to know… If you’re like most people, you have more control over the beginning and ending of your day than you do the middle of your days. In his great book The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy (the former publisher of Success magazine) calls those segments of your days ‘AM and PM Bookends.'”
- “I personally have a dedicated Deep Work Time Block EVERY SINGLE MORNING. Right after my meditation, I show up and hit my most important win in a 30-60-90-minute, creative-before-reactive Deep Work session. It’s my secret weapon for Heroic productivity.”
Objective 5: Master Yourself
“All of which leads us to our fifth Objective in which we’ll master the three disciplines of self-mastery: structural discipline, reactive discipline, and expansive discipline.”
- “Willpower (a.k.a. self-discipline/self-mastery/etc.) is the best predictor of pretty much everything else we want in life: great relationships, health, wealth, etc … Think about one of your bad habits. Now think about how you could play OFFENSE with your willpower to create an environment where you’re simply not exposed to that temptation.”
- Reactive discipline: “Just what it sounds like. Something triggers you. Can you step in between the stimulus and your habitual, sub-optimal response with the DISCIPLINE to CHOOSE a better response?”
- Structural discipline: “All about the daily habits that keep us plugged in—that give our lives the ‘structure’ we need to connect to and express the best versions of ourselves. And, of course, structural discipline is the foundation of that protocol we want to make sure we’re executing—ESPECIALLY when we don’t feel like it.”
- Expansive discipline: “Both the most important and the hardest of the three. EVERY SINGLE MOMENT we have a choice. Will we step forward into growth or back into safety? If we want to activate our Heroic potential and have a shot at experiencing all that we’re capable of being we must more and more consistently shout, ‘BRING IT ON!’ as we choose to expand, expand, expand! In short: We need to make that expansion a discipline.”
Objective 6: Dominate the Fundamentals
“We have seven: Eating, Moving, Sleeping, Breathing, Focusing, Celebrating, and Prospering. Each fundamental has a core set of behaviors that we’ll train together.”
- Rule #1: “Quit drinking your sugar.”
- Rule #2: “Eat real food and throw out the factory food.”
- Rule #3: “Eat within a time-restricted window.”
- Rule +1: “Eat like your favorite philosopher (who lived at least three hundred years ago).”
- “In her great book The Joy of Movement, Kelly McGonigal tells us: ‘The average daily step count required to induce feelings of anxiety and depression and decrease satisfaction with life is 5,649. The typical American takes 4,774 steps per day. Across the globe, the average is 4,961.'”
Objective 7: Activate Your Superpower
“What’s the ONE thing ALL the great Heroes across all cultures throughout history have had in common? Soul Force.”
- Soul Force equation: “Soul Force = (Energy x Focus x WIN)^Consistency”
- Energy: “First, we need to get our ENERGY to truly Heroic levels. Fact is, if we’re not dominating our fundamentals (Eating, Moving, Sleeping, Breathing, Focusing!) and have a hard time getting out of bed because of poor lifestyle choices, we’re going to have a REALLY hard time showing up at our best in any aspect of our lives.”
- Focus & WIN: “Then, we need to FOCUS that Energy on what’s truly most important right now—or, as we like to say, on ‘WIN’—which is short for ‘What’s Important Now.’ That’s the first part of our Soul Force Equation: (Energy x Focus x WIN).”
- Consistency: “Then we bring in the final and, BY FAR, the most important variable: CONSISTENCY. KNOW THIS: If you can only get yourself to get your Energy Focused on What’s Important Now once in a while, you will NEVER (!) actualize your potential. But… If you can get yourself to show up CONSISTENTLY… You can tap into your infinite superpowers.”
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