My Dear Fellow Optimizing Hero / Prospective Heroic Founding Member:
This is Brian. 👋
I’m the creator of Optimize and the Founder + CEΦ of Heroic.
I appreciate you being a part of our Heroic movement to help create a world in which 51% of the world’s population is flourishing by the year 2051, and I'm excited to share a little bit more about the THREE ways we'd love to help you more consistently show up as the best, most Heroic version of yourself so we can (literally!) change the world together—one person at a time, STARTING WITH YOU and me (and us!), TODAY.
I'd like to tell you a little bit more about the two ways we’d love to help you more consistently show up as the best, most Heroic version of yourself.
One is both super fun and super practical. And the other is the most POWERFUL way I think we can fundamentally and permanently change your life and, in the process, fundamentally and permanently change the world together.
We have a lot to cover and I know you’re busy so let’s jump straight in.
The Heroic Social Training Platform
I’ve spent half of the last 25 years as a Founder/CEO and the other half as a Philosopher.
When I wasn’t building (and eventually selling) two social platforms (that pre-dated Facebook), I was a hermit (😂) and essentially all I did was read and write and teach.
(Seriously. I didn’t use my phone for years and was out of email for the same type of stretch. My friend Cal Newport actually featured me as a case study on how to run a (multi-million dollar) business without using email in his most recent book called A World Without Email.)
So...
I studied Socrates in Athens. Jesus in Jerusalem. Rumi in Turkey and Marcus Aurelius near the Danube in Hungary.
I read hundreds and hundreds (and hundreds and hundreds!) of books—trying to understand what the greatest thinkers had to say about how to live a truly great, noble life.
In the process, I created the collection of PhilosophersNotes, Optimal Living 101 classes, and Optimize +1s that are now part of Optimize by Heroic.
And...
Since I sold my last business, I have been waiting for FIFTEEN YEARS for SOMEONE (!!) to create a more conscious version of Facebook for people like us who want to live virtuously and make a difference in the world.
Basically, An Answer to the Social Dilemma. (If you and your family haven’t watched that Netflix documentary yet I HIGHLY recommend you do. Immediately.)
I go off about all this in a letter I wrote inviting our Heroic community to join our movement as an Early Stage Investor. You can learn more about the unintended catastrophic consequences of the current social platforms in that letter here: heroic.us/invest
For now...
Knowing this is already long, here’s what you need to know about our origin story.
I founded Heroic Public Benefit Corporation on election night 2020. I decided it was time for me to come out of the hermitage and truly APPLY all the wisdom I had been studying and striving to embody.
A few days later I learned that crowdfunding regulations were changing to allow startups like ours to raise up to $5M from our community.
It was one of those moments in which I didn’t “think” we could do it, I instantly (goosebumps) KNEW we would be the first to ever raise $5M via the new regulations.
Fast forward six weeks. We filed with the SEC. I sent out a long letter to our community inviting them to join our movement as an investor to help us create a social training platform that would help people flourish so we could change the world together.
In 24 hours we had $5M of commitments. In 100 hours, we had $10M. (Goosebumps again.)
We made history as the first company to ever raise $5M via the new crowdfunding regulations and we wound up raising $11M.
Then I immediately went out and partnered with THE best product design company in the world: MetaLab.
MetaLab built Slack and Tinder. And Uber Eats. And the app for Elon Musk’s new business Neuralink.
They are AMAZING.
And we are FIRED UP (🔥!!!) to be working with them on Heroic!
That’s a long prelude. It’s time to talk about (and SHOW YOU!!) what we’re actually going to do.
Check this out. It’s a video of our splash page. (The music we licensed in the background? That’s The Score—the band that performed at our Launch!!)
Watch the Heroic Launch Party-Workshop replay, featuring a workshop from me!
And become a Heroic Member here.
My Dear Fellow Optimizing Hero / Prospective Heroic Founding Member:
This is Brian. 👋
I’m the creator of Optimize and the Founder + CEΦ of Heroic.
I appreciate you being a part of our Heroic movement to help create a world in which 51% of the world’s population is flourishing by the year 2051, and I'm excited to share a little bit more about the THREE ways we'd love to help you more consistently show up as the best, most Heroic version of yourself so we can (literally!) change the world together—one person at a time, STARTING WITH YOU and me (and us!), TODAY.
We have a lot to cover and I know you’re busy so let’s jump straight in.
The Heroic Social Training Platform
I’ve spent half of the last 25 years as a Founder/CEO and the other half as a Philosopher.
When I wasn’t building (and eventually selling) two social platforms (that pre-dated Facebook), I was a hermit (😂) and essentially all I did was read and write and teach.
(Seriously. I didn’t use my phone for years and was out of email for the same type of stretch. My friend Cal Newport actually featured me as a case study on how to run a (multi-million dollar) business without using email in his most recent book called A World Without Email.)
So...
I studied Socrates in Athens. Jesus in Jerusalem. Rumi in Turkey and Marcus Aurelius near the Danube in Hungary.
I read hundreds and hundreds (and hundreds and hundreds!) of books—trying to understand what the greatest thinkers had to say about how to live a truly great, noble life.
In the process, I created the collection of PhilosophersNotes, Optimal Living 101 classes, and Optimize +1s that are now part of Optimize by Heroic.
And...
Since I sold my last business, I have been waiting for FIFTEEN YEARS for SOMEONE (!!) to create a more conscious version of Facebook for people like us who want to live virtuously and make a difference in the world.
Basically, An Answer to the Social Dilemma. (If you and your family haven’t watched that Netflix documentary yet I HIGHLY recommend you do. Immediately.)
I go off about all this in a letter I wrote inviting our Heroic community to join our movement as an Early Stage Investor. You can learn more about the unintended catastrophic consequences of the current social platforms in that letter here: heroic.us/invest
For now...
Knowing this is already long, here’s what you need to know about our origin story.
I founded Heroic Public Benefit Corporation on election night 2020. I decided it was time for me to come out of the hermitage and truly APPLY all the wisdom I had been studying and striving to embody.
A few days later I learned that crowdfunding regulations were changing to allow startups like ours to raise up to $5M from our community.
It was one of those moments in which I didn’t “think” we could do it, I instantly (goosebumps) KNEW we would be the first to ever raise $5M via the new regulations.
Fast forward six weeks. We filed with the SEC. I sent out a long letter to our community inviting them to join our movement as an investor to help us create a social training platform that would help people flourish so we could change the world together.
In 24 hours we had $5M of commitments. In 100 hours, we had $10M. (Goosebumps again.)
We made history as the first company to ever raise $5M via the new crowdfunding regulations and we wound up raising $11M.
Then I immediately went out and partnered with THE best product design company in the world: MetaLab.
MetaLab built Slack and Tinder. And Uber Eats. And the app for Elon Musk’s new business Neuralink.
They are AMAZING.
That’s a long prelude. It’s time to talk about (and SHOW YOU!!) what we’re actually going to do.
Check this out. It’s a video of our splash page. (The music we licensed in the background? That’s The Score—the band that’s performing at our Launch!!)
And...
Here are the App Store images...
Now...
What’s the Heroic social training platform actually do?
Goosebumps again.
We intend to do ONE THING better than anyone else in the world.
And that thing is very simple...
We will move you from THEORY to PRACTICE to MASTERY.
The fact is, we don’t need to read another book or listen to another podcast.
We need to actually DO the things we already (!) know we could be doing.
We need to close the gap between who we’re CAPABLE of being in any given moment and who we’re ACTUALLY being in that moment.
Not once in a while. Or when you feel like.
But ALL DAY.
EVERY DAY.
Period.
That is what we are fiercely committed to doing at the highest possible level and what I believe will be the most powerful way we can serve you to help you show up more and more consistently as the best, most Heroic version of yourself.
Why?
So we can, again, fundamentally and permanently change your life so we can, again, fundamentally be permanently change the world.
I talk about our two brand promises and the two key metrics by which we will measure our success in that investor letter I referenced above. Check that out for more. Link again here: heroic.us/invest
For now, let’s chat details and wrap this up with the official invitation to join us as a Founding Member.
The app has two principal components: THEORY and PRACTICE. By consistently practicing we reach MASTERY.
The Theory: Basic Training
One of the things I didn’t mention is that, in addition to all the Notes and 101s and +1s, I also created a 300-day Coach certification program that has been scientifically proven to change lives.
It used to be called Optimize Coach. It’s now called Heroic Coach.
11,000+ people from 111+ countries have signed up. (More on that here.)
For Heroic, I basically distill the absolute best of that 300-day scientifically-proven program into what we’re calling Heroic Basic Training.
There are seven objectives. Let’s take a quick look at each.
Objective I: Know the Ultimate Game
The first thing we need to REALLY (!) get if we want to REALLY (!!) change our lives is this: We’re playing the wrong game.
We’ve all heard the quip that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
Of course, that’s true.
And...
Know this: If that first step is in the WRONG direction, you’ll be 2,000 (!!) miles away from where you want to be at the end of that 1,000-mile journey.
In Objective I of Basic Training, we’ll invite Aristotle and Martin Seligman (founder of the positive psychology movement) to the party as proxies for ancient wisdom and modern.
We’ll ask them: “Guys! What’s the ultimate meaning of life?”
They’ll give us the exact same one-word answer. And that answer can INSTANTLY change your life.
Btw: We’ll ask them a follow-up question on HOW we can play that ultimate game well. They answer that question with the same one-word answer as well.
I tattooed my body with Aristotle’s response. It’s the one-word summation of my entire life’s work and everything we will do together with Heroic.
Objective II: Forge Antifragile Confidence
Once we know the ultimate game and how to play it well, it’s time to know Rule #1 of a good, noble life.
Here it is: It’s not supposed to be easy.
When you truly answer the call to your own idiosyncratic Heroic quest (please do!!!), you’ve gotta know that YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BATTLE DRAGONS.
It’s not supposed to be easy, folks.
That may sound obvious but we’ve been seduced to play the wrong game AND, perhaps even worse, we’ve been seduced to think it’s supposed to all be rainbows and sunshine and unicorns.
Then we think something’s wrong with us when it (inevitably!) ISN’T easy to try to create a good, noble life.
Getting this is also life-changing.
But we need to move from getting it intellectually to doing the hard work to FORGE (!) what I call Antifragile Confidence.
This is already way too long so the abridged take here is simple. You can be fragile and break the moment life gets hard. Or you can be resilient and withstand more pressure before you snap but then bounce back quicker than most.
Or...
You can be the OPPOSITE of fragile.
You can be ANTIFRAGILE.
You can literally get STRONGER every time life knocks you around. Helping you forge that Heroic strength is what Basic Training is all about.
There’s only one way to build that level of confidence. You need to start more and more consistently doing all the little (and big!) things you already know you could be doing.
We’re going to help you create a protocol by helping you identify what you do when you’re at your best.
Then we’re going to challenge you (and the Practice side of the Heroic app is architected to support you in doing this!) to show up and DO those things you do when you’re at your best ESPECIALLY when you don’t feel like it.
The worse you feel? The more committed you are to your protocol.
That’s how you Forge Antifragile Confidence. It’s as close to invincibility as we can get.
Objective III: Optimize Your Energy, Work, and Love
We know the game we’re playing and how to play it well. We’re forging antifragile confidence as we use all of life’s challenges as fuel for our growth.
Now it’s time to simplify personal growth.
It’s time to focus on what we call “The Big 3”: Energy + Work + Love.
I don’t agree with Sigmund Freud on much. But when I first read a line from him that the good life can be boiled down to doing TWO things well, a choir of angels sang.
The two things?
Work and Love.
Get those right and you’re AT LEAST 80% there.
But...
If your Energy is terrible and you have a hard time getting out of bed because of poor lifestyle choices then there’s NO WAY we’re going to show up powerfully in EITHER our Work OR our Love.
Therefore, we’d be wise to START with getting our Energy to Heroic levels (by dominating our fundamentals which is Objective VI) then...
We bring that new level of Heroic vitality to our Work and our Love and...
Voila.
We’re more energized and productive and connected than ever as we more consistently show up as the best, most Heroic versions of ourselves.
(And, echo: If enough of us do that together we can literally change the world together.)
Objective IV: Make TODAY a Masterpiece
When, my dear Hero, do you think it would be wise to actually apply all these ideas to our lives?
TODAY of course.
The entire (!!!) app is architected with this simple but profound truth in mind.
New Year’s resolutions are warm and fuzzy.
New DAY’s resolutions are where it’s at.
We need to move from Theory to Practice to Mastery TODAY!!!
Yes. That’s astonishingly obvious. It’s equally life-changing when practiced.
When we get this right we’ll still have highs and lows because, of course, we’re human and no one’s perfect.
And...
Our highs will be higher and our LOWS will be higher. And that’s (goosebumps) awesome.
Objective V: Master Yourself
With that strong foundation, it’s time to go to the next level with our Self-Mastery (Objective V) then we’ll Dominate our Fundamentals (Objective VI) en route to Activating our Heroic Superpower: Soul Force (Objective VII).
Want Self-Mastery?
Then I’ll encourage you to consider cultivating three distinct forms of discipline: structural discipline, reactive discipline, and expansive discipline.
Structural Discipline is the consistency with which we show up and work our protocol. The worse we feel, the more committed we are to doing the things we KNOW are best for us. That’s structural discipline.
Reactive Discipline is the consistency with which we show up and step in between a challenging stimulus in our lives and choose the most empowered response. As Victor Frankl says: In between a stimulus and your response, there is a gap. Our freedom exists in that gap. Cultivating that response-ability is the essence of reactive discipline.
Expansive Discipline is the consistency with which we approach life’s challenges rather than avoid them. We need to KNOW that our infinite potential exists outside of our comfort zone and that, every time we feel uncomfortable we are being given an invitation to EXPAND into the next, best, most Heroic version of ourselves. This is the essence of courage which is the willingness to act in the presence of fear and just another word for expansive discipline.
Objective VI: Dominate Your Fundamentals
Want to see how tall a building is going to be? Look at how deeply they’re digging the foundation.
Same thing with your lives.
Want to create a truly great, noble life?
Dominate your fundamentals.
We have seven we’ll cover in Basic Training: Eating, Moving, Sleeping, Breathing, Focusing, Celebrating, and Prospering.
Dominate these and you’ll have all the Heroic Energy you need for your Work and your Love.
Objective VII: Activate Your Superpower
All of that leads us to one place… It’s time to activate your Heroic superpower.
We call it…
SOUL FORCE
All of your favorite Heroes had it. And, of course, so do you.
We just need to know how to flip the switch and activate it moment to moment to moment.
(Longer origin story on Soul Force in that Investor letter I mentioned…)
And...
That's a quick look at the seven objectives of Heroic Basic Training.
Now, we're ready to move on to:
The Practice: Commit + Hit
Actually...
Before we get into the Practice, check out a recording of a recent Zoom with our Heroic Founding Investors to see me walk through an interactive product demo:
Now...
What’s the Heroic social training platform actually do?
Goosebumps again.
We intend to do ONE THING better than anyone else in the world.
And that thing is very simple...
We will move you from THEORY to PRACTICE to MASTERY.
The fact is, we don’t need to read another book or listen to another podcast.
We need to actually DO the things we already (!) know we could be doing.
We need to close the gap between who we’re CAPABLE of being in any given moment and who we’re ACTUALLY being in that moment.
Not once in a while. Or when you feel like.
But ALL DAY.
EVERY DAY.
Period.
That is what we are fiercely committed to doing at the highest possible level and what I believe will be the most powerful way we can serve you to help you show up more and more consistently as the best, most Heroic version of yourself.
Why?
So we can, again, fundamentally and permanently change your life so we can, again, fundamentally be permanently change the world.
I talk about our two brand promises and the two key metrics by which we will measure our success in that investor letter I referenced above. Check that out for more. Link again here: heroic.us/invest
For now, let’s chat details and wrap this up with the official invitation to join us as a Founding Member.
The app has two principal components: THEORY and PRACTICE. By consistently practicing we reach MASTERY.
The Theory: Basic Training
One of the things I didn’t mention is that, in addition to all the Notes and 101s and +1s, I also created a 300-day Coach certification program that has been scientifically proven to change lives.
It used to be called Optimize Coach. It’s now called Heroic Coach.
10,000+ people from 100+ countries have signed up. (More on that here.)
For Heroic, I basically distill the absolute best of that 300-day scientifically-proven program into what we’re calling Heroic Basic Training.
There are seven objectives. Let’s take a quick look at each.
Objective I: Know the Ultimate Game
The first thing we need to REALLY (!) get if we want to REALLY (!!) change our lives is this: We’re playing the wrong game.
We’ve all heard the quip that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
Of course, that’s true.
And...
Know this: If that first step is in the WRONG direction, you’ll be 2,000 (!!) miles away from where you want to be at the end of that 1,000-mile journey.
In Objective I of Basic Training, we’ll invite Aristotle and Martin Seligman (founder of the positive psychology movement) to the party as proxies for ancient wisdom and modern.
We’ll ask them: “Guys! What’s the ultimate meaning of life?”
They’ll give us the exact same one-word answer. And that answer can INSTANTLY change your life.
Btw: We’ll ask them a follow-up question on HOW we can play that ultimate game well. They answer that question with the same one-word answer as well.
I tattooed my body with Aristotle’s response. It’s the one-word summation of my entire life’s work and everything we will do together with Heroic.
Objective II: Forge Antifragile Confidence
Once we know the ultimate game and how to play it well, it’s time to know Rule #1 of a good, noble life.
Here it is: It’s not supposed to be easy.
When you truly answer the call to your own idiosyncratic Heroic quest (please do!!!), you’ve gotta know that YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BATTLE DRAGONS.
It’s not supposed to be easy, folks.
That may sound obvious but we’ve been seduced to play the wrong game AND, perhaps even worse, we’ve been seduced to think it’s supposed to all be rainbows and sunshine and unicorns.
Then we think something’s wrong with us when it (inevitably!) ISN’T easy to try to create a good, noble life.
Getting this is also life-changing.
But we need to move from getting it intellectually to doing the hard work to FORGE (!) what I call Antifragile Confidence.
This is already way too long so the abridged take here is simple. You can be fragile and break the moment life gets hard. Or you can be resilient and withstand more pressure before you snap but then bounce back quicker than most.
Or...
You can be the OPPOSITE of fragile.
You can be ANTIFRAGILE.
You can literally get STRONGER every time life knocks you around. Helping you forge that Heroic strength is what Basic Training is all about.
There’s only one way to build that level of confidence. You need to start more and more consistently doing all the little (and big!) things you already know you could be doing.
We’re going to help you create a protocol by helping you identify what you do when you’re at your best.
Then we’re going to challenge you (and the Practice side of the Heroic app is architected to support you in doing this!) to show up and DO those things you do when you’re at your best ESPECIALLY when you don’t feel like it.
The worse you feel? The more committed you are to your protocol.
That’s how you Forge Antifragile Confidence. It’s as close to invincibility as we can get.
Objective III: Optimize Your Energy, Work, and Love
We know the game we’re playing and how to play it well. We’re forging antifragile confidence as we use all of life’s challenges as fuel for our growth.
Now it’s time to simplify personal growth.
It’s time to focus on what we call “The Big 3”: Energy + Work + Love.
I don’t agree with Sigmund Freud on much. But when I first read a line from him that the good life can be boiled down to doing TWO things well, a choir of angels sang.
The two things?
Work and Love.
Get those right and you’re AT LEAST 80% there.
But...
If your Energy is terrible and you have a hard time getting out of bed because of poor lifestyle choices then there’s NO WAY we’re going to show up powerfully in EITHER our Work OR our Love.
Therefore, we’d be wise to START with getting our Energy to Heroic levels (by dominating our fundamentals which is Objective VI) then...
We bring that new level of Heroic vitality to our Work and our Love and...
Voila.
We’re more energized and productive and connected than ever as we more consistently show up as the best, most Heroic versions of ourselves.
(And, echo: If enough of us do that together we can literally change the world together.)
Objective IV: Make TODAY a Masterpiece
When, my dear Hero, do you think it would be wise to actually apply all these ideas to our lives?
TODAY of course.
The entire (!!!) app is architected with this simple but profound truth in mind.
New Year’s resolutions are warm and fuzzy.
New DAY’s resolutions are where it’s at.
We need to move from Theory to Practice to Mastery TODAY!!!
Yes. That’s astonishingly obvious. It’s equally life-changing when practiced.
When we get this right we’ll still have highs and lows because, of course, we’re human and no one’s perfect.
And...
Our highs will be higher and our LOWS will be higher. And that’s (goosebumps) awesome.
Objective V: Master Yourself
With that strong foundation, it’s time to go to the next level with our Self-Mastery (Objective V) then we’ll Dominate our Fundamentals (Objective VI) en route to Activating our Heroic Superpower: Soul Force (Objective VII).
Want Self-Mastery?
Then I’ll encourage you to consider cultivating three distinct forms of discipline: structural discipline, reactive discipline, and expansive discipline.
Structural Discipline is the consistency with which we show up and work our protocol. The worse we feel, the more committed we are to doing the things we KNOW are best for us. That’s structural discipline.
Reactive Discipline is the consistency with which we show up and step in between a challenging stimulus in our lives and choose the most empowered response. As Victor Frankl says: In between a stimulus and your response, there is a gap. Our freedom exists in that gap. Cultivating that response-ability is the essence of reactive discipline.
Expansive Discipline is the consistency with which we approach life’s challenges rather than avoid them. We need to KNOW that our infinite potential exists outside of our comfort zone and that, every time we feel uncomfortable we are being given an invitation to EXPAND into the next, best, most Heroic version of ourselves. This is the essence of courage which is the willingness to act in the presence of fear and just another word for expansive discipline.
Objective VI: Dominate Your Fundamentals
Want to see how tall a building is going to be? Look at how deeply they’re digging the foundation.
Same thing with your lives.
Want to create a truly great, noble life?
Dominate your fundamentals.
We have seven we’ll cover in Basic Training: Eating, Moving, Sleeping, Breathing, Focusing, Celebrating, and Prospering.
Dominate these and you’ll have all the Heroic Energy you need for your Work and your Love.
Objective VII: Activate Your Superpower
All of that leads us to one place… It’s time to activate your Heroic superpower.
We call it…
SOUL FORCE
All of your favorite Heroes had it. And, of course, so do you.
We just need to know how to flip the switch and activate it moment to moment to moment.
(Longer origin story on Soul Force in that Investor letter I mentioned…)
And...
That's a quick look at the seven objectives of Heroic Basic Training.
Now, we're ready to move on to:
The Practice: Commit + Hit
Actually...
Before we get into the Practice, check out a recording of a recent Zoom with our Heroic Founding Investors to see me walk through an interactive product demo:
Now...
What’s the Heroic social training platform actually do?
Goosebumps again.
We intend to do ONE THING better than anyone else in the world.
And that thing is very simple...
We will move you from THEORY to PRACTICE to MASTERY.
The fact is, we don’t need to read another book or listen to another podcast.
We need to actually DO the things we already (!) know we could be doing.
We need to close the gap between who we’re CAPABLE of being in any given moment and who we’re ACTUALLY being in that moment.
Not once in a while. Or when you feel like.
But ALL DAY.
EVERY DAY.
Period.
That is what we are fiercely committed to doing at the highest possible level and what I believe will be the most powerful way we can serve you to help you show up more and more consistently as the best, most Heroic version of yourself.
Why?
So we can, again, fundamentally and permanently change your life so we can, again, fundamentally be permanently change the world.
I talk about our two brand promises and the two key metrics by which we will measure our success in that investor letter I referenced above. Check that out for more. Link again here: heroic.us/invest
For now, let’s chat details and wrap this up with the official invitation to join us as a Founding Member.
The app has two principal components: THEORY and PRACTICE. By consistently practicing we reach MASTERY.
The Theory: Basic Training
One of the things I didn’t mention is that, in addition to all the Notes and 101s and +1s, I also created a 300-day Coach certification program that has been scientifically proven to change lives.
It used to be called Optimize Coach. It’s now called Heroic Coach.
10,000+ people from 100+ countries have signed up. Our next class (Heroic Coach - Class IX!!) starts 03/03/2022. (More on that here.)
For Heroic, I basically distill the absolute best of that 300-day scientifically-proven program into what we’re calling Heroic Basic Training.
There are seven objectives. Let’s take a quick look at each.
Objective I: Know the Ultimate Game
The first thing we need to REALLY (!) get if we want to REALLY (!!) change our lives is this: We’re playing the wrong game.
We’ve all heard the quip that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
Of course, that’s true.
And...
Know this: If that first step is in the WRONG direction, you’ll be 2,000 (!!) miles away from where you want to be at the end of that 1,000-mile journey.
In Objective I of Basic Training, we’ll invite Aristotle and Martin Seligman (founder of the positive psychology movement) to the party as proxies for ancient wisdom and modern.
We’ll ask them: “Guys! What’s the ultimate meaning of life?”
They’ll give us the exact same one-word answer. And that answer can INSTANTLY change your life.
Btw: We’ll ask them a follow-up question on HOW we can play that ultimate game well. They answer that question with the same one-word answer as well.
I tattooed my body with Aristotle’s response. It’s the one-word summation of my entire life’s work and everything we will do together with Heroic.
Objective II: Forge Antifragile Confidence
Once we know the ultimate game and how to play it well, it’s time to know Rule #1 of a good, noble life.
Here it is: It’s not supposed to be easy.
When you truly answer the call to your own idiosyncratic Heroic quest (please do!!!), you’ve gotta know that YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BATTLE DRAGONS.
It’s not supposed to be easy, folks.
That may sound obvious but we’ve been seduced to play the wrong game AND, perhaps even worse, we’ve been seduced to think it’s supposed to all be rainbows and sunshine and unicorns.
Then we think something’s wrong with us when it (inevitably!) ISN’T easy to try to create a good, noble life.
Getting this is also life-changing.
But we need to move from getting it intellectually to doing the hard work to FORGE (!) what I call Antifragile Confidence.
This is already way too long so the abridged take here is simple. You can be fragile and break the moment life gets hard. Or you can be resilient and withstand more pressure before you snap but then bounce back quicker than most.
Or...
You can be the OPPOSITE of fragile.
You can be ANTIFRAGILE.
You can literally get STRONGER every time life knocks you around. Helping you forge that Heroic strength is what Basic Training is all about.
There’s only one way to build that level of confidence. You need to start more and more consistently doing all the little (and big!) things you already know you could be doing.
We’re going to help you create a protocol by helping you identify what you do when you’re at your best.
Then we’re going to challenge you (and the Practice side of the Heroic app is architected to support you in doing this!) to show up and DO those things you do when you’re at your best ESPECIALLY when you don’t feel like it.
The worse you feel? The more committed you are to your protocol.
That’s how you Forge Antifragile Confidence. It’s as close to invincibility as we can get.
Objective III: Optimize Your Energy, Work, and Love
We know the game we’re playing and how to play it well. We’re forging antifragile confidence as we use all of life’s challenges as fuel for our growth.
Now it’s time to simplify personal growth.
It’s time to focus on what we call “The Big 3”: Energy + Work + Love.
I don’t agree with Sigmund Freud on much. But when I first read a line from him that the good life can be boiled down to doing TWO things well, a choir of angels sang.
The two things?
Work and Love.
Get those right and you’re AT LEAST 80% there.
But...
If your Energy is terrible and you have a hard time getting out of bed because of poor lifestyle choices then there’s NO WAY we’re going to show up powerfully in EITHER our Work OR our Love.
Therefore, we’d be wise to START with getting our Energy to Heroic levels (by dominating our fundamentals which is Objective VI) then...
We bring that new level of Heroic vitality to our Work and our Love and...
Voila.
We’re more energized and productive and connected than ever as we more consistently show up as the best, most Heroic versions of ourselves.
(And, echo: If enough of us do that together we can literally change the world together.)
Objective IV: Make TODAY a Masterpiece
When, my dear Hero, do you think it would be wise to actually apply all these ideas to our lives?
TODAY of course.
The entire (!!!) app is architected with this simple but profound truth in mind.
New Year’s resolutions are warm and fuzzy.
New DAY’s resolutions are where it’s at.
We need to move from Theory to Practice to Mastery TODAY!!!
Yes. That’s astonishingly obvious. It’s equally life-changing when practiced.
When we get this right we’ll still have highs and lows because, of course, we’re human and no one’s perfect.
And...
Our highs will be higher and our LOWS will be higher. And that’s (goosebumps) awesome.
Objective V: Master Yourself
With that strong foundation, it’s time to go to the next level with our Self-Mastery (Objective V) then we’ll Dominate our Fundamentals (Objective VI) en route to Activating our Heroic Superpower: Soul Force (Objective VII).
Want Self-Mastery?
Then I’ll encourage you to consider cultivating three distinct forms of discipline: structural discipline, reactive discipline, and expansive discipline.
Structural Discipline is the consistency with which we show up and work our protocol. The worse we feel, the more committed we are to doing the things we KNOW are best for us. That’s structural discipline.
Reactive Discipline is the consistency with which we show up and step in between a challenging stimulus in our lives and choose the most empowered response. As Victor Frankl says: In between a stimulus and your response, there is a gap. Our freedom exists in that gap. Cultivating that response-ability is the essence of reactive discipline.
Expansive Discipline is the consistency with which we approach life’s challenges rather than avoid them. We need to KNOW that our infinite potential exists outside of our comfort zone and that, every time we feel uncomfortable we are being given an invitation to EXPAND into the next, best, most Heroic version of ourselves. This is the essence of courage which is the willingness to act in the presence of fear and just another word for expansive discipline.
Objective VI: Dominate Your Fundamentals
Want to see how tall a building is going to be? Look at how deeply they’re digging the foundation.
Same thing with your lives.
Want to create a truly great, noble life?
Dominate your fundamentals.
We have seven we’ll cover in Basic Training: Eating, Moving, Sleeping, Breathing, Focusing, Celebrating, and Prospering.
Dominate these and you’ll have all the Heroic Energy you need for your Work and your Love.
Objective VII: Activate Your Superpower
All of that leads us to one place… It’s time to activate your Heroic superpower.
We call it…
SOUL FORCE
All of your favorite Heroes had it. And, of course, so do you.
We just need to know how to flip the switch and activate it moment to moment to moment.
(Longer origin story on Soul Force in that Investor letter I mentioned…)
And...
That's a quick look at the seven objectives of Heroic Basic Training.
Now, we're ready to move on to:
The Practice: Commit + Hit
Actually...
Before we get into the Practice, check out a recording of a recent Zoom with our Heroic Founding Investors to see me walk through an interactive product demo:
As you’ll see, I walk you through the Heroic Basic Training described above that’ll be the core of the Theory at launch. (I’m the first Guide. Imagine other world-class teachers sharing their wisdom as well!)
Then I walk you through the heart of Practice in the Heroic training platform: our two-step, Commit + Hit Big 3 Protocol.
It all starts with our 1-Minute AM commitment process in which we re-commit to showing up as our best selves in our Energy, Work and Love.
As I like to say, New Year’s resolutions are nice. New DAY’S resolutions are MUCH more powerful if we’re serious about actualizing our potential.
So…
What are your Heroic Identities? WHO are you at best, most Heroic self Energy + Work + Love-wise?
HOW does that best, most Heroic version of you show up? What are the Virtues you embody?
And What are the Top 3 Target behaviors that you’re going to DO today to live in alignment with that best, most Heroic version of yourself, again Energy + Work + Love-wise?
Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.
Boom. In 1 minute we’ve set our intention for the day and we’re ready to rock. That’s Part 1.
Part 2? It’s time to actually HIT those targets we set for ourselves.
I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to personally use the app and set those targets then HIT them all day every day.
MetaLab came up with Tinder’s swipe left/swipe right thing. The moment I learned that, I KNEW that they’d help us create our equivalent swipe to hit our virtuous targets, giving us a splash of dopamine every.single.time (!) we do what is best for us—using the absolute best of persuasive, behavioral design to help us show up as the absolute best version of ourselves.
We had THE best motion graphics designer at MetaLab (which makes him, in my opinion, at least tied for first as the best motion graphics designer in the world) design this swipe effect.
As you swipe/pull to the left, you’ll feel a haptic tension kinda like angry birds only rather than a slingshot it will be for a bow. Then you’ll release and BOOM!
Another virtuous target hit, Hero.
30,000 Heroes hitting 10 virtuous targets a day = 100M Annual Recurring Virtuous acts. (ARV)
300,000 Heroes hitting 10 virtuous targets a day = 1B ARV.
300,000,000 Heroes hitting 10 virtuous targets a day = 1T ARV.
That’s how we’ll help YOU flourish one virtuous act at a time.
And that’s how we’ll change the world, one person (and virtuous act!) at a time, together, starting with you and me and us, today!!
We’d LOVE to (goosebumps) welcome you to our Heroic movement as a Founding Member of our social training platform.
The first 20,000 Founding Members will get 50% off FOREVER. (Only $35/year vs. $75/year.)
We’re quickly approaching 20,000 Founding Members already so… if you’re feeling it, sign up now and let’s goooo!!
Become a Founding Member of Heroic and save 50% FOREVER
Here are some kind words from a few of the almost 20,000 Founding Members who have already signed up. (Read more notes from Founding Members on why they're excited about Heroic here.)
"On a personal level I really want to show up as the best person I can be and I’m convinced the platform will help me with that. On a higher level, I think the world will be a much better place if we are all going to be heroes in our own way!"
Sjoerd Haverkamp
Drenthe, Netherlands
"I am committed to creating and manifesting my most heroic self and joining thousands (and then millions) of others who are committed to doing the same. Heroic will transcend and include the best features, the unfulfilled promises of all the other social platforms - connection, community, purpose, a place for heroes to unite, train, and have fun!"
MW
California, USA
"To connect with people that work hard and persistently towards actualizing their potential; to learn about their personal experiences and share mine; to be inspired by them to actualize my potential and to inspire others in return."
Dragos Fratila
Baden-Würtemberg, Germany
That's the Heroic social training platform, which I think is the most POWERFUL way we can fundamentally and permanently change your life and, in the process, fundamentally and permanently change the world together.
And now...
Here's the super fun and super practical way we're going to launch the MVP of Heroic. (And the third way we'd love to help you more consistently show up as the best, most Heroic version of yourself so we can (literally!) change the world together—one person at a time, STARTING WITH YOU and me (and us!), TODAY)
The Heroic Launch Party-Workshop
We launched the MVP of our Heroic Training Platform on April 9th from Austin with a full-day event, starting with a workshop on how to be the best, most Heroic version.
And you can watch the replay of it here now.
It was EPIC.
(Seriously. I’m fired up just thinking about it. 🔥!!)
Note: any time I think about doing a live event, I’m reminded of this awesome question that one of our Heroes (Nathaniel) posed to me at the end of an offline event we hosted years ago called Hero Training 101. We charged $250 per ticket to that event and Nathanial said that he got more out of it than other events that cost 12x as much.
Again, you can watch the ENTIRE Heroic Launch Party-Workshop REPLAY for FREE HERE NOW!
We started the day at 11am Central with a workshop in which I distilled my entire life’s work and walked everyone through the 7 Objectives of Heroic Basic Training—integrating ancient wisdom, modern science and practical tools to help you show up as the best, most Heroic version of yourself so we can a) fundamentally and permanently change your life and b) fundamentally and permanently change the world
Again, it was a w e s o m e (!!!).
And you can watch the replay here for FREE now.
And you can still sign up today as one of our first 20,000 Heroic Founding Members for just $35 (and lock in 50% OFF FOREVER). So, you can follow along in the workshop using the app as well.
Alright...
Those were the THREE ways we'd love to help you more consistently show up as the best, most Heroic version of yourself so we can (literally!) change the world together—one person at a time, starting with you and me and us TODAY.
Again..wWatch the Heroic Launch Party-Workshop, from this page for FREE now.
I appreciate you taking the time to learn more about Heroic and I’m excited about the possibilities of taking the next steps in this Heroic adventure together with you.
It’s time to change the world. One person at a time. Together. Starting with you and me mastering ourselves and serving Heroically. TODAY.
With Love + Wisdom + Self-Mastery + Courage I say...
HEROES UNITE!!
-bri
P.S. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead
