Heroes!

Michael here. 👋

Happy Sunday.

Can you remember another week that was more densely packed with brilliant, powerful, and critically important wisdom?

I can’t.

Brian took us on a deep dive into Jonathan Haidt’s work, with THREE new Philosopher’s Notes on The Righteous Mind, The Coddling of the American Mind, and The Anxious Generation.

Each one was better than the last, and all three are available to all members (whether you’re on a free or premium plan).

The world needs heroes more than ever before.

And YOU are the hero we’ve been waiting for.

Let’s get right to it.

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1. The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt

The first new Note this week is on The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt.

“People who devote their lives to studying something often come to believe that the object of their fascination is the key to understanding everything. Books have been published in recent years on the transformative role in human history played by cooking, mothering, war . . . even salt. This is one of those books. I study moral psychology, and I’m going to make the case that morality is the extraordinary human capacity that made civilization possible. I don’t mean to imply that cooking, mothering, war, and salt were not also necessary, but in this book I’m going to take you on a tour of human nature and history from the perspective of moral psychology.

By the end of the tour, I hope to have given you a new way to think about two of the most important, vexing, and divisive topics in human life: politics and religion. Etiquette books tell us not to discuss these topics in polite company, but I say go ahead. Politics and religion are both expressions of our underlying moral psychology, and an understanding of that psychology can help to bring people together. My goal in this book is to drain some of the heat, anger, and divisiveness out of these topics and replace them with awe, wonder, and curiosity. We are downright lucky that we evolved this complex moral psychology that allowed our species to burst out of the forests and savannas and into the delights, comforts, and extraordinary peacefulness of modern societies in just a few thousand years. My hope is that this book will make conversations about morality, politics, and religion more common, more civil, and more fun, even in mixed company. My hope is that it will help us get along.”

— Jonathan Haidt from The Righteous Mind

Read or listen to the full Note here!

2. The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt

Second, we have The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt.

“This is a book about wisdom and its opposite. …

We will show you that these three Great Untruths [The Untruth of Fragility, The Untruth of Emotional Reasoning, and The Untruth of Us Versus Them]—and the policies and political movements that draw on them—are causing problems for young people, universities, and, more generally, liberal democracies. To name just a few of these problems: Teen anxiety, depression, and suicide rates have risen sharply in the last few years. The culture on many college campuses has become more ideologically uniform, compromising the ability of scholars to seek truth, and of students to learn from a broad range of thinkers. Extremists have proliferated on the far right and far left, provoking one another to ever deeper levels of hatred. Social media has channeled partisan passions into the creation of a ‘callout culture’; anyone can be publicly shamed for saying something well-intentioned that someone else interprets uncharitably. New-media platforms and outlets allow citizens to retreat into self-confirmatory bubbles, where their worst fears about the evils of the other side can be confirmed and amplified by extremists and cyber trolls intent on sowing discord and division.

The three Great Untruths have flowered on many college campuses, but they have their roots in earlier education and childhood experiences, and they now extend from the campus into the corporate world and the public square, including national politics. They are also spreading outward from American universities to universities throughout the English-speaking world. These Great Untruths are bad for everyone. Anyone who cares about young people, education, or democracy should be concerned about these trends.”

— Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt from The Coddling of the American Mind

Read or listen to the full Note here.

3. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

Rounding out our tour through Jonathan Haidt’s brilliant wisdom, we have The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.

“This book tells the story of what happened to the generation born after 1995, popularly known as Gen Z, the generation that follows the millennials (born 1981 to 1995). Some marketers tell us that Gen Z ends with the birth year 2010 or so, and they offer the name Gen Alpha for the children born after that, but I don’t think Gen Z—the anxious generation—will have an end date until we change the conditions of childhood that are making young people so anxious. …

Adults in Gen X and prior generations have not experienced much of a rise in clinical depression or anxiety since 2010, but many of us have become more frazzled, scattered, and exhausted by our new technologies and their incessant interruptions and distractions. As generative AI enables the production of super-realistic and fabricated photographs, videos, and news stories, life online is likely to get far more confusing. It doesn’t have to be that way; we can regain control of our own minds.

This book is not just for parents, teachers, and others who care for or about children. It is for anyone who wants to understand how the most rapid rewiring of human relationships and consciousness in human history has made it harder for all of us to think, focus, forget ourselves enough to care about others, and build close relationships.

The Anxious Generation is a book about how to reclaim human life for human beings in all generations.”

— Jonathan Haidt from The Coddling of the American Mind

P.S. Not yet a Premium member? Get access to this new Philosopher’s Note (and 700+ others and a TON of other wisdom and tools to support your growth) with Heroic Premium. Your first two weeks are free!

4. Conquering Anxiety 101

How to tame the anxious gremlins and live with calm confidence. 💪

Whether you’re a part of “The Anxious Generation” or not, this class is a must-watch if you’re grappling with anxiety in your life.

In the class, you’ll learn:

  • Why we need to embrace that anxiety happens (in order to quit making it worse)
  • The importance of our fundamentals in creating calm confidence
  • The power of breathing to calm our mind and regulate our body
  • The power of seeing challenges not threats as we exit our mind and enter the moment

And more!

Check out Conquering Anxiety 101 here for all the goodness.

5. Community highlights

A few favorites from another week of moving from Theory to Practice to Mastery, Together!!!

  • Scott and Stephanie’s Heroic Arizona launch event: “So much energy and so much more to share including Stephanie and I want you ALL to know, we are there to serve YOU as each of you may considering starting your own Heroic local.” Scott and Stephanie: We’re honored to have your support. Day 1!! 🙌
  • Kelli’s commitment to seeking out new challenges: “Heroic has inspired me to challenges myself like I’ve never done before. Not a runner prior to this… I would do anything to avoid it! So, game on! … I came in 3rd in my age bracket (50-50)! I’m so proud of my first 5k!” That’s like you, Kelli! 👏
  • Laura facilitating her first Heroic Workshop: After attending the Heroic Workshop Instructor Training event in Phoenix, AZ last weekend, Laura’s getting to work and making an impact. 💥 “Yesterday I facilitated my first Heroic Workshop on my heart path toward certification! Some of the comments: ‘Life-changing. Powerful. Loved Hero Bars! The last exercise is priceless!”

Here’s to changing the world. One person at a time. Together. Starting with you and me. TODAY!

P.S. When’s the last time you shared a win, challenge, or update on Heroic Social? See you in there, Hero!

+1. Wisdom from the week:

“Here is the first step toward success. It’s a basic step. It can’t be avoided. Step One: Believe in yourself, believe you can succeed.”

— David Schwartz

(Social shareable quote in light mode or dark mode.)

And this week’s Heroic +1s:

This week’s featured Meditation is Enjoy the Little Things (7 minutes — available in app only).

And…

Have questions or suggestions about Heroic, or ANYTHING we can help with?

Join us on Wednesday at 1:00pm EST / 10:00am PST for Office Hours. Or reach out to our top-rated Heroic Service team by replying to this note or sending an email to support@heroic.us.

Alright…

With Wisdom + Discipline + Love + Courage + Gratitude + Hope + Curiosity + Zest.

Heroes Unite!

Let’s do this.

Day 1.

-Michael and Team Heroic

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