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A Philosopher's Notes - On Optimal Living, Creating an Authentically Awesome Life and Other Such Goodness
The Class We Never HadIsn't it a bit odd that we went from Science to Math to History but somehow missed the class on how to live? For some wacky reason "Optimal Living 101" didn't make the schedule... But imagine if that class did exist and the teachers included everyone from the old school philosophers like Socrates, Marcus Aurelius, Emerson, Nietzsche and Buddha to modern sages like Joseph Campbell, Paulo Coelho, Dan Millman, Deepak Chopra, Byron Katie, Eckhart Tolle and Wayne Dyer plus the world's leading positive psychologists like Sonja Lyubomirsky, Tal Ben-Shahar and Martin Seligman who are *scientifically* establishing how we can live with more happiness, meaning and mojo.Think of this book as a Philosopher's notes on that awesome class. From "Spiritual Farts" and "110-Year Old You"s to "The Tolle Trap" and "Blissipline," you'll have fun getting your wisdom on in this inspiring, playful, wise and practical little book as Brian Johnson shares one hundred of his favorite Big Ideas on how to create a life brimming with a radiant enthusiasm only discovered when we align with the fundamentals of Optimal Living.
228 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 14, 2010
109 people are currently reading
1,331 people want to read
About the author
Brian Johnson
11Ìýbooks99ÌýfollowersBrian Johnson is the Philosopher & CEO of en*theos--a company that creates cool stuff to help people optimize their lives. He's the co-founder (with his wife, Alexandra) of the en*theos Academy, PhilosophersNotes and Blissitations and is the author of A Philosopher's Notes. He's also featured in the documentary Finding Joe and has a monthly "Big Ideas" column in Experience Life magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
May 14, 2011
Brian Johnson's first 100 Philosopher's Notes (MP3/pdfs) changed my life. (See my YouTube Testimonial: titled: "6 Business Reasons for Listening to PhilosophersNotes Every Day"
This book, whether you get it in printed or audio form, is just the tip of Brian's giant iceberg of very powerful, yet very accessible, philosophical wisdom. Spending time with any of Brian's work is like spending time with that really cool kid at college that just happened to be enthusiastic and brilliant and could translate anything complicated into its very practical, usable essence. You are unlikely to find anyone else challenging you with quotes from Greek philosophers, Wayne Dyer, Brian Tracy, & Ralph Waldo Emerson while (at the same time) using terminology such as "spiritual farts" and exclaiming his joy through Homer Simpson-like "Whoo Hoo's!"
Brian is the real deal. He's a unique genius who updates the fields of philosophy and personal growth by making them bite-sized and iPod/iPad ready. Miss his work and you miss an important stage in the evolution of Western Civilization!! (Yeah... I really mean that!)
This book, whether you get it in printed or audio form, is just the tip of Brian's giant iceberg of very powerful, yet very accessible, philosophical wisdom. Spending time with any of Brian's work is like spending time with that really cool kid at college that just happened to be enthusiastic and brilliant and could translate anything complicated into its very practical, usable essence. You are unlikely to find anyone else challenging you with quotes from Greek philosophers, Wayne Dyer, Brian Tracy, & Ralph Waldo Emerson while (at the same time) using terminology such as "spiritual farts" and exclaiming his joy through Homer Simpson-like "Whoo Hoo's!"
Brian is the real deal. He's a unique genius who updates the fields of philosophy and personal growth by making them bite-sized and iPod/iPad ready. Miss his work and you miss an important stage in the evolution of Western Civilization!! (Yeah... I really mean that!)
May 29, 2013
I love Brian Johnson's style of writing. His enthusiasm is infectious.
Key things I learned from this book:
- Optimism takes work and training
- Consistency is the most important thing in any endeavor
- Start a morning routine (which I've been doing consistently for years now). It doesn't have to be long, just something to keep you anchored.
- The 100 questions exercise - an exercise where you come up with 100 interesting questions to grow your "curiosity muscle"
- Set creative production goals in addition to outcome goals
- Stretch zones - the best place to be is where you're stretching yourself enough to grow, but not enough to snap (like a rubber band)
- 10,000 hours - that's about how much practice and learning it takes to master a subject
- Don't do anything reluctantly. Even if at first you're reluctant to do something, decide that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing fully and presently.
Key things I learned from this book:
- Optimism takes work and training
- Consistency is the most important thing in any endeavor
- Start a morning routine (which I've been doing consistently for years now). It doesn't have to be long, just something to keep you anchored.
- The 100 questions exercise - an exercise where you come up with 100 interesting questions to grow your "curiosity muscle"
- Set creative production goals in addition to outcome goals
- Stretch zones - the best place to be is where you're stretching yourself enough to grow, but not enough to snap (like a rubber band)
- 10,000 hours - that's about how much practice and learning it takes to master a subject
- Don't do anything reluctantly. Even if at first you're reluctant to do something, decide that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing fully and presently.
October 9, 2011
summaries for 100 of the greatest philosophy and personal growth books
these summaries have introduced me to alot of wonderful books
the most summaries I love -till now-
- Psycho-Cybernetics
- How to think like Leonardo da Vinci
- Awareness
- Think of these things
- Loving what is..
- Flow
- Letters From a Stoic
- The Path of Least Resistance
- The Four Agreements
- Do You
- a Joseph Campbell Companion
these summaries have introduced me to alot of wonderful books
the most summaries I love -till now-
- Psycho-Cybernetics
- How to think like Leonardo da Vinci
- Awareness
- Think of these things
- Loving what is..
- Flow
- Letters From a Stoic
- The Path of Least Resistance
- The Four Agreements
- Do You
- a Joseph Campbell Companion
September 3, 2019
Super fun and easy read with a whole lot of great life lessons in it! Great book to change the way you think and your life, to become a better person and to have a better lifestyle.
May 20, 2020
A collected wisdom of others paraphrased in a bro idiom.
'Dude, where’s my philosophy?' would have been a more indicative title.
'Dude, where’s my philosophy?' would have been a more indicative title.
March 15, 2016
This book is like a box of chocolates, except instead of chocolate it contains small but juicy pieces of wisdom, knowledge, positivity, motivation and success mindset.
Brian Johnson writes in a friendly and simple language on the key aspects to becoming happy and successful. It is very easy to read and message is very clear. You can also feel that he is really trying to help the reader to become the best version of themselves, through "diligence, patience, persistence and playfulness. Day by day, week by week".
Awesome read. Brian Johnson reads hundreads and hundreads of books and this book is a condensed, compacted derivatives of all the great knowledge he has learnt from reading. Big fan of Brian Johnson and his work. If this book doesnt change your life, it will definitely show you the direction you need to go to change it.
Brian Johnson writes in a friendly and simple language on the key aspects to becoming happy and successful. It is very easy to read and message is very clear. You can also feel that he is really trying to help the reader to become the best version of themselves, through "diligence, patience, persistence and playfulness. Day by day, week by week".
Awesome read. Brian Johnson reads hundreads and hundreads of books and this book is a condensed, compacted derivatives of all the great knowledge he has learnt from reading. Big fan of Brian Johnson and his work. If this book doesnt change your life, it will definitely show you the direction you need to go to change it.
August 3, 2015
Marvelous knowledge nuggets ... ideal length and content ... wonderfully explained ... an incomparable compendium of universal wisdom � Absolutely loved it.
June 9, 2023
I would give Mr. Johnson's book, "A Philosopher's Notes: On Optimal Living, Creating an Authentically Awesome Life and Other Such Goodness", a 2.5 stars.
While I think this books idea is a good one, highlighting large and important philosophical points that fall under the 10 principles to help the reader learn to live optimally. While that was accomplished, Johnson's personal anecdotes and language that he uses REALLY turned me off. Now this is just my issue, others may not find them as annoying as I did. I also was not a fan of his, at least it came across to me as anti-medication/modern medicine. Various statements made throughout the book, such as "Get off the medication. Quit numbing yourself" and the whole of the part entitled "Bloodletting & Modern Medicine" rails against being on medicines that Doctors put a person on for diabetes, heart disease, cancer. While this is all well-and-good thoughts they are pie-in-the-sky and potentially dangerous to someone who decides to just not listen to their doctor anymore since Johnson's line for them is "...your extremely well-educated, invariably well-intentioned, yet often remarkably misguided Doctor." Ah, if you are going to be making statements like that, you better bring receipts and not just be giving lip service. Alas, there are no receipts.
While the vast majority of this book deals with riding ourselves of the negativity of our lives, I again personally couldn't get past his personal injections (they are in ever entry and on damn near every page).
The largest value I got from this is the bibliography at the end of the book. 50 of his favorite books that he feels will help people live the optimal life. And I'll admit, it is a pretty good list.
I would recommend the list to people, just not the book...it just got to be too much.
While I think this books idea is a good one, highlighting large and important philosophical points that fall under the 10 principles to help the reader learn to live optimally. While that was accomplished, Johnson's personal anecdotes and language that he uses REALLY turned me off. Now this is just my issue, others may not find them as annoying as I did. I also was not a fan of his, at least it came across to me as anti-medication/modern medicine. Various statements made throughout the book, such as "Get off the medication. Quit numbing yourself" and the whole of the part entitled "Bloodletting & Modern Medicine" rails against being on medicines that Doctors put a person on for diabetes, heart disease, cancer. While this is all well-and-good thoughts they are pie-in-the-sky and potentially dangerous to someone who decides to just not listen to their doctor anymore since Johnson's line for them is "...your extremely well-educated, invariably well-intentioned, yet often remarkably misguided Doctor." Ah, if you are going to be making statements like that, you better bring receipts and not just be giving lip service. Alas, there are no receipts.
While the vast majority of this book deals with riding ourselves of the negativity of our lives, I again personally couldn't get past his personal injections (they are in ever entry and on damn near every page).
The largest value I got from this is the bibliography at the end of the book. 50 of his favorite books that he feels will help people live the optimal life. And I'll admit, it is a pretty good list.
I would recommend the list to people, just not the book...it just got to be too much.
January 28, 2012
As an avid reader, I'm a big fan of original insights, and Brian didn't offer much here.
His book is essentially a collection of insights he's learned from other people.
It's a nice collection for people who don't read much.
Having said that, he does have a fun and refreshing writing style, and I can see this being a really great book for specific people.
His book is essentially a collection of insights he's learned from other people.
It's a nice collection for people who don't read much.
Having said that, he does have a fun and refreshing writing style, and I can see this being a really great book for specific people.
March 25, 2019
Hard to read
His voice and diction made this book irksome to read though. It comes across as someone who's trying too hard to sound hip and fun. Example: towards the end, he calls his dad popsicle. Expect this kind of language in every page.
His voice and diction made this book irksome to read though. It comes across as someone who's trying too hard to sound hip and fun. Example: towards the end, he calls his dad popsicle. Expect this kind of language in every page.
June 30, 2019
DES SUMMARY: Brian Johnson reads books for a living and condenses their wisdom into briefings that he writes for subscribers. The idea for this book was to pick up on important thoughts and ideas that we were never taught in school. What we end up is with many interesting ideas and concepts. I really enjoyed many of the things he pulled from scholars, philosophers and interesting people. Because of what I read, it has me interested in going back and reading some of the books he has pulled from and his list of important books at the end. If I had one (minor) criticism is that he summarizes many of the key thoughts into approximately one page. I wished he would have gone more in-depth of some of what he discovered. But, that is why I need to go back and read more books from his lists.
Because the author promises us that his book will guide us to more ‘optimal living�, he breaks down his notes into 10 principles:
� Optimism � Avoiding negativity
� Purpose � Life is more than being happy
� Self-Awareness � Being aware of who you are
� Goals � Being aware of what you want to accomplish.
� Action � Not just thinking about a goal, but doing something.
� Energy � Adapting what you want to do to the world around you.
� Wisdom � Learning from others
� Courage � Don’t let fear stop you
� Love � Committing yourself to others
� en*theos � The God within you.
Note: Each item above is his. The description is mine.
MEMORABLE QUOTES:
What’s the #1 thing I could *start* doing today that, if I did it consistently, would have THE most positive impact in my life? (Then do it.) #2. What’s the #1 thing I could *stop* doing right now, that, if I stopped doing it, would have the greatest positive impact in my life? (Then quit doing it.)
Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.� � Buddha
We all know about the devil’s advocate. But what about the “angel’s advocate�? From my vantage point, it sure looks like our angels are underemployed. Of course, it’s important to prepare for what can go wrong, but what about spending more time looking at all the things that can go *right* in our lives?! Me thinks it’s time to put our angels to work.
As you might have noticed at this stage, I’m a big fan of living in integrity with our highest values. Here’s another way to look at it: We’re either in integrity or we’re disintegrating. When we violate our own deepest truths it’s like we’re literally breaking down from within. Eek. So, remember: Be in integrity. Or disintegrate. The choice is ours, moment to moment to moment�
From my perspective, it seems pretty obvious that our job—and our Highest Goal—is to see just how much God we can get flowin� through us in this precious hero’s journey of ours. Just how brightly and consistently can we shine our light of creativity and joy and love and kindness and generosity and appreciation and radiant enthusiasm out into the world?
Because the author promises us that his book will guide us to more ‘optimal living�, he breaks down his notes into 10 principles:
� Optimism � Avoiding negativity
� Purpose � Life is more than being happy
� Self-Awareness � Being aware of who you are
� Goals � Being aware of what you want to accomplish.
� Action � Not just thinking about a goal, but doing something.
� Energy � Adapting what you want to do to the world around you.
� Wisdom � Learning from others
� Courage � Don’t let fear stop you
� Love � Committing yourself to others
� en*theos � The God within you.
Note: Each item above is his. The description is mine.
MEMORABLE QUOTES:
What’s the #1 thing I could *start* doing today that, if I did it consistently, would have THE most positive impact in my life? (Then do it.) #2. What’s the #1 thing I could *stop* doing right now, that, if I stopped doing it, would have the greatest positive impact in my life? (Then quit doing it.)
Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.� � Buddha
We all know about the devil’s advocate. But what about the “angel’s advocate�? From my vantage point, it sure looks like our angels are underemployed. Of course, it’s important to prepare for what can go wrong, but what about spending more time looking at all the things that can go *right* in our lives?! Me thinks it’s time to put our angels to work.
As you might have noticed at this stage, I’m a big fan of living in integrity with our highest values. Here’s another way to look at it: We’re either in integrity or we’re disintegrating. When we violate our own deepest truths it’s like we’re literally breaking down from within. Eek. So, remember: Be in integrity. Or disintegrate. The choice is ours, moment to moment to moment�
From my perspective, it seems pretty obvious that our job—and our Highest Goal—is to see just how much God we can get flowin� through us in this precious hero’s journey of ours. Just how brightly and consistently can we shine our light of creativity and joy and love and kindness and generosity and appreciation and radiant enthusiasm out into the world?
June 21, 2019
Living with Integrity
I've been a follower of Brian Johnson's Philosopher's Notes for years. This book is based on his Optimal Living 101 course. Brian writes notes on the personal development books he reads going back to Plato and then shares the main ideas. In his courses, he ties them together under an integrated theme. Not only do you receive wisdom from a wide variety of sources, it's also an efficient way to decide which ideas and which originators of those ideas one wishes to explore in more depth. I highlighted several ideas and have a list of books and authors that have sparked my curiosity.
I've been a follower of Brian Johnson's Philosopher's Notes for years. This book is based on his Optimal Living 101 course. Brian writes notes on the personal development books he reads going back to Plato and then shares the main ideas. In his courses, he ties them together under an integrated theme. Not only do you receive wisdom from a wide variety of sources, it's also an efficient way to decide which ideas and which originators of those ideas one wishes to explore in more depth. I highlighted several ideas and have a list of books and authors that have sparked my curiosity.
July 5, 2019
A dense, informative book full of great resources and tools. The only misstep is where the author claims you don't need antidepressants because you can cure depression by eating your vegetables and exercising. Otherwise, a worthwhile read.
October 28, 2019
Good book, jam packed with amazing ideas from other books turned into actionable advice on how to optimize your life and build the right character traits/virtues to do so, such as courage, optimism, wisdom, etc.
May 15, 2020
Brian Johnson writes in a way that makes you feel like having a supportive friend within these pages. Philosopher’s Note is an easy read to pick up and feel motivated and great even for just a short 5 minute session. What a little treat to look forward to starting my mornings :)
February 3, 2022
Not Philosophy.
June 2, 2023
Re-read this, it's a good summary of different ideas on the timeless topic of "how to live well". Easy to read, relaxed tone, to the point.
August 30, 2013
This was an odd little book, but I really enjoyed reading it and found some of the things mentioned within intriguing to think about. I really like the way the author presents things as well and thought it was very approachable. He didn't really delve too deeply into any one subject, though, and it is definitely an overview of many ideas all summed up and put together in one. There are a lot of interesting bits, though, and I love that he gave a list of books for further reading as well as cited sources for information. Definitely recommend to anyone who likes a bit of philosophical information along with a touch of spiritual thoughts.
July 23, 2014
I've been a fan of Brian Johnson since discovering him about a year ago. He's got a wonderful ability to take a lot of information and parcel it down to bite-sized morsels. That's what this book is: digestible wisdom. Anything new here? Of course not! Because everything we "need" to know has been around and inside of us since the beginning. And I mean waaaay back. Brian circles the philosophical wagons and gives us the fireside chat that warms you from the inside out.
This is a very quick read and a reference book you'll turn to time and again. I especially love his book recommendations at the very end.
This is a very quick read and a reference book you'll turn to time and again. I especially love his book recommendations at the very end.
November 24, 2021
When it comes to reading � and reviewing books � there aren’t many folks I know who read more than I do � at least readers of non-fiction works. However, Brian Johnson has me beat hands down. The list of books that he’s reviewed are impressive to say the least. When I came across his site through a group I’m in I realized I had to read his book and see what he had to say. A Philosopher’s Notes is an interesting book because it’s like cliff notes for a bunch of books all slammed together to make their own book.
November 1, 2015
Brian Johnson is the Truth
One probably has to be swimming deep in Brian Johnson's university of wisdom (as I am) to really appreciate how powerful his work is. He is a humble student of philosophy and wisdom traditions and what he does masterfully, I believe, is distill it into easily understandable components that one can then use to dive deeper into--or not--and build a framework for masterful living.
And really, it's not about Brian Johnson. It's about what's coming through him when he's connected to and aware of his Source.
One probably has to be swimming deep in Brian Johnson's university of wisdom (as I am) to really appreciate how powerful his work is. He is a humble student of philosophy and wisdom traditions and what he does masterfully, I believe, is distill it into easily understandable components that one can then use to dive deeper into--or not--and build a framework for masterful living.
And really, it's not about Brian Johnson. It's about what's coming through him when he's connected to and aware of his Source.
August 22, 2014
I love book summaries! Brian did a good job with these, but many of these books are a bit too "new agey" and unscientific (get rich quickly, "law of attraction" type of stuff). However, overall good and lots of interesting and inspiring ideas. Well worth the many hours it took to plow trough these "notes"!
Not sure why the Philosopher's notes volume two is not on here (so I added this one twice instead to make up for that!).
Not sure why the Philosopher's notes volume two is not on here (so I added this one twice instead to make up for that!).
January 8, 2016
I was able to get through this book fairly quickly during my travels. Most of the pieces were single page, which really worked for me considering the environment that I was in. There's a lot of great stuff in here and I enjoyed the conversational tone of the writing.
If you're looking for a quick read that will help you gain a better understanding of how to live more optimally, then you want to give this a read.
If you're looking for a quick read that will help you gain a better understanding of how to live more optimally, then you want to give this a read.
February 6, 2016
The content is a great overview, and this guy is awesome at inspiring you (he precis's other wisdom sources and self help type books in such a way that makes it accessible and easily understandable. What I don't like though is his writing style; every time he wrote 'prolly' for 'probably' and 'gonna', it was like nails on a chalkboard for me. It's fine when you're watching a video or listening to him speak but in writing it really detracted from the message for me.
November 8, 2012
Brian Johnson hit the mother lode when he came up with the idea of creating a Cliff's Notes for philosophers. He succinctly and aptly summarizes more books than I've had time to read (and ones I really wanted to), and shares from his own experience of applying the wisdom with a light touch to the funny bone.
February 5, 2013
I am undecided if I like this book or not. Some of the points made are good....BUT there is something about the tone of this book that bothered me. I get that he is trying to come off as free spirited or whatever but really it just comes across as trying too hard to be happy and the "text" spelling irritates me. It is not spelt "THRU" that is just garbage.
January 3, 2016
Brian Johnson has done a great job picking out the essences of many influential books from history. Having listened through the audio-book, his presentation is positive and motivating. He picks the best ideas and adds some essential quotes. On the downside, I found too many new-agey type esoteric books among his selection but you can always skip those.
September 10, 2011
I love this book. Brian Johnson does all the heavy lifting for modern readers by digging into books of wisdom (ancient & modern), then writing short chapters which reveal the "Big Idea". He writes in a fluid, humorous style but includes a lot of substance.
May 25, 2015
The biggest issue I have with this book? It has so many nuggets from so many sources that I'm left with a to-read list that's twice as long as when I started. Yikes! Excellent book and very helpful for setting directions on where to go next...
August 13, 2015
Great short read from the creator of the "book summary series" The Philosopher's notes Brian Johnson. Some of the greatest ideas from his summaries are laid out in a structured way in this book. It's all about personal development / practical philosophy.
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