When you hear the word Total Human Optimization , what does that conjure up in your head? Well, our guest today has made it his mission in life to help people optimize themselves to the utmost. His name is Aubrey Marcus, and he s the founder and CEO of Onnit, a health and fitness company that s hard to describe. We ll let him describe it for you all.
00:03:19.940Yeah, really, I kind of marked the founding in July of 2011 when we came out with AlphaBrain.
00:03:27.020We were working on some other stuff a little bit prior to that, but Onnit became what it is now then.
00:03:32.520There was kind of a pivot and some repositioning.
00:03:35.200Yeah, I mean, because it's crazy because, yeah, I first heard about you guys because of AlphaBrain a few years ago.
00:03:40.020And since then, you guys are everywhere.
00:03:42.980I mean, it seems like you guys are overnight success, right?
00:03:44.980But we all know that, you know, there's no such thing as an overnight success.
00:03:49.940So, I mean, can you give us the backstory of how you came up with this idea of total human optimization
00:03:54.180and starting a fitness company that supports that?
00:03:59.760Yeah, really, it was just a product of my own life.
00:04:02.920You know, my stepmother was Dr. Janet Zand, and she founded a company called Zand Herbal.
00:04:07.260And so when I was growing up, I'd play basketball games and I'd have a stack of supplements on a little paper towel.
00:04:11.900And I would just take it, I didn't know what it was, and I would take it before the game and I would play better than I would in practice, you know.
00:04:17.880And then I would have another stack of supplements on important test days.
00:04:21.420And I would take that before a test and I would feel more focused and feel sharper.
00:04:26.040So I got used to the paradigm of what I ingested affecting my performance.
00:04:30.420And I kind of kept that with me my whole life and then started working on the other aspects that was necessary to run a business like this, you know, self-mastery, you know, leadership principles.
00:04:41.780I started a marketing company, worked with that, learned kind of the e-commerce game, started to get more familiar with different people who could support the brand,
00:04:50.940like my friend Bodie Miller, who was one of the founding investors with me.
00:04:54.200And then, of course, Joe Rogan, who's become, you know, an incredibly valuable partner in the business.
00:05:02.260The last piece was really getting a strong medical advisory team and scientific team that's been running our clinical trials.
00:05:10.900We were actually able last week to just announce the results of our flagship randomized double-blind AlphaBrain trial,
00:05:19.080which is really some pretty groundbreaking stuff, proving that AlphaBrain statistically significantly affects cognition in a variety of positive ways.
00:05:29.800Yeah, let's talk about AlphaBrain because that's how I first heard about you guys is through AlphaBrain.
00:05:34.440So AlphaBrain is a nootropic, right? Is that how you describe it?
00:05:50.480But you're saying that you have studies that say, no, there's actually something to it.
00:05:54.760Yeah, I mean, and that was, of course, the challenge that we, you know, we had to overcome with these clinical trials is we came out with the product.
00:06:01.500And all of the ingredients in the product have good scientific data.
00:06:04.500But until you actually prove that your formula against a double-blind randomized trial is going to work, you know,
00:06:11.920people are always going to be a little bit skeptical.
00:06:13.640But basically, the field of nootropics is anything that enhances cognitive performance.
00:06:20.080And a lot of times people think of the brain as synonymous with the mind.
00:06:23.240Oh, it's just a strong mind, strong brain.
00:06:26.400And as with the muscles or skin or the liver, that organ has input that it uses to create the output.
00:06:34.640Now, the output happens to be thoughts and cognition and personality and a lot of other things that come from what the brain does,
00:06:41.520which is different than a muscle, which flexes and contracts.
00:06:44.180So it's easier to think of it like that.
00:06:45.520But regardless, the brain uses fuel and it actually uses a lot of fuel to do what it does.
00:06:52.360And so the field of nootropics is, at least as far as we're concerned, is providing the brain with the nutrients that it needs to perform optimally.
00:07:01.460And some of the main fuel sources for the brain are the neurotransmitter precursors.
00:07:05.640And so the one that we focused on the most was the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
00:07:10.820And that's what we targeted because that's what's responsible for mental clarity, focus, mental speed.
00:07:17.240And that's where we saw some of the greatest gains in the formula.
00:07:19.920But I also wanted to make it well-rounded.
00:07:21.600So we have some ingredients in there that support the dopamine mechanism, the GABA mechanism, and a variety of the other brain neurotransmitter functions.
00:07:32.080And then we also have another formula that supports the serotonin mechanism.
00:07:35.640As well as some other things, vinpozitine brings additional blood flow into the brain, cerebral vasodilation.
00:07:42.140And another ingredient is like a really strong antioxidant that we licensed that comes from an extract of cat's claw, which grows in the Amazon rainforest.
00:07:50.440And just kind of putting together the dream formula of what the brain could use to perform at its best.
00:07:57.940And then, you know, we had great results in the public and then put that to the test with the Boston Center for Memory, a really prestigious institute.
00:08:05.640And, you know, showed that a variety of things were improved, verbal memory, executive function.
00:08:11.420We even hooked them up to your acute EEG.
00:08:13.420And the people taking alpha brain versus placebo, they had a higher peak alpha brain wave, which is synonymous with ability to kind of be in the zone or be in a flow state.
00:08:22.320And also improved the theta beta ratio, which is what people track for attention and focus issues.
00:09:25.560You know, am I going to start writing this book or not?
00:09:28.360Well, you know, it's usually pretty close to a 50-50 ball if you're interested in it.
00:09:33.420And having that energy, having that focus, you know, maybe even a 5 percent increase, a 10 percent increase is more than enough to actually get the ball rolling and get you to do that.
00:09:42.480And the same with performance in any variety of thing.
00:09:45.480So, you know, this is not a miracle drug.
00:09:51.660And anything that's close to that tipping point, you know, you're going to get a major benefit from something that's, you know, helping in a marginal way.
00:09:59.380And just to clarify, this isn't like a prescription drug.
00:10:01.640This is like natural supplements, right, that you could buy at Whole Foods.
00:10:05.700All of these things come from earth-grown nutrient sources.
00:10:08.280And that's something I believe both in my professional and personal life.
00:10:11.240You know, we as humans evolved alongside our environment to cohabitate and support each other in that manner.
00:10:18.960So it only makes sense that the best stuff that we could put in our body would be stuff that we've evolved alongside.
00:10:24.180It doesn't really make sense that, you know, some random synthetic mix of chemicals is going to long-term be the best solution.
00:10:33.240You know, in certain circumstances, you know, if I have a bad infection, I'm going to take some antibiotics.
00:10:37.820And I appreciate the hell out of that.
00:10:39.100You know, but most of the time when you're talking about nutrient sources, staying as close to nature as possible is going to yield the most benefit with the least risk of, you know, adverse effect.
00:11:50.220That class of adaptogenic herbs is something that, you know, really everybody should take because it's one of those things that has an ability to help you, you know, help you marginally a little bit in a variety of different ways.
00:12:02.540It kind of finds the stress points and supplies some lubrication of those stress points, you know, to a certain degree.
00:12:22.140With the GABA, you know, and for people listening, GABA is a great neurotransmitter.
00:12:28.160There's some issues with taking nutritional supplement GABA in its regular form.
00:12:33.880There's some controversy over whether it crosses the blood-brain barrier.
00:12:36.680So keep an eye out for that, and there may be some, you know, better ways that you can influence the GABA mechanism.
00:12:44.000L-theanine is really closely related to the GABA mechanism, and that's a natural amino acid that's found in green tea and some other things as well.
00:12:51.640And a lot of people will find that taking L-theanine improves that, you know, what they're targeting for the GABA more than actually taking GABA itself, which can get destroyed before it gets to the blood-brain barrier.
00:13:19.540I mean, because I got, you know, I kind of had the general gist, but for our readers who aren't familiar, what's that documentary about?
00:13:25.040Well, that documentary is about, it's about a practice that started several thousand years ago, and there was a period in pre-Andean civilization, before the Incas, before, you know, the Mayans, before the Aztecs, before any of that, there was a civilization that thrived, and the center of that was in a place called Chavin.
00:13:44.360And for 800 years, there's no evidence of war and conquer in the area, and so it's something of an anomaly in archaeological records.
00:13:55.000And one of the reasons that that's credited is that the center of Chavin was a place of pilgrimage where people would receive a sacrament of a plant medicine that comes from the San Pedro cactus that, interestingly enough, since we're talking about serotonin,
00:14:10.480acts on the serotonin mechanism to create a very kind of bonding, heart-opening, mind-expanding experience that they would provide for everybody in the area.
00:14:26.180And so Huachuma is only practiced by one or two more practitioners in the same old way, which is using the Masada, which is kind of like the structure of the ceremony.
00:14:38.960And then brewing the cactus in that particular way, the San Pedro cactus, to create that medicine.
00:14:45.300And the documentary is about, you know, my experience going down to the jungle to partake in that ancient ritual,
00:14:52.260and as well as, you know, how that might look if, you know, we were to revive some of those principles of Chavin,
00:15:00.860and that idea of para el bien de todos, you know, for the good of all.
00:15:04.300And working on ourself individually first to make sure that we're fit for service to work on the collective.
00:15:13.760I mean, sure, you talk about this in the documentary, but kind of general, I mean, what was your experience like taking it?
00:15:17.240Because I've heard people like, I guess, you know, experimenting with psychedelics, people have had these like, yeah,
00:15:21.780like these mind-changing or these life-changing experiences where they just become like Steve Jobs attributes like psychedelics to helping them do awesome things with Apple.
00:15:33.400Yeah, you know, this was not my first step in the journey.
00:15:36.660You know, I've been, I was working with the shaman in the mountains of Mexico at 19, and that was kind of a rite of passage for me.
00:15:42.760And I would certainly not be sitting here right now if it wasn't for the assistance that these traditional plant medicines have given me from psilocybin to ayahuasca and also huachuma.
00:15:53.820For me, huachuma was really unlike anything else that I've experienced.
00:15:57.680First of all, the practitioner down there, Don Howard, it's really like you get a chance to sit with Gandalf, the white wizard.
00:16:04.600Like, I have no other way to compare it, but it's really amazing to be at someone who's practicing at the height of skill that he's able to practice.
00:16:12.960And then the medicine itself had a lot of lessons that really would be difficult to get elsewhere.
00:16:19.700It's one of those things that kind of, it presents you with challenges that you have to overcome that are really practical for, you know, real world applications.
00:16:29.360So you take it and you end up going, walking through the jungle and everything in life becomes kind of magnified.
00:16:37.560And so you're able to look at every little fear you have, every anxiety you have, every issue that you have and have an opportunity to work through those in a microcosm during this experience that is really applicable to, you know, life afterwards.
00:16:52.020As well as kind of the eye-opening, kind of mind-expanding properties that these things have, allowing you to see things in a different perspective, see the earth in a different perspective, you know, kind of hear that voice of the unheard, you know, of the planet itself, of, you know, the people who you really end up after one of these experiences generally wanting to be more of service to.
00:17:18.220Interesting. Interesting. Okay. So we've talked about the mind optimization stuff a bit. Let's talk about the fitness part.
00:17:26.320So instead, I mean, what I've, what I like about Onnit is that you guys focus on, I guess, what you call unconventional fitness, unconventional exercises.
00:17:35.140So we're talking like kettlebells, we're talking Indian clubs, which we've done a video on.
00:17:41.340I'm, if you have, if you guys want to see me shirtless and in like tights doing kettlebells or Indian clubs, you can check it out on YouTube.
00:17:50.440Uh, the Indian mace, uh, which is pretty cool. I have one of those.
00:17:54.860Um, so why, why focus on those sort of, you know, cause like some of the stuff, like it's not new stuff.
00:18:00.340I mean, people are using this stuff for thousands of years, right? Indian clubs, the, uh, Gata, the mace been around for thousands of years.
00:18:07.580And it was actually some of the stuff was really popular in the West, like a hundred years ago, but then it died away.
00:18:30.340And it doesn't really happen that often in real life either.
00:18:33.160So some of the ways that we train are really kind of counterintuitive to what the body is designed to do.
00:18:39.440And the implements that we chose, we chose because they work well with the systems and the hinges and the levers and pulleys and everything that is actually naturally going on with the body itself.
00:18:48.820And, uh, and really can help strengthen and condition the body in a way that, that supports it.
00:18:54.160So, you know, kettlebells are, are something that's grown wildly in popularity recently and, and for good reason.
00:19:00.680I mean, really, if you put together a strong kettlebell routine that can really replace almost everything else that you, that you have out there.
00:19:08.240Uh, but there's some other specialties that some of these other implements have.
00:19:11.100And like you mentioned, you know, the Persian Palwani wrestlers from the 1200s, you know, kind of pioneered some of these methods, uh, preparing themselves for competition, preparing themselves for battle.
00:19:21.560And, um, really can help work out things like the shoulder girdle and some of your core strength in really unique ways.
00:19:28.360That just feels great for the body, helps prevent injury, and, um, it's going to allow you to continue training, you know, well into your sixties, seventies.
00:19:36.460I mean, you see some of these guys swinging a mace or, you know, 68, the big old beard and been doing this for years, you know, some of the OGs of it.
00:19:44.820And, uh, you know, it's really impressive that they've been able to continue to do that.
00:19:48.720Whereas you see a lot of people who've done, you know, conventional lifting, like power lifting, heavy squats and deadlifts and, and, and those all have their place as well.
00:19:57.820I'm not saying not to do those in bench press, but, you know, generally the body will break down over time doing those lifts because the body wasn't designed for that kind of force.
00:20:06.740Yeah. Speaking of old guys still doing this stuff. So there's, um, we have an art of manliness reader readers, uh, also a Greek Orthodox priest and, uh, he's got this, this, this giant gray beard and he sent me this picture of him just holding the most, the biggest kettlebell I've ever seen.
00:20:23.260I'm going to, I'll put, I'll post a link or an image of it, but it's the, it's the coolest picture. I mean, he's like in his like Orthodox priest garb and just rocking it out with his giant Orthodox priest forearms, uh, with the kettlebell. It was pretty impressive.
00:20:36.740But yeah, I think he was like in his sixties and he's still rocking it. Yeah. And it seems like, so a lot of this unconventional stuff too is used, um, because you focused on that, uh, you have, it seems you've attracted a lot of MMA fighters. Um, why is that something that just sort of naturally happened? It was, did you have a background in MMA or was that something you, you reached out to fighters or what, what, what's the connection there?
00:21:00.940Well, I've, I've always been a huge fan of the sport. I've trained martial arts most of my life and I've, I've actually been watching the UFC since the very first one. And, uh, so I've had some affinity towards it. I had some friends who were fighters, but really a lot of that comes from our partnership with Joe Rogan, uh, obviously the UFC commentator. So, and also a jujitsu black belt and, um, you know, a high level kickboxer when he was younger. So his connection is really, you know, facilitated a lot of that. And then, you know, we've kind
00:21:30.940of work with the fighters to make sure that our program really suits, you know, some of the activities that they're doing as well, because they have to put themselves to the ultimate test. You know, I mean, all of us, we like to be fit and we like to be in shape, but the difference of whether we're in shape or not, isn't some giant trained killer trying to pound our head in if we're slipping on our game a little bit, you know, we got a lot more slack than they do. So, you know, utilizing what they would do to get themselves in top condition, um, and then applying that so that we can kind of mimic
00:22:00.740some of those patterns and movements. And, um, it's something that we've really adopted as well.
00:22:06.940Yeah. Um, so you've had the opportunity to look, um, to rub shoulders with some really some of the top fighters in the world. I mean, these are guys who, yeah, like you said, they can just like pummel people to death if they wanted. Um, what have you learned from them about masculinity and being a man?
00:22:25.220That's a great question. The best fighters I know, and some of the toughest individuals in the world,
00:22:30.740like take Tim Kennedy, for example, he's a cool guy. I got to meet him a few weeks ago.
00:22:34.620He's awesome. And, uh, and so he's, you know, he was number three ranked middleweight UFC fighter.
00:22:40.020So one of the top fighters in his weight class in the world. And before that, in his professional life,
00:22:45.180he was one of the top Navy, I mean, army ranger snipers in the world. So one of the top special forces
00:22:52.140snipers and one of the top UFC fighters. And if you meet him, he's the sweetest, like nicest,
00:22:59.980humble guy you'll ever meet. And time and time again, the best fighters and the champions
00:23:06.660are going to be, you know, the kind of the least abrasive individuals you'll ever meet because
00:23:14.440they have nothing to prove, you know? And so I think true manliness and true strength is,
00:23:20.180is not having something to prove, not having a chip on your shoulder and having to say,
00:23:24.360hey, everybody, look how manly I am. It's knowing it like deep in your heart. Like I know what I am,
00:23:29.860you know, I don't need to, I don't need to show this to everybody because I'm completely secure
00:23:34.080and confident with what it is to be a man and what my, what my strengths are in that regard.
00:23:39.920Yeah. That's something that I've noticed over the years. So I've had the opportunity to like
00:23:42.660rub shoulders with, you know, you MMA fighters, uh, special forces guys, guys who own, um, I guess,
00:23:49.400security businesses, like they, they protect, you know, VIPs, like they, they shoot bad guys for a
00:23:54.680living. Right. Like, but like, they are like the kind, like you would never know. Right. Like,
00:24:00.060I mean, you would know, cause like they're super jacked. They're huge. Like you wouldn't want to
00:24:03.680mess with them, like from like a physical, but like just interacting with them, like, they're just
00:24:08.500like, they're not a-holes. Like they're just the kindest people I've ever met. Friendly. Um, and it's
00:24:13.760just sort of weird. Cause I think there's this idea out there that, you know, to be manly,
00:24:17.860you gotta be sort of a jerk and like, you know, right. And come, you know, embody the dark triad
00:24:23.000of personality traits, be a narcissist and, uh, sort of psychopathic, but it's not, I mean,
00:24:28.200my experience, like the, like these alpha male type guys, like they're not like that.
00:24:31.680No, they're, they're, they're somewhat of the opposite. I mean, I think anything that you're
00:24:35.280trying to aggressively show outwardly is an indication of an inward weakness, you know?
00:24:40.260So the more that you're trying to project something, um, you know, the less probably confident
00:24:45.520you feel about that inside as, as a generality. And there may be some exceptions to that and
00:24:50.300opportunities to kind of do something, you know, to, to show some other side, but that's,
00:24:56.420that's more of the general rule. And it reminds me a little bit of, you know, I had, I had a
00:25:00.240great tattoo artist and he was explaining, he was like, I never tattoo a dragon with his
00:25:06.720mouth open snarling. And he's like, you know why? He's like, cause why the fuck would a dragon
00:25:11.600snarl? You know, like who is it trying to scare? It's a dragon. It's a being of imminent
00:25:16.840power. You know, it has no reason to be growling at anybody or anything, you know? And that's,
00:25:23.880I think kind of what these body, these fighters embody, they don't need to put out that snarl
00:25:28.040because they have it, they got the goods, you know? So, yeah. Have you, uh, have you taken
00:25:34.400up fighting? Like, have you gotten in the ring a couple of times since the beginning of Onnit?
00:25:38.360Yeah. You know, I've, as I said, I've been a martial artist a lot of my life and, uh, I was
00:25:45.160always more of a lantern than a laser. You know, I never really focused on anything enough to be
00:25:49.840truly, truly great. I mean, basketball was the closest I came to that. Um, but then, you know,
00:25:56.120I started ramping up fighting a bit, maybe five or six years ago, a little bit before Onnit actually,
00:26:03.020and was preparing to take a fight in the ring and, uh, training with some really tough guys and,
00:26:09.620um, ended up getting in my first like street fight, um, in the middle of training. Like,
00:26:14.660so I was at like the peak of my condition and, and I'm, I'm not one who likes to fight and I'll
00:26:19.620try to avoid it under almost all circumstances. Um, but this time, you know, four guys came up to me
00:26:26.140and one threw my girlfriend face first into my car window. And so I had no choice, you know,
00:26:31.380it was there, there was, and, uh, ended up, you know, doing all right in the fight, but got a
00:26:36.760concussion. And, and that kind of like, after that, you know, I, I basically been training for a moment,
00:26:43.140an artificial moment in the ring where I could see what was inside myself and see how I would react.
00:26:48.140And then it kind of manifested in real life. And after that, it's somewhat just kind of scratched
00:26:53.580the itch and diminished my, my need to, to kind of show that side in, uh, in the ring. Uh, but that
00:26:59.900was a really kind of interesting moment. Plus the concussion meant I had to stop training for a while,
00:27:03.420but, um, yeah, it was really interesting how that happened, how, you know, my whole life I've still
00:27:08.140only gotten in one major street fight and it happened, just happened to happen when I was at the
00:27:12.800peak of my training, um, with a pretty significant challenge and there was multiple attackers.
00:27:17.580That's crazy. That's crazy. Um, so this idea of total human optimization, um, you know, I've had
00:27:25.200with the podcast, I've had the opportunity to talk to some people who are like doing this, right. Um,
00:27:28.940I talked to, uh, the guy who wrote, um, I forgot his name, man. I feel like an idiot. He wrote about
00:27:35.880flow. It's about becoming superhuman. Um, so I know, I know, I know what you're talking about. I can't
00:27:41.700remember his name. Yeah. Well, I'll have it in the show. It was a good podcast. Anyways. I mean,
00:27:45.040there's like, there's like, it's interesting that we're in this point where we're trying to figure
00:27:48.340out ways to optimize ourselves mentally, physically, but one thing, and I'm into it too.
00:27:53.320Like I, you know, I, I've messed with like biohacking, right. And like, um, biofeedback is
00:27:58.980what it is. Right. So you like the thing you put on your head and like measure brain waves or whatever.
00:28:02.280And, um, but I mean, this stuff, I mean, it's somewhat expensive right now. Right. And so the big
00:28:09.000concern, whenever I do this stuff, I'm like, this is cool. It's helping me out. But what I'm concerned
00:28:12.000about is like, is this going to create some sort of like, you know, you remember like in the, um,
00:28:17.920that, uh, sci-fi novel where there's like the, when the guy goes to the future, um, and there's
00:28:23.900like, uh, two classes of humans, there's like, there's like super like awesome humans. And then
00:28:28.440there's like, not Gattaca, but I mean, that happens in Gattaca, but there's also, um, that really old
00:28:34.360one. It's like, uh, the time traveler. What's the man. We're going to have to like do some like
00:28:39.940editing after this word of like, so it sounds, so we sound like we know what we're talking about.
00:28:43.700Um, it's the guy who wrote 10,000 leagues under the sea. What was his name?
00:28:49.120Jules, you know, Vern, Jules Verne. He wrote a thing about the time traveler. Right. And like,
00:28:53.980he goes to the future and like, there's like basically like two group sub, you know, species
00:28:57.620of humans at this point. There's like, um, like affluent superhuman types. And then there's
00:29:02.620like these poor, you know, not so great looking humans. Um, and so like, whenever I do this stuff,
00:29:08.340I'm always concerned is like, is there going to like, what's the future of human optimization?
00:29:12.440Is it, is it going to create this, um, distinction between classes where like the wealthy can afford
00:29:18.120to, you know, biohack their genes, um, you know, improve cognition and like, you know, parents will
00:29:24.520send their kid, give their kids smart pills. They do awesome in the SAT while, you know, less affluent
00:29:29.140people won't be able to do that. I mean, so what, what, I mean,
00:29:32.620do you ever, do you ever take a big picture look at where this is going? I mean, what do
00:29:36.620you see as the future of human optimization? Well, I think, I think it's really, you know,
00:29:41.040while there is some, while there are some monetary boundaries to, you know, some of the tools that
00:29:45.920you can use, I think more important than the tools is the idea. You know, I mean, if nobody,
00:29:51.200if people didn't buy a single thing, you know, from on it, but just kind of followed along with the
00:29:56.360movement, the inspiration, some of the basic principles of the nutrition, how to eat when you
00:30:00.740have, you know, cause we can all make those small choices, um, in certain ways. I think the spirit
00:30:06.260of it is a lot more important than the tools. Now, I think ultimately there may be some tools that
00:30:11.240eventually evolve, uh, such as, you know, pretty dramatic gene modification that may, you know,
00:30:17.580create some kind of disparity that gets a little weird. Um, but at this, at this level, you know,
00:30:23.100everything is, you know, everything is applied in, in kind of a moderate level. You know, there's not
00:30:30.420this, this big thing that's going to completely separate the classes. It's more about wherever
00:30:35.180you're at, let's try to make that, let's try to make that optimal. And I think ultimately the only
00:30:41.620defense against that other kind of more drastic optimization that could create class disparity
00:30:47.080is for people to align their goals, um, with something like I was talking about earlier,
00:30:52.400you know, truly for the good of all so that, you know, the people who are getting have, you know,
00:30:58.600the fortunate blessing of being able to, to do these procedures and optimization techniques,
00:31:04.200you know, they use whatever advantage they have and they take on the responsibility to do even more
00:31:10.040work for the planet and for other people. And if that's the case, that just means that more
00:31:14.620capability means more responsibility and everybody shares a different burden. And I think that's the,
00:31:20.460really the only defense, um, because there are going to be opportunities that come about.
00:31:25.640The only way to kind of even that out is to make sure that the, the heart and spirit of those who
00:31:30.320are getting optimized is in a line with the good of the planet and the good of all.
00:31:34.420Okay. So I always like to end these things with, uh, some practical takeaways. I mean,
00:31:38.560if there's like one or two things that, you know, guy who's listening to this podcast can do today to
00:31:42.860start optimizing his life, what would you recommend? Well, I think you can make it really
00:31:48.460simple. First of all is, you know, breathe right. I think, you know, before you even worry about
00:31:53.600supplements and anything else, you're trying to take every, you know, every opportunity you get
00:31:58.940breathe with your diaphragm, take deep breaths. You know, a lot of people get in the habit of this
00:32:03.820shallow chest breathing, which contributes to, you know, a lot of extra stress, um, and a depletion of
00:32:09.560energy. So take some moments to breathe properly. And, you know, diaphragm breath is that breath that
00:32:15.220goes all the way down to your stomach and take those few moments to do that. That's going to
00:32:20.020make a huge improvement. And then also chilling, you know, these things that don't cost any money,
00:32:25.500you know? So when you have food, a lot of times we're preoccupied and we're thinking about something
00:32:29.140else and we're just worried about getting it down. Um, but take your time to chew your food.
00:32:34.040That's going to take a lot of stress off your digestive system. It's going to allow more nutrients to
00:32:37.940enter your body. Uh, it's going to reduce inflammation across the board. Um, you know,
00:32:42.520there's an old saying, um, you know, drink your solids and chew your liquids, you know,
00:32:47.760which basically means, you know, chew till there's nothing solid left in your mouth. And when you're
00:32:52.060drinking juice, you know, go through that process to allow the saliva to help break down what you're
00:32:57.160drinking. Cause even if you're drinking, you know, dense nutrient dense juices, but just chugging it down
00:33:02.120that whole process of the saliva interacting in, uh, with the food is not going to be in place.
00:33:08.380So, so those two things I think are really crucial and often overlooked. And, um, you know,
00:33:14.520the third most important thing I would say is whatever your practice might be, find an opportunity
00:33:19.460to get still. And that could be either meditation, that could be float tanks. Psychedelic medicine is a
00:33:25.460tool that I've used that allows that, that real moment of clarity to come in where all the noise and
00:33:30.800all the static and all the distraction goes away. And however you want to put that into your life,
00:33:36.140you know, find that opportunity to get still. It could be yoga, it could be a hike out in nature.
00:33:41.240Um, but those three things are going to make a huge difference, uh, in your performance. And then,
00:33:46.060you know, of course on it, we have a bunch of tools as well. Um, but if you take care of those
00:33:49.860first three, you're going to be in pretty good shape. Awesome. So besides on it, where else can people
00:33:54.260find about your work? Cause you have like a personal blog, right? Yeah. Um,
00:33:57.720aubreymarcus.com is kind of the new hub of everything. So it's got my links to all my
00:34:02.200social media and, uh, some of the posts and podcasts and different stuff that we have going.
00:34:06.520So if you just head to aubreymarcus.com, that's the best resource right now. Awesome. Well,
00:34:11.460Aubrey Marcus, thank you so much for your time. It's been a pleasure. Absolutely. Thank you,
00:34:15.600Brad. I appreciate it. I appreciate everything you do. Your blog is, you know, one of the,
00:34:19.120one of the few that are on my top list of, uh, of sites visits. So I really appreciate that.
00:34:23.900I appreciate that. Thank you so much. For sure. Our guest today was Aubrey Marcus. Aubrey is the
00:34:29.040founder and CEO of Onnit. It's a fitness and health company, and you can go to onnit.com to find out
00:34:33.820about that. You can also check out his personal website, aubreymarcus.com for book reviews,
00:34:39.200podcasts, and content that Aubrey has written. Well, that wraps up another edition of the Art of
00:34:45.300Manliness podcast. For more manly tips and advice, make sure to check out the Art of Manliness website
00:34:49.320at artofmanliness.com. And if you've enjoyed this podcast and you're getting something out of it,
00:34:53.220I'd really appreciate it if you'd give us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or whatever else you use to
00:34:57.580listen to your podcast. That will help us out a lot. Until next time, this is Brett McKay telling