Dave Asprey | The Ultimate Game Changer
Dave Asprey is the founder and CEO of Bulletproof 360, the leading food, beverage, and content company. He is also the creator of Bulletproof coffee and host of Bulletproof Radio. He recently authored the New York Times’ bestseller Game Changers, which answers the question, “How can I kick more ass at life?” In this episode, Dave shares some tips and tricks that have helped him maintain a hundred-pound weight loss and transformed him into a better husband, father, and entrepreneur.
1. Learn to Say No
In a society that demands everyone to say yes to everything, learning to say no can be transformational. Learning to say no was a common piece of advice from leaders and game changers that Dave Asprey interviewed. When it comes down to it, you have 24 hours within a day, and you can choose how to spend those hours. You can create things that you care about and create energy, passion, and improve your quality of life; or you can spend your energy struggling to prove your worth by doing the things that are most difficult for you.
Saying no to things does allow you more power over your mission, but it’s just as important to learn when to say yes to things. The rule that Dave lives by is to see if the irrational and rational parts of your mind simultaneously align when making a decision. If the logical part and gut-feeling part of your brain align, then absolutely say yes to that. If they don’t align, you probably shouldn’t do it. Save your energy for the next opportunity.
2. Spot your Blind Spots
On the path of personal development, one of the most crucial steps a person can take is spotting their own blind spots. Throughout our own personal journeys, we never truly arrive or become fully enlightened; it’s a slow evolution over time that requires a lot of internal work. This evolution consists of gaining and maintaining control over your own ego, meaning that pursuing self-awareness and crafting a supportive community around you is essential to a healthy development. The community of people around you cannot only consist of those who will affirm your efforts, but they must also call you out on your BS and expose your blind spots. As long as you put enough time and energy into being self-aware and creating that community around you, you limit your overall risk for large blind spots. Always remember that you don’t work alone; you work with more support than you probably realize.
3. Don’t Take Other’s Crap Personally
When starting up a company or pursuing a new dream, people will always find something to criticize. Oftentimes, it feels like they are personally harming you. The important thing to remember is that those who do the most disruptive and socially productive things are the ones who get the most crap from others. Beyond just becoming immune to the things that harm you, another way is to actually filter that negativity out. If someone says something bad about you online, it only takes half a second to click “ban” and “delete.”
4. Habit Loops
What Michelle Sorro calls rituals and routines, Dave calls “habit loops.” Habit loops are both positive and negative habits that we go through mentally and physically every day, measured by the outcome of the actions that occur from the decisions being made.
For Dave, the habit loop he establishes for himself is to avoid making decisions; that is, he does not want to waste time on decision fatigue by making tons of little, insignificant decisions throughout the day that ultimately drain him. Instead, he creates habits for himself that eliminate those small decision points and prevents those decisions from hijacking his brain. For example, in the morning he limits the number of decisions he must make by wearing a Bulletproof t-shirt each day and only drinking coffee for breakfast
5. Top Pieces of Advice
Dave’s top piece of advice for everyone is to make time for gratitude. The power of gratitude is starkly underestimated; daily gratitude can absolutely transform your life and shift your mindset. Before going to bed each night—or first thing in the morning—list 3 things that you’re grateful for. This action actually changes your brain: it separates you from your fight or flight mindset and puts you into a space of thankfulness and mindfulness for what’s around you. According to Dave, this is one of the most important things that you can do for yourself.
Also, Dave wants everyone to know and understand that your body has an independent consciousness from your own. You might think that it’s your higher consciousness keeping you alive, but it’s not. A completely different consciousness is constantly at work keeping you safe, fed, and satisfied. Your job, as a human being, is to understand your meat’s needs and not let that system be in charge. Don’t confuse who you are with what your body does.
6. Fulfillment
For Dave, fulfillment means finding and pursuing the things that you’re here to do. You’ll understand fulfillment once you understand what your mission is and what path to take. If you’ve gone rogue and fallen off the path, you will feel it. If you continue to follow your path, you will experience true fulfillment.
Finding your path requires a ton of introspection. Dave suggests doing whatever it takes to push you out of your comfort zone and get out of your head. Sometimes this means going on a silent retreat, going hiking, or even taking LSD. When you stop thinking so much and start paying attention, you will understand. You just have to find the time and space to sit down and connect with the mission that’s already inside of you. When you ask, the universe will tell you.
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