“Welcome to heaven. Population: everyone.”
— Aubrey Marcus
Aubrey Marcus (IG: @aubreymarcus) is the founder and CEO of Onnit, a lifestyle brand based on a holistic health philosophy he calls Total Human Optimization. Onnit is an Inc. 500 company and an industry leader with products touching millions of lives, including many top professional athletes around the world.
Aubrey currently hosts The Aubrey Marcus Podcast, a motivational destination for conversations with the brightest minds in athletics, business, science, relationships and spirituality with over 10 million downloads on iTunes. Aubrey regularly provides commentary to outlets like Entrepreneur, Forbes, The Doctors, and The Joe Rogan Experience.
He has been featured on the cover of Men’s Health, and his newest (and first!) book is Own The Day, Own Your Life from HarperCollins. Enjoy!
You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
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Want to hear another episode about spirituality, happiness, and mindfulness? — Listen to this episode with Sharon Salzberg (stream below or right-click here to download):
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
- Connect with Aubrey Marcus:
Website | Podcast | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Own the Day, Own Your Life: Optimized Practices for Waking, Working, Learning, Eating, Training, Playing, Sleeping, and Sex by Aubrey Marcus
- Onnit
- Ecstacy dance playlist
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Part 1: In the womb, all is good. Start on the ground, get moving, warm up your joints stretch and flow. Breathe into abundance.
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Part 2: Water breaks, chaos. Harder to find the beat, harder to move. Breathe into heartbreak, letting go, and surrender. Then build up your warrior spirit for the fight ahead.
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Part 3: Birth canal is available, time to fight for breath, for light. Everything you got, dance as hard as you can–yell, growl, feel the wolf inside. Claim your space and dance for those you love and those you wish to protect.
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Part 4: The ecstasy of birth, your first breath. The first time light splashes against your eyes, and you see your mother. A celebration of being alive and in body. Finish in classic yoga shavasana for last song.
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- What Is a Vision Quest and Why Do One? by Maddisen K. Krown, HuffPost
- The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide — Risks, Micro-Dosing, Ibogaine, and More
- Onnit Alpha Brain
- Bulletproof Coffee
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville
- Books by Carlos Castaneda
- The Toltec Art of Life and Death: Living Your Life as a Work of Art by Don Miguel Ruiz and Barbara Emrys
- The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz
- The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship by Don Miguel Ruiz
- Island by Aldous Huxley
- Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha
- Aubrey Marcus Gets Real about His Open Relationship by Ashley Uzer, Galore
- Sam Harris’ Waking Up App
- The Healing Practice of Ecstatic Dance by Ian Faulkner, Elephant Journal
- Grof’s Basic Perinatal Matrices
- Music by Lindsey Stirling
- Beats Antique
- A Tribe Called Red
- Porangui
- Sleep: The Myth of 8 Hours, the Power of Naps, and the New Plan to Recharge Your Body and Mind by Nick Littlehales
Show Notes
- Is Austin past its prime or just getting better? [06:57]
- When was the last time Aubrey cried tears of joy? [09:02]
- How did a vision quest help Aubrey shift gears and stop being miserable? [12:09]
- If Aubrey someday has kids, would he encourage a similar rite of passage for them? [17:19]
- Which element does Aubrey feel contributed most heavily to his vision quest experience: psychedelics, ceremony, or guidance? [18:41]
- When he was younger, what did Aubrey want to be when he grew up? [20:38]
- What projects did Aubrey try that didn’t quite work out? [21:25]
- What is Onnit, and what about it is Aubrey most proud of? [23:10]
- How many people does Onnit now employ, and how much has the company grown since it started in 2010? [24:39]
- Aubrey talks about the complicated relationship with his father and how it affected his relationships with others. [26:53]
- Learning what causes our own trauma allows us to help others overcome theirs. [34:24]
- When was the first time Aubrey felt successful? [37:13]
- How did Aubrey become business partners with Joe Rogan? [40:46]
- Influential books. [47:55]
- Aubrey’s guidelines for exploring open relationships. [52:40]
- Failures that set the stage for later success. [54:20]
- What’s Aubrey’s pattern interrupt for anger management? [56:40]
- What would Aubrey’s billboard say? [1:01:27]
- Tools for a more fulfilling life. [1:02:44]
- The music Aubrey uses for ecstatic dance. [1:07:10]
- On getting comfortable with discomfort. [1:13:05]
- Aubrey gives us a preview of what we can expect from his book Own the Day, Own Your Life. [1:13:59]
- What advice would Aubrey give his younger self? [1:18:08]
- Parting thoughts and a term of cannibal affection. [1:21:00]
Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That's how we're gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you're rude, we'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)
FINALLY!! Love Aubrey Marcus' philosophy on life – cheers Tim. Question for you – do you concern yourself with social media engagement? i.e likes, shares etc
Great! I'm a big alpha brain fan. For some weird reason, alpha brain makes me very social. Too bad it's so expensive though. Would be great if he'd cut the price down a bit.
Interesting interview…best lines: 'raise everything at the same time' and 'there's a choice where you paddle, or you don't paddle'
Tim, Wanted you to know I went to prison on Friday because of you! I volunteered with Defy Ventures and had a transformational experience. It started with your podcast interviewing Cat who I met. I’ve bought all your books, podcasts and follow your blog. That one interview was the most impactful podcast I have EVER heard.
Brilliant meeting of minds! Aubrey's philosophies on life are some of the most enlightened I know. Minutes 35-37 were especially powerful. I love the idea that "when you're grateful for something, it's no longer trauma. You've healed it." There is SO much need for this in our culture right now. So funny to trace so much back to the Fleshlight! Between that and Sex at Dawn (and Lindsey Stirling, LOL), now I really want to hear a conversation between Aubrey and Alice as well — I know for a fact she'd be down. 😉 The Own the Day practices he mentioned already sound very familiar from a paleo perspective, and I can't wait for the book to come out to see which new ones I might pick up. Looking forward to catching more Aubrey at this year's PaleoFX, and clearly going to have to locate the Austin ecstatic dance opportunities that week!! 😀
Tim this was good. From 1:02 till end it is a gem. I listened to that multiple times. Welcome to heaven was so true. Owning your day is so true we need to execute on our vision on a daily basis and rest of the life is taken care. Good one will read the book once it is out.
Tim, can you have Kelly Slater on your show. World Surf Champion a record 11 times, 5 consecutive titles in 1994–98. Youngest (at age 20) and the oldest (at age 39) to win the title. Stared on Baywatch in the 90s and has dated Pamela Anderson, Gisele Bündchen & Cameron Diaz
Hi Tim, Seems like this podcast was in-person, but no video though. It was an ok podcast, but the structure felt a little different, especially with the order of the questions. It may be just me so I'll look at what other people might think of it as well, it's always possible you don't appreciate some content right after consuming it. //Felix
That was a really interesting one. I loved the ecstacy dance info. I had never heard of it but going to try it out. Tim, I think that was one of the few times that you might have been blushing thinking about yourself dancing.
Tim has brought new trend in people by introducing Onnit the new generation always looks for something cool which they can easily find from Onnit
1:06:05 Aubrey "Where is that coming from? … I can't allow myself to move in space?" "By myself?!" In unison <— LOVED THIS <3
Aubrey is an awesome guy.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? The quote from the title: "Own the day. Own your life." That's the lesson I'm learning. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what exactly you accomplished, it doesn't matter what great ideas and moonshot plans you have for tomorrow… All that matters – how you managed today, your thoughts, your emotions and most importantly actions. Were you the person you aspire to be? For how long? How many hours a day? Moments? Are you proud of your actions? Reactions? Responses to what life gave you this day? Did you do YOUR very best today? Did you make the HARD choices? The rest – doesn't matter really. Nothing is ever guaranteed. The way you manage yourself and your days, hours, moments – that's the only thing that is in your control, that is the only thing worth working on.
Hey Tim! Could you please explain your thoughts on cannabis use in more depth and your reasons for not using the substance on a daily basis?
Here a criticism, hopefully a constructive one. I think your joke about Aubrey having children that he might not know about and him talking to the audience asking women to let him know if he has a child he does not know was inappropriate and unnecessary. You two seem to be too smart to be joking like that. The joke is an expression of your male privilege and it is very disrespectful to the women who are listening to your conversation; who BTW might be carrying children from men that left them, because yes women do not have the privilege of having children without knowing! You probably think it was just a joke between men, no big deal; however, those are just reflexes of the patriarchal mindset we have all been brought up with and the one I believe even you want to stay away from! I expect more critical thinking from you and awareness when it comes to women issues will definitely help you develop further and grow you audience.
Hi Tim, I loved the episode with Jack Kornfield. The most impactful statement was his billboard answer posing the question ‘How would you best love yourself?’. This is a question I am pondering in my morning pages and would love to know how you are mastering this. I know it’s a journey with some good and bad days but what steps are you taking to answer this for yourself? Warm wishes, Lori
Reach out to Eminem. Including myself, I'm sure there are millions of fans that would love to hear him on your podcast.
Hi Tim, A respectful question (I really enjoy reading and listening to you every now and again) – I don't know all of your experiments, but I'm wondering if you've ever done something where for a set period of time you focus your input on reading and listening to works by a particular group that is not super close to you – say (almost) all works by women, or works originating in the Southern hemisphere or a particular continent, or works by folks under 25, or works from a different century, or works by nonbinary writers/artists. I'd be interested in how such an experiment might lead you to interesting places.
I’ve been looking around at articles on open relationships, no one asks the big question. How do you know if the baby is yours in an open relationship, and if it’s not are you so full of love that it’s no big deal? Also how many open relationship babies is it no big deal?
Odd that Tim lately keeps on hitting the "having kids" topic…is he maybe missing something there? (the "ultimate" experiment?) Might that come from that all that will be left of Tim is "dead matter" (books, recordings etc) and not "live matter" and thus his genes will be just weeded out of existence…?
Kind of did the ecstasy dance tonight. I will have to do it again when I have more time and I’m not worried about my wife coming home and seeing me 🙂 Thanks for the instructions and sound track.
I created an Apple Music version of the Ecstatic Dance playlist (one track, Miami Showdown, was unavailable but all others were there) and made it public. Search for "Ecstatic Dance" on Apple Music shared playlists under my name if you're interested.
I absolutely love Aubrey's content. Such an inspirational guy!
Thanks so much for providing a transcript of this podcast! I get a lot of value from being able to find information that has been transcribed.
Thank you, Tim. This was such an awesomely flowing conversation that was just hitting all the nails at every sentence, and Aubrey is such a fascinating guy with a voice to lead guided meditation, if he'd so choose to. And If I'd have to pick a favorite bit – the one that most resonated with me was on Ecstatic Dance at 1:07:10. If there's a body to be moved and with the ability to move – move it, in all sorts of weird and "gay" ways! That, in my life has made a huge impact after living in Berlin for a few years. Thank you for the amazing content. You've been a huge inspiration, Tim.
I laughed out loud at one point in the podcast when I pictured Aubrey in a room trying to get Jocko Willink to do an ecstacy dance.
Great stuff Dude, also I can't stress enough how awesome it would be for you to get Duncan Trussell on the show. I also get the feeling he fits decorously within the current stream of learning you seem to be swimming down lately.
This guy is an amazing example of someone who does it wall and still has an amazing life. Wow.
Dear Tim, In this episode you mention actively looking for your issues so that you can work through your stuff. I think you say "you gotta dig through the weeds". Just to be clear, what do you mean by this? What constitutes the work of identifying these issues? Would love to hear your suggestions. Love your work! Kind Regards Ashley Hilton
Tim this would help me alot in the future appreciate your words like i said you always rock
I am particularly interested in his mention of – I think he called it – a Death Dinner he attended. I couldn't find it in the notes and would love more information about that – the questions that are asked or resources. Thanks!
I found Aubrey's playlist on Spotify. Haven't turned off the lights & danced yet but SUPER cool playlist! I'd rather use iTunes, though, so I created this: https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/ecstatic-dance/pl.u-2x86vFYqvoD Enjoy!
This was one of my favorite episodes! So good. I loved when Aubrey said: “There is a direct correlation between my inner work and the outer success of @Onnit." Best, Ksenia
FINALLY!! Love Aubrey Marcus’ philosophy on life – cheers Tim. Question for you – do you concern yourself with social media engagement? i.e likes, shares etc
What a wonderful article. Can you share more such articles.
Thoughtful comment. The joke originally struck me as off, maybe edgy, for a reason I couldn't quite pinpoint, however harmless. Thanks for articulating that. Tim, I'm sure you're totally open to how the subtleties might land!
I would probably pay more money than I have to see that.