Aubrey Marcus: A Warrior Poet On Embracing Resistance, Self-Love & Why Outward Success Is An Inside Job

Experimentalist. Unconventional fitness junkie. Entrepreneur. Human optimizer. Psychonaut. This week's guest defies any singular title. But the underlying ethos that defines Aubrey Marcus is best captured in one brief phrase: Warrior Poet. On the business front, Aubrey is the CEO of Onnit -- an optimal human performance company he founded just six years ago that has grown to one of the INC 500 top 500 fastest growing companies in America. Offering a wide array of products, Onnit produces supplements for cognition, mood, bone and joint function; fitness equipment such as kettle bells and jump ropes; personal care products; and foods that range from Himalayan salt to coffee. Online, the Onnit Academy boasts copious helpful information on all things human optimization. And if you visit Onnit HQ in Austin (where we recorded this conversation), you'll find a cutting edge training center & ju jitsu studio that many an elite athlete call home, including Super Bowl champion football players, Stanley Cup winning hockey players, Olympic gold medalists, and mixed martial arts champions. On top of being a very active CEO, Aubrey hosts both the Total Human Optimization Podcast as well as The Aubrey Marcus Podcast, both dedicated to exploring and expanding human happiness and consciousness. The accomplishments are impressive. But what truly interests me about Aubrey is his uniquely mystical path to success. His philosophical perspective on the human experiment. His uncommon devotion to continued expansion of consciousness. And his unusual blend of alpha male masculinity with esoteric spirituality. This is a conversation that examines the metaphysical intangibles that catalyzed Aubrey’s unusual path. It’s about self-worth, self-love and self-discovery — and why outward success is always an inside job. But mostly this is a conversation about what it means to be human. To live meaningfully. And with purpose. I think it's safe to say that Aubrey and I are very different people. But I think that makes this conversation special. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich