Creating an Autonomous Self and Why it's Essential

By putting mundane tasks such as health and wealth on autopilot, we free up mental bandwidth for higher pursuits like fulfillment and the betterment of humanity. I emphasize the importance of optimizing health, while also highlighting the role of wealth i

The autonomous self is a concept by Bryan Johnson (BJ) summarized neatly here:

“Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them.” ~ A. N. Whitehead

I believe that we too can benefit from this by putting mundane tasks on autopilot, freeing up time and mental bandwidth for more important pursuits such as happiness, fulfillment, and self-actualization.

Not taking this approach also means that we often achieve subpar results in important domains like health and wealth despite disproportional efforts.

This means that the only way to really excel at the game of life is to embrace this concept of the autonomous self.

By aiming for personal growth and fulfillment we will inevitably end up contributing to the betterment of the human race as a whole.

Health is the first step

Putting health on autopilot is the top priority. Optimizing health not only increases capacity for performance in life but not being sick and not worrying about health also frees up bandwidth for higher thinking.

These benefits then compound for longer due to a greater lifespan, which also gives you extra years to enjoy the fruits of that labor.

I like the 80/20 approach when it comes to health. First I identify the most important factors and then I double down on them, eventually automating them so they run on autopilot.

The theory goes that with 20% of the effort, you can get 80% of the results (The Pareto Principle). Because the positive effects of these fundamental actions form a virtuous cycle and you can automate them, over time this requires less effort and yields greater results - e.g. 5 % effort providing >95% of the results and this just continues to improve over time.

Step 1: Identify the most important factors