Brian Johnson (Heroic +1 episode) reflects on the virtue of perseverance—citing Admiral McRaven, historical figures (Washington, Lincoln, Edison, Ford, Rowling, Oprah), and Eknath Easwaran’s discussion of the Sanskrit phrase for early-stage heroes—to motivate steady effort. He recounts taking his children (Emerson and Eleanor) to Blindside Tattoo in Austin, Texas on Father’s Day 2022 to add permanent ink on his forearms: he already has “Arete” on his right forearm and “Heroic 51 2051” on his left; he added “101” and “1M” next to/under the 51/2051 to represent a personal and programmatic commitment. The tattoos serve as daily prompts for his mission—to help 51% of humanity flourish by 2051—expressed concretely as getting individual “soul force” to 101 and helping one million people reach that score; he ties this to persistence and a morning affirmation ritual.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. Today I want to chat about how I spent Father's Day with the kids. We went to Blindside Tattoo in Austin, Texas to add some heroic targets to my forearm in permanent ink. Before we go there, as you may recall, in our last one, we Talked about Admiral McRaven's hero code and the virtue of perseverance. He told us about the fact that it was perseverance that helped many of our favorite heroes weather the inevitable storms of their heroic quests en route to the summit of fulfilling their missions. I think this is so good that it's worth repeating. George Washington was defeated on the battlefield more times than he won. Abraham Lincoln lost eight elections before he won the presidency. Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times before inventing the light bulb. Henry Ford had two failed companies before he found success. J.K. rowling was destitute before she got the first Harry Potter book published. And Oprah Winfrey had an extremely difficult childhood before finding her way. Martin Luther King once famously said, if you can't fly, run. If you can't run, walk. If you can't walk, crawl. But by all means keep moving. Now, as I read that passage and reflected on the power of perseverance, I also thought about the fantastic ancient Sanskrit word for being a hero in the beginning, Aram Bashura. We've talked about it before, we will talk about it again now. As Eknath Esron tells us in Conquest of the Mind. Check out those notes he says, I quote. In Sanskrit we have a word which means heroes at the beginning. People who take up a job with a fanfare of trumpets, but soon find that their enthusiasm is has tiptoed down the back stair. Those who go far in meditation and in life are the ones who keep on plugging. They may not be very spectacular, they may never hear a trumpet, but they keep on trying, day in and day out, giving their best in every situation and relationship, never giving up. Such people are bound to reach their goal. End quote. And now it's time for that fun trip of the kids on Father's Day to blindside tattoo context. I created my note on the hero code on Monday after Father's Day. On Father's Day, I took Emerson and Eleanor with me to get a tattoo. Yes, that's like me, as you know, if you've been following along. I have Arete tattooed on my right forearm to remind me to practice my philosophy as I strive to close the always present gap between who I'm capable of being and who I'm Actually being in any given moment. I tattooed heroic on my left forearm along with the numbers 5 1, 2051 to capture the ultimate mission to which I've dedicated my life, playing my role as humbly yet heroically well as I can to help create a world in which 51% of humanity is flourishing by 2051. And on Father's Day 2022, the kids and I went on a little adventure to add 101 and 1 million next to right under the 512051. The 101. There it is. Get to look at it every day represents my commitment to doing everything in my power to get my soul force to 101. So I can help you get your soul force as measured in the Heroic app to 101. The 1M represents the first million people. I'm committed to doing everything in my power with our team to help get to a Soul force score of 101. So. So we can have a shot at that. 512051. As we've discussed, science says we increase our odds of achieving our goals by about 42% if we write them down. So again, I figured I'd write my most important goals somewhere I'd never miss them and let them serve as a constant reminder to persevere just one step at a time through all the inevitable obstacles. And in a good heroic quest, every morning, I start my meditation by looking down at my forearm and saying to myself, hero, I see a world in which 51% of humanity is flourishing by 2051. Let's get our soul force to one on one and help a million people do the same. And we'll have a shot at fulfilling our ultimate mission. 101 times 1m en route to 51. 2051 all in day one. Here's to persevering through the inevitable storms on our heroic quests as we take just one more step today.
