An Assignment for Life: The Hero’s Origin Story (Heroic +1 #1,968)

Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. In our last one, we chatted about the ancient Athenian navy and the role it played in the birth of democracy. I promise to share some wisdom from our notes on the book. So let's get to work. We'll start by chatting a little more about the author of the book, John Hale. As per his bio, John R. Hale studied at Yale and Cambridge universities before embarking on an archaeological career in that has included extensive underwater searches for ancient warships. He has written for a number of prestigious journals and has been featured in documentaries on the Discovery and History channels. Now, it's hard to capture the essence of the book better than Donald Kagan, another renowned historian who said, nobody knows more about the history of oared ships around the world than John Hale, and he combines it with the knowledge of and love for the ancient Athenians that helps explain their achievement. The writing is utterly captivating and makes the reader feel he is back in Athens among the great poets, historians, sculptors, architects, soldiers, and sailors, all of whom were connected in important ways to the Athenian navy. Now, what's especially awesome about that blurb is the fact that Donald was the guy who originally inspired John to study the ancient Athenian navy. Here's how John puts it in his book Lords of the Sea. He says, the Athenian navy first floated into my consciousness on a winter afternoon in 1969, when I encountered Donald Kagan walking down College street in New Haven across the snowbound expanse of the Yale campus. His prize fighter stance and rolling gait were instantly recognizable. I knew him well as the formidable professor of my Introduction to Greek History course, but he but had never worked up the courage to speak to him. On the first day of class, Kagan had marshaled the front row of students into an improvised phalanx of Greek warriors with notebooks for shields and pens for spears to demonstrate military maneuvers. Though, like me, a new arrival, Kagan had already ranked as a colossus among the faculty. I tacked across the icy sidewalks to let him pass. But he stopped, asked my name, and inquired what I was doing at Yale. I I stammered a few words about majoring in archaeology and rowing for the freshman crew. Kagan lit up at once. Ha. A rower. Now you can explain something to me. In autumn 429, after Phormio beat the Peloponnesians, they sent their crews overland to launch a sneak attack on the Piraeus. Thucydides says each rower carried his own oar and cushion, but why on earth should they need cushions? They certainly didn't have very far to row. We talked for an hour of ships and oars and naval heroes oblivious to the cold. I fished up a recollection of rowing pads that had been used by 19th century American rowers so that they could work their legs during the stroke. Kagan enlarged upon the tactical genius of the little known Athenian commander Flormio. He went on to speak of the many unexplored issues that that obscured the story of the mighty navy of Athens, bulwark of liberty and engine of democracy. As the great man got underway again, he told me that I should investigate Athenian history from the vantage point of a rower's bench. It was an assignment I found for life. End quote. Now those are literally the very first words of the book. I got goosebumps reading that the first time in the book again as I type that out and right now as I spoke that out loud. We'll explore a few big ideas about and inspired by the ancient Athenian navy in the next few plus ones. But I don't think we'll find any wisdom more powerful than that. If it wasn't for that one chance encounter a young man had with an incredible mentor, this book wouldn't exist. Now the story reminds me of another chance encounter by another legendary scholar in 10 to 25 the science of Motivating Young People. David Yeager tells us the story about an underprivileged 12 year old boy named Daniel Lapsley who met a college student in a gas station. That college student was blown away by the young boy as they debated the Vietnam War. At the end of the chat he asked him if he ever considered going to college. Then he asked him if he read Dante and encouraged him to check it out. Now that son of a coal miner went on to become a preeminent scholar of adolescent development. Professor Lapsley says this about the experience. He says the encounter with the stranger at the gas station looms larger than any teacher, larger than anything that happened in any school. The stranger at the gas station planted an idea, raised a possibility that had not occurred to me. He made me feel special, talented. This clear vivid memory I have has never shaken. And I credit this encounter, this stranger, with setting me on the path that was unusual for kids in the steel town of my birth. Now I wrote about that experience in one of my all time favorite plus ones called the Gas Station Chat. A micro moment of life changing encouragement in which I shared that story along with an encounter I had with a young man and at one of Emerson's chess tournaments. Check out that plus one. It's linked in this one. And just this morning Alexander told me about a father who wrote a note for one of his daughter's friends who was going through challenging times. I got emotional as we reflected on the loving wisdom our community strives to embody and the potentially life changing impact of finding these micro moments of encouragement. Bless you Joshua. If you want to see the little note he wrote for his daughter's friend, check it out. It's linked in this plus one. And as it turns out, just the day before that, another one of our heroic community members who happens to be one of my dearest friends, shared a post on his work at a small Catholic school in Cleveland, Ohio where he is working with the entire student body to help them forge excellence and activate their heroic potential so we can can change the world together. Bless you Jason and bless you Andy for making that happen again. We've got a link to that +1 you can check out as well. All that to say, you my friend are the hero we've been waiting for. You are also the guide we have been waiting for. Here's to playing our roles as humbly yet heroically well as we can while searching for those micro moments of encouragement that help the next generation of heroes see and activate their heroic potential. Remember, in the faces of men and women, we see heroes. P.S. another thing I found incredibly inspiring about this whole story is the fact that John dedicated his life to mastering a very specific domain. His humbly heroic commitment to excellence reminds me of another plus one that I wrote on my new job as the guy who changes your front right tire. Check it out. It's linked and inspires me to play my role as humbly yet heroically well as I can. It also reminds me of my current love identity in the Heroic app. You're a good wingman. That's another plus one you can check out. It's linked as well. P.P.S. another reason why this story touched me so deeply is because the very first thing we have our Heroic workshop instructors master is what we call their origin story in which they share their life stories and challenges and how heroic has helped them activate their potential. We train them on how to deliver the stories along with the rest of the workshop. Watching them share their origin stories had a profound impact on me in Athens. You can watch some linked in the plus one as well.

What's up? This is Michael, president and head coach at Heroic One quick note before we go. I just think it's so amazing that Brian keeps reading all these books and distilling them into more wisdom and less time. By the way, thank you Brian for continuing to read the books distill them for us. I love not having to read the book, just getting them more wisdom in less time through the plus ones of Philosopher's Notes. And if you're into this kind of thing, expressing the best version of yourself and using your greatest gifts make a positive impact on the world. Make sure you head to Heroic Us to check out all the other resources that we have available to you. You can download a bunch of free goodies including Philosopher's Notes, masterclasses and our scientifically proven Heroic app. You can also explore advanced resources to help you go next level, including live and virtual workshops, working one on one with a Heroic Performance Coach or even becoming a certified coach yourself as you master Heroic Performance, the Fundamentals of Coaching Excellence and Heroic Coach Coaching Prosperity. Again, head to Heroic Us to get the ancient wisdom, modern science and practical tools you need to activate your potential and change the world together. And please do hit subscribe, appreciate you have a fantastic day and see you again soon.