7 Oct 2026 · 2 min
Brian Johnson tells how his son Emerson celebrated a friend's near-perfect chess game with a simple "awesome." The episode explores celebratory love: genuinely getting excited for others' wins and letting them know it.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic Plus One. Last weekend, the kids and I went on yet another chess adventure. I was reminded of just how blessed I am to have 2 incredible kids, and I was reminded of just how quickly time is flying and just how committed I am to soaking it all up as we shared a king-size bed, dominated our protocols, and enjoyed each other and some World Cup soccer action during the breaks. Now, one of Emerson's friends went to the tournament as well. The 2 of them connected online the day after their tournament for their usual hours of playing chess and solving chess puzzles together and all that. As they were hanging out, his buddy, who is a wonderful, brilliant human being who also happens to be great at chess, told Emerson that he played an incredible game in the 3rd round of their tournament. He was super stoked about the fact that he played a near-perfect game. I asked Emerson what he said when his friend told him about that game. He said that he said, that's awesome. I said, awesome. Then we chatted about celebratory love and how great it is to be the type of person who really celebrates someone else's awesomeness. I told him that we want to be the type of people who truly gets excited about what our friends and loved ones are excited about. Then I told him that we should make it a game and really look for opportunities to celebrate people. And that's today's plus one. If you feel so inspired, I repeat, the next time someone you love And/or someone you work or play with shares something they're excited about or proud of with you, slow down, be present, and really get excited for and with them. Let them know how stoked you are for them. Smile together, celebrate together. Let's be that guy or gal who sees and celebrates the best in those around us today. Hey, this is Brian. Thanks for spending a few minutes with me today. If you enjoyed it, please hit subscribe so that the best of the show keeps landing in your feed, then head over to heroic.us. That's heroic.us, where you'll find the full library of wisdom I've created over the last 20 years, as well as the app, advanced training programs, coaching, and everything else we've built to help you optimize your life, actualize your potential, and live heroically. It is day 1. We are all in. Let's go.
