Brian Johnson explores Darren Donnelly's rule "Don't waste a day" from Old School Grit, arguing that small daily actions compound into major results. He shares how his wife Alexandra's hall-of-fame induction and lessons from coaches and military leaders prove consistency beats occasional effort.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. Today we're going to wrap up our tour through Old School Grit, the second fable in Darren Donnelly's Sports for the Soul series. We talked about the old school grit. Then we talked about modern science grit. From there, we talked about the 15 rules of grit. Then we focused on rule number four. Champions and heroes finish strong. It's time to talk about rule number 12. Don't waste a day. The wisdom from this chapter of the book comes in the context of Darren's hero coach guide giving a wise pep talk to his basketball players as they compete for an NCAA championship. And as I typed that, I actually got goosebumps imagining some of the players in the locker rooms of some of our heroic coaches. We've been blessed to serve some extraordinary coaches and their players over the years. In fact, at one point, both the women's NCAA Championship volleyball team and the women's NCAA Championship gymnastics teams were both using philosopher's notes and Optimal Living 101 classes to get their games to the highest levels. Now, I could go on about the other elite performers robust to serve, but I'll leave it at that actually proud husband moment. Yesterday, I was brought to tears watching my wife Alexandra's college volleyball coach celebrate her as she was inducted into her college's hall of Fame. It was one of the most beautiful reflections of Alexandra at her heroic best that I could ever imagine seeing. Bless you, Bobby. Now, many of you have been touched by Alexandra, so if you'd like to see the little snippet from the ceremony, you can check it out linked in this plus one. And by the way, by the way, by the way, my last call of the year last year was with a new friend who happens to be a heroic coach who happens to be a commanding officer in the US military. He told me Alexandra's Meditation for Learning 101 helped him get through rigorous training years ago. He also told me how connected he felt to me and to her and to our kids as he's watched us and them grow up, which is why I shared the video clip of Alexandra above. I feel like we're family, even though I have only been able to meet a small group of you in person so far. So emoji hugs until the real ones. Now let's get back to work. It's time to talk about rule number 12. Don't waste a day. Now imagine Darren's hero Coach guide giving a wise pep talk to his basketball players as they compete for an NCAA championship. He tells them, and I Quote My point is no single play or single moment accomplishes anything of significance. It's the little things done right and done repeatedly over a long period of time that add up to big results. Along with my keep moving forward mantra, my players constantly hear me say, don't waste a day. It means that every day, every practice, and every moment in your life is leading you towards something. Your effort and attitude every day will determine what that something is. He continues by saying, anyone can be motivated to work hard and go after something for a day, a week, or a few months. But champions are motivated to work towards something each and every day for years and years. And he says each day you need to be moving just a little bit closer to your dream coming true. It won't happen all at once and it won't happen as quickly as you wish, but it will happen if you refuse to waste a day. Amen. Cue angels singing as we've discussed, Ryan Holiday echoes that wisdom and discipline is destiny. He tells us, and I quote, consistency is a superpower. Day to day willpower is incredibly rare. You don't have to always be amazing. You do always have to show up. What matters is sticking around for the next at bat. The ability to do that is the first step to greatness. Literally. You cannot be great without the self discipline to do that. One thing a day adds up. Each day adds up. But the numbers are only interesting if they accumulate in large quantities. And of course, in our Soul Force equation, consistency is the exponentializer. Check out the plus one if you missed it. Which is why we all caps architected our entire heroic app to help you show up today. I repeat, today's the day Hero. Don't waste a day. Give us all you got again When Today.
