A short Heroic +1 podcast episode where Brian Johnson describes doing a beach workout near the Aegean Sea in Athens (101 burpees arranged as eight sets of 11 and a final set of 13), notices his footprints vanish, and draws a Stoic-inspired reflection: life is brief and should be lived to activate heroic potential. Michael (president and head coach at Heroic) closes with praise for Brian's distillations of books (Philosopher's Notes) and a promo for Heroic's app, masterclasses, coaching, and resources.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic one. I started typing this from a beach outside of Athens. I was about 15ft from the water of the Aegean Sea. It was early in the morning, high tide. I just finished my workout, and I don't know if there are any better places in the world to do 101 burpees, but this is at least tied for first. Now, I hammered out my burpees 11 at a time, eight sets of 11. Then a final lucky set of 13. In between each set, I walked in the sand right at the edge of where the water was reaching the shore. I'd walk for a bit, then walk back to the spot where I was doing my burpees, waiting until I was back in zone two before hammering the next set. Now, after doing that a few times, I noticed something interesting. My footprints vanished almost immediately. Now it's hard to be in Athens, immersed in the wisdom of Socrates and Plato and Aristotle while reflecting on the fact that Marcus Aurelius once visited the Acropolis as well, without thinking about how perfectly those vanishing footprints captured the reality of our astonishingly brief stay on this beautiful planet. And that's today's plus one. Life is short. Let's remember that. And let's appreciate the blessed opportunity we have to do our best to enjoy the experience as we forge excellence, activate our heroic potential, and give the world all we've got today. 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 the 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 to 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 in 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 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.
