Brian JohnsonChairman & Philosopher in Residence at Heroic

Forging Confidence Daily: Via Heroic Journaling (Heroic +1 #1817)

17 Dec 2025 · 2 min

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1:39

Brian Johnson reworks his morning journaling using Nate Zinser's definition of confidence as certainty you have what it takes. He argues that building antifragile confidence means doing hard work even when you don't feel like it, and asks what one action you can take today to prove it to yourself.

Questions this video answers

The Confident Mind (author: Nate Zinser)

#1817

"certainty that you have what it takes to do what you're about to do"

"three generations of soldiers at West Point and other elite performers"

Chapters

Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. After reading the Confident Mind by Nate Zinser a while ago, I changed the way I journal in the morning. Here's the short story. As you may recall, Dr. Z is one of the world's best mental toughness and peak performance teachers and coaches. He's worked with three generations of soldiers at West Point and other elite performers for decades. His book is now my all time favorite on the subject. Now he defines confidence as, in short, certainty that you have what it takes to do what you're about to do. Of course, we define confidence as intense trust that not only you have what it takes to do what you're about to do, but to do what you're here to do in this one precious journey of yours, and that you have what it takes to meet any and all of the challenges life throws at you. Now, when we bring all that together and get in the habit of doing what needs to get done whether we feel like it or not, correction. Especially when we don't feel like it, we forge a special type of confidence, antifragile confidence, such that we get stronger with every challenge we face. And that's a long prelude. And I'm going to save my journaling overview for the next one for today. I ask what's one thing you know you could do to forge a little more intense trust in yourself such that you know you have what it takes to do what you're here to do? Seriously, what is it? Get clarity on both what you can do and what you will do to give us all you've got today.