In this solo episode of the Heroic Plus One series, Brian Johnson shares a personal parenting moment: the first night he and his son Emerson slept in separate queen‑size beds. He reflects on the emotional significance of this milestone, recounts a humorous historical note about Abraham Lincoln sharing beds, and expresses deep admiration for Emerson’s coachability, kindness, and palpable positive energy. Brian recounts an anecdote about another parent’s praise for Emerson’s kindness toward his own child, emphasizing the impact of recognizing and verbalizing admiration. He concludes with a direct invitation for listeners to tell their loved ones what they admire about them, framing the practice as a way to celebrate and strengthen relationships.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic Plus One. In our last several Plus Ones, we've been mining parenting poop emoji for antifragile fuel emoji. Let's continue. So after cleaning up my suboptimal parenting performance, Emerson and I were in our separate queen-size beds chatting before falling asleep. Note, this is the very first time we've ever slept in separate beds when it's just the two of us. He's getting huge and tends to steal the sheets in the middle of the night. LOL. So we thought we'd try this out, but we'll be going back to sleeping in the same bed again until we simply can't. I'm not ready for the last time we share a bed yet. Fun fact, Abraham Lincoln used to share a bed with his lawyer friends when he was out on the road. So maybe we'll keep it going for a while longer. Now, as we were getting ready to fall asleep, I said, you want to know all the things I admire about you? I got tears in my eyes typing that, and I got tears in my eyes when I said it. He said, yeah. I said, well, there's a lot. Of course, I admire how coachable you are and how committed you are to being your best. But the thing I most admire about you is that you're just a good, wonderful person. You have an energy about you that's palpable. It inspires me so much. I could feel him soaking it in. I get tears in my eyes right now. Then I continued, remember the chest stab? Whose young son admires you? He said, yeah. I said, he told me that he appreciates how kind you are to his son. And he also told me that you have an aura about you. He said that he could feel your confidence and power and goodness and that he knew you were going to be very successful in life. Yes. I got tears in my eyes typing that and saying that right now, too. And yes, I'm sharing that so you can think of what you can celebrate in your kids. Or loved ones, again, if you don't have them. That's today's +1. What do you most admire in your loved ones? Go tell them today.
