In this Heroic Plus One episode, Brian Johnson reflects on his extensive note‑taking of Ryan Holiday’s books, especially The Daily Dad, and argues that teaching children the cardinal virtues of Stoicism—wisdom, discipline, love, and courage—must be done through lived example rather than mere instruction. He challenges listeners to examine whether they are practicing their own philosophy and simultaneously modeling it for their kids, emphasizing that children absorb far more from what they see than from what they hear. Drawing on Emerson’s idea that actions “speak louder than words,” Johnson urges a humble, intentional presence and promotes the Heroic platform (website, app, training, coaching) as a resource for deepening one’s philosophical practice and heroic living.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic Plus One. Now, I've written more notes on Ryan Holiday's books than any other author. In fact, I've created notes on 11 of his great books. Goosebumps. Now, that's every single one of his self-development books. The man is a philosophical machine. Every one of his books is truly brilliant. Every one. Now, that's hard to do. We have covered them all. Check out the links in this plus one for all the titles and all the notes. Now, it's hard to pick a favorite from his books, but *The Daily Dad* is at least tied for first with *The Daily Stoic* and *The Obstacle Is the Way*. And dot dot dot. In that book, he tells us that we must teach our kids the cardinal virtues of Stoicism and every other ancient wisdom and faith tradition. Wisdom. Discipline, love, and courage. Know this, the reason why I share so many mundane moments from my life is because those are the moments in which A, we must strive to practice our philosophy, and B, we must strive to teach our kids our philosophy. Now, here's today's plus one. My question for you is this, are you practicing your philosophy and are you teaching your your kids your philosophy, know this: they won't listen to what you say a fraction as much as they are paying attention to and copying what you do. Now, if that doesn't humble you and inspire you to show up more powerfully than you are right now, then you aren't thinking about the effects of your actions deeply enough. With respect. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, who you are speaks so loudly That I cannot hear what you say. Our work for today, speak loudly. Use words when necessary. 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.
