Brian Johnson records a short Heroic +1 podcast episode reflecting on a car conversation with his son Emerson as they head to a chess tournament. Emerson says he wants to be a good person and a chess grandmaster; Brian uses the moment to teach the ancient Greek idea of arete (excellence/virtue) and to explain four central virtues—love, wisdom, discipline, and courage—tying them to everyday actions and parenting goals. The episode is a brief, motivational reflection about cultivating character and supporting the next generation.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. I typed this from a picnic table kind of thing outside the Austin Grandmaster Chess Academy. I just dropped Emerson off for his first match of the day. I was doing some journaling as I reflected on how I'm going to finish this year strong and make next year, 2025, the greatest year of our lives. I'm also reflecting on how much I love being a good wingman. Then I realized I should share the chat Emerson and I just had on our drive to the chess tournament. So let's get to work. As I've discussed many times, the very first thing I ask Emerson every single time we hit the road is simple. Me. All right, buddy, what do you want? His answer? I want to be a good person and I want to be a chess grandmaster. Me. Awesome. Let's talk more about how you're going to win the ultimate game and be a good person, which, for the record, you're already winning.
Me.
Continuing. So how do you be a good person? Him. Be nice to people. Me. Great answer. That's definitely one of the ways. What else? Do nice things for people.
Me.
Another great answer. What else? Enter a little bit of contemplative silence.
Me.
Would you like to hear some of my thoughts on how to go about doing it? Him. Yeah. Me. As I show him my right forearm. Well, remember what the word arete means? Him. Yeah. It means excellence. Me? Yeah. It's the ancient Greek word for excellence. It also means virtue, or being your best self. You remember the four main virtues? We have it on a sticker on our water jug at home. Him. Well, love is one of them. Me. Exactly. Love is definitely one of them. And it's arguably the most important. It's also the virtue you're embodying when you're nice and doing nice things for other people. Me. Give me another one. Him. Hmm. Wisdom. Me? Yeah. Do you know what wisdom is? Him. Hmm. Well, I think part of it is critical thinking too. Which I said. Exactly. That's definitely part of it. And I can continued by saying wisdom is also the knowledge of how to live a good life. All the eating, moving, sleeping, breathing and focusing stuff. Mommy and I are always talking about. Him. Cool. Then I popped quizzed him by asking him to tell me what wisdom was. He paraphrased, awesome. Then we continued to discipline the ability to get yourself to actually do the things you know. Wisdom are best for you. I emphasize that when you know what's best for you but don't do it, you actually feel worse than not knowing and not doing it. And I emphasize the fact that we're all human and we all fall short of our standards all the time. But we want both the wisdom to know the ultimate game and how to play it well and the discipline to actually do the things we know are best for us. Then we talked about courage, having the willingness to act in the presence of fear. Then we shifted to his goal to be a Chess Grandmaster and celebrated the progress he's made by working so hard over the last two years and looked forward over the next 1, 2, 3, 5 years. And that's today's plus one. Here's to winning the ultimate game of being good people, committed to living with wisdom, discipline, courage and love and teaching our kids in the next generation how to do that as well. All day, every day. Especially 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 them more wisdom and 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 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 the 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.
