Brian Johnson reflects on the practice of integrating qualities of one’s favorite heroes into one’s own best self. He recalls a powerful Zoom conversation with former Navy SEAL commander Mark Devine (during the Arete book launch), who described Arete as "love in action" and named King Leonidas and Jesus as his two favorite heroes. Brian uses Mark’s pairing to prompt listeners to identify their own two heroes, analyze the admired qualities they embody, and commit to expressing those qualities today.
Questions this episode answers
January 17, 2024.
King Leonidas and Jesus.
He said Arete is 'love in action.'
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. In our last plus one we talked about my two favorite living and dead heroes. I challenged you to think about who your favorite heroes are and how you at your heroic best are an integration of the qualities you most admire in those four heroes. My four heroes are two teachers and two leaders, Epictetus and Phil Stodds, plus Marcus Aurelius and John Mackey. It's almost weird how much I see my ideal self in those iconoclastic heroes. You have a similar experience. Now, as I typed that one, I was thinking of some of my recent heroic chats with masters in which I've been asking my favorite people who their two favorite heroes are. In fact, I was thinking about one particular chat with one particular friend that deeply inspired me. That chat was with my dear friend and soul brother, Mark Devine. He and I connected via Zoom during our Arete book launch workshop party. The entire conversation was goosebumps. Remarkable. Watch it linked in this plus one. Now, there were many things that struck me in that chat. First, I asked Mark how he would describe all Arete. He told us that he thinks Arete is love in action. Amen to that. Now that's a whole plus one in itself. But today I want to talk about Mark's answer to my question about who his two favorite heroes are, as it inspired me to think more deeply about how we are an integration of our favorite heroes. So before I tell you who Mark's favorite heroes are, I should encourage you to watch that chat again. Again, do so via a link in the one. And I should also tell you that Mark is a former Navy SEAL commander who graduated first in his class and has written a number of books on how to forge an unbeatable mind, become SEAL fit, and embrace the way of the SEAL to lead heroically. He's also a yogi and an incredibly humble, wise and spiritual man. So his two favorite heroes. The ancient Spartan warrior King Leonidas, who led his 300 men to certain death at Thermopylae to protect the freedoms on which his culture's flourishing was so dependent. And Jesus, the spiritual warrior who, as Mark beautifully said, sacrificed his life for all of us and needs no introduction. Now, I'm not sure any anyone in the world has ever considered King Leonidas and Jesus to be their two favorite heroes, but I can assure you that there has never been a human being who so beautifully and powerfully integrates the qualities of both of those heroic men than Mark Divine got tears my eyes typing that feeling into his power and feeling into your power. So I. I ask you again. Who are your two favorite heroes? Seriously, who are they? Pause. Literally hit pause. If you need to take a moment, get clarity on who they are. Now ask yourself, why are those two human beings your top two heroes? What qualities do they have that you most admire? What did they do that you most admire? You got it? Now get this. You admire those heroes of yours because they express the qualities you have within yourself. See the truth in that. See yourself at your absolute heroic best, integrating those qualities in your own life. Then recommit to doing the hard work to forge the strength for two so you can show up at your best and give us all you've got. Not someday. Today. Day one. All in. Let's go, hero.
