In this Heroic Plus One episode, Brian Johnson shares a personal observation of a cicada exoskeleton on his desk and uses the cicada’s dramatic molting process as a vivid metaphor for rapid personal transformation. He quotes a description generated by ChatGPT to illustrate how a cicada sheds its entire exoskeleton, then asks listeners to consider what limiting habit or mindset they could "molt" out of their lives in order to become a more heroic version of themselves. Throughout, he emphasizes that the episode’s content is entirely his own voice and not AI‑generated, except for the quoted passage. The episode closes with a call to subscribe, a promotion of the heroic.us platform and its resources (library, app, training, coaching), and an invitation to commit to day‑one, all‑in personal growth.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic Plus One. As we've discussed many times, we live out in the country outside Austin. It's summertime as I type this, and we have a ton of cicadas on our land, as in a ton. And I absolutely love their sounds. And Eleanor just brought one into my office and set it on my desk. Technically, she brought in a cicada exoskeleton, but it looks Like it's an actual cicada. Do you know the backstory behind cicadas? I didn't until this summer. Get this. Cicadas are bugs that spend the first year or more of their lives underground eating tree roots and stuff like that. Then they emerge from underground, climb up a tree, completely shed their entire exoskeleton, form a new one in a matter of hours, fly around, Mate, then die a few weeks later. It's crazy. ChatGPT and I chatted about it. Here's how it described it. A cicada doesn't just shed a little skin. It sheds its entire exoskeleton. It literally climbs a tree, its back splits open, and it slowly pulls itself out of the body that carried it for years. What's left behind is a perfect hollow replica of the insect. Legs, claws, eyes, even the outer covering of its body. He continues by saying, imagine if a human did that. Imagine climbing a tree and stepping completely out of your skin— fingernails, toenails, and every other external surface— leaving behind a perfect shell of yourself. That's essentially what a cicada does. It spends years preparing underground, then one night emerges, leaves its old self behind, expands into something capable of flight, and never looks back. It's one of nature's most powerful metaphors for transformation. Growth sometimes requires leaving an entire former self behind. Thank you, ChatGPT. As I've said, not a line, not a word of these plus ones are ever touched by any AI. If I ever do use something, I'll do what I just did right there. Today's plus one. Of course, we can't step out of our old selves and become an entirely new version of ourselves, but What if we could? What if we could transform a significant part of our lives in an instant, shedding the stuff that wasn't working and creating a new, more heroic version of ourselves? How powerful would that be? With that in mind, what's one thing you want to molt out of your life? That kryptonite habit or behavior or attitude that just needs to go? Climb up that metaphorical tree and let it go. Today. And let's appreciate that hopefully we have longer than a few weeks to spread our wings and fly. I've got an image of that cicada. Check it out. P.S., I already said this, but just so you know, I never use ChatGPT to write or even edit these Plus Ones or Philosopher's Notes, as I want to preserve my voice. The only time you'll ever see ChatGPT's presence in here is if I directly quote it like I just did. P.P.S., Day One, All in. Let's go. 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.
