17 Dec 2025 · 4 min
Brian Johnson describes a catapult launch from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aboard a Navy cargo plane, hitting specific speeds and altitudes. He explains how he reframed the fear of the launch by telling himself "I'm excited" and "Bring it on" instead, turning high-arousal fear into genuine excitement.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. I'm typing this a couple minutes after taking off from the Runway on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier. I'm on a special Navy plane called a COD short for Carrier Onboard Delivery. I'm currently flying about 15,000ft above the red Sea en route to Bahrain, en route to London, en route back home to Austin, we just did what is known as a CAT launch, short for catapult launch. We were catapulted by hundreds of pounds of steam pressure generated from the nuclear propulsion plant on the carrier. We went from 0 to 140mph in 2.5 seconds so we could get a lift off in the 307ft of the flight deck in front of us. Note a normal airport Runway is 8 to 10,000ft. It usually takes 30 plus seconds to get off the ground. Now I'll tell you more about the trip I made out to the Red Sea to connect with the 5,000 sailors of the aircraft carrier that has been battling the Houthis 247 for the last four plus months. In future plus ones, it was a sacred honor to roll out heroic on the carrier via a series of micro workshops with everyone from Captain Chowdah Hill's command team to the youngest sailors on the best damn ship in the Navy. Salvador Go by. Let's go. It's hard for me to put into words just how humbling and inspiring it was for me to spend four days with the crew and see just how hard they all work and how much they all sacrifice to serve my family and your families in our nation's and our world's freedoms. So a few days before we took off, we landed on the aircraft carrier via what's called a trap landing in which we went from 135 miles per hour to a dead stop in 345ft. Note the normal Runway is 8 to 10,000ft and that process normally takes 30 to 45 seconds, not 3 seconds. That was super fun. And before we got ready to take off, my new friend who invited me out to fire up the heroic warrior sailors. Thanks. Terry was telling me that the CAD launch is pretty intense. And every single time she told me about what to expect, my heart would skip a beat. Seriously sweating a little bit thinking about it. So as the engines of the plane started roaring and we entered the 22nd pre catapult launch phase with the engines fully throttled, waiting for the carrier's catapult to work its magic. You know what I was saying to myself? You may have guessed it. I had a big old smile on my face as I silently said to myself, I'm excited, followed by bring it on. Now, what did that do for me? Well, as per the research we talk about all the time, when you're in a high arousal state and say things like, bring it on and I'm excited yourself, you flip the switch and go from the negative physiological consequences of a threat response, and that's generated when you're coming from fear, to what scientists call a challenge response. That's generated when you're coming from excitement. Check out the notes on the upside of stress for more. And I'll tell you what. It worked. I'm typing this with an even bigger smile now, and that's today's plus one. The next time you or your colleagues or kids are in a high arousal state, feeling the energy surge before you do something awesome, whether that's give a big presentation or take a big test in school or cat launch off an aircraft carrier, remember to smile and say to yourself, I'm excited, followed by bring it on. It's day one. We're all in. Let's go, hero. P.S. fly Navy PPS. The COD only has two windows on the whole plane. I got a window seat. Check out my big old grin while wearing my fight gear in a picture here.
