Brian Johnson (Heroic Plus One #1,371) presents a short podcast episode reflecting on a central idea from Mel Robbins' The Five Second Rule: to succeed you must both start and persist — treat success as a numbers game. Johnson highlights several striking examples to illustrate perseverance and iteration: Rovio launched 51 unsuccessful games before Angry Birds; Mark Ruffalo auditioned almost 600 times before his first role; Babe Ruth struck out many times (quote: "struck out 13, 30 times"); James Dyson built 5,127 prototypes; Picasso produced nearly 100 masterpieces amid more than 50,000 total works (about two pieces a day). The episode encourages listeners to begin, keep going, learn from attempts, and iterate toward their goals.
Questions this episode answers
December 22, 2022
51 unsuccessful games
Almost 600 auditions
5,127 prototypes
More than 50,000 works (about two pieces a day)
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. Earlier today I was working on the note on Mel Robbins new book, the High Five Habit. We'll come back to some wisdom from that book soon. Today I want to chat about a big idea from her first book called the Five Second Rule. We did a bunch of plus ones based on wisdom from that book, but somehow we skipped talking about this idea that made my eyes pop open when I reread it. Mel tells us, and I quote, to play any game you have to start to win. You'll need to keep going if you want to make your dreams come true. Get ready for the long game. And she continues by saying, life is not a one and done sort of deal. You've got to work for what you want. Do you know the game Angry Birds? Rovio, the brand that created the game, launched 51 unsuccessful games before they developed Angry Birds. How about the Avengers star Mark Ruffalo? Do you know how many auditions he did before he landed his first role? Almost 600. Even Babe Ruth struck out 13, 30 times. My favorite vacuum cleaner is Dyson. And there's no wonder why it doesn't suck at sucking up the dirt. James Dyson created 5,000, 127 prototypes. What? And this last one will blow your mind. Picasso created nearly 100 masterpieces in his lifetime. But what most people don't know is that he created a total of more than 50,000 works of art. And finally, Mel says, did you see that last number? 50,000. That's two pieces of art a day. Success is a numbers game, and you're not going to win it if you keep telling yourself to wait. The more often that you choose courage, the more likely you'll succeed. Now, I don't know about you, but my brain exploded more than once on those stats. And I don't know what's crazier. The fact that the Angry birds creators launched 51 unsuccessful games before they developed Angry Birds. Or. Or the fact that Mark Ruffalo went to almost 600 auditions before he got his first role. Or that James Dyson worked on 5,127 prototypes in the process of figuring out how to create a vacuum that sucked so much it didn't suck. Seriously, pause and reflect on all that for a moment. Then think about what you really want to create. In your life. You got it. Seriously, what's the one thing you really want to achieve in this phase of your life? You haven't achieved what you set out to achieve yet. Perfect Win or learn. And learning is winning. Shine a flashlight on what's working. Shine that same flashlight on what might need a little work. Loop it and try again. Remember to play any game you have to start to win. You'll need to keep going if you want to make your dreams come true. Get ready for the long game start. Keep going.
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