Brian Johnson watches his son Emerson enthusiastically help gather ice for a hotel ice bath and connects it to John Wooden's Pyramid of Success. The two foundational keystones supporting competitive greatness are enthusiasm and hard work. Show up with both to reach the top.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. In the last couple ones, we talked about Emerson and I dominating our boys only weekend away chess tournament protocols. As you may recall, I celebrated his enthusiasm while helping me get some ice for my hotel room ice bath. Thanks to our heroic coach and president, Michael Balschan for that brilliant idea. Then we chatted about my dilemma of which heroic sports team I'd watch that Saturday night. Well, he played his final match. Will it be Notre Dame football or Toronto fc? Yes, please. I watched both. Then we chatted about how as awesome as watching elite athletes do their thing is, the ultimate reason why sports are so popular and potentially empowering is because those elite performers show us what we're capable of achieving. Which is why the moment Emerson walked in at 9pm I turned the Notre Dame football game off so we could execute our PM protocol so he could show up heroically in his big game. Now, today, I want to go back to the ice bath conversation. After we hammered that mission to get the bath nice and cold, measured by ice cubes still floating in the bath, I shared that Ralph Waldo Emerson quote with him. I repeat, the way he hustled between the ice machine and the hotel bathtub and tried to hold the bag just right so all the ice got in there was awesome. It was the embodiment of Ralph Waldo's admonition to be active and energetic. You know me and how easily I get goosebumps and tears in my eyes. And I just got them again as I felt into his commitment to joyful excellence. I want to be him when I grow up, is my joke to Phil when we talk about him seriously. So after I shared the Ralph Waldo quote with my Emerson, I told him that his enthusiasm reminded me of John Wooden's wisdom as well. He and I hadn't talked about it for a while, so I wasn't sure if he'd remember it. I asked him if he did. He said, you mean the thing about competitive greatness? To which I said, impressed he remembered that phrase. Yeah, exactly. You remember the two qualities that form the base of Wooden's pyramid of success, of which competitive greatness is at the top, to which he said, hmm, having fun and working hard. To which I said, exactly. Enthusiasm or having fun doing what you love to do, and a commitment to working hard to squeeze all the potential out of yourself in pursuit of mastery. And that's today's plus one. You want to attain competitive greatness in your life, whether that's in your energy, your work, or your love, or of course, an integration and full expression of all three. Awesome. Show up with enthusiasm and work hard and give us all you've got all day, every day, especially today. P.S. check out the notes on Wooden on Leadership, one of my all time favorite books. For more on Wooden's Pyramid of success and PPS. I just realized this is plus one number 1900. Awesome. The fun has just begun.
