Greatness

Diving into the life and greatness of Jackie Cochran from her autobiography . ----- " To live without risk for me would have been tantamount to death." - Jackie Cochran 4:25 - An upbringing of poverty Until I was eight years old I had no shoes. My bed was usually a pallet on the floor and sometimes just the floor…Food at best consisted of the barest essentials–sometimes nothing except wh...

Diving into the single most important thing we can learn and take from the greatness of Leonardo da Vinci Check out Walter Isaacson's book, Leonardo da Vinci , for more on Leonardo's life. ----- You can check support and stay connected below Website Book: Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence  Apparel Instagram X

Diving into the life and greatness of Michael Jordan from the books, Michael Jordan: A Life and Playing For Keeps  ----- “You have to be uncompromised in your level of commitment to whatever you are doing, or it can disappear as fast as it appeared.” - Michael Jordan 3:00 - The root of his competitive fire 5:35 - The cut “Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d cl...

Diving into the stories and lessons we can learn from the Jeff Bezos and the rise of Amazon from the Brad Stone's book, The Everything Store , and the writings of Jeff Bezos Invent and Wander ----- " I will hazard a prediction. When you are eighty years old and, in a quiet moment of reflection, narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that wil...

Diving into my favorite stories and lessons we can learn from the legend himself Steve Jobs from Walter Isaacson book, Steve Jobs , and article, The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs ----- " Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear...

Diving into a short story on scientist Jennifer Doudna and what I like to call the Obsession Test. Check out Walter Isaacson's book, The Code Breaker , for more on Doudna and how she is changing the world. ----- “I’m someone who’s thinking about science all the time. I’m always focused on what’s cooking in the lab, the next experiment, or the bigger question to pursue. I was always obsessed w...

Diving into the life and greatness of writer and runner Haruki Murakami from his book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ----- “I didn’t start running because somebody asked me to become a runner. Just like I didn’t become a novelist because someone asked me to. One day, out of the blue, I wanted to write a novel. And one day, out of the blue, I started to run— simply because I wanted to...

Diving into what history can tell us about the truth of specialization, and other factors that play a role in doing great work. Check out David Epstein's book, Range , for more on how generalists are winning in a specialized world  “Everyone progresses at a different rate, so don’t let anyone else make you feel behind. You probably don’t even know exactly where you’re going, so feeling behind...

Diving into the life and greatness of Stephen King from his book,  On Writing ----- “ The scariest moment is always just before you start.” 0:50 - Imitation precedes creatio 3:30 - Where ideas come from Good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job is...

Diving into the story of how Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, and Sophia Jex Blake became the world's first women doctors from Olivia Campbell's book, Women in White Coats ----- You can check out my book, website, and apparel below: Website Book: Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence  Apparel

Diving into the life and greatness of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots from Jeff Benedict's book, The Dynasty . ----- 1:20 - Trust your instincts 3:50 - Tom Brady's journey “In sport, you have to go for the throat. Because if all friendly, they come back and beat your ass. So kill them. Take their heart.” 9:55 - Turbulent start 14:30 - Brady takeover 18:10 - Be bold...

Diving into the lessons you can learn from some of the world's greatest coaches. "Sometimes when I’m filling out forms, I list my profession as 'magician.' I’m not trying to be mischievous. It’s just that when I think about the ego-balancing act NBA coaches have to perform, making magic may be the best way to describe what we do…Because I can’t pretend to be an expert in leader...

Diving into the story of the first man to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean and what we can learn from his historic feat. Check out A. Scott Berg book, Lindbergh , for more on the life and greatness of Charles Lindberg ----- You can stay connected below: Website Book: Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence  Apparel Twitter Instagram 

Diving into the life and greatness of Tiger Woods from James Patterson's book, Tiger, Tiger , and Jeff Benedict's book, Tiger Woods ----- 3:40 - Young Tiger By eleven months old, when most kids are just learning to walk, Tiger Woods picked up a golf club crafted to his size and hit a golf ball perfectly into the net. 6:30 - Mom's advice “In sport, you have to go for the throat. Beca...

Diving into the stories behind the characteristic trait that helped Elon Musk build two of the biggest companies in the world, SpaceX and Tesla.  Check out Ashley Vance's book, Elon Musk , for more on the life and greatness on the man who is changing the world. Stay connected below Website Book: Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence  Apparel

Diving into the life and greatness of the legendary football coach, Vince Lombardi from David Maraniss' book: When Pride Still Mattered ----- 0:00 - Winning is an all the time thing "Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Un...

Diving into the short stories on Urban Meyer, Neil Armstrong, Thomas Edison, Frances Grayson, and more about the curse of ambition. Check out Wright Thompson's book, The Cost of These Dreams , for more on the dark side of ambition. 1:40 - Urban Meyer Why do people persist in their self-destructive behavior, ignoring the blatant fact that what they’ve been doing for many years hasn’t solved th...

Diving into the life, greatness, and his leadership philosophy from Phil Jackson  book: Eleven Rings ----- 0:00 - Leadership is being a magician Sometimes when I’m filling out forms, I list my profession as “magician.” I’m not trying to be mischievous. It’s just that when I think about the ego-balancing act NBA coaches have to perform, making magic may be the best way to describe what we do 1:30 -...

Diving into the life and greatness of Neil Armstrong from James Hansen's book: First Man ----- 1:40 - What reading did for Neil 4:20 - Napoleon: are you lucky? 10:15 - The low point of Neil's life  + Theodore Roosevelt and how to honor lost loved ones 13:15 - Pursue excitement  15:00 - Early days at NASA 20:30 - The lifestyle and sacrifices  When the men are preparing for a flight they a...

Diving into the life and greatness of Matthew McConaughey from his book, Greenlights ----- 0:00 - A roof is a man made thing 3:30 - The forbidden word  5:30- Don't half-ass it/How to make the right decisions 14:30 - Preparation = Freedom We have to prepare to have freedom. We have to do the work to then do the job. We have to prepare for the job so we can be free to do the work. 20:10 - Rever...

Diving into the life and greatness of the greatest Olympian, Michael Phelps, from his book, Beneath The Surface ----- 4:30 - To find what you love, you have to suck at first 7:40 - How Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps' coach, helped  him prepare for competitions “Champions produce normal and predictable results in abnormal and unpredictable circumstances 9:30 - First efforts aren't meant to wo...

Diving into the life and greatness of Woody Allen from Eric Lax's biography, Woody Allen Woody Allen was once asked in an interview how he makes one film a year, quite a great feat. Woody simply responded, “It’s not all that big a deal when you think of it because what I do is make films. It’s not that I’m torn between other activities.” ----- 3:30 - Find the thing that makes you feel alive 8...

Diving into routines and rituals of the world's greatest artist from Mason Currey's book: Daily Rituals ----- 4:45 - Gertrude Stein and  Haruki Murakami - Short vs long routines 6:50 - Ernest Hemingway - Leave some juice in the tank 9:30 - Marcel Proust - Is it sustainable 12:40 - Beethoven  and Soren Kierkegaard - Walks as an aid to creativity 17:30 - Woody Allen and Nicholas Baker - Th...

Diving into lessons and stories from Oksana Masters autobiography: The Hard Parts ----- 0:00 - Upbringing/rough beginnings 15:30 - Finding happiness/understanding the importance of hardship 20:30 - The power of a purpose 23:15 - Rowing an an antidote to living 24:30 - Use your enemies 28:15 - Taking the risk/filter for making life's biggest decisions 32:00 - Doubts will always be present 35:1...

Diving into lessons and stories from Tim Grover's book: Relentless ----- 2:40 - Relentless is seizing the moment 6:50 - Relentless is sustained excellence 9:15: Relentless is never satisfied 13:00 - Relentless is about one thing 18:05 - Relentless is calm, cool, and steady 21:20 - Relentless is about being strict with yourself  23:25 - Relentless is being mentally unstoppable 32:30 Relentless...