Mundane Miracles: & The Broken Pump (Heroic +1 #2013)

4 Oct 2026 · 2 min
Open source
You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

4 Oct 2026 · 2 min

0:00

Brian Johnson's iPhone payment fails at a gas pump, prompting him to reflect on how everyday systems usually work flawlessly. He calls these invisible successes "mundane miracles" and suggests using glitches as reminders to practice gratitude for the infrastructure that surrounds us.

Chapters

  1. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic Plus One. I started typing this from the gas station as I filled up the old gas tank. Emerson just finished a great tournament. We're driving home. I pulled into the gas station, drove up to a pump, got out, put the iPhone up to pay, and nothing. Tried again and nothing. Then I noticed the little payment terminal thing wasn't working. Perfect. I got back into the car. I told Emerson the pump wasn't working as I pulled up to another one. As I did, I asked him, you know what I think when things like that don't work? He said, what? I said, I think people are stupid. He's like, really? I laugh and say, dude, no, of course not. Then I could see myself thinking that, but I didn't. Then I continued. Whenever something like that doesn't work, I like to think about how it usually does work. And how many little miracles there are in our lives that we take for granted. And that's today's plus one. In addition to laughing at myself, the next time something doesn't quite work the way you want, whether it's a gas station pump, an internet connection, or some other mundane but miraculous thing, see how fast you can flip the switch and use the little glitch as a trigger prompt cue to remind yourself of how incredibly blessed we are. Let's do that all day, every day, especially today. 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.

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