Greatness

Jonathan Watts
  • 4.9 (21)
  • HISTORY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Learn from history’s greatest.Each week, Jonathan Watts dives into the lives and moments of the world's most extraordinary people, uncovering timeless lessons and unforgettable stories.

  1. 3D AGO

    143. Morgan Housel - Essays on Human Nature, Failing Well, and Timeless Lessons

    Diving into some of the very best ideas from one of my favorite writers and thinkers, Morgan Housel. ----- "People can be led to believe and defend almost anything, because the goal of a belief is often not to discover what’s true – it’s to justify past actions, or protect your reputation, or provide hope when it’s lacking, or to maximize your income, or to signal to others that you belong to the tribe." - Morgan Housel ----- Sources/Essays are linked in the time stamps below 1:15 - Why You Beleive What You Do 14:21 - The Power of Failing Well  18:40 - The Freakisly Strong Base 26:25 - You Have To Live It To Believe It  36:07 - How it All Works (Short Stories on Big Things) 42:00 - Little Rules About Big Things ----- Check out my books below. Daily Greatness: Short Stories and Essays on the Act of Becoming  Chasing Greatness 2nd Edition - Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence ----- You can check stay connected and support below: Website Books Instagram X LinkedIn

    45 min

  2. FEB 12

    142. George Pocock - The Life of a True Craftsman

    Diving into the life of craftsman and boatbuilder, George Pocock ----- “It’s a great art, is rowing. It’s the finest art there is. It’s a symphony of motion. And when you’re rowing well, why it’s nearing perfection. And when you’re nearing perfection, you’re touching the Divine. It touches the you of yous. Which is your soul.” - George Pocock ----- Sources Ready All - Gordan Newell and Dick Erickson Boys in the Boat - Daniel James Brown ----- Time Stamps 3:40 - Why be a craftsman 4:55 - George's origins 5:45 - A motto for life - amor fati 9:22 - The apprenticeship 10:50 - The lesson from his dad: “Now you can build your own boat for this race, and I will give you one bit of advice. No one will ask you how long it took you to build it, they will only ask who built it.”  16:20 - Good work leads to good oppotunities 18:55 - Great opportunity, followed by great disaster 20:45 - The craftsman banishes negativity and b******t 23:45 - How building boats opened up new opportunties 26:50 - How Geroge Pocock helped build/get the Boeing company off the ground 28:45 - Choosing meaning > money 30:05 - How he dealt with the tough early days as a full-time boat builder 34:10 - A beautiful story on loyalty 38:20 - The character building of rowing and finding your "rowing" activities 42:15 - The craftsman ultiamte goal 42:53 - Lose yourself in the work 44:18 - Good work needs good thoughts 45:00 - The work should touch your soul ----- Check out my books  below. Daily Greatness: Short Stories and Essays on the Act of Becoming  Chasing Greatness 2nd Edition - Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence ----- You can check stay connected and support below: Website Books Instagram X LinkedIn

    47 min

  3. FEB 10

    141. Thomas Edison's Superpower

    Diving into the single trait that was at the root of Thomas Edison's greatness. ----- Sources Thomas Edison - Matthew Josephson  ----- Check out my books below. Daily Greatness: Short Stories and Essays on the Act of Becoming  Chasing Greatness 2nd Edition - Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence ----- You can check stay connected and support below: Website Books Instagram X LinkedIn

    19 min

  4. JAN 28

    140. Pep Guardiola and Sir Alex Ferguson: Two Great Managers and Their Greateast Ideas and Lessons

    Diving into the biggest lessons and ideas from the two greatest soccer managers ever, Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola ----- Listen to the full epsiodes on Ferguson and Pep below. 124: The Leadership Genius of Sir Alex Ferguson 139: The Mastermind of Pep Guardiola  ----- Time Stamps 0:00 - Trajectory > Results 6:55 - Be a _____ man  10:02 - Observe obsessively 12:00 - Stick like glue 14:05 - Understand the human condition 16:50 - Look for bad losers 18:30 - Excellence first, winning second 20:37 - Reduce your experience 22:45 - Burn your youth 24:20 - Obsess the details 26:45 - Be a relentless consumer 28:22 - Top to bottom excellence 30:18 - Love the pieces, not the puzzle -----  NEW BOOKS ARE LIVE. Check them out below. Daily Greatness: Short Stories and Essays on the Act of Becoming  Chasing Greatness 2nd Edition - Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence ----- You can check stay connected and support below: Website Books Instagram X LinkedIn

    33 min

  5. JAN 22

    139. The Mastermind of Pep Guardiola

    Diving into the life and mastermind of soccer coach and legend, Pep Guardiola  ----- "Each night when you are going to sleep, ask yourselves if you like football or not; ask yourselves if right then, you’d get up, grab the ball and play for a bit. If the answer is ‘no,’ then that is the day to start looking for something else to do." - Pep Guardiola ----- Sources:  Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning - Guillem Ballague The Greatness of Pep Guardiola, in a Blade of Grass Inside the Pep Guardiola bubble – as told by his assistants How Pep Guardiola is inspired by other sports, from basketball to chess to swimming Pep Guardiola: The man behind the genius Chasing Perfection Documentary ----- 4:20 - A young Pep 5:30 - Pep's superpower 6:40 -  Win without talent 8:30 - The question/the sign 11:40 - Preparing to be a coach/Being a sponge 15:05 - The LBJ Motto 18:00 - There is no good or bad work 20:35 - Stickler for the details/controlling everything 22:18 - Building a great culture 28:20 - Taking over Barcelona 31:00 - The reward is the puzzle 32:40 - Treajectory > Results 39:45 - His greatest trait 43:42: What gives his work meaning 45:25 - Great coaches are great psychologist 48:20 - One of my favorite stories  50:03 - A blade of grass 52:20 - Ferguson and Pep - the importance of observation 57:50 - Find an enemy 1:00:40 - Find your Cato -----  NEW BOOKS ARE LIVE. Check them out below. Daily Greatness: Short Stories and Essays on the Act of Becoming  Chasing Greatness 2nd Edition - Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence ----- You can check stay connected and support below: Website Books Instagram X LinkedIn

    1h 4m

  6. JAN 13

    138. The Creative Genius of Rick Rubin (Part 2)

    Diving into the life and creative genius of music producer, Rick Rubin. Part II focuses solely on Rubin's life and how he works. ----- Sources:  The Creative Act - Rick Rubin In the Studio - Jake Brown ----- 2:00 - How Rubin operates in the studio 17:28 -  Everything was unintentional 19:50 - Music was his drug 20:45 - Rubin, Kubrick, and creative supporting habits 23:30 - Future plans: law and philosophy  24:25 - Be around the game & scratching your own itch  28:35 - Creating his company 30:00 - Working with LL Cool J 31:15 - Make what you want to make  33:00 - The power of taking time 35:25 - Be strict with who you work with 37:30 - The Red Hot Chili Peppers, what creativity needs, and the power of changing things up. 41:38 - Johnny Cash, AC/DC, and the importance of volume -----  NEW BOOKS ARE LIVE. Check them out below. Daily Greatness: Short Stories and Essays on the Act of Becoming  Chasing Greatness 2nd Edition - Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence ----- You can check stay connected and support below: Website Books Instagram X LinkedIn

    49 min

  7. JAN 5

    137. The Creative Genius of Rick Rubin (Part 1)

    Diving into the life and creative genius of music producer, Rick Rubin. Part I focuses solely on Rubin's creative philosophies. ----- Sources:  The Creative Act - Rick Rubin In the Studio - Jake Brown ----- 2:10 - Creativity is something you are, not something you do 4:05 -  Developing a noticing habit 9:07 - Listening  10:38 - The beginner mind/the danger of wisdom 16:50 - Pursue excitement 19:12 - Balancing joy with seriousness 22:30 - Finding your rhythm 26:32 - Rules are limitations  32:12 - Keep the joy alive 35:05 - Temporary rules 36:55 - Tools for finishing the work 39:45 - Defining success 41:50 - Non-competition 43:12 - Habits and art 45:30 - Patience and tuning out  49:05 - Self-doubt  56:18 - Try everything 57:12 - Submerge yourself in great work 58:45 - Spirituality and work 59:52 - Inspiration and diligence 1:03:50 - Some short and final ideas  -----  NEW BOOKS ARE LIVE. Check them out below. Daily Greatness: Short Stories and Essays on the Act of Becoming  Chasing Greatness 2nd Edition - Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence ----- You can check stay connected and support below: Website Books Instagram X LinkedIn

    1h 11m

  8. 12/25/2025

    136. Stanley Kubrick - Legendary Filmmaker

    Diving into the life and genius of legendary filmmaker, Stanley Kubrick ----- Sources:  Kubrick: An Odyssey - Robert Kolker Kubrick on Kubrick  ----- Time Stamps  2:38 - Chess and creative supporting activities 4:15 - Get your reps 6:55 - “Get a hold of the camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all.” 8:00 - What are you insanely curious about?  11:08 - Shoot your shot 14:23 - Doing the thing is the best education. “What I learned in that four-year period exceeded what I could have learned in school…the experience was invaluable to me. Not only because I learned a lot about photography, but also because it gave me a quick education in how things happened in the world. 16:45 - Stanley Kubrick and Woody Allen - Build volume 18:52 - The one word to describe Stanley  19:42 - Constraints aren't an excuse 21:23 - Early work is just work. “There’s no such thing as good work or bad work, there is only work at the beginning.” 24:25 - The power is creating things  26:05 - Obey your artistic muse 29:25 - A turning point and the importance of early work 31:30 - A lesson in control  33:48 - Stanley's insane preparation (Short essay on LeBron James and Preparation) 40:05 - Quality is the goal. "Stanley’s approach is, how can we do it better than it’s ever been done before? " “Film stock is cheap, but remarkable quality will pay dividends forever.” 45:00 - The need for details and depths 47:05 - The need for control 49:03 - Obsessive worker/tinkerer 51:45 - Barometer for finding the right film 56:37 - Moviemaking as a metaphor for life -----  NEW BOOKS ARE LIVE. Check them out below. Daily Greatness: Short Stories and Essays on the Act of Becoming  Chasing Greatness 2nd Edition - Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence

    59 min
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4.9
out of 5
21 Ratings

About

Learn from history’s greatest.Each week, Jonathan Watts dives into the lives and moments of the world's most extraordinary people, uncovering timeless lessons and unforgettable stories.

Information

  • Creator
    Jonathan Watts
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    143
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Greatness
  • Show Website
    Greatness

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