Matty Johns has opened up about the book that changed his life.
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In the latest episode of his podcast, the former Newcastle Knight named Liverpool legend Craig Johnston's book, Walk Alone, as seminal.
"It changed my life forever. I finished it and I turned it over and started reading it again. It was just about the first book I'd ever read," Johns said.
After reading the book, Johns realised he could fulfill his dreams with dedication.
"There's 12 daylight hours. If you dedicate most of those to your dream, then you'll achieve it. That's what I learnt," he said, on The Matty Johns Podcast.
Johns and Johnston - two Newcastle sporting heroes - got together for a two-hour chat on the podcast.
Johns began by saying that the pair were "going to do this last week, but it was your aunty Lorna's 97th birthday".
Johns: "How is aunty Lorna?"
Johnston: "Good as gold."
Johnston went on to say that his aunty Lorna is 97 and his mum is 87.
The birthday celebrations were held at Cardiff RSL.
"If you grew up in Cardiff, that's what you do. You look after your own," he said.
He told Johns he had a ticket to the Champions League final in which Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid in June.
"I didn't go to Madrid and I had a ticket, but I did go to aunty Lorna's birthday," he joked.
Having travelled the world and lived an incredible life, Johnston was enjoying "getting back-to-earth goodness" from living in Newcastle.
"I'm just loving being back home in God's country," he said.
As the Newcastle Herald reported recently, Johnston was engaged to Vivienne Lewis for 18 years.
Her dad, billionaire Joe Lewis, owns Tottenham.
They lived between homes in London, Orlando and The Bahamas.
Johnston retold to Johns the story of how he overcame incredible odds to become a professional soccer player in England, playing for the famous Liverpool team of the 1980s.
Matty Johns compared Johnston's story to Andrew Johns' story.
"There were so many similarities between you making it and my brother Andrew," Matty Johns said.
"When he trialled for the Knights [under] 15s, he had a growing disease in his leg, which was undiagnosed - Osgood-Schlatters.
"He had it in both legs. He turned up to trial and I remember watching him as his older brother. It was so embarrassing.
"It was so bad, he couldn't get out of a shuffle. The crowd were laughing.
"The coach David Waite said, 'I'll sign that kid. If he's got the guts to go out there and play with that, there's something special about him'."
Johns asked Johnston if determination was his greatest gift.
Johnston said it was his ability to learn that set him apart.
"I got my legs from my dad and my brains from my mum. Thank goodness it wasn't the other way around," he joked.
"I was a very good student. My mum was a primary school teacher.
"I was good at science and maths, and therefore I analysed what I was doing."
Johnston said life is a series of problems and solutions.
"I figured out the problems and solutions," he said.
The full podcast is well worth a listen.