In this 15‑minute motivational interview, host Evan Carmichael profiles pop star Katy Perry, extracting the personal habits and mindset that have powered her multi‑million‑dollar career. Perry opens by describing how she once acted as her own bully, recognizing that self‑imposed limits hinder success. She recounts a period of intense self‑work—therapy, a three‑month alcohol cleanse, vitamin regimens, and an intensified meditation practice—that restored her confidence and informed the honest songwriting behind her hit single “Roar.” Perry explains how she chooses singles by trusting intuition and testing songs with a diverse circle of friends, and she emphasizes the importance of authenticity, self‑love, and not letting press criticism dictate her path. The conversation shifts to her use of Transcendental Meditation, which she likens to a mental workout that creates a state of “restful alertness,” a point reinforced by meditation teacher Bob Roth. Perry describes how meditation helps her manage the extreme demands of fame, giving her “two days in one” and enabling her to stay calm on tour. Throughout, Carmichael frames these insights as part of his “top 10 rules of success,” urging viewers to apply Perry’s habits—daily self‑improvement, honest expression, and meditation—to their own businesses and lives. The video closes with a call for audience comments and a personal shout‑out from Carmichael.
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For a long time, people were talking about bullying, and that was a big hot topic. And I think sometimes you can forget that you could be your own bully in some ways. You don't have to be born into a situation. You don't have to come from something or possess something or look flawless, even though I like looking like this sometimes. If you can believe in something great, I feel like you can achieve something great.
She's an American singer and songwriter. She's one of the best-selling musicians of all time, having sold over 100 million albums worldwide. Her estimated net worth is $100 $125 million. She's Katy Perry, and here's my take on her top 10 rules of success. Rule number 5 is my personal favorite, and make sure to stick around all the way to the end for a special bonus clip. Also, as Katy is talking, if she says something that really resonates with you, please leave in the comments below and put quotes around it so other people can be inspired as well. Enjoy.
For a long time, people were talking about bullying, and that was a big hot topic. And I think sometimes you can forget that you could be your own bully in some ways. Like, you are the person that is standing in the way of your success, whether it's professionally or personally. And honestly, that was the case for me. I was having a great professional streak, but personally, I was really immature, and so I had to balance them out. Finally, I had enough and I said, "Hey, you need to speak up for yourself. If you're not happy with something, you change it. You know, change it, make yourself better every single day." So I went to a lot of therapy and I guess I put it in the way of like, you're gonna hear me roar finally. I'm gonna be able to speak up for myself. This next record that I'll start in a couple of months will be just a— I think it'll be actually more honest because I think when you get older, you care less, you know, what people think about you. I have had to really work on that. I think that's one of the biggest things you have to work on when you are put into the spotlight is not caring about what people say about you because you just become like this open forum to anybody, anything, anyone. And if you start reading your own press, it will ruin you. I feel like I've got the opportunity to make more of a career rather than just like, you know, a flash in the pan, she's hot, she's not type of thing. But that's only because I have worked so hard and focused, you know, And everything I do, I know it's for the fans, and they're the reason why I exist.
Tell me about why you decided to do this documentary.
Oh my goodness. Well, I always like to be honest with everything I do, especially my songs. I like to plant those seeds of honesty and truth because we live in a world that doesn't have much of that left. And with this documentary, I wanted to show people kind of like what was underneath the hood. Yeah, you can attest to that. I've been under the hood many times. I really wanted to show people how, how much hard work it takes, the ins and outs, and how really you don't have to be born into a situation. You don't have to come from something or possess something or look flawless, even though I like looking like this sometimes. Yeah. You can just be you and have a dream and plant the seed and water the root. I found a lot of self-love this year, and I kind of rebuilt my confidence. That had had a little bit of a shatter to it. And I went inwards rather than pointing the finger on everyone else and blaming everyone for my problems or the, you know, issues that I had. I went inwards and tried to kind of do some patchwork to kind of heal up little spots that I needed to heal up or say to myself, what can I do to make myself a better human representation?
What did you do?
I did a lot of different things. I did a cleanse. For 3 months that I didn't have any alcohol, and I did a whole vitamin regimen, and I went to therapy. I did more meditation. I've been meditating for a couple years now, but I upped it, and I just went the positive route rather than like going to the club and getting drunk every night. I mean, I've probably done that a couple of times, but I really served myself well, and it influenced all of my songwriting, and I wrote most of the songs during this time. Of me getting into the industry, I would, you know, be out and about, and I would hear girls or actresses or musicians or whatever, you know, they would say, "Oh, no, I don't want to be in a relationship because I don't want to have to choose between being in a relationship and having a career." And I thought to myself, "Oh, when I get to know that— when I find that person," that's going to be my, you know, life partner, I won't ever have to choose because they'll be accepting of me completely for who I am. Not me being able to just, like, do whatever I want necessarily, but they won't be threatened or have weird motives or whatever. They will be accepting of me, the things I love, the ambition. What I aspire to be, what I want to create, they'll be accepting and supportive. And then I started to realize, oh my God, that's not true. That's like that fairy tale that I had is not true for me right now. Yeah, but just to miss it. Yeah. I don't want to cry. Okay, again, everyone, this is a closed rehearsal.
Closed.
I'll tell you the truth is that— I mean, I'm a romantic and I don't— I kind of believe in this fairy tale. I mean, and in some ways I think that's always been to my advantage because, like, if you can believe in something great, I feel like you can achieve something great. I have that same belief system with everything, from career to my life, my personal life, everything. And I will do everything it takes to not fail. And I did everything it took, but it still failed. The bad that comes along with the good is a journey. I learned so much from that journey. Why did you decide to come out with "Roar"? Like, there was that big countdown and then "Roar" came out and it was huge for you. Like, I mean, you broke your own records there. Why was it "Roar" the first single? You know, it was up for debate, a couple of singles. It was gonna be "Roar" or another one. And we decided to go with "Roar" because of the reaction I was getting from my friends. I kinda like use my friends as guinea pigs, as test guinea pigs. And I have a very eclectic group of friends ranging from, you know, DJs to artists to just moms, and they all really agreed that Roar was the best one. And, you know, it has that bouncy feel, the eighth note feel, but it also has this message of finding your inner strength again and letting that kind of come out as a roar, and people related to it. Yeah, well, they really did. And there's something— yeah, there's something like, there's an intuitive thing that happens inside of me, and I've always I always trust my intuition when it comes to writing songs and picking which songs should come out as singles. I've been on tour for a year, and before that I did promo for my record, and my record almost came out 2 years ago. So I've been doing a lot of work for that for the past couple years, and I think what would be most important for me is to kind of, at this moment, gather my thoughts and live a little bit of life on my own and not around a traveling circus of 100 people and have quiet moments and ride my bike and kind of find my roots again. That's what I always do in between records is I go to a quiet place and restore my soul. I usually go back to my hometown of Santa Barbara and figure out what all this means and get away from the distraction and feed my spirituality and feed my music, listening to a lot of music, and just getting my feet planted back on the ground again. It's really important for me to live life, absorb life, and have my own experiences so that I can go back to the drawing board and have something authentic to say. Question to Katy Perry via YouTube moderator: How was life before you became a celebrity, before your big break? He's got the creepy voice. That's okay, we don't judge. We love it. I could be creepy too. I mean, if you saw me in a purple wig walking down the street, you'd be like, freak! Well, it was all about the hustle and the bustle, and sometimes it was like, you know, me trying to keep up with the Joneses, as they say. Like, you know, I wanted to be seen like I was worth it, and so I was like trying to always be ready for an opportunity to present itself. And it was exciting. You know, it was a little bit like not as fast-paced as it is now, things are just like so fast-paced, like lightning speed. And I know what I'm doing today and I know what I'm doing probably in 6 months to the date. So it wasn't as scheduled, but I mean, I think I had a little bit more time on my hands, but I think that maybe I might've gotten into a little bit more trouble back then because, what is it? Idle hands, the devil's workshop is what my parents said. So now I really have a lot to take care of. But it was, you know, just about like working on my craft and making sure that it was perfect so that, you know, that when finally I would get that opportunity, I'd be ready for it. Do you still believe in love? Of course. I'm going to let love lead the way, always. And I was born with this blind ambition and it's kind of gotten me here to this point. I think that I'll stick to it. So yes. Oh, Mom! Huh? Uh, you're on speakerphone and I'm on the stage right now. And we all just want to wish you a happy Mother's Day! I'm her little feather! Okay, I'm her little feather. I love you, Mom. I have to continue with the show, but I just wanted to wish you happy Mother's Day. All right, I love you too. See you soon. Okay. What? Bye-bye, everyone. Bye, Mom.
Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Unlimited Traffic asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur that you want me to profile next, please leave it down in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know what did you take from Katie that had the biggest impact on you? What lesson you're going to apply to your business or your life? Please leave in the comments. I'm going to join in the discussion. Also want to give a quick shout out to my sister Stephanie Carmichael. Thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book and also going to the bookstore and rearranging it so that my book comes up first. I really appreciate that. Thanks for the love. So thank you guys again for watching. I believe I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love. I'll see you soon.
Transcendental meditation to me is a— it's like a great workout for your mind without working out, but you get all the effects of working out. You know, I come from a very spiritual world, from a very religious upbringing, and it's not religious. It's not spiritual, although I think if you're taking care of your body and your mind, that is a spiritual thing. But it doesn't have that kind of religious background. To me, it's mostly medical. And it's like a little pill, but not a pill. It's a practice. So it's a little practice that you do, and it just— to me, it's the most rest. It's like the most power nap you could ever get.
And that experience of that quiet, that is— they call it a state of restful alertness, according to science, where your mind is completely settled but you're wide awake, and it's sort of before thoughts. Sometimes someone said to me, "Well, how do you know when your 20 minutes are up?" I said, "Well, you can look at your watch." Sure. It's not like you're going someplace, but that peaceful state that you access just happens quite effortlessly, and that's a wonderful description. Yeah. Now, why the— oh, one more question. How do you think it's impacted your remarkable career?
My life is so crazy. It really is. It's extreme. I live in this 1 percentile, like, extreme, you know, I'm zigzagging all over the world. I'm on a plane more than I am on ground. And this tool helps me find moments of peace because I don't have a whole lot of time that extend my day so I can live, like, my fullest capacity. Like, it gives me 2 days in 1 day. It just gives me this power, you know? And I do it before I— write a song sometimes, definitely before I get on stage. And it's just such an incredible, useful, simple tool that has made such an impact on me, and that's why I'm sitting here with you today.
You're very calm on tour, at least with me, because you invited our whole team to come and teach your 40— your team to meditate. And I ran into you just outside You were coming out of a room and we're just sort of chatting and you looked and you said, "Bob, there's 16,000 people waiting for me right around the corner." And you just like did that, you were polite with me, and you just walked out on the stage. But there was such an evenness in everything.
I'm a multitasker.
Yeah. You have a great deal of kindness inside of you.
Thank you.
You're a very kind person.
Thank you. I think that it would be a shame to have such a to have such a great cure all to yourself, like the cure for the common cold, and not to share it with people that are suffering. So it's the cure for like the common stress, which stress is a killer these days, and I have a lot of it in my life, and I have a great tool that helps kind of subside it. And I want to share that because I don't want people to suffer. I like to lift people up.
