880 Tulsi Gabbard on Running for President and Service Based Leadership

This is episode number 880 with Congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

[Speaking of the purpose of life].

Mother.

Teresa said, Give your hands to serve and your hearts to love. And Ralph Waldo Emerson said, the purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. I am super excited about this. I first learned about Tulsi from a friend of mine who said, this is someone that I need to check out. I need to be watching. I need to be paying attention to. And this was many months ago. And ever since I started paying attention to her, I started to really be inspired by her message, by her way of being. Now, Tulsi is in politics, and most of you know, I don't like politics. I don't like to talk about politics and really don't like to bring anyone on who is political in any way. But if I bring them on, I want to hear about their heart. I want to hear about their mindset. I want to hear about their values. I want to hear about how they got to overcome adversity in their life. I want to hear about the person, not about the policy. So that's what this is about. Tulsi is the first female combat veteran to ever run for president and the first female combat veteran ever elected to Congress. Pretty impressive. She has served for seven years on the Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, and Homeland Security Committees, where she's been intimately involved with sensitive national security issues. And at 21, she was elected to the Hawaii State House of Representatives. And after the attacks on 9/11, she enlisted in the Army National Guard to serve her home state and country during a time of need. Having experienced firsthand the true costs of war, Tulsi made a personal vow to ensure that our country doesn't continue repeating the mistakes of the past. In Congress, Tulsi has been a leading voice fighting to end regime change wars and instead focus on our military efforts on defeating the terrorist groups that have attacked and declared war on the United States. Love for others, for her community, and for her country have inspired Tulsi to live a life defined by service. And in this interview, we go deep. There is no topic off limits. She opens up. I feel like there are moments where I asked her questions she's never answered before and it It's real. So get ready for this. Make sure to share this out because we talk about Tulsi's faith and mission of service and how it fueled her during her deployment in Iraq. Her journey from being a shy introvert to not wanting to talk to anyone, to fearlessly fighting for her campaign. How Tulsi keeps herself grounded and focused from being swept up in the politics game, because for me, I wanted to know, How do you stay cool, calm and collected and focused on service as opposed to playing the politics game of playing these games that why I don't like watching politics because it just seems like a big game. Tulsi's non-negotiables for keeping a thriving marriage and how she keeps a thriving marriage. What it means to have service above self and how the world needs more leaders who are not self-serving. I am, again, I'm pumped about this. Make sure to share this out, lewishouse.com/880. This is going to be a game changer interview, and I think a lot of people are going to see and hear about the heart and the mindset that Tulsi has and really be moved and inspired that this is a new way of politics moving forward. And I am so excited about this interview. Again, make sure to listen, make sure to share, text a friend that you're listening to it right now. And let's dive into this episode with the one and only Tulsi Gabbard.

Welcome everyone to the School of Greatness podcast. We have Tulsi Gabbard in the house. Good to see you.

Aloha.

Aloha.

Good to see you. We've been trying to do this for a little while.

We have been trying to do this. We have a few things in common. I studied abroad. at the University of Hawaii. I lived in Hawaii for three months.

Way out there.

Not really abroad, you know, it's still-.

You-'D be surprised how many people, yeah, they're like, oh yeah, we'll go to Hawaii and then we'll go back to America.

Right, exactly. It feels like a different country in some ways, but just 'cause you're on an island, but it was actually the hardest semester I ever had because we, they were like, if you're going on this abroad trip to Hawaii, we're gonna make you work. like twice as hard than a normal classroom, because we don't want you to feel like it's a vacation. Exactly. So we got up every morning 6:00 a.m. and outrigger canoe paddle in the ocean.

I don't know if you're a fan of paddling. I'm not a paddler, but I've done.

It recreationally a couple times for fun, and that's hard work. So hard. So every morning 6:00 a.m. that was our P.E. class. Okay. Outrigger canoe paddling. And it was amazing. Then we would go to all the different islands and stay with local families. It's awesome. And learn about the history of Hawaii. We learned Hawaiian language, we learned about the history of Pearl Harbor, and we were in the fields, the taro fields, actually digging taro roots.

Good for you.

And so it was not, I think, this glamorous experience, but it was really educational.

Gosh, I mean that sounds like an experience that I think a lot of people miss when they go and visit Hawaii, and they just go and stay in a resort, and have kind of what a lot of folks in Hawaii call a plastic aloha experience. Exactly, like why keep Yeah, as opposed to actually getting out and getting to know the folks who are Native Hawaiian or who've grown up in Hawaii and being exposed to the real meaning of aloha.

Real meaning, yeah, the spirit of aloha.

Yeah, yeah, so that's amazing that you got to have that experience.

It was cool, it was a great experience. I'm curious, for those that don't know, you're running for president. What has been the most challenging lesson that you've learned in the last, I guess, six months to a year while taking on this journey for yourself?

I don't know about lesson, but I think one of the things that just continues to be driven home for me, speaking of Aloha, is how divided our country is. And as much as people, the political pundits on TV or the politicians talk about unity, we need to unite our country, that too many of them in positions of power and influence who could lead that charge toward unity actually don't want to. They're part of the problem in tearing people apart, pitting one group of people against the other, whether it be based on, if you voted for Trump, then forget it. You don't get to be a part of the conversation. Or if you are of this tribe or that tribe or this religion versus that religion, all of the different things that are too often used that they often use to drive wedges between us. Exactly. So, you know, growing up in Hawaii, this is where I go back to with my roots about the kind of leadership that I'm bringing, that we can and we must come together as Americans, drawing on the real meaning of aloha. Aloha is a lot of people say, okay, well, you know, you guys greet each other, say aloha, instead of saying hello, and you say aloha when you leave, hello or goodbye, like, what is this? Aloha is such a powerful word that really means respect and love. And, you know, the literal translation alo means to share, and ha is breath of life that exists within every one of us. And this is what allows us to see past all of these kind of superficial labels. Race, religion, gender, orientation, all these different things. and to draw inspiration from that, seeing each other as children of God, as brothers and sisters, we're all connected. And therefore then let's work together to solve the challenges that we face, treat each other with respect, actually communicate, and leave all this hyper partisanship, divisiveness, identity politics, leave all that stuff behind, and actually focus on how we can take care of each other.

Yeah, and I love that you're the person, the candidate that I've researched the most, 'cause I'm really not into Political space at all for me. It's like and people come at me and say you need to be researching more about everything and be watching the news. I feel like there's just so much garbage that I don't want to ruin my mind.

Yeah.

And I don't want to feel like crap all day because I'm watching chaos happen. Yeah, but I really there's something that has drawn me to you and your I don't know if it's your personality or your leadership style because you you seem like the most grounded person. Now, I haven't researched everyone and I haven't watched everyone's videos all the time, but you seem very calm and grounded under attack or under stress or what could be stressful.

Yeah.

And you speak with intentional words. You don't just say the first thing off top of your mind. Now, again, I haven't watched everything, so who knows what you're actually doing, but I feel like for the most part, you're super grounded. and you come from a place of love and bringing people together, which I think is really powerful, like you said there. And I watched the clip from the View where I can't remember who it was that said, why do you go on this station? Why do you talk to this network? And why do you talk to this person who is negative or whatever they said? And I loved your response because I feel like most people aren't doing that. You talked about you want to connect with everyone, whether they believe in the same things that you do or not, because that's how we come together, right?

That's exactly right.

And that's what I feel like I try to do. I get ridiculed for interviewing someone and I'm like, I want to learn from people. Just because they have a different belief doesn't mean we shouldn't talk.

That's what separates us when we don't talk, right? Exactly right. And when we're afraid to sit across the table from somebody who may have a different background, a different experience, a different story, different ideas, we may end up disagreeing at the end of it. But when you think about the freedoms and principles that our country was founded upon, those freedoms are what encourage this kind of dialogue and debate and discourse in our country. You know, freedom of speech, freedom to protest, freedom to assemble peacefully, and freedom of the press. You know, all of these things, I think, are too often forgotten. You know, when you ask people, you know, about the Constitution, about the Bill of Rights, most people don't really even know what they are or how they apply to us. And instead we have like this cancel culture where people who say things that may be controversial or different or not in the quote unquote mainstream, you know, it's delete your account, you're canceled, go away, shut up, be silenced. And that to me goes against the very core foundation of what it means to be an American and the kind of culture that I feel like was always encouraged growing up.

Who was the most influential person in your life growing up then?

I mean, the greatest influence and inspiration for me really comes from God. You know, a deeply personal relationship with God in my heart, with me everywhere I go. And that inspiration, that strength, that courage, and that shelter for me has been there.

Who is the, what individual has influenced you the most?

I think it started, I mean it started with my parents.

Okay.

I'm grateful to have drawn inspiration insight from different yoga gurus and spiritual teachers, but really it started with my parents, my mom and dad who from a very young age, five kids in our family, dad's Catholic, he went to the seminary for a while, mom is a practicing Hindu, and they taught us the meaning of real religion, that it's not about choosing one church or temple or synagogue over another. It's about real religion is love for God. And what better way to be pleasing to God, to make God happy than to dedicate your life into serving God's children, protecting our planet. For us as kids, maybe it was a little bit of a different experience growing up than some other folks, but we We read teachings of Jesus Christ, the New Testament, just alongside reading Lord Krishna's teachings to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, going to mass and also having fun playing music and having kirtan, chanting and singing God's names at home. That laid the foundation for the motivation in my life. Why do everything that I do? Where I draw my strength from? That even in spite of yeah, there's a lot of stress, there's challenges, there's barriers and obstacles, but I am not swayed or detracted from this mission of service because of this strong foundation and faith in God's unconditional love.

What has been the situation or experience in your life that has questioned your faith the most? Because you went off to war, you've seen probably a lot of crazy things, you're in the political space, all the stuff growing up that you dealt with, is there anything that's been like, oh, do I really believe in my faith or something that questioned you?

Yeah, I wouldn't use the word question, but I think that the teachings from these different scriptures that I had grown up learning became very, very real when I was deployed to Iraq.

Right, 'cause now you got to practice what you preach.

Exactly, exactly. It's not just like, okay, well, you know, read this verse or, you know, I'm repeating these different mantras, these different names of God, but when you're in this place where every single day, any day, could be your last, literally. Our first deployment was to Iraq. It was 2005. We got there very early in January in 2005. Our camp was about 40 miles north of Baghdad within what they called them the Sunni triangles. It was during the height of the war. And within the first couple of days of being in this camp and walking around, getting like figure out where everything's at, and there was a sign at one of the gates that the main gates that all of our security convoys went and out of every single day. I don't know who put it up, but it struck me the first day in every day that I saw it in big block letters, it read, is today the day?

No way.

Yeah.

Like for you to die or?

Yes, today the day. Just that everyday reminder that, yes, this day could be your last. And then to working in a field medical unit to see and experience that in the terribly high human cost of war. I'll never forget the very first person from our unit from Hawaii who was killed in combat, blown up by an IED. There were unfortunately many more that we lost. There were unfortunately many more who were injured coming home with visible and invisible wounds. But every day really for me, being put in a position to make that choice of where will I find my shelter? Where can I find that internal peace and strength to not live in fear of death? but to challenge myself to make the most of every single moment that I've been blessed with life, to make the most impact, to do my best to be pleasing to God every single day, and to really to be of service to others. And it was, there were many moments during that deployment where those challenges came and I went back to, I went back to, You know, the words of Krishna to Arjuna and the Bhagavad Gita about, you know, how our body can be destroyed, but that we are eternal. As the soul, as the spirit soul within, we are eternal.

Would that bring you peace and comfort?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Through both of those deployments, through different challenging times in my life, I found great comfort. I found great comfort knowing that truth and knowing the eternality of the soul and that no matter what happens, I will always find peace and shelter in God's love.

That's amazing. And when you were growing up in Hawaii, did you believe that your life was, you had a greater calling and a greater mission later in your life? Did you always know, or did you feel like, why am I here? What's my purpose as a kid growing up trying to figure out your way like most people? You always think to yourself, I'm here to do something greater in the world.

I experienced from a young age that I was just happiest, you know, when I was doing things for other people.

You're a giver.

Yeah, exactly. And, you know, for as a kid, it started out with small things like, we love the ocean, grew up, you know, spending time surfing, bodyboarding, playing in the water. And so it was just like, hey, calling my friends, let's go and, like, pick up the trash off the beach on a Saturday morning, you know, stuff like that, that seemed very, very small, but made me happy in knowing like, wow, we've made a little bit of a difference for our planet, for everybody else who comes out and enjoys and appreciates the ocean. And that grew into doing other things. I formed an environmental nonprofit as a teenager, really concerned about the protection of water.

With your dad, right?

With my dad. And I had more fun than I expected to have. Really? I was trying to think about, okay, well, We're going out and cleaning the beach every weekend. Like, how do we make it so people actually stop throwing trash on the beach?

So that-- you-'re not just cleaning up.

The mess all the time. Exactly. We created this program that takes elementary school kids across the state of Hawaii. I got one of my friends to help me write a fun comic book coloring book kind of thing called the Adventures of Water Woman. And wrote a little skit about a day in the life of Water Woman and Oily Al. Ooh, that's cool. Yeah, so I was Water Woman, naturally. It was just so much fun taking this fun little skit to these kids, you know, second, third, fourth graders sitting there like looking up, what's going on? And just teaching these very basic lessons like, hey, when you're eating your snacks and you're going, you know, your parents picked you up from school, you throw them out the wrapper out the window of the car. Like this ends up at the beach that you go and have fun and play in every weekend and starting to just get these kids to think about Well, when you take this action, there is a consequence that has potentially a positive or negative impact on you, your family, your home, your playground. And it was so amazing to see the light bulb go off in these kids' eyes where you saw like, oh yeah, you know, Uncle so-and-so does this. Or like, they're actually starting to connect the dots. And so it was experiences like that that made me knew for sure that I wanted to continue to find ways to do that. I knew that I was gonna pursue a path of service in my life. I didn't know exactly how. I certainly never thought it would take the path of politics, but here we are.

There you go. Did you always think you were a confident person or poised and graceful as a teen or young child growing up, or did you doubt yourself? ever.

Yeah, for sure.

And what situations were you doubting yourself in school or with your friends or just your place in the world? What was the thing you were doubting the most?

I was extremely shy growing up, like debilitating shy sometimes. Yes. I was very, very comfortable with it. I was a tomboy. I really didn't care much about what other people thought of me. Go play with my friends who did martial arts and go surfing. I was very happy if I could just like have my nose in a book or do my thing. I didn't really feel the need to get outside of my little bubble much. My little sister was the absolute opposite. Okay.

Yeah.

She's here.

The outgoing.

Yep, she was the polar opposite. Total extrovert. She was my kind of like spokesperson if we had to go anywhere, had to, had to deal with anybody else, then I would put her in front to be my front man. And so when I started doing things later in life, again, I knew that I was committed to a path of service to actually practicing what in the Bhagavad Gita is called karma yoga, which is really developing or dedicating your life in the service of others. I ran for office when I was 21 years old. I wanted to take some of the work that we'd been doing around the protection of the environment to the next level and actually be in a place where I could help the policies, again, that could have a bigger positive impact. I didn't fully realize at that time how difficult it would be for me personally to go and knock on total strangers' doors.

As an introvert.

Not as-- Right. And not just like one or five or 10, but like a few thousand. And it was very, very hard. It was really hard. I had a little-- Two-door Geo Metro, like aqua color Geo Metro was my car. And I remember parking it down the street from the very first row of houses that I had to go knock on the doors. And I was sweating, I was freaking out, I was really, really anxious. And all these fears running through my and doubts running through my mind, you know, about what if they're not nice to me, what if they're angry and they slam the door in my face. what if they asked me a question that I don't know the answer to? All of these different things. So it was really, really challenging. Went up, you know, I sat there for 20 minutes before knocking on that first door. Finally went and it was a wonderful older Filipino lady who answered the door. She's like, Come in, have a glass of water. Tell me about yourself.

Like, everyone's gonna be like this.

Yeah, right? But that's the thing. I was like, oh wow, at the end of that, I was like, that was awesome. I was like, oh crap. But what about the next door? Like, I mean, somebody's gonna be, you know, so this, I mean, this went on and on. Like, it really didn't get easier until years later when I just, I was like, I gotta figure this out. I really gotta get to the bottom of this and really spend some time in kind of reflection and meditation about why Were all of these fears and anxieties hindering my ability to be able to fulfill my mission? And it came down to like, Tulsi, you're thinking about yourself.

That's it.

You're looking inward when really, you know, I'm knocking on every one of these doors offering to serve the people of my community, of my state of Hawaii. And so it's not about you, it's about them. Take this opportunity to listen to them, to share your aloha with them, to share your love and care with them and hear about how you can best fulfill that mission of service. And that was an incredible turning point in my life that just changed the way I viewed every room that I walked into, every door that I knocked on, as rather than a challenge that's pulling out my own selfish fears and anxieties, instead saying, gosh, I have the amazing opportunity to share that love with other people.

Yeah, I used to be terrified to speak in public.

Yeah.

And I did a year of training with Toastmasters, which is public speaking training. And I overcame a lot of fears from that one year of just practice and repetition. And then I was speaking to bigger audiences for many years, but I'd still get a little nervous right before. and after seven, eight years of this, I was like, why am I still nervous? Like, you know, I'm trained. I'm a professional. I'm getting paid a lot of money to do this. But why do I still get nervous and a little bit insecure right before? And then it wasn't until a coach of mine said, because you're so focused on yourself and how you look, as opposed to being in service to the audience. Yes. Once you really go out there and say, how can I serve? Know that I'm gonna forget something that I want to say. I'm going stumble and be okay with it as long as I focus on service. That's when everything started to switch. And I went to India a few years ago and studied meditation.

Oh, wow.

The teacher, Krishnaji, and he told me that suffering states or insecurity, fear, doubt comes from an obsessive self-centric thinking. And when we stop obsessing over ourself and start focusing on service, that's when we can really make the maximum impact.

Yeah.

And it's been, so I'm so glad that you're trained in that belief as well.

Absolutely.

Because it's, I can only imagine the amount of pressure one would have in your position if you were always focused on, how do I look? Am I saying the right thing?

Exactly.

Who's coming at me now?

Yeah.

What are they judging me for now?

Because in all of those, like that state of mind, it's up here rather than here. And people can tell. you know, when we're doing the things that we're trying to do, really we're trying to connect with people's hearts to be able to spur the kind of positive change that we want to see. And, you know, whether it's in my field of politics or the work that you're doing, but like you said, if it's just up here and it's all like, what about me? I, what I'm saying, this, this, and I can relate on so many levels to what you're talking about, then we lose that opportunity to have those really, really amazing Connections.

So how do you prepare yourself before a debate or a town hall or an interview where you might be under an attack, an emotional attack or a judgment attack or critical in some ways? How do you prepare right before you go in? And how do you make sure you don't react but instead you respond from a place of more loving, peaceful, non-reactive Communication.

That's so important. Just that reactive thing, it's something that I have found myself in, you know?

Reacting?

Yeah, yeah.

Really?

It's so hard.

Unfortunately, I mean, this is, I think, a constant effort just to consciously not be in that place of reaction when, you know, maybe you're in a little bit of an adversarial debate or whatever, but just to stay focused on, you know, what am I here for? what am I trying to accomplish? Who am I actually speaking to? What's the message that I'm trying to deliver? So for me, just on a day-to-day basis, because every day is a town hall or it's interviews or, you know, upcoming debates. Every morning and every night, I spend time in my yoga meditation practice, as well as yoga asanas that keep me grounded, that keep me very focused. take that time, whether it's in the middle of the day or while I'm sitting in the car in traffic, just to be in that place of focusing on God and that place of meditation, finding that solitude whenever and wherever possible, so that when I'm preparing for these things, whether it's a town hall or an interview or whatever, of course, I'm gonna go through my notes, I'm gonna think about what is it that I really wanna be able to communicate to people, but then at a certain point, just setting it aside, and just saying, all right, I know what I want to say, really. Like, I got a practice. You've rehearsed it. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then just staying centered in my heart and in God, and then taking it from there. That's what gets us away from thinking about all of the stuff, the literal stuff, kind of the cerebral things, and then just getting grounded and centered right here where it matters most.

Yeah.

How do you navigate the game of playing politics or not playing the game of politics and also navigate this peaceful, loving state of being? Because it seems like two different games, not games, but ways of being.

Yeah.

Where it's like you want to come from a place of service, you want to come from a place of love, of bridging the gaps, of bringing people together, of the benefit of all, I'm assuming, right? You want everyone to win. And sometimes you gotta make tough decisions and you're gonna upset people, but you're coming from a place of let's come together. Versus the game of politics, which seems like it's the complete opposite, where everyone has an agenda, everyone has their point of view, and there's no collaboration. It's me versus the other opponents. It's war, essentially. How do you not play the game, but it seems like everyone has to play a little bit of the game.

It's changing the rules. It's changing the way that we operate in this political environment. I think one thing that's important to point out that should be obvious, but maybe isn't sometimes, is that coming from a place of love does not equate weakness. It does not equate laying down and letting everybody walk all over you. is actually the most powerful force of all, that in politics or in any field, that when we're coming from a place of love, it inspires us to stand up and to speak the truth, to speak that truth to power, to challenge these authorities, these people who are in positions of power who are abusing that power for their own selfish interests, rather than actually using it for the betterment of humanity and for peace.

Yeah.

And so in that sense, there is no conflict. It actually is fighting these battles in the political realm, challenging the establishment, the powers that be is coming from that place of love and of truth, which is where it should be, and which is really how we bring about the change that we want to see. It's what inspires us to be able to, it's what inspires me to be able to build relationships with people who may come from the other political party or who I may have really strong disagreements on, on different issues. And we'll have some fierce debates, but it allows us to disagree without being disagreeable, maintain that respect for each other and focus, all right, well, we may disagree on nine out of 10, but on that one issue, we are on the same page. Let's go after it. Let's introduce legislation. Let's build a coalition of support that crosses all of these different lines that are dividing us. so that we can actually accomplish that mission of getting, solving problems, delivering results, actually helping and serving people. So I just, you know, the hyper partisanship that we see within Washington and that we see unfortunately reflected in different parts of the country is what is the problem. And by coming from a place of service and love for the people of all people of this country, love for our country and appreciation for our constitution, our freedoms, is where we find the answer on how we fix this systemic problem that exists within our government, within our country.

What do you think is the thing you need to work on the most internally, emotionally, personally, to help you get to the next level individually? Whether it's politics or not, just as a human being, where do you feel like you need to grow the most? to help you evolve?

That's a deep question. Look, every day is an opportunity to grow and to go deeper and to continue what in my life is a process, is a spiritual practice of not being distracted by the noise or other things that are happening, but every day doing my very best to find that shelter and strength and inspiration and love for God, which inspires me to take action, not for myself, but for others. And I mean, really, that's what it comes down to. Really, that's the foundation. that's the focus. And if I get away from that, then it's not good. Not good for me, not good for what I'm trying to do.

I had asked Marian Williamson about if I asked her, do you believe you can become the president without having a marriage or an intimate partnership? That's a support system in a relationship.

Interesting.

And she said it would be very challenging.

Wow.

She was like, 'Cause she's not married. She doesn't have a partnership that I'm aware of now. But she said it would be very challenging to do it alone. How important is your marriage and partnership in all the chaos that is happening around you? How supportive is that? And how challenging is it to keep things harmonious and loving when you're off serving God in the world, you know, traveling so much and doing the job that you have.

I am really grateful to have such an incredible partner in my life. Abraham and I got married, I think April makes five years. He's a cinematographer. He's incredibly supportive of decision that I've made, this path that I've chosen for my life. And he comes from the same motivation, you know, completely does not, not involved with politics, doesn't love politics. He really doesn't like Washington, D.C. prefers to be in Hawaii.

Yeah.

But, you know, through his own craft and his, the skills that he has, you know, he wants to be able to try to use that to make a positive impact on those around him, on the world around us. So I'm grateful that he has been able to actually come. He's out on the road with us.

Really?

And he's filming everything. He's filming different people's stories and, you know, editing little clips to be able to help shine a light on just the everyday challenges and experiences of people all across this country that don't make it into the evening news. They're not included in the tweets that get put out, but really this is why we're doing this. It's because of them and it's for them. So it would be very, very difficult to be out months and months and months out on the road without him being able to be there. And I'm grateful to be able to share this experience with him, you know, where he's seeing all the people that I'm getting to interact with and getting to hear from and seeing the diversity of people in this country.

And.

Yeah, it's, there's so much that I'm grateful for that I get to share with him and that that we're on the same page.

Yeah.

You know, that my being able to do this is not taking away from our relationship or from really our marriage and life together. And this was something that we talked about before we got married. And it was, he volunteered on my first campaign when I ran for Congress back in 2012, which is really where we got to know each other a little bit. And so he knew what he was getting into.

Sure.

He was very thoughtful about it before.

I'm very proud of him.

But he made that choice. Absolutely.

Signing up for a different type of.

Lifestyle that's maybe not traditional. Completely. Right, which means, you know, like, I'm not at home cooking dinner every night. And, you know, we're, it's, I promised him, I said, I don't know where this path will take us, but I.

Can promise you it's not gonna be boring. It's gonna be interesting. Every day is gonna be unique. This might be too personal, hopefully it's not. So let me know if it is. What are some non-negotiables you have in the marriage that you've both created? in order to have a thriving relationship so that it doesn't fall apart with the chaos of your lifestyle or the stresses. Are there any things that you guys talk about like these are the three things we do every day to make sure that we have a solid bond and a great relationship no matter what's happening in our lives?

Yeah. The number one thing is our individual lives, our individual spiritual practice, relationship with God is important to both of us, but it really is what's at the heart of our marriage. Recognizing before we got married that this is not about, well, I'm gonna try and suck as much joy and happiness as I can out of you and think that you're gonna do that to me, knowing like, hey, look, we're imperfect humans.

Yeah, yeah.

And- you-'re not perfect? I can't, I mean, hey, let's see. It's breaking news. you know, that I'm gonna fall short. He's gonna fall short of our expectations of each other. That I cannot make him happy. He's not gonna make me happy. And knowing that from the outset, knowing where our happiness really comes from, it comes from that relationship with God. I think that's the number one and the most important thing. Because if you don't have that, then you're setting false expectations. for each other and that can lead to problems, serious problems. We make time to, we love surfing. And so we help each other out when, you know, whether we're in Hawaii or we're out on the road like yesterday, we had the chance like, okay, we can sleep in or we can get up at five o'clock in the morning and go surfing. And we give each other a little nudge when one of us says, God, I just really want us like, no. Let's go. We gotta get out in the ocean. Staying connected to Mother Earth and nature is really important for both of us to like two things. One is just to get the benefit of that connection, but just to have fun.

Together.

Like, let's leave the cell phones, leave all the other stuff at home or on the beach and just go have fun.

I've taken a couple trips to Hawaii in the last few years where I left my cell phone here in LA and computer. Intentionally?

Intentionally.

And it was the greatest decision ever to just leave the phone and devices at home and go old school, have to like ride out on a map and stop at the gas station and ask for directions and just be connected to the earth. It's the most, Hawaii is the most beautiful place to do that for. It really is. Have you connected with Bethany Hamilton in Hawaii? You know, just briefly.

I haven't gotten to know her very well. We've kind of crossed paths has only briefly, but- She'd be great to go surfing with us. What an incredible, yeah.

Amazing, yeah, we had her on, she was great.

What does it mean to have service.

Above self for you? Because it seems like a lot of people are in it for themselves to be more powerful, to be the leader, to have their ego stroked. But it seems like, again, just from my observation, that you really mean service above self.

Yeah, yeah. having that be the driver behind making the decisions that I've made just in my own personal life and being the.

Focus.

In leadership on the decisions that are made, you know, on the policies that, that I'm promoting on, on building coalitions and bringing people together to actually solve problems. Because when the motivation is based on service, putting the well-being of others and their interests, the interests of our country ahead of your own. That's what creates these opportunities to overcome barriers and obstacles that may not seem possible to get across or over otherwise. So, I mean, there's very practical implications of this in my work in Washington. This is something that we're seeing across the country on the campaign trail where, you know, we're bringing Democrats, Republicans, independents, libertarians are coming together, really answering this call to serve, finding this message of service above self resonating really deeply within themselves and wanting to be a part of that, wanting to be a part of building a better path forward for each other, for our country, striving towards that more perfect union. And what a contrast that is from what we are seeing too often in Washington with self-serving politicians who are in it for, you know, hey, I'll go and serve a few years, get in a position of influence, and then go get a big payout afterward, or people who just like to see themselves on TV and in it for that reason. I mean, whatever the driver is, that if it's selfishly motivated, we end up with the kind of government that we have. And this is not partisan. This is a systemic problem. We've got a government that's really ruled and influenced by the very few and the richest and most powerful people making decisions that help them maintain that power and influence to the detriment of the people. To the detriment of our society. I think that contrast there is very stark and it gets to the heart of what kind of leadership our country needs. And how, you know, some people think like servant leadership is kind of an oxymoron concept, right? But really when you think about the most effective, amazing leaders that I've found inspiring through my life, both in politics and in the military and just in life itself, are people who are not thinking about themselves or not just being driven by their bottom line. Even leaders in business who are very successful see that as a responsibility to say, okay, I'm gonna take care of my team, my employees, make sure that I'm providing the service to them as their boss or their leader that they deserve. And then seeing how that effort can have a positive impact, be socially responsible in society. I think that's, I think it's a message of leadership that extends far beyond politics, but really across every sector.

How do you then resist the temptation.

For.

Wanting it to be about you? Your ego getting stroked, power, influence, celebrities endorsing you. How do you resist the temptation to say, I'm all that. This is about me. I'm the one they're all here to see. How do you continue to stay grounded when more and more comes your way and not fall into temptation?

Yeah, it is my daily yoga meditation practice. It is consciously choosing to surround myself with people who are motivated by the same things as I am and who keep it real for me.

Yeah, give you on a speed dial.

Oh, yes.

Hey, you were a little too much there, or yeah.

Yeah, yeah, to put it kindly. Which I think is so important. I've been around enough people who surround themselves with sycophants or, yes, people who are just like, oh, you're amazing.

And.

A person on my staff, somebody who's been with me since I was first running for the state house back in 2002, She's just a kind and wonderful person. And like, I'll ask her like, okay, what did you think about that speech I gave or that interview? She's like, oh my gosh, you're amazing. Like, no. Yeah, give me the feedback. Give me the, like, she's like, but I thought you were. She's like, no. That's not what I'm looking for. Yeah, just keeping it real and keeping it focused. And I think just the other thing for me is I've never sought any of this in my life, you know, whether it's a political position, a title or attention or fame, it's actually been the opposite, you know?

You want to be alone.

Right.

You don't want the attention.

Exactly.

So why put yourself out there?

My happy place, like if you say, like, really the answer to your question is like, how do you stay away from kind of your own selfish interests? Like, my selfish interests would literally be to just go and spend time surfing every day. and be away from all the cameras and all this other stuff.

You might put yourself through all this.

Because of that motive, why I'm doing this. That's what service above self actually means, is getting past your own selfish interests, whatever that may be, whether it be fame and power, or it be just making yourself happy by living in nature every day and being away from it all. Both ends of the spectrum really point to What do I want? What do I think is gonna make me happy rather than finding that real source of happiness, of deep and true happiness, which is service. Service to God, service to others. And so that's why people say, How could you ever leave Hawaii? Who is so crazy to do that? That is the reason why.

Because there's a bigger calling, a bigger mission inside of you as opposed to yeah, I could live an amazing life here in Hawaii and spend time with nature and friends and family and have poi every single day, right?

Exactly.

And live a great life. Or it sounds like that.

But was it at all, what is it all for?

Right.

Then, you know, then it is just about yourself.

It sounds like you want to leave the world better than when you came in.

Absolutely, absolutely. And always, I mean, really going back to that sign at the camp that we were in in Iraq, is today the day? Any day could be our last. So what are you doing with your time?

And I can imagine not many people go into the military for how many years were you in the National Guard?

I'm still in the National Guard now. April makes 17 years.

17 years. You probably don't go into the military for 17 years to say, I want more attention and to become famous. If you're, at any day, something bad could happen and you could be gone. You'd want to have more safety and protection and comfort.

That's right.

If you wanted that. What are the top qualities of great leaders that you've seen through your parents to, and the military, to business, to politics? What are those maybe two or three qualities that the greatest ones you've been around all have that you really admire and respect?

Yeah.

Services, having that service-oriented heart and leadership, I think, is the most important quality. When college students or people of all ages who come and say, I want to run for office or I want to be involved in public service, what's your piece of advice? That is the number one quality qualification that is most important. You can learn a lot of the other stuff, but if you don't have that motivation of service, then it's not going to work. It's not going to work. I think understanding the difference between, you know, being a leader versus being a manager is important. Sometimes I think leaders who get too caught up in the minutia of, you know, I don't know, one thing or another, rather than recognizing as a leader you were leading people.

Yeah.

People. Inspiring them.

The vision.

Exactly. Exactly. And inspiring them, you know, if you're leading from a place of service, then you're able to inspire them to do the same. Some of the great leaders that we've seen throughout our history, you know, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, others like them, just personally, people I've served alongside in the military, not even famous generals, but, you know, some of the sergeants who I worked with really embodied that leadership every day of thinking about the well-being of their squad or their platoon. before they thought about themselves. Small things, you've talked to a lot of folks in the military, it's a common thing, leaders eat last.

Simon Sinek has a book about that.

Exactly, exactly. So when I think of those qualities, discipline, perseverance, persistence, I mean, all of these things to me come back to, well, if you are coming from that place of motivation of service, then these are all the byproducts that come from that.

Yeah.

A few questions left for you. We'll have to do this again, because I have many more questions I want to ask. What do you think is your greatest fear and your biggest superpower?

That's a good question. My biggest fear is living in a world where I have lost my way and fallen into the darkness that exists when you live a life without God without that relationship with God. I don't know about the superpower. I love people. And one of the things I'm most grateful for is whether there's some of.

The.

Translator in Iraq, people, just people I've been able to meet and come across in different parts of the world. I was on a training mission recently in Indonesia, being able to just connect with with people, no matter who they are or where they come from, you know, coming from that place of Aloha is something that I'm really grateful for. That even as some things you might think could get lost in translation, I don't know. I love that both I'm able to do that and that the value and the joy that I get from being able to learn more about other people and to kind of find that empathy in their experiences.

That's a good superpower. I like that. This question is called the Three Truths. I ask everyone towards the end.

Okay.

So imagine it's your last day on earth, many years from now. You live a full life, you achieve every dream you could ever imagine. You leave the world better than the way you found it. You do everything in your efforts to be of service to humanity. You do it all. But for whatever reason, everything that you've created, all of your written text, video, audio, this interview, There's no access to your words or information anymore. You've got to take it all with you to the next place. But you get to leave behind three things you know to be true. That this is all you would be able to leave behind to the rest of us. Three lessons or three things you know to be true that you would share with the world. What would you say are those three truths for you?

Number one. None of the titles or bank accounts or cars or houses or degrees or the things that are often equated with success in life matter. All of that, those are all things you can't take with you. That real happiness lies in real happiness lies in love for God and finding that success in life by dedicating your life in the service of God and the service of God's children. And that nothing else really matters. And I think the last one would be that there's no need to be afraid. You know, so much of there's so much fear in our society and in the world. And whether it's fear of losing the things that we've accumulated in life, or fear of not being able to accomplish the things that you want to accomplish, or ultimately, I think the greatest fear that people have is fear of death. That all of these fears can go away. You can live free from fear if you find that peace and that shelter in the unconditional love that God has for all of us, no matter who we are. And that's it.

That's powerful. Those are great three truths. I wanna acknowledge you before I ask the final question and send people to how they can follow you. I wanna acknowledge you for your service. for constantly showing up to overcome the insecurities, doubts, fears that you've had over your lifetime so that you can serve from a place of love, of grace, of peace, of community. Because you could have easily stayed in Hawaii and been sheltered to reading a book on the beach and surfing and not being around people because of that insecurity or fear or doubt. But the fact that you continue to be called to something greater Serve in the military, still serve in politics, serve humanity. For me, that's really inspiring and I acknowledge you for that. It's really powerful.

Thank you.

How can we support you? Where can we go? I love following you on social media. What can we do to support you and your mission?

Help us get this message out to the world. For folks who are watching or listening, I'm on social media @TulsiGabbard. You got great content on there, too.

I'm glad to hear that.

I love it.

I'm glad to hear that. husband created a lot of videos.

He's the guy behind the camera. He's really good. Yeah, I agree.

He's really talented. It's really good.

Okay, so we follow you on social media. Yeah, Tulsi Gabbard on social media, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, all of that. And for those who are actually want to get deeper into kind of the policies and the kind of vision that I am bringing to our country and our presidential campaign, tulsi2020.com is our website. Every day, you know, we're posting stuff on social media though about a whole host of different issues, clips from different interviews, and what's really amazing is that the more we're able to get our message out there, the more we're seeing our campaign grow. Our campaign is a completely people-powered campaign. Amazing volunteers across the country who are just making it happen on their own. Wow. Send us the PDF file for the brochures so we can print them and go door to door. We don't take any contributions from PACs or lobbyists. It's folks who are given like five, 10, 20 bucks, whatever they give. That's actually helping fuel our campaign to.

Get our message out. So you won't take a big donation.

From some lobbyist or big corporation or really?

No. No.

I think that the fact that our campaign is really powered by people is, It shows through. You know, we had an amazing town hall here in LA last night. We had about 500 people who came out really fired up to not just say, Hey, Tulsi, good job, but really to take this mission on themselves and recognize the responsibility that we all have. If there are things that we're frustrated about in our own government or the way our society is going, it's not like, okay, you do something about it.

No.

It's on all of us. It's on us to be that change. And that's where I so inspired every day with the people who I get the chance to meet who are doing that themselves, like making it happen. So I'm inviting everybody, everybody to come and join us.

Be a part of it. So Tulsi 2020, Tulsi Gabbard on social media, come on, say hi to you when you're traveling the country.

Yeah, absolutely.

Be a part of a workout in the morning or Town hall at night.

We'll do some yoga. We'll do a little workout.

Yeah.

Okay. I love it. My final question is, what is your definition of greatness?

I think that greatness can be.

You.

Know.

Defined and found in that realization of who we really are. and where we find joy and happiness and value in our lives. I think that too often, especially in the political conversations, but in society as a whole, greatness is attached to a whole bunch of superficial things. You know, people are living to work rather than thinking about, hey, you know, I've got limited time on this planet. What do I actually want to do with my life? I think that finding that greatness in yourself, in your own purpose in life, and finding that greatness in that purpose being service, no matter what you choose to do with your life, is the most important achievement that anyone could have. Thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

A few things come to mind after my experience of spending some quality time with Tulsi. Poise, grace, thoughtfulness, intentional wisdom, and loving. She just has this way of being about her that I really appreciate. I really appreciate. And again, I don't know all about politics, so I'm not here judging policy. I'm not here judging, you know, the different policies that other candidates have or that she has, because quite honestly, I haven't spent days and months of my life researching what everyone is doing. I'm going based off of her energy, her way of being, and the things she said that I really resonated with on my opinion about this episode, this interview and my time with Tulsi.

Really?

I appreciate that she focuses on health because I feel like a lot of candidates and leaders miss out on that. Really inspired that she focuses on relationships, on marriage, really inspired that she focuses on service over self and not service over self, like not taking care of herself, but her own self-interest and own self-needs. And I think that's inspiring that we could all see as a reflection and an example of what's possible for our lives. and she continues to grow in her campaign, I think, because of the way she's intentional, because of the way she's thoughtful, because of the way she uses her words and the way she is committed to her values and her mission to serve over serving herself interests. And that's what I really love and inspired by Tulsi. If you enjoyed this, make sure to share with a friend, lewishouse.com/880 text it to one or two friends. Maybe if you are into politics, text it to a friend who's into politics and say, hey, what did you think about this? What did you think about her answers and her responses? Did you think it was inspiring or do you think it was a bunch of crap? You know, let's just get the conversation going. Share it on social media. You can tag me at Lewis howse. You can tag Tulsi Gabbert over on Instagram. I'm sure she would love to see your messages. Tag her on Twitter as well. I see her active over there also. Let's get this conversation out there in a big way and show people what's possible. So text it to some friends, post it on social media, tag me, tag Tulsi, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. And I think it's gonna be fun to watch her and other people over the next year and see what unfolds. It's gonna be an interesting journey, that's for sure. So if you enjoyed this, let me know. Tag on Apple podcast, subscribe to the podcast and leave a review over there. Leave your comments. I'm sure I'll get some interesting comments on both sides, some beautiful stuff and people that just like to hate for hate's sake, but leave me a review and I'd love to hear your thoughts. A big thank you to Tulsi and to her entire team for helping make this happen. Tulsi's sister, who is there as well. Very grateful for both of you and just good luck. good luck on the journey with whatever happens continuing to be yourself and leading a life of service. Just grateful for the opportunity to connect, learn, listen.

And grow.

And that's what this is all about. You come here to grow. You come here to learn, to get skills, to get experience. And that's what we do at the School of Greatness. We teach you ideas. We give you stories. We aren't afraid to ask the questions. that's what this is about. Mother Teresa said, Give your hands to serve and your hearts to love. Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, the purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. Ask yourself, are you making a difference? Are you making a difference on the people around you, on your community, on your family, on your friends? And are you chasing the dreams that you have as well and making a difference in those dreams? Are you giving your hands to service and your hearts to love? Or are you complaining and stressed and anxious and holding back your gifts? If you hold back, I believe it's a crime that you commit. I believe it's something that we go through a journey every single day to try to break free of the stresses, the anxieties, the adversities that we have. I'm not saying you're always going to be 100% perfect and always going to be giving at the highest level. It's not rational.

That's not what I'm saying.

We should be working towards it. We should be working towards growing and improving our life and finding that peace within. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope you know how much I love you so very much. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.