How I'm Manifesting My Dream Reality at 43

This is just how greatness moves. You've seen Lewis and his growth journey over his career, but you've seen it in real time. He's going for the Olympics. He's having, you know, 2 children. He's just getting married. He is in this epic, huge personal brand reaching hundreds of millions of people all the time. He's in it.

Ladies and gentlemen, to your feet!

Mr. Lewis Howes is in the house!

Unless I'm traveling I'm on an event or something, okay, I've got some time. But at home, it's like, no, I've got to serve my wife and my kids. And it doesn't mean I'm perfect, and it doesn't mean I'm not going to have breakdowns, but it means I got to be showing up the best way I can at this season. But I didn't think that way when I was single, you know what I mean? It was like, no, I'm going to network and go out, and it's going to be my life. But it was like, I don't have the time to do that now. I'm going right back on a plane after this. I got to be home. If I'm not working to build an empire for us, I need to to be home building the internal empire for us. Normally I would just kind of go from one thing to the next thing. We went to Europe a few days later, but I came back to LA because I wanted to be with my kids and my wife. I know the value of pouring in and investing in those relationships. Now I'm really just thinking about, OK, what is the work that I need to get done on a trip? And then what's the quickest I can get home so I can see my wife and my kids? Füchse Berlin is one of the top teams in the world in handball. How do you say Füchse? Füchse?

Füchse.

Füchse.

Füchse.

The letter is an U.

So, U-T?

Yeah.

Füchse.

Füchse.

Füchse.

Yeah, that's good.

Füchse.

Yeah.

Let me fly to Germany and go for a full day with this team and see what it's like playing with one of the top clubs in the world. Can I really play and keep up with one of the top teams with the best players in the world? I get up early and I train, and that's a lot of energy. Just that I'm training like a pro athlete, and then I got to go be a full-time business owner and then be a husband and then be a father, you know, it's like, which I'm not complaining about, it's more more of just energy management. It's learning how to manage my time, my energy to the maximum to be able to give my best at everything so that I can be at this practice and give my best and then go home and be best for my wife. And then I can be best for my team when I go back to the office. I'm missing my team right here. Yeah.

Hi.

If you want to improve in any area of your life, you've got to surround yourselves with the masters of that thing. You've got to find a mentor. You've got to find teachers, experts who are excelling more than you. So it was great being around the number one manager, the number one player, and one of the number one teams in the world. In that environment, I'm able to take that in and that experience and apply that to the Los Angeles Handball Club, which we have as well. It was another anchor moment that, hey, you're not at their level right now, but you can play, you can keep up with them. So keep going. And I'm thinking about integration of my personal life with my business. I'm not thinking about balance. I'm thinking about harmony. Joining and integrating them. So it's not about how do I manage them. And really I'm thinking about constantly, how do I continually show up without burning out? 13 años. Mm-hmm. Lewis and I started dating on the 13th.

Happy birthday.

It's still the greatest.

Yeah. Happy birthday to the greatest.

The biggest lesson I've taken away on the School of Greatness in the last 13 years is relationships matter. It doesn't matter what accomplishments you have or how many followers you have. What matters is the quality of the connection you have with other human beings and the ability to show people how much you appreciate and care for them and your ability to show up for other people. 13 years! Woo! And I'm always thinking about who's in my corner, you know? I don't know if anyone else did this when you got married. Like, I have like 4 friends. I mean, I have lots of acquaintances and lots of people I'm friendly with, but I spend time with 4 people outside of my wife and my twins. I never thought I would be this way because I was the guy that would like hang out with everyone and go to all the events and go to industry stuff. Lewis Howes here, and I'm hanging out in New York City. And for a season of my life, that was important because it allowed me to create possibilities, connections. But then when I got married and specifically when I had kids 7 months ago, it was like, oh, I can't do that anymore. Like, I've got to protect my energy with my marriage and my kids and my health. So my trainer comes to me in the morning. I train in the backyard. I go to my office. It's 8 minutes away. I'm with my team all day. I come home. I'm with my wife and my kids. I put them to bed and then I'm exhausted. The only time I see my friends is when I play pickleball. I'm like, we have to work out if we're going to hang out. We're here at the Griffin Country Club in Los Angeles for a pickleball tournament, which is celebrities and pro pickleball players teaming up to play against each other. Last year I lost in the quarterfinals to Mookie Betts, actually. No big deal, he is a, uh, you know, world champion in baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last year was a lot of fun. I'm excited about this year. There's going to be some big names, some great players, hopefully some good networking and some some great pickleball. Lewis Howes is here, looking strong as ever. Have you been in the gym a lot, or what's going on? You never know who you're going to meet at these type of events in LA. Sometimes it's some of the, you know, most inspirational people in the world. Sometimes some other business comes out of it, or sometimes you just have a good afternoon. Either way, I'm excited to see how my game has developed since the last year. Now we got against the, uh, New York Knicks legend Jeremy Lin. Lin for the win! Got it! Lin-sanity coming up. Just won that game. Jeremy Lin. We didn't lose a game yet. Julio César Chávez. On duty is his greatness. Lewis Howes is an animal. The guy has nothing but positivity and strokes. Quarterfinals, let's go! Mookie Betts! World Series Champion. It's going down. Just beat the World Series champion, Mookie Betts. I feel like the Knicks right now. The Knicks, underneath the Mookie Betts. Next up, Lewis Howes and Julio Rivera. Let's go! Ah, so close. It was down to 1 point to win. We turned it over for them to score at the end. They beat us in the semifinals, unfortunately. Next year I'm gonna have to come back. See, I'm gonna miss you and the babies. You know that one video concept that's like, if you buy a ticket, you get in this car, and you go on this plane, and you go 13 hours here. You know that type of concept?

Yeah.

I wanna know where we started. If you get in the car— Then you drive to the airport and take an 11-hour flight around the world, then rushing to catch the next flight. Got to get on this plane. It's tough going from time zone to time zone. I think the key is finding a rhythm and harmony when I'm at home to make sure I'm sticking to my routine. Good day, ma'am. Then you walk outside to this little town, you walk towards this building. The final part has to be like a whole crowd, like— We just traveled from Los Angeles, California to Herning, Denmark to be at the European Handball Championships. Herning is a small town in Denmark. How do you say the city?

Herning.

Herning.

Herning.

Herning. Not Herning.

Herning. Like honey.

Hanning. Okay, Hanning.

Where you from?

Los Angeles. How are you? Tonight, tens of thousands of people will come to this arena to watch Germany face Denmark in the European Handball Championship.

How are you?

How was it yesterday?

It's good, man.

First time in Denmark? Yeah. You're my coach. That's cool. You did awesome, man.

Good question.

Yeah, you got the scratches on you, you got the scars, man. I'm not getting prettier, you know. But Americans still don't know what this sport is. It's one of the most athletic, most electric sports there are, and it's coming to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. It's like straight up.

We are going to go live in 2 and a half minutes. Lewis Howes, for the people that are not familiar with your game, you come from the United States, former American footballer. LA 2028 is the big goal, and as we see it on your hoodie as well, Los Angeles Handball Club. So, uh, Lewis, how's it looking regarding your dream?

I said let me create a real game plan for 4 years, step by step. Last year I was in Spain, in this guy's home country, and I was learning from some of the best in the world to see if I could actually keep up with guys half my age. That was step one. Can I get back in shape? Can I still play?

And what's the answer?

Yes.

Yes.

Okay. We used to go the extra mile. It was like, how do we go more than everyone else? How do I get in the gym earliest and leave the latest? I have to think in a different way. I have to say, how do I do the maximum with the least amount of effort and actually spend more time recovering, more time sleeping, more time getting rehab, massage, sauna, ice. It's very hard for my mindset because I want to push harder, but I actually need to be thinking longevity. So it's a different switch that I need to turn on. So for me, it's been a journey. And then 4 months ago, I had the opportunity to take over the Los Angeles Handball Club, and within 48 hours of taking it over, I raised almost $100,000. And I saw that people wanted to support the dream that I have. They were invested in my journey of trying to make— get back on the USA national team and go to the Olympics. One of the greatest feelings is hearing your national anthem and having your country across your chest. When I just thinking about it and speaking it out loud, having USA across my chest, it gives me chills.

Fair enough. Fair enough. Because he is pursuing greatness as well.

Live at the European Handball Championships in Denmark. Let's go! A lot of my journey with this dream of the Olympics is uncertain. We don't know what's going to happen, but I don't want to live with the regret that I didn't go for it. And I think that's one of the biggest lessons I want to teach my daughters. If you've got a dream, if you've got a goal, if you've got a passion, go for it. If you fail, it's all going to be okay. It's not the end of the world. The best thing is that you accomplish it. The second best thing is that you fail at it and you don't have any regrets that you actually went for it.

Get it!

Yes! Because when you go for something and it doesn't work out, you're going to meet people that are interesting. You're going to travel. You're going to have experiences. You're going to have lessons and you're going to grow. Grow. And that is essentially what the key to life is all about— experiencing, connecting with people, learning. And failure is a part of that growth. I recently went to a FIFA World Cup watch party with Airbnb. So we're here at the Airbnb Experiences watch party for the FIFA World Cup hosted by Abby Wambach and Julie Foudy, who are Olympians and very accomplished U.S. women's soccer players. They also brought their medals, their Olympic medals and their memorabilia. That gold, baby. Anytime I get an opportunity to be around elite athletes who've accomplished something at a highest level at the Olympics or FIFA World Cup or World Championship, it inspires me. Me at the World Cup in 1994, standing outside of the arena 32 years ago. When I was a little kid in this photo, I saw incredible things by these athletes and it made me imagine and dream about my life as an adult. What is possible in my life for my athletic dream. And at the time, I really wanted to be an Olympian. It activates something in me that shows what is possible in the human experience if you go all in and commit yourself to something that you're dreaming about. It's cool to be around this excitement and this passion and this hunger for becoming something greater. And it just gets me inspired. With the FIFA World Cup happening, fans are traveling from all over the world the world to experience it. And that's why I love to list my space on Airbnb. It allows me to earn some extra income, create a magical place for fans to come and stay in a place that feels like home, and also experience the FIFA World Cup. And something you should be thinking about if you have events in your city, so you can create the same magical moments for other fans just like you. There's something about experiences like this that ignites something in the heart of people all over the world. And I'm so excited about this as we are 2 years away from the LA 2028 Olympics. Another sign, another signal, another synchronicity. This is happening right now in the world, and the Olympics are going to be happening in 2 years. Continue taking the actions, continue being inspired, continue creating these moments and these memories to stay motivated on the path toward the Olympic dream and the Olympic journey. And there's no guarantees of what's going to happen, but this is a reminder to keep staying positive, keep staying motivated, keep showing up and do the right things, and good things are going to happen. So LA 2028, here we come. And you're all in New York City right now, and I want you to open your mind to possibilities, magic, synchronicities, signs, whatever woo you want to think of. What the world needs most is the version of you that's on the other side of self-doubt. At this speech in New York, I had probably a 20-minute conversation with a woman who was feeling guilty about moving on from the loss of her husband about a decade ago. And at one point I said, I want you to put your arms around yourself and hug yourself anytime you feel anxious inside of you. Say it one more time. I am safe.

I am safe.

It may sound a little cheesy or corny thinking about that, but a lot of times we need to come back into ourselves. We need to bring energy back into ourselves. Say, I am worthy of love. I'm worthy of love. And within seconds after this. Fire alarm. Okay, how do I want to react? Are we all going to run out of here? This is literally an alarm waking you up. It's literally an alarm waking you up. And so whatever reason, I was just like, yes, yes! I love that we are safe in the alarm. It's literally perfect timing. You want to be aware if there's a real threat to get up and run out and and take action. And then no one running. I looked in the room, you all just kept hugging yourselves. But a lot of times in life, there's a false alarm, just like this was a false alarm. And in 60 seconds, the alarm went away. You just kept hugging yourselves. You said, "I am safe." And I'm telling you, I mean, it's a perfect analogy. You are going to be alarmed when you go home and talk to someone on your team or a family member. You're going to go back to a place of feeling in your nervous system I'm alarmed. But we are always alarmed by little triggers in our life that is causing us to feel anxious, stressed, uncertain, or overwhelmed. And if we can take a minute and pause and just say, I am safe, and get back into a centered place within ourselves. Remember what I said an hour and a half ago? I said, look for the signs and synchronicities. I was like, the signs and synchronicities are strong. Last night when he picked me up, across the street was a store, and in the window was a massive image of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. Show it, let me see. I saw this from across the street as Andre was telling me something about my dream. Boom, Virgin Mary appears. I've been seeing the signs, I've been seeing Virgin Mary of Guadalupe a lot coming to my life lately. Virgin Mary is— Guadalupe is from Mexico. It's been showing up more and more in my life through Martha. And then when I'm at dinner with Bob talking about the next steps of my dream, boom, right behind him, Jesus and the Last Supper appears. So this is crazy synchronicities. It's, uh, I don't know, there's some synchronicities and signs that are telling me, okay, keep keep moving forward, keep moving forward. So it's just weird. The signs are all around me right now. Hey, if you're ready, we can get started. Oh man, go ahead. I'm just listening in. Since we changed up things, uh, snowing. Oh my gosh. Get me back to California. I also like having an adventurous life where, okay, we've got 2 interviews, we gotta run to the airport, we're gonna go play a handball game later at night in another city. We gotta manage a team. We're coming back, we're going to this country, we're going here. It's fun, it's exciting. There's never the same day twice, but it's learning how to navigate it all and be peace and calm under chaos.