This content was created by Lewis Howes. This content was uploaded by Lewis Howes. This is a YouTube video titled "I Mistakenly Paid for Friends..." featuring Lewis Howes sharing a personal story about his childhood experiences, including his brother's imprisonment, financial struggles, and his own attempts to make friends and seek attention through stealing. The content was created on June 11, 2025.
Chapters
My brother had went to prison when I was eight years old for four and a half years. He was in prison and growing up in a small town in middle of Ohio. I didn't know anyone that went to prison. So it was just like. It was weird right, that this happened. He was 11 years older than me, he was 19. He sold drugs to an undercover cop when he was in college. And in the 90s it was the war against drugs. So it was six to 25 year sentence minimum. He got out and four and a half on good behavior. Now I'm eight years old in confusing what's happening? There's. They're not telling me the whole story. My parents are devastated. I'm the youngest of four kids. I was eight when this happened. And so my parents didn't have a lot of money at the time. We were, you know, lower middle class suburbs in, in Ohio. And my parents worked hard to make the money and a lot of this money that they had went towards legal fees and just trying to deal with this process, let alone the devastation of their son going to prison and trying to manage three other kids and the stresses of life. Yeah. So at this time I really didn't have any friends because everyone in the neighborhood knew that my brother went to prison and the parents didn't want the younger kids hanging out with me. Right. So there was a time where two kids started a club, you know, like in their parents basement like after school. They started like a little club and I was like, I really want to be in the club. And they said, okay, you can either answer questions to get in and see if you get them right or pay $5. I didn't have any money, so I was like, okay, what's the questions? They asked me the questions. I didn't know the answer. So they said, you have to pay $5 to join our club. So I go home to my mom and I say, mom, I need $5 to join this club to be friends with these kids. And she kind of looks at me sad, probably because she knew I didn't have any friends, but also because she didn't have the money. So she said, okay, let's go on a scavenger hunt, go to the couch, flip over the cushions and see if we can get some change. So she made it a game for me. We spend the next hour finding in closets and couches change. So she gives me a shoebox and puts change of $5 in the shoebox. I walk it back to these kids house and I say, okay, can I be in the club now. They say yes for the next hour. We're sitting in the basement, but they're doing their thing by themselves, and I'm just still by myself in the corner. So I spent money to have friends, and they still don't want to be friends with me. So it's just like. That's a money wound. That is one memory. My wound now. It's sad, right? What do you mean? Yeah. Dude, what did you just do to me? I know. It's just. It's a. It's a story that becomes a wound of multiple stories that build. There then became a time where I wanted to get attention. So when I was like 10 to 11 and a half, I started stealing at stores. So I became a taker in stealing and being out of integrity. I would steal candy bars and cigarettes just to steal them, to feel powerful because I felt powerless and I wanted attention from other people to see what I could do.
