036 LEWIS HOWES, Achieving Greatness and Living Your Passion and The School of Greatness

Foreign.

Welcome to the Earn your happy Podcast.

I'm Lori Harder, founder of The Bliss.

Project, 3 Time Fitness World champion, fitness expert and cover model, turned self love junkie, lifestyle entrepreneur and author.

Each week I'll bring you a guest.

Or a thought that will help you bust through your fears, connect to your soul and get focused and clear so you can elevate your life, business and relationships. We don't wait until we're ready for someone to tell us we're good enough. We take what we want and we anoint ourselves. Get ready to earn, own, and unapologetically rock your happiness every single day. Are you with me? Here we go. Welcome back to the Earn your happy podcast and today I'm so excited to have Lewis Howes on the show. He's a New York Times best selling author of the book the School of Greatness. He's a lifestyle entrepreneur, a high performance business coach and keynote speaker, a former professional football player and two sport all American. He's a current USA men's national handball team athlete, and he also hosts a top seller self help podcast, one of my favorites called the School of Greatness. It has received millions of downloads since its launch in 2013. And he has been such an inspiration in my life this last year. So I can't wait to share this conversation with you guys. So let's get started. Lewis, I am so excited and honored to have you on. Thank you so much for being on the show.

Thanks, Lori. Excited to be here.

So I technically met you through our mutual friends Rob and Kim Murgatroyd. I remember we were at a party and I was talking about this guy that I absolutely love who's doing this podcast and he's inspiring me to do this podcast. And they're like, Louis, I know who Lewis is. Hold on, I'm gonna shoot off a Facebook message real quick. And I was like, what? So that's kind of where it all began. And I really, it's been really cool just to be able to get to chat with you the few times that we did because I can honestly say that you are one of the most down to earth, helpful, generous people. And I also love that you're from the Midwest too, because I'm from Michigan.

Yeah. Well, I appreciate it. It's been good to connect with you guys.

So I'm really excited to have you on because so much of what you share has really impacted just the direction of my business and what I've been doing the last year just through your podcast and just kind of watching what you're doing. And I know your passion is to truly help people and help them to.

Do what they love.

So how did that all get started for you?

Well, it started following my dreams and that was playing sports. You know, I wanted to be a professional football player early on, and so I went the whole route through college and then tried out for some NFL teams, but I didn't make one. And I decided I'm going to play professional sports no matter what. So I played arena football for a year and got injured. And then I kind of had like a two year window after my dream was essentially over. You know, I was playing in front of 15, 20,000 people every weekend and it was incredible. And it was more incredible to show myself what's possible, that, hey, as a kid, I've always wanted this thing. And now 15, you know, 10, 15 years later, I'm making it happen by a lot of really hard work. And it just took a lot of time and experiences and energy and learning and growth and mistakes to get there. But at this point, the dream was over. I couldn't play football anymore from this injury. And so for a few years I was living on my sister's couch just trying to figure out what am I going to do with the rest of my life? What is the next dream? Because I think the most important thing for us is to discover our dreams and then be on the path towards achieving them. Because that's what lights us up the most, that's what inspires others around us the most. So I think whatever our dream is, we shouldn't just talk about it, we should be working towards it. Even if we don't achieve it, it's that pursuit that really brings us the joy. So I was in a phase of trying to discover what that was and also try to make money at the same time, because I was broke as a joke. And I just started making, you know, started making a little name for myself, learning about LinkedIn and teaching LinkedIn and then making a little bit of money, teaching it and kind of learning about this online marketing world that I had no clue what was happening, but was so fascinating back in 2007, 2008, 2009. And I just consumed as much as I could. You know, I went to every online marketing event, trade show, whatever it may be, to learn from people, to learn the skills and tools I needed. And then I would go back and just apply it all day long towards learning how I could build something that made me some income so I could just survive because I wanted to get off my Sister's couch. And then in this process, I realized that, like, wow, it actually feels really good to help people with the skill you have, like when you can teach people something. I didn't know I was a teacher, but then when people kept asking me, I was like, oh, it's nice to know that I can help people get results in whatever it is the thing I'm teaching. And so I've kind of become a student and a teacher, I guess, in my, in my process. And I've just found different mechanisms to, to help facilitate learning and teaching. Mm.

I love that because I think so many people think it's just going to, you know, come to you, like what you want to do. And I love that you took so much action, like you just kept going to places and learning things, because I think along that path there's going to be those things that all of a sudden you're like, well, that interests me. Or that doesn't. And that does. So was it, you know, a lot of books, events, podcasts, were you just filling your mind with different things? And then when, what, what did it feel like when you knew there was something that was going to light you up or what did that feel like?

You know, I only read a couple of books and I essentially just took action on everything those books told me and they worked. So for me, I learned more from learning from the experts themselves. I found that when I could get in a conversation with someone who knew something, that's where I was able to pick up as much. When I read the books, it was just hard. It wasn't my learning style. I just didn't consume the information. It didn't stick with me as much. But when I connected with people, so going to events, having the conversations at dinner and after dinner, in the after hours, and learning from people about how they did things, that's what really lit me up and got my juices flowing. And then I would apply that the next day I would go out and try it. I looked at my life as like a sport. I loved coaching. I love having one on one coaching or one to many coaching from my coaches. And then we practice and apply what we were learning right there, we would get messy. And so I enjoy. I said, okay, how can I recreate the sports experience in business and life? And for me, having coaches to teach me and then me go do it right then is what works well.

Oh my gosh, I'm literally the same exact way. I can hear things over and over. But if I don't get to apply it right away in my life or, you know, I think we're so lucky in this age of social media to be able to even put out our thoughts right away and get feedback. So that's so cool. It's just taking that leap sometimes. So I know that you're just. You're the same exact way. Like, I'm willing to leap into that, just to experience it and get messy and learn from that. So what, you know, to all the people, though, who are. Who are. You know, I hear the word stuck a lot, or I'm scared, or I'm scared of what's going to come when I really put that out there and I start learning those things or sharing it with people. What would you say to them to get over that?

You know, the reason why we're stuck is usually three things. We're afraid of the failure that's going to come if we try something, or we're afraid of success when we try it and we achieve it and the responsibility we have. And the third thing, which is a lot of people are hung up on, is we're afraid of the way we look. We're afraid of the way our image. We want it to be perfect. We want to look like we know what we're saying, what we're doing, and so we don't put ourselves out there, or we're just, you know, prisoners of this perfectionism. And we're stuck in this idea because of one of those three fears. So the thing is, you know, if you want to achieve anything, you're gonna have to put yourself out there. So you just have to understand that this is part of the process. And getting ridiculed and getting made fun of or having critics is the only way that you're going to actually achieve anything different than what you already have. So if you want. I don't know what the quote is, but if you want the same results, if you want different results, you can't keep doing the same thing. So you got to just step out of your comfort zone. And for me, I think I learned that at an early age. It just. It felt. It feels natural for me to get out of my comfort zone because as an athlete playing sports, you know, just playing football alone, you're just constantly out of your comfort zone, physically, emotionally, mentally. That I thrived off of it because I knew when I trained hard and I worked hard and I got out of my comfort zone and I experienced pain, some type of physical, emotional, or mental pain, that that was going to create a new threshold for pain tomorrow. Where I could go a little bit further and achieve a little bit more. And so I just said I'm willing to do whatever is uncomfortable for me. You know, I started doing salsa dancing lessons when I got out of football because I was terrified to dance in front of people and I sucked at it. And I was like, okay, well it means I have to throw myself into it. I started doing public speaking classes once a week for a year because I was terrified to get in front of people, in front of five people. I couldn't, I couldn't package my thoughts and like share whatever they wanted to say because I was too terrified of what people would think about me not thinking I was smart enough. So I went, I said, I'm not going to feel this anymore. I'm going to get myself out there. So I went every week to Toastmasters and, and trained and it was so uncomfortable. But every week I got a little bit better every and I was able to celebrate those little victories and that's what I did. Just anything that I'm afraid of, that's what I know I need to lean into even more so that the fear doesn't control me anymore. And I think a lot of people get stuck because they're afraid of image. It really comes down to image. If I succeed, then they have the new perception of me. If I fail, then there's this perception of me. If I put something out there that's stupid looking or that's not perfect and there's a perception of me. People are so attached to the way they look and what they put out there. If it fails, they don't want to look bad. And I think you've got to be willing to look bad and almost like embrace it. You almost want to look bad because you want to get over that fear. And I think just people haven't experienced enough of that emotional or mental or physical discomfort on a consistent basis to, to push themselves through.

With the holidays and the new year coming, you probably are looking around your house thinking that you would love to upgrade and freshen up your environment. And there is no easier way to do that than with your window treatments. Nobody covers windows better than Blinds.com. blinds.com brings your space to life. In your way. They have free design help. Other retailers may claim to have experts, but blinds.com has spent nearly 30 years building an award winning team of over a hundred design consultants that are ready to help you create your dream space. Always convenient, always tailored to you. Three ways to shop 1. Perfect fit Whether you want a DIY have it all done for you or you're somewhere in between. Choose what works for you and rest easy knowing the fit is guaranteed. So the holidays come fast, you guys, and you can freshen up your window treatments fast as well. And unlike some competitors, the price you see is the price you pay. No hidden fees, and there's zero pressure. From blackout in motorized options to classic shutters, blinds.com has window treatments for every room, style and budget, even shades for your outdoor space. The Black Friday deals@blinds.com are going strong all month long, so don't miss your chance to save big. And as always, our listeners still get $50 off when you spend 500 or more. Just use code earn at checkout limited time offer rules and restrictions apply. See blinds.com for details. 2026 is the year that you launch your business. It's the year that you've become the boss. You become. The that idea that you have that has been eating at you forever that just will not leave you alone is going to come to life. Maybe it's something that someone tells you you should always sell or a store you've already designed in your head. And with Shopify, 2026 is when you finally make it happen. Shopify gives you everything you need to sell online and in person. Millions of entrepreneurs have already made this leap from household name to first time business owners. Just getting started you guys. I use Shopify for glossy and I remember when they sent me my little shopping bag celebrating my 10,000 sales and I literally cried because I was so scared to take the leap and I'm so glad that I did and that I use Shopify. It gives you all the tools to easily build your dream store. You can choose from hundreds of beautiful templates that you can customize to match. Your brand setup is fast with Shopify's built in AI tools that write product descriptions and headlines and help you edit photos so marketing is built in too. You can create email and social campaigns that reach customers wherever they scroll. So as you grow, Shopify grows with you. You can handle more orders, expand to new markets and do it all from the same dashboard. In 2026. Stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com happy go to shopify.com happy that's shopify.com happy hear your first cha ching this new year with Shopify by your side?

Yes, I think so. You know I have an athletic background too and it's I think what sports did you play well I did fitness and fitness competitions and all that good stuff for, like, probably six or seven years. And it was all about fitness, fitness routines as well. And I remember the first time I did a fitness routine, people. I went from doing, like, big year competitions, bikini competitions, you know, throughout the fitness world. And then I decided, all of a sudden I was like, oh, okay, I totally. I have these down, like, I know what I'm doing. I'm gonna go into fitness, where you do like a. A crazy routine for two minutes on stage to music, and you dance, which I had never danced. I had never done gymnastics. So why not go to this, the next phase with all of these Olympic, you know, go like medalists from Russia, literally, that and me never danced. Put a routine together in eight weeks. And I remember I was just so focused on wanting to grow that a bunch of women had came to me and they were like, well, aren't you nervous? Like, people have this expectation because you had won in these other arenas. And I was like, oh, my God. Well, I wasn't nervous before, but. But now I'm really nervous. So I had to just. I had to.

Yeah. And you were comparing yourself against other people, and of course, yeah.

Oh, my gosh, it's tough. So I had to just be so. Like you said, like, be so grateful for the growth. And the more uncomfortable I was, the more I knew something big to offer, you know, it had something big to offer me. So. So yeah, I think as an athlete, this is what I want to ask you. As an athlete, I think that we learn to be uncomfortable and that there's a massive reward around being uncomfortable. But I think to people who aren't used to it, do you use any mantras or do you say anything in your head? Or what do you go to focus on when you experience the discomfort? Because we want to run. We want to hide from it.

Yeah. The fears come from our own image and wanting to look good. And instead, you know, I learned this in public speaking that, you know, I used to get really nervous in front of a stage. Cause I was like, oh, I want to look good. I want people to make fun of me. You know, I want. Then I want to have good feedback, all these things. And I can't remember who told me this. I think it was one of my. One of my coaches who said, you know, that's the wrong way to look about it. You know, you really shouldn't be nervous when you go up there to speak. You should be excited because you get to serve people. And when you're focused on the way you look, of course you're gonna be nervous because it's all about you. When you shift the conversation and the moment towards everyone else and saying, how can I serve everyone in this room to the best of my ability, then when you stumble or say or ah or mess up a little bit, you're not focused on it because you're so committed to service. And that's why when people put out a new business idea or product or course or something, unless it's coming from a place of service, you can't fail when you're trying to serve. Maybe it's not gonna work, maybe it's not going to be, you know, and that's fine. That's just a lesson to get to the next step. It's not going to be exactly what you want. But you can't fail if you put something out there that's with the attention of serving people and you truly feel that way. So I think when we just shift our internal thoughts coming from service as opposed to, I don't want to fail, I don't want to look bad. It's all about, you know, you're taking the pressure off of you and making it about the world.

That's so beautiful. You know, I do like a big women's event every year, and I was putting so much pressure on myself, like the first two times that I did it and I had to, it wasn't until I completely detached. And you know, you say prayers before and you say, let me just be the channel and let me be the vessel. Because otherwise, you know, you can. It's like you go completely blank. Instead of being open to what maybe the crowd needs or what people are really needing to hear from you, instead of being so attached to your content or whatever that is, thinking you're responsible for their shift. Shift. Right. Instead of being responsible just to hold that space for them. So that is like one of the most beautiful, beautiful messages. So, you know, one thing that I just sit. I'm such an observer. Like, I love to learn from people just by observing them. And you're one of my people. I observe. So there you go. Awesome.

Thank you.

But what you. So I'm so. I love watching how you connect with people and how you network with people. Because for me, that's probably one of the places where that's my focus after or over this last year is just really learning how to connect with people, to be present with people. Because when you want to grow and when you truly want to learn, I believe it's people too. Like they all are doing amazing things. They're leaving clues behind for you. They're more than happy to help most often. So truly, to network though, you have to be a master connector, right? So you've kind of mastered that deep conversation. So what are some questions that you use to kind of go deeper right away in the beginning because we don't have a lot of time when we meet people.

Yeah, I think it's, you know, questions are good, but it's more about your way of being, which really matters. And you know, so much can be done by just looking someone in the eyes and being present and. And you don't have to say anything. You don't have to say anything smart. You don't have to ask anything smart. You can literally just be present and not look around the room to look at other people or be distracted. And I get, you know, if we go to a networking event, there's lots of distractions, people running around, there's food, drinks, whatever, break the noise and literally just be as present as possible if you can, in that group of conversation or that one on one conversation. That's what I focus on. You know, unless someone comes up and actually grabs me and interrupts me, I'm giving that person my full attention to the best of my ability. Listen, I'm a human being and you know, maybe my phone rings and I'll get distracted every now and then, but my goal and my intention is to be present with people when I'm with them. Because the quote goes, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And I listen, I listen, listen, listen, listen. So the questions that I would ask are never, what do you do? But more, you want to get to the heart. People really want to talk about the heart. So what is the thing that's, what's the most exciting thing in your life right now? That's something that I talk about. What are you most passionate about right now? What's the product that is fueling your energy right now? What's something fun you've done lately? So I like to just connect with more things that light people up and take it away from strictly business. Unless it's already in that space and we're talking about things going back and forth, that's fine. But when I just started a conversation, it's about being present, about turning my body fully towards them and just standing firm to create a space for them that's comfortable and saying, what are you most excited about in your life? I usually like to ask gratitude questions. You know, when we talk, when I say, what are you grateful for right now? People turn to the thing that brings them the most joy. They talk about their family, their kids, their spouses. They talk about their passions, their. Whatever they're most grateful for, they share about. That's a great question. And it really starts off a whole different tone from everyone else asking boring, random questions.

Okay, so that's going to lead me into. Because we asked that every single Monday meeting that our team has. But what are you. What are you most excited about right now?

That's a great question. So you get me excited, get me thinking about it. I am most excited about last night. I just got the call that I got picked up for the USA National Team for the Pan Am Championships in three weeks. So I'm coordinating flights and all this stuff to be with my team. It's going to be 10 days in Buenos Aires, playing against two Olympic teams that are going to the Olympics here in the next couple of months. And I get to wear USA across my chest, listen to the national anthem every game and represent my country. So for me, that's like, I don't know. I. I love being competitive. I love still chasing my dreams at 33 and saying, Listen, I'm still. I haven't qualified for the Olympics yet. We didn't qualify, but I'm playing against Olympians. I'm playing for my country. I'm still going after things that I love, and I'm not letting my age or my business or my relationships get in the way of my passion as well. Where a lot of people, I feel like they make excuses for why they can't go chase what they love. And no, I want to be an example that we can create it all. We can create a both, and it doesn't have to be either or in all areas of our life, the thriving relationships, the intimacy, the health business or the financial success we want, the spiritual and personal hobbies that we have, like, we should be able to have it all. Maybe it's not all at the same level at the same time, but we should be able to every year be able to have a pretty well balanced effort of getting everything we want. And so for me, I'm so pumped and grateful to have the opportunity that the coach, you know, selected me on the team and then I get to play with all my teammates again for this will be my third Pan American Championship tournament. And for me, that's. It's awesome. It just so happens that I'm in The middle of the biggest product launch of my life. That is the same two weeks. So it'll be interesting. Another challenge and opportunity for me to show, to show me what's possible on how to have it all, on how to. And how to set my team up to win and make sure, you know, we've been filming and doing tons of content for this product launch. So now I get to say, all right, team, I'm going to be out of the country, focused on one thing. Let's get ready and geared up and really let go of the stress and the responsibility to do it all myself. But say, okay, I'm gonna empower. Everyone's empowered now. Let's make this happen together for real. Like, that's the only way. Because who knows if my Internet connection is gonna be good, you know, who knows how available I'm gonna be. I'm gonna be focused on my dream. So I'm excited about that. I've got a big event that I know you guys are coming to that I'm excited about called the Summit of Greatness later this year. Which big event it's going to be. It's going to be like a heart centered tent experience on. On fire and steroids. So, yeah, I'm excited to create something. You know, I love taking an idea and I know you do a lot of this with your events, but I love taking an idea in my head and bring it to life. And I think that's the ultimate entrepreneur. We're like alchemists, right? We can take any thought, we can take dirt and turn it into gold. And so I'm excited about everything this year. I'm just. And I just signed my second book deal. So I'm in the process of, you know, researching and diving into that. It's just, I am very grateful, very blessed for everything.

I'm so excited for you. I'm over here like, yes, yes. Because it's so, it's so exciting. And I love that you are doing, you know, you're chasing your dream, you're being an athlete. You have that outlet right now. And you're also, you know, doing your passions and talking about, you know, also having fulfilling relationships. Because I feel the exact same way. And my husband and I, Chris and I feel the same way too. It's like I find that the more that we make sure that we're happy in all of those areas and that we're fulfilling all those areas, the more present we are with each other, the more present we are even in our business with our team. With every, everything that we have going on. But that's gonna bring me to the question because I am constantly learning new ways of staying focused. Because I am like, I'm like a squirrel with ideas. I just literally want to chase them. How do we know what the right ones are? And also how do you stay focused in that area and then switch it? Because it's like, okay, right now I'm an athlete. Now I'm, you know, now I'm launching, now I'm. How do you do that?

That's a good question. When you figure that out, you let me know too. I know. I think here's the thing. I've got a really good team that keeps me on track because the challenge is when we reach certain levels of, you know, achievement in whatever area of our lives. That's when all the opportunities come to us. The opportunities don't come to us when we're down and out and we have nothing going on for us. It's when we have everything going on for us. And so, you know, my challenge is I get, man, so many great opportunities every single day, emailed to me, offered to me different cool things that I could do that could be like, wow, this is awesome. I come back to focusing on my vision. My vision is to serve and impact 100 million people. To teach them how to make a full time living doing what they love while following their dreams. And for me, so that's really down to like, you know, we had three big goals at the beginning of this year and I said, I want to execute these things. This is going to help me create the information, the expertise that I need, the skills, the tools to reach that goal. But also it's going to move this, everything towards that goal. And that's what my big course that I'm launching my event and I'm also creating like an inspirational greatness gear line, which I'm excited about. So I wanted to bring it. I wanted to have more tangible stuff too. Physical, emotional connections to greatness. So the big things that we're working on, early in the year, I got distracted. I had another person that wanted to give me like a half a million dollars for doing something like creating another thing for their company, a big company. I was like, oh, this could be cool and it's good money. And other people wanted me to do these things, other people wanted me to write different books. And I was just like, yeah, I want to do it all. But really, if it's going to make my main mission suffer, then I can't do it. At least right now. So I'm learning to just table things or to say that sounds cool. Let me think about it for a few months and we'll come back to it and if there's time available and if it works into the mission, cool. But I think having my team be very clear and communicating with them, what we're creating this year allows us to stay focused on it and stay there.

There are so many challenges to business that I don't want starting to be one of them for you and when you want more when you're starting a business, you need Northwest Registered Agent because you get access to thousands of free guides, tools and legal forms to help you launch and protect your business. And it's all in one place. You can build your complete business identity with Northwest today. Northwest Registered Agent has been helping small business owners and entrepreneurs launch and grow business for nearly 3:30 years. They're the largest registered agent and LLC service in the US with over 1500 corporate guides. Real people who know your local laws and can help you and your business every step of the way. You can sign up for free account to begin managing your business hub with lawyer, drafted operating agreements, bylaws, resolutions, membership certificates, bills of sale and more at no cost. Northwest makes life easy for business owners. They don't just help you form your business, they give you the free tools you need after you form it, like operating agreements, meeting minutes and thousands of how to guides that explain the complicated ins and outs of running a business. And let me tell you, this is life changing because I had no idea how much went into this. So don't wait. Protect your privacy, build your brand and get your complete business Identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Visit www.northwestregisteredagent.com, earn free and start building something amazing. Get more with Northwest registered agent at www.northwestregisteredagent.com forward/earnfree Too many people finish their workday feeling frustrated, drained and unfulfilled. I know that. I have experienced that myself. And the good news is it doesn't have to be this way and you don't need a new job to fix it. Patrick Lencioni, author of the Five Dysfunctions of a Team and more than a dozen other bestsellers, created the Working Genius assessment to help you pinpoint the kind of work that gives you energy, the kind that lights you up, and it also shares the kind that drains it. So over a million people, including me, have taken it and completely changed how I lead and show up every day. If you're a CEO, an entrepreneur, or someone who just wants to level up in business and in life. Working genius is going to give you the clarity and confidence to operate in your strengths and find greater joy in what you do. Because confidence isn't pretending to be good at everything. It's knowing where you're truly gifted. Take the working genius assessment today and get 20 off with code earn@workinggenius.com that's working genius dot com. You'll be glad you did it.

Yes, I, I have this thing that goes into my head right now. I don't know where this phrase came from, but I'm like, is it just shiny or is it, you know, along with my life's purpose?

Yeah, I mean, it might be both. It might be both. But the thing is there's really only a few things you can do great every year, I think, like a few big projects. Like if you're going to do two big event, you do two events a year, right?

I do one big event a year. Yeah.

One big event a year. So if you tried to do like a bunch of other events, maybe they just would be like, and they'd be like 7, 80% good, but they want to be like the best that you could possibly be. So I think the goal is to produce whatever we create at the highest quality that we can create it. So if anything we put out there suffers, then that's an indicator that while maybe we don't have the skills or the tools to put something out there that quickly or we're just overwhelmed, so we didn't put the time and energy into it that it needs. So I think we just get to listen and get feedback and, and in some sense we should always be pushing the limits. So nothing's ever going to be like, oh, this was the best it could have been. There's always going to be more we can improve on and we should almost never fully be ready. I'm doing this big event, but I've never rented a fricking 750 person theater, Opera Theater, and hosted a two and a half day TED talk experience type of inspirational thing. I've done smaller things, whatever, but like I'm not ready for it necessarily because I've never done it. But it's going to be a great, I'm going to make mistakes. I'm sure there's going to be things where I can improve on. But as long as I come from a place of look, I'm looking to serve everyone, every seat in that audience. I'm here to serve them as opposed To, I need it to be perfect, then it's going to be perfect for every person in that audience.

I am so excited for you because you're, I mean, I just think it's going to like blow your, your. I think it's going to blow your mind being able to like three days with people. Oh my gosh, like the connections you can create. I think you've. It's like this crazy ultimate exchange of energy because I think you just really get in there for three days, you know, so that is so. I'm so excited. Okay, so as an entrepreneur and also as an athlete, I know that, you know, there's so much that has to go into acting as if, thinking as if, and just leaping as well. But what are your top confidence tips or what makes you, what makes you feel powerful?

I mean, doing the work. Doing the work consistently builds my confidence and creating opportunities for small wins. I talk about it a lot as practice Reps. You know, five years ago I was doing like regional TV news station stuff, talking about LinkedIn tips, and I remember saying to myself, like, I was scared to like go on like the, the local news or the regional news or whatever because I'd never done TV before, maybe six, seven years ago, whatever it was. But I remember just saying to myself, listen, this is a practice rep. Like, it was a big deal at the moment, but I was like, this isn't the world championships of my career. This is like the T ball. So look at it as like a practice rep. Give my best, learn from it, and then the next time do better. And so for like seven years, I've been doing more and more press and TV and whatever and interviews and it's like my first hundred interviews, you know, I have a lot to, I still have a lot to learn. I'm still like, every time I'm like, oh, you know, I interrupted that person there. I shouldn't have done that. I asked three questions at one time. It overwhelmed them. You know, it's like I get excited still and I'm still not where I want to be and, but it's like it's doing the consistent work every single day, the practice reps, which is going to set me up to feel more confident when I have the big interviews with the Tony Robbins or with a celebrity or some big name. You know, I just, an hour, an hour ago, I just interviewed Randy Couture, who is a six time UFC world champion. He's, he was in the Expendables with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone and It's like, here's this guy who's had this incredible career, and, you know, I feel completely fine with. With people at that level now, whereas a few years ago, I probably wouldn't scared out of my mind, you know, so it's just like the practice reps. You know, we show up every single day and get better and improve. You know, as an athlete, this is what I did. And you probably did this when your fitness competitions. We watch game film of ourselves practicing every single day. So before practice would start, we'd watch game film from previous day's practice, and we'd analyze and review and see how we could improve, and then we'd go apply it that day. So, you know, I film a lot of the stuff that I do, and I get to watch it back and have my own real life game film. So I just set myself up the best to. And again, you said you go to a lot of events. Like, I. I find ways to develop new skills. Like when I learned how to master salsa dancing, like, my confidence level went through the roof in terms of just being like, feeling like I belong in the world, you know, Whereas before, I felt uncomfortable and had a bigger ego because I needed to project what I was missing. But when I felt like, wow, I have these skills, I have these tools because I worked hard. I went through the messy, uncomfortable months and months of embarrassment to develop the skills. And now I can dance anywhere in the world with any girl that knows salsa. It's the same thing as, like, when I was a teenager. I was terrified to, you know, to speak to girls. I just felt like, insecure, stupid, ugly, all those things. And I was like, I'm sick and tired of not having the ability to connect with girls. You know, I was just like a teenage boy, wanted to have a girlfriend. And so I gave myself a challenge one summer. I said, you know, every single day I need to speak to at least one girl that gives me butterflies when I see her. And every single day, I would go up to girls on the street or at the grocery store, wherever I was, the gym or whatever, and I would just go and say hello and start a conversation. I just had to go up and say hello. And a hello became, you know, more. And conversations, learned how to get girls numbers, then taking girls out on dates, et cetera, et cetera. And to the fact at the end of the summer, I was like, I feel like I can go up to any girl and say hello to and I'm not afraid anymore, and I can strike up a conversation. So I think it's when we learn to master skills, we develop new confidence levels. And when we're able to apply those skills into our business or relationships in our life and see results come from it, those results create wins which build more confidence, momentum. So that's how I do it.

I love that I talk to so many people and I keep hearing it as a reoccurring theme of they do little challenges every single day. Like yours was to talk to girls, and then it was to maybe lift heavier weights or do more when you were or, you know, get more comfortable talking to people who made you more, you know, made you nervous. And I think that's so important that every single day maybe we look at it and you said opportunity as an opportunity to grow. Because every day, you know, some people are like, what should I do today? I don't know how to create more momentum in my business or my life. And a lot of times I think it can be that next step of just how can you make yourself uncomfortable and grow? What could you seek out?

So, you know, leaders get out of their comfort zone. Leaders constantly set themselves up to be uncomfortable. And they don't just build billion dollar companies from scratch. They're developing themselves, they're going to events, they're getting in the messiness. And they didn't start out successful like this. They didn't just, they weren't all of a sudden have all these skills and information. They put themselves in uncomfortable situations, risky situations that allow them to get the skills they need. And that's, that's half the battle.

So what are some of the top things that you would tell an entrepreneur to do if you're a new entrepreneur? Just some of the main things that you must do.

I mean, I think you got to find a mentor or coach to coach you. I think trying to do it on your own is possible. It's just, I don't recommend it. I think it's gonna take a lot longer and it's gonna be more frustrating and a lot more painful. You know, life is set up for us to learn and connect with other people. So why not apply that into our businesses? Learn and connect from other people who have already done there, been that, been there, done that. Whenever I'm working with my coach, I just feel like I'm way more on purpose and focused and clear and everything. So find a mentor or coach. I've got a kid that paid me ten grand to work with me for the next three months as an intern because he heard me say on a podcast one Time how to find a mentor. I said, if you really want to find a top mentor, they don't have time to just give you all their information and teach you where you're not going to help them with anything. Instead of going to business school, just find someone that you want to be like or that you're inspired by the way they do it. Pay them 10 to 20 grand to work for them for free, and learn everything you can in that process by serving them. And so I've had, like, a handful of people now do that, and I'm like, you know, that's a way to get in there. You're like, learning from the best. Do whatever it takes to find the best and learn from the best in whatever field you're in.

So can I be your intern? No kidding. All right, so I know that everybody, you know, we. We all start somewhere, and basically we're always at the beginning, right? Because we're always moving into something new. So even for you, like, you're moving into, you know, huge weekend workshops or huge weekend events. So how do you ask for what you need when maybe you don't feel like you have something to offer in the arena that you're moving into?

In what sense? How do I ask for what I need?

So, you know, even for me just starting a podcast and me asking other amazing podcasters for something that I need without feeling. Feeling like I necessarily have value to offer them.

Yeah. How do I ask for what I need for this event or for just in general?

Just in general reaching out?

You know, I think I. You know, it depends because I'm at a certain level now where I've. I've. I just like, every part of what I do and who I am is to give first. And so, you know, I started this podcast to give. I was like, I don't want anything from people. I just want to be able to get them on and promote them to my audience and help them sell their books, sell their. Whatever they're doing, like, help them solve their problem, whatever it is right now, or achieve their goal. And so 300 something episodes later, I think people reach out to me all the time and just like, how can I help you? So it's just like, whenever I need something, I'll just text one of them and just say, hey, what's your thoughts on this? Or give me feedback on that? Or, can we chat for a few seconds on this? And I try to ask in a way that's really not a hard give for them. That's like, not ask them to go out of their way and do something for me. But more just like a quick introduction or something. This or what's the resource that I need to do to give to my team? And I don't know, I'm just giving constantly where I think I've built up enough equity, giving equity to ask for things every now and then. I guess that's how I do it. I don't know.

I love that, really. I mean, focus on adding. Just. Just focus on giving value, value, value. So that, you know, that's.

That's all I'm doing. That's all I'm doing.

Yeah. That's amazing. Okay, so I know, you know, you talk a lot about legacy, and it's funny because I know that you were in New York the same weekend we were in New York, and we had watched the Hamilton musical, Hamilton. And literally legacy was just spinning in my mind. Like, I was so to emotion, just, like tears. And I came back from it just feeling like my life. I wanted to do something so much bigger than what I had even envisioned. I was so moved. And I know you are doing such amazing things, and you just. You look in the direction of where you want to go, and then you leap. So what does legacy mean to you?

I mean, I look at it as like a symbol. It's like the symbol that you create and also the symbol people talk about when you're gone. So, you know, I want to. I want to live a legacy. I want to live like the symbol that I imagine in my mind and become that person. And it may take me another 50 years. I don't even know. You know, it's gonna. I'm a daily work in progress in no way, shape or form, and I'm perfect in any way. So for me, it's a matter of, like, I want to know. I just want to be able to give the best that I can and create the thing that I want. That's. That's my calling. That's my dream. It's going to look different for everyone else, but this is what's inside of my soul. I think legacy is like writing the. The book that your life is supposed to be and doing it in your way as opposed to doing it someone else's way. And saying at the end of the day, like, I created everything, or at least I went after everything that my heart desired, and I hold nothing back. And I feel like I serve a lot of people in the process. For me, that's what it's about.

That's beautiful. So is Anything scaring you right now?

Yeah, I'm scared to launch this product next month because, you know, and be in Argentina and this is like my biggest course ever. I've never launched. This is like going to be a $2,000 program. It's. I spent six months developing, designing, recording, filming, outlining, writing, you know, scripts for the course, for the, the sales, videos, design, hiring designer, full time design time, video person. I've invested everything into it and it's coming down to the wire. It's still not finished and I'm going to be leaving for three weeks essentially in the whole process of it. I'm terrified, I'm scared. But I'm also like, you know what? This is perfect. It's also perfect at the same time because it's going to set me up to learn, it's going to set me up to grow. It's going to set me up to empower my team and to learn to let go of having to have full control. Because that's when we hurt ourselves the most, when we want to control and hold on to everything, the way it needs to look, the way it needs to feel, or managing it all. So for me, you know, I look at Richard Branson. I think of him as a good example, even though I feel like he's not like the greatest speaker. Like when I've heard him speak at events, I'm kind of like, it's kind of monotone, but his symbol for how he lives his life. It's like you only see him with like swimming with sharks or whatever and you're like, but he's got these businesses and that are just thriving, but he doesn't have to be there controlling it all the time. He's still got this great pure, loving, joyful heart and he doesn't seem stressed at all. I'm like, that's a great symbol of inspiration for me is like, how can I continue to do what I love and also empower my team and be there for them and be a resource, but not have to be in it all the time and stress about it. And so that's kind of where I'm at. It's going to get great growth, learning experience. Amazing things are going to happen in the next month. But I'm a little terrified too.

And I think that's how it. I think that's how it should be. I think that's when anything good or big lesson, like you said, it's just such an amazing opportunity. So who is this course for?

This course is for current entrepreneurs who have felt stuck, who have felt like, you know, I'm making 50 to 100 grand right now. And I just, I've been doing it for a few years, but I don't know how to break through to that next level. And I haven't been able to figure it out, you know, for the last seven or eight years I've been still figuring it out, but I feel like I've gotten to a certain level that has gotten me certain results and I get asked a lot about how to achieve those results of where I'm at. So it's for those people, but it's also for brand new people that want to be entrepreneurs or have an idea, have a product that maybe have made a little bit of money but barely much, that are trying to build, that want to build an empire, that want to build a legacy business around doing what they love. So it's all going to be around people who do what they love and want to learn how to make a full time living from it and build their online empire. It's everything from branding, marketing, lead gen, sales, to strategy, to getting mainstream press, systems, processes, legal, like how to really set your business up to win. One of the things that I realized early on is like, I just started making money and just like went from thing to thing, but I didn't have the systems or the legal stuff in place. And you know, I think I see a lot of entrepreneurs that don't have any like terms of service or any like documents in place and agreements with their products and their courses and their programs and their coaching that can really come back to bite you in the ass if you're not careful. So just like the simple things that they don't teach us, you know, we don't learn these things when we start launching something, we don't learn those things. We got to learn them by the pain we go through and the mistakes we make. So teaching people how to build an empire, that's what this is about.

Oh my gosh, I'm excited. Literally I'm like, oh, I can refer, refer. And I'm excited myself, literally. So there's just like, tell me more. It's okay, I'll learn more.

Yes.

Okay. And your event, because I am huge on events. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm always trying to go to events, learn more. Because just honestly, even the event alone and even the second that you purchase your ticket, something happens. Like your heart starts to flutter, you start to picture what the room's gonna be like and just, just being able to Walk into a room and feel comfortable now in, you know, that was just a goal for me. Even just going to events, even outside of learning and taking in everything that everyone has to offer. And you know, I think it's always so interesting that even right down to the people that you sit next to, I truly think it's designed if you open yourself up to the possibility of growing. So why the events?

I mean, everything for me stemmed from an event. My first opportunity really happened when I first started going to events. My first event that I ever went to was my first like real event. I went to like little small networking events in my city, but I wouldn't really consider those events. But the first event I went to, I took a Greyhound bus to Philadelphia from Columbus, Ohio. I had a little carry on luggage and I had no money. I stayed in a hostel for three nights. It was like 17 bucks a night because I didn't have any money. I was on my sister's couch then. And the last night there, the, the hostel like overbooked it. So I didn't even have, I couldn't afford a hotel room and it was overbooked. The first night I was there, there was throw up and puke all over next to my bed and all over the walls. It was just like disgusting. And I remember the last night I was there, I'll get back to the story of actually the event itself. But the last night I was there I had to, I was like 4am in the middle of streets of Philadelphia, walking with my carry on thinking like I'm just gonna have to sleep on this bench or something because my train doesn't leave or my, my bus doesn't leave until like later in the afternoon. But I ended up meeting someone at a bar, a dude, and was like, hey man, do you have like a couch I can crash on? And he let me sleep on his futon. So that was an interesting story. But the event is the event itself. The first event I did, I met a guy who I, who's been like one of my closest friends in business for the last eight years. And we've done so much for each other. But I met him at this event and it really helped me in my, my career early on, just the relationships I built. I brought a video camera so I was like interviewing people there early on. This is back in 2008 and you know, it just, it created amazing connections. My second big event that I went to was called Affiliate Summit in Vegas. And I met a guy named Joel Kahm. And then that connection that I met. I did a webinar with him months later and made my first $6,200 on a webinar, which opened me up to webinars, which is if I didn't have webinars, I wouldn't be where I'm at in my business today, where we've done multiple seven figures every year since then. And I wouldn't have had a mechanism for building my business that fast. And that event created relationships, affiliate partners. You know, every event I go to, I meet people that I do business with that promote me or that I help them or vice versa. And it all comes back around at some point. But I found so many partners and affiliates to help promote my products and services from the events I go to. You can't build relationships just online. You've got to show up in person. The information I've learned, the connections are priceless and really live in person. Events is the best way to cultivate that.

That is, it's, it's literally been everything for me too. Just meeting people, meeting your mentors face to face and like you said, meeting some of your, your best friends, some of your business partners. All of the biggest growth has happened at events and it's crazy because sometimes I'll be like, what did I, what did we actually go over at that event? But so much magic happens at the dinner.

Magic happen.

Like talking about it just, I mean it's like levitating literally.

So it is open up, you get out of an event what you put into it. So if you go with an open mind and you know, allow yourself to meet people and connect and put yourself in uncomfortable situations with strangers, you're going to meet incredible people. That'll be some, you know, you've probably got great friends still today from events years ago that are some of your closest friends and that happens to. The reason that happens is because you're meeting all like minded people. You meet people that are interested in the same things as you, with the same desires, dreams, frustration, struggles. So you're able to connect with like your family is what it feels like when you go to the right type of events and you'll do anything for your family or anything for your best friends. And these are the people that inspire you the most. So yeah, my goal is to cult to create that and see, you know, my, I feel like my audience, my podcast is just like some of the most inspiring people. The stories they send me and what they're up to. I want to bring them all together and I feel like it's my duty to, to curate that and create an experience that they will remember forever and not really make it about me, you know, make it about everyone else. Make everyone else the hero.

That's my goal that you guys must. If you're looking for something, I, you know, I think events are so good with switching, fast, switching perspective, learning fast being. You're immersed, right? So you can learn in three days what you would technically learn on your own in a year, two years, three years. I mean, maybe even more. Because it is the best minds coming together to share their best stuff. So you guys, it is called it's Summit of Greatness in Columbus, Ohio, and that's September 29th through October 1st. I would absolutely. If you're in a spot where like he was talking about where you maybe feel stuck or you need to connect with people or you just are open to any possibility, it will absolutely be there if you're open for it. So I would highly recommend going to.

And you'll be there too.

Yes. So exciting. Like beyond. Okay, so I don't want to keep you on all day because clearly I could. But I just want to make sure that everyone can find you. Follow you. I am your like podcast fan, so let us know where you're at.

I mean, Lewishouse.com is where you can find everything. But at Lewis how? Pretty much everywhere. On social media as well. And then the School of Greatness podcast.

All right, so I have one last question for you because my podcast is all about happiness. So if you have a 30 second elevator ride with someone and they, they look at you and say, how can I make myself happy? What would you say?

Say happiness comes from within and it's usually based on how true you're being with yourself and how true you're being to other people. And if you aren't following what is inside of your heart that you know you're supposed to be following, it's going to be hard to be happy doing something you don't love. So first off is find out what you love doing and go do that every single day. Second thing would be to be honest with yourself because you're going to be very unhappy knowing that you're a liar to yourself. Third thing is to treat others with such care and love and honesty as well, because what comes around, goes around. And we're all in this together.

Thank you so much much for being on Lewis.

You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

And you guys, if you love this episode as much as I did, make sure you share it with your friends. And until next time, earn your happy. Bye everyone. Thank you guys so much for spending this time with me on the Earn your happy podcast. I am so glad that you stopped by. If you could take one second to share this episode with someone you think would love it, that would be absolutely amazing and we would be forever grateful. Also, please leave us a review if you feel so moved by going to itunes and leaving us an honest thought, an honest comment. Tell us what you think, tell us what you want to hear more of. It would really help us out on our journey to helping thousands and thousands of people. Until then, don't forget to earn your happy. Thanks again guys. Bye Bye.