How to Be Great with Lewis Howes | Natalie Jill

Hey, guys. I am so excited today because I've got my good friend Lewis Howells. And for those of you that don't know him yet, you're in for a big surprise because he is the creator of the podcast the School of Greatness, that I have talked about constantly. I tell everybody you have to get his podcast. And the best thing is he now has a book. Yay. And that's what we're going to talk about. That is based on. It's the School of Greatness, the book based on the podcast. So I was dying to really introduce you to my audience. So thank you for doing this.

Thanks for having me.

And I want to share. Thank you first, because they don't know who you are yet. Maybe. Or maybe they do, because I've talked about your podcast a million times. I want to. How did this even come about? A little bit about you and how you even got this podcast started?

Well, it came about because of a girl. I moved to LA for a girl about three and a half years ago. And it was a. It was a dramatic breakup.

Okay.

And so I was going through a transition. I was, like, trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, like, what's happening with this relationship. I just sold a company and I was driving around LA traffic, which you guys just came up here and you realize it's not that much fun driving in the traffic. And I was sitting there thinking, what's a good way to connect with people who aren't happy or who maybe are in transition? Literally in transition from their home to their work, sitting around and how can I reach people in a bigger way? And I realized something I love to do, which I know you love to do, is connect with mentors and inspiring people. And I said, I want to get the message out there from all these people I'm currently connecting with, from the business world and share their secrets with the world. So I said, a podcast around this time, this is 2012 podcast, was kind of coming back in the scene and was becoming more accessible. So I said, I think I could do this and let me see how it goes. I'll do it for a year and see how it goes. It took off really fast. I realized that I love doing it. I love just connecting with people and learning about their stories. And once people said, hey, can you give us some kind of, like, what you say, where you connect with your audience and you give them what they want. You created these DVDs, you created a book now, because people said they want it. People are like, can you create an online program? Can you write a book and tell me more about the exercises and the habits, the rituals, the things you've done and the people you've interviewed have done to get to that next step, the next level in their life? So that's how the book came about.

Wow. It's pretty cool, too, because, you know, I didn't even know. This is really bad. Podcasts have been out for a while. I didn't. I never listened to podcasts. I didn't really understand what they were until I heard I have to listen to Lewis Howell's podcast, probably Chalene Johnson. And I. That's when I first listened. I thought, this is really wild. It's like a. It's a. Almost a talk show that you can listen to at any time. But what was so amazing about yours in particular was just how inspiring every single guest you had on there was. And I would just leave listening to one feeling empowered, like, I can conquer the world.

Yeah.

And that must be how you feel.

Interviewing Absolutely. I mean, it's me for selfish reasons, too, because I want to build relationships and learn from these individuals. I mean, last week I had John Maxwell on, who has sold 25 million copies of his book. He's been around for 40 years plus doing this type of work and speaks to millions of people around the world. And it's just that wealth of information. Talking to him for an hour, learning about how he's done it, the keys to his success, how he has successful relationships while he's so driven. You know, I'm so curious about how to live a better life and how to learn how to maximize mine. So it's a blessing to be able to connect with these individuals.

And so while you're asking these questions, too, everybody listening is getting the same information. Yeah.

I mean, it's selfish for me because I want to learn, but then I'm like, it's one thing if I use all this information for myself, but I really want to give it to everyone else who's, who's a listener, because hopefully they'll do something powerful with it for their life. And then hopefully, like you, they'll share it with their friends and it'll create a bigger ripple effect. So that's what I want to create.

Now, did you know, starting this podcast, that it would eventually be a book?

No. But eight years ago, I had a dream to write a book like this.

Really, of this type of nature, this type of book.

This is a story eight years ago during Christmas, for those who subscribe Celebrate Christmas. My brother gave me a gift, and I only got one present that year because we did Secret Santa, if you know what that is. So my brother was the person to give me the gift, and he handed me a book. Literally. He didn't wrap it. He just said, merry Christmas, bro. He gave me the book, and it was called the Four Hour Work Week.

I love that book.

I don't know if you've read it. So I was in transition at this point in my life. I had a big cast on my arm. I just lived my dream of playing professional football, and I got injured. So I was recovering. I was sleeping on my sister's couch, and I got this book and I read it within three days. And as a dyslexic kid who never really knew how to read and write that well, I finished it really quick in three days for me. And at the end of it, I closed the book up, the last page, I finish it up and I say, one day I'm going to become really good friends with this guy, Tim Ferriss. I'd never heard of him before this book, but he made such an impact in my life from everything I learned that blew my mind. The stuff I learned there, I had no clue about. I said, whoever the agent is for this book, I'm gonna stalk and he's gonna be my agent, and one day I'm gonna become the man I need to be to create a book that inspires millions of people around the world.

So you decided. You decided this. That's my word.

I know I decided this.

You decided all this.

I said, one day I'm gonna create a book that impacts people and creates possibilities in their mind, the way this book did for me. And that book literally changed the trajectory of my life. And it's what allowed me to build the business. It was the information, the resources, the inspiration to launch the career that I've had over the last eight years. And now I'm really good friends with Tim Ferriss. His agent became my agent, and now the book is coming out. And this is interesting about this book. My agent really originally wanted me to write a business book about, like, how to make millions and how to do this and be a lifestyle entrepreneur, because that's what I was known for doing, of launching my career. And I spent eight months writing this proposal to a perfection for this book. And something inside of me wasn't feeling inspired by it. Like, I knew I could do well. I knew it would sell a lot, but I knew that it wasn't the book I Wanted to put out right now. And so I told him I was terrified to tell my agent. I was like, I don't think I can put this book out right now. After eight months of him editing with me, like working his butt off with me, he was like, okay, what's the book you want to write? And I told him, this is it. This is the message I really want to get out there. And maybe it's too broad or maybe it's not specific enough about making millions. And that's probably not what an author should do, but I was like, this is what I'm called to do. And I'm super pumped.

Oh, my God. Isn't it amazing too? Because I feel personally that when you are inspired about something and you're passionate about it, that energy just comes through and it just. Everybody that gets their hands on information feels that same way.

It's fun to do and I feel like it's more sustainable. We can create something. If you created a product online that you didn't really care about, maybe you'd launch it and you put it out there. But then four months down the road, you'd be like, okay, on to the next. But you've got a program that you started five years ago that you're still pushing out, that you're still passionate about. You're actually turning your first program into a book because you're that passionate about it.

It's different than just launching something.

Exactly. It's not just another thing. This is like, you know, this works, it inspires you. This seven day plan, it's sustainable and it all is actionable for people.

Yeah. So I have some specific questions because I know people are definitely, I'm sure wondering, for starters, if somebody listens to your podcast now, if they've listened to every podcast like me. Hi. Why the book too?

You know, the podcast is awesome. I think it gives a lot of people inspiration and insights about these legends or these inspiring people that are coming on. The book has got a lot of great stories and inspiration as well. The thing that a lot of people don't get from the podcast is these actionable exercises. So they want to know, okay, how do I do these things? How do I make it happen? And from all the years of me playing sports, sports at a high level in three different sports, competing against champions, I learned a lot of different practices and exercises that I applied to my business. And then in business world, I learned a lot of different tools that allowed me to accelerate my growth. And in relationships, the same thing. So the book at the end of every chapter has these tools on how to apply them in your life, how to take action in these certain principles.

Because then you take action and you're committed.

And I think that's, for me, the end of the chapters are the most important thing. Those five pages of exercises that we've.

Put together, and I love that because then it's more of a workbook in a way. And you, you're, you will take action. So it's not just reading and putting it on your shelf.

Exactly, exactly. So again, there's a lot of great books that have inspiration and theory, and I wanted to make sure that we added something that you're applying and you can see results. It's like your seven day jump start. It's like you don't just say, here are is the theory of what you're supposed to do every day, be inspired by these stories. You have that. But then you also say, take action doing this thing on day one.

Yes.

Take action on doing this day two. Right. You tell people, create the vision board. Here's how it's supposed to look. Now go do it. Now tell me the results you got. It's the same thing in here.

Who, if they don't listen to your podcast, who would benefit from this book?

You know, it's interesting because I have a wide range of audience who listens to the podcast. I would say if anyone who has not listened to the podcast and you're not fully happy with where you're at right now, or you have a dream, you don't know how to achieve it, or you just want to get to a next step and you've kind of been stuck at a plateau for a while. This is for you.

So this could really be with anything. It's your business, your relationships, your weight loss journey, really anything. It's just getting unstuck, really.

That's it, getting unstuck, or it's for people that are already achieving greatness but are looking to get to that next place.

Now a lot of times people will say, looking at you, you know, oh, he's so successful. He has this nice podcast. But that wasn't always the case with you. Because I do want to share that because there is, there's a little bit of misconception to somebody sees a new book launching and they say, well, of course he did this, he's that. But one thing that really draws me to Louis is that you did have this, a totally different life at one point. Can we talk a little bit about that?

Yeah, I mean, for me, I was living the dream. I was playing professional football, and that's all I cared about. And I know you had a dream life, too, where you were married, you had the corporate life, you had the family. But for me, it got sidetracked with this injury, and I didn't have a backup plan. I didn't know what I was gonna do with the rest of my life. So when I was injured, I was sleeping on my sister's couch for about a year and a half, trying to figure out, who am I? Like, my identity was literally gone because it was all wrapped up in one thing. And I don't know if you've ever experienced that.

Yeah, I know. It's a horrible feeling. You feel like a phony person then because you don't even know who you're supposed to be now.

Yeah. And maybe some people who are watching who you know, maybe you're wrapping up your identity in a relationship or your kids. And if your kids are out of the house now or you get a divorce, it's like, who are you? So I was in this discovery phase for a while of trying to figure out, okay, I'm 23, 24, what am I going to do for the rest of my life? I had no clue. So my confidence was gone because the thing that I was the most talented in, I couldn't do anymore. So I was like, what do I do now? And literally, that book was the catalyst for me just to start researching of how to create something for myself, how to be an entrepreneur. I never made money before in my life. I never sold anything. I was a truck driver for a while before that, and that was really. I was a bouncer at a club. And that was really the only thing I did to make money because my dad had supported me through high school and college and just said, go after your dream, and in the summers, come back and train full time for your dream. Like, don't worry about working in the summers. So after football is over, I was just like, do I go work a job that I don't want to do, or do I figure this thing out? And I decided for a couple years. Luckily, my sister let me crash for a year and a half rent free. Otherwise, I'd have been screwed.

She's going to collect now, though.

She's collecting. Trust me. I'm constantly paying her back. You know, with that process, I just had this. I had all the time in my hand, my one good hand. The other one was in a cast that I took a lot of action. I found Three key mentors early on who gave me great coaching. I really looked at my life as a sport. I said, what am I good at? I'm good at sports. I can't play anymore. So how can I make everything I'm doing into a sport? How can I make the online world a sport? How can I make networking a sport and make it fun? And what am I going to need to generate income and have my own apartment and then build a brand and a business? And I just looked at everything as, what do I need in terms of sports? And as I started to live my life that way, it started to become a lot more fun and a lot easier.

You know, it's amazing because I've interviewed a lot of people and I'm listening to your story and I think about how my best product, 7 Day Jumpstart, came about. And the commonality is that came from a struggle that you figured out a solution for, and then you turned around and were able to share it with others. And it sounds like you had a struggle. You were figuring it out. And then the podcast and the book, it all was your answer and it's gonna now help so many others.

One of the things I talk about in the book, one of the principles, is learning how to turn your adversity into your advantage. And a lot of the people I interview who are at the top of their game, the top 1%, including yourself in their industry, they face some type of adversity throughout their life. It's in order to grow, you have to experience adversity, you have to experience some type of transformation, pain, discomfort, in order to grow into something new.

Yes.

You know, the caterpillar feels like he or she is going to die just before it turns into the most beautiful, you know, flying butterfly. Right. And without that experience of I feel like I'm going to die, or I feel like this is extreme pain or extreme discomfort, or I am so uncertain of the future. Without that experience, you're not able to transform through into some other way. Without the experience of you going through, deciding that you're going to lose the 60 pounds and that this is painful. I'm going through a divorce. This sucks. I have no money. It was like the darkest probably you'd been in your adult life. Without experiencing that, you wouldn't have had the deceit, decision to change. You wouldn't have had like the, okay, enough is enough. Now I'm deciding to do something and take the action and be committed to it. So the adversities in my life have really supported Me in a big way. They sucked. I wish I didn't have to go through them, but I wouldn't change anything about them. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

I would not want to go back and do it again, but I wouldn't change it.

No, I get it. I completely get that.

And the greatest people that I've had on, they learn to embrace those adversities. They all say, even the people who had cancer and who had their parents who were killed or something, or they had experienced abuse, sexually or emotionally. None of them. They all say, I wouldn't wish this on anyone, but it's made me who I am. And they've learned to embrace it and move forward as opposed to have it.

Hold them back to the experiences that define us.

Exactly.

And it's what you do with that information that's gonna now inspire so many others. So it's amazing. Well, it's a great book. I was lucky enough to get a copy early.

Saw you're reading it by the beach. Yes.

I love it. I love it. Where can. Because I know everyone's. Please get this book. I'm telling you, not only is it a great read, it is going to be instrumental in helping you get to your goals. And plus, you guys met Lewis now, and he's just awesome. And you will feel like he's your best friend after reading this book. This is. It's like, I talk a lot about having mentors. And what I mean is not literally like calling somebody and saying, please mentor me, but really like learning and being a student. And this is such a great way to be a student of yours. And you will love this book. So where can they get it and how can they get it?

You can go to Amazon.com and just type in School of Greatness, or you can go to Lewishouse.com book. It'll take you right to Amazon. And it's also in every Barnes and Noble in the country if you're in the U.S. yeah.

And then. And he's. And he. Will people tag you and stuff on Twitter?

Yeah, tag me. If you're watching this, tag meshouse with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram and let us know what you enjoyed from this. The most. What you got out of him the most.

Yeah. And he'll probably say hi back to.

You because I will say hi.

How do you find the time?

I care. I know you're on there a lot, too.

Good.

Yeah.

Yeah. But seriously, a great book, and I hope you enjoyed listening to him. I'm gonna have all of the information down below on where you can learn more and get his book. But I know this is just gonna be a fabulous bestseller because, I mean, the person that wrote it's amazing and the content is just awesome. So thanks for. Thanks for being here.

Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Bye, guys.