956 Kevin Hart on His Secrets to Success and Building an Empire

"You have to experience some down to know why you’re getting up."This week, Lewis sits down with Kevin Hart to talk about his path to superstardom, from his early days as a struggling comedian to his current goal of becoming a billionaire entrepreneur. They discuss the lessons Kevin learned from past mistakes, the perspective he gained from his nearly-fatal car crash, and the habits that allow him to be successful. Kevin also shares insights from his new motivational audiobook, The Decision: Overcoming Today's BS for Tomorrow's Success. For more Kevin Hart on the School of Greatness, visit lewishowes.com/956. And text Lewis at 614-350-3960. Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Kevin Hart?

  I'm about winning. It's a bigger win when you show other people how to win. Opening up a door and allowing some people to come through the door and figure it out so they can open up more doors. That's a win.

• 0:10Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 956 with the one and only Kevin Hart. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:45Lewis Howes?

  One of the world's foremost entrepreneurs once said, "It's not about putting up with discomfort. It's about refusing to put up with comfort." And they also said, "A life of greatness is like an endless boxing match." Now, believe it or not, both of these pieces of advice came from the comedian and actor Kevin Hart in his new audiobook, "The Decision: Overcoming Today's BS for Tomorrow's Success", which is available exclusively on Audible. That's right, one of the biggest superstars in the entertainment world is trying to tap into the magic we make here on the School of Greatness. And the audiobook is hysterical. I was laughing throughout the entire time.

• 1:27Lewis Howes?

  And it's motivational. And Kevin is truly a life coach unlike any other, as he takes you through his mental fitness bootcamp. And I was lucky enough to talk intimately with Kevin this week about so many things that were just eye-opening and inspiring, real and relatable. We discussed about how he overcame self-doubt when no one was going to his shows as a comedian starting out. We talked about what winning in his life really means and what it really looks like to win. And how he's bounced back from some pretty significant mistakes to become a better person. We talk about the perspective he gained from his nearly fatal car crash last fall and new insights from quarantine. And finally, he revealed when he hopes to become

• 2:10Lewis Howes?

  a billionaire and when he wants to retire. I loved doing this interview. I got so much from it. And I believe you're gonna love this just as much from listening. If you do enjoy, please share it on your social media, text a friend, and inspire someone else today. So without further ado, let's dive into this episode with the one, the only Kevin Hart.

• 2:34Lewis Howes?

  Kevin Hart, welcome to the School of Greatness. Thank you so much for being here, my man. I appreciate it. I loved that you came out with this audiobook, The Decision, because it's exactly what people I feel like need more from you, is this kind of bigger brother talk of here's all the mistakes that I've made in my life, and here's what you shouldn't do, and here's what you should do. So I'm glad you finally came out with this, this book, man.

• 2:56Kevin Hart?

  You know, I think there's so many different reasons that are behind the development of this particular project. I mean, I think the main one comes from me just really being in a place of disbelief of just how the times are changing and how much we've lost the level of normalcy. We've lost the level of normalcy to the point where everybody's held to these standards that aren't realistic. You're held to the highs of the high without ever asking to be, or without ever saying that you should be. It's kind of, it's kind

• 3:39Kevin Hart?

  of crazy. And I think because of that, so many people are now getting in their way.

• 3:46Kevin Hart?

  So many people are getting in their own way, you know, and it's because of the judgment. It's because of the fear of what you think people think. The fear of the conversation that you have no idea about or, you know, or control over. It's a fear, but it's you in your own head. And what I've found with me through all the ups and downs, and there's definitely a lot of ups and there's a lot of downs, you know, I've been able to, to realize that some things you just can't change and the things that you can't change, you can't control, you can only get past and attempt to do better moving forward.

• 4:29Kevin Hart?

  And that's kind of what I've held on to in life and that's what's helped me get to where I am today. And this doesn't mean that I'm at some amazing place and standing on some amazing mountain and screaming down below. It just means that I have information that I think is valuable and that I think some people may want to hear. And, you know, i- if that's the case, then it's just a way to, to develop some mental fitness that, that you made out of known that you have the ability to do.

• 5:02Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's powerful, man. I love that. I love that during the audiobook process, you're making me laugh pretty much the whole time while you're teaching me a lesson of a mistake you made and you're telling it in a funny way so that we don't do the same thing ourselves. Something you mentioned about self doubt, I think this is huge for people to understand. You seem like a guy who has zero self doubt. And at the same point, you talk about the, the being liked and likable, the difference between being liked and likable. As a comedian, growing up, you had to do so many horrible shows where three people were in attendance, one person, whatever, 10 people, and it didn't go well. People aren't standing up laughing, they're not giving you standing ovations, they're booing, whatever it is.

• 5:47Lewis Howes?

  How do you get to the point where you show up day in, day out, every night to these places if you're not being liked or likable and no one's giving you reassurance that you're actually any good in the beginning?

• 5:59Kevin Hart?

  You know, I think that for me, uh, the-

• 6:04Kevin Hart?

  The best thing is this, is like, look, I understand that everybody's not gonna like you. That's, that's, that's a fact. Everybody's not gonna like you. And there was one moment where I felt like everybody was supposed to. I felt like

• 6:20Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 6:20Kevin Hart?

  Everybody is supposed to like me, man. I'm a nice guy. I'm a lovable, nice guy. Why wouldn't you like me? What I found, I was like, look, everybody's not gonna like you. And you can't change that. You can't control that. So it's my job to be happy with my attempt and what it is that I'm trying to do. That's my job. So, you know, as you're going to perform at said shithole or said small environment, I realized that each one of those opportunities was a way for me to work on me, my craft. And I'm supposed to take something out of that moment that's good, whether it's two laughs, whether it's 20,

• 7:01Kevin Hart?

  whether it's 100, I have to take something away from this experience and, and basically hold on to it and improve off of that.

• 7:12Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 7:13Kevin Hart?

  If, if I go do these things and everything about these things are always bad, well, that means that I'm, I'm doing something wrong. They can't always be bad. There has to be something good that's coming out of it. I'm just not, I'm not searching for it. So I found a way to search for the good. I found a way to search for, you know, the, the positive side of my experiences. Whether they're good or bad, there's a way to search for the good shit. And as I continued to do that, I developed a, a high level of shoulder shrug.

• 7:49Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 7:49Kevin Hart?

  You know?

• 7:50Lewis Howes?

  But that's not easy to do when you're, I mean, a foot shorter than all the comedians out there. People are just doubting you. You were talking about in your book how you can't even get an audition in the early days to the movie side of things. How do you increase confidence in yourself when there's just no, no, no, no?

• 8:07Kevin Hart?

  Well, because everybody's story is different. Everybody's story is different. And what I find is that even the easiest road is still met with some degrees of difficulty. At somewhere, some point, you're gonna go into some degree of difficulty. For example, I'm watching, uh, you know, the Jordan documentary.

• 8:33Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man, Last Dance, it's amazing.

• 8:35Kevin Hart?

  Right? I'm gonna tell you what I realized from the Jordan documentary.

• 8:37Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 8:39Kevin Hart?

  It's so dope, so amazing. You wanna know who I've been actually in awe of since watching this? Steve Kerr.

• 8:49Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man, the last two episodes with him, he's unbelievable.

• 8:52Kevin Hart?

  Steve Kerr, people don't even realize this, Steve Kerr is sitting on eight championships.

• 9:00Lewis Howes?

  Machine.

• 9:01Kevin Hart?

  Championships, listen, four with the Bulls, one with the Spurs, and he has three with the Warriors. But in between all of that, what seems like an easy road, a gray road, you find out that Steve got punched in the face by Mike. You find out that this, there was these bumps along the way that you would have never known. From the outside, you would have never known that Mike challenged Steve and the pressure that Steve felt when he was on this franchise to do certain thing. And I didn't have the athleticism. If I got passable, I had to hit the shot.

• 9:30Lewis Howes?

  You only had five shots a game, all that, yeah.

• 9:32Kevin Hart?

  Game, but if I missed any of those shots, the ball wasn't coming my way anymore. So I had to make sure, you would have never known. You would have never known. I say that to say and use it as an example for there are no easy roads. So when I was coming up and I'm not getting the auditions, I'm not getting the opportunities. I had to say to myself, it's going to come. If I put the work in, it has no choice but to come. Now, as I'm saying that and doing that, I'm looking around. There's certain comedians that were doing the same stuff over and over again for years and years and years.

• 10:15Kevin Hart?

  Certain comedians that felt comfortable with just making whatever the money was. It wasn't about the money, it was about the craft. So I knew that if I got better at the craft, that I would eventually get to the money. And that's what my focus was. Granted, I'm a part of a very small percentage and I, you know, you have to attach some luck to it. And, and the hard work with the luck is an amazing collaboration. So it ended up paying off, but I knew what I had to do. So there were no other options. I didn't have other baskets with eggs in it. This was it.

• 10:51Lewis Howes?

  There's no backup, no backup plan. So you weren't thinking of like, I'm gonna go to a job here. This is the only thing I've got.

• 10:56Kevin Hart?

  No.

• 10:57Lewis Howes?

  Now, when you were getting, you know, booed at and it wasn't going your way for years. Was it your mom that you come back to and say, well, I still believe in you. You're funny. You, you've got this. Did you have a, a group of friends that would actually encourage you or they kind of saying, what are you doing this for? You know, go get a real job.

• 11:15Kevin Hart?

  I don't think that, there were no, there were no other options, right? And there was nobody to really lean on because nobody saw the gold in comedy.

• 11:29Kevin Hart?

  You know, when you're trying and you tell your friends or, or your family members that you're doing standup comedy is not like

• 11:39Lewis Howes?

  There's no money.

• 11:40Kevin Hart?

  You're about to be a millionaire. You're gonna make, oh, nobody says that. They're like, what? You tell them, no, it's good luck with that, buddy. Nobody sees the light at the end of that tunnel. So that's, that's a vision that you have.

• 11:54Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 11:55Kevin Hart?

  And that you have to hone in on. Cause nobody else has that.

• 11:58Lewis Howes?

  How did you see that? That this is something you can make potentially a lot of money with or enough to live?

• 12:04Kevin Hart?

  I loved it.

• 12:06Kevin Hart?

  I loved it and there were people who did. So they obviously, there's obviously a, a a world of revenue that funnels through comedy. Why do all these comedy clubs all over exist? Why do these colleges book comedians every year and the colleges have to spend a certain amount of money on entertainment? Why are comedians the ones that are best suitable for hosting jobs, personality-driven jobs, et cetera? Radio personalities, there's so many doors that get opened.

• 12:39Lewis Howes?

  Talk shows, yeah.

• 12:40Kevin Hart?

  Yeah, from the world of comedy. So when you look at that and you realize that, it's just about figuring out how to get there.

• 12:47Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 12:48Kevin Hart?

  That's the hardest part. How do you get there? How do you go down that road? What are the, what are the goals? What are the accomplishments that are baby accomplishments, but that become bigger? The first one is getting to the comedy clubs. Like getting to the comedy clubs, that's major. Now I'm a working comedian and I'm, I'm working. Am I a regular, uh, host? Am I a comedy club's feature? All right, that's here. So now how do I work on being a headliner? Let me get some material so that way when I do get the opportunity, I'm ready.

• 13:21Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 13:22Kevin Hart?

  Oh wait, but how do people come see me? I gotta figure that out. Oh shit, I'm gonna start doing what? I gotta get, I gotta get my likeliness up at the time. This is, these are all little hills that you have to climb. But after climbing them, they pay off.

• 13:38Lewis Howes?

  Do you think it was harder for you to learn how to be a great comedian? Or learn about the business of building your personal brands, your audience, selling tickets, marketing, sales, packaging, positioning? Which one was harder?

• 13:54Kevin Hart?

  Becoming a good comedian is definitely the hardest. Comedy doesn't come easy.

• 13:59Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 14:00Kevin Hart?

  You know, the, the most talented, you still gotta learn how to be a comedian. You still have to learn how to tell a joke. You still gotta know beginning, middle and end, a punchline, a segue, a set. You still have to do all those things. So, you know, we're in one of the most critiqued professions in the world. You know, if you're not funny, boo you. Boo. It's the easiest shit in the world. Boo.

• 14:29Kevin Hart?

  Easiest shit to do in the world. Uh, it takes a lot of skill and craftsmanship to, to be a good comedian. Um, you know, so honing in on that craft and, and perfecting that craft or doing your best at it too. That's a, that's a job within itself. Making people laugh is easy. If you're funny, naturally funny, but being comedian is a different ballgame.

• 15:00Lewis Howes?

  Hmm. I, I've got kind of a personal question for you. I want to ask you about, I don't have kids. I've got a girlfriend, just moved in a few months ago. I'm curious, and I ask this to a lot of successful men out there in the world. I'm curious, do you think that you'd be able to build the empire you have as a single man? With essentially quote unquote, more time to go out and do the things you want to do? Master your craft, build your business? Or do you believe that having a great family, a great wife is the key to part of your success and growth as well?

• 15:35Kevin Hart?

  It's, I think that you, you definitely need that. Can you be single and have success? Of course, there's several people out there that, that do. Um, can you also not be focused? Absolutely. You know, the world of fun is never ending, if you want it to be. Every night can be a fantastic night, but every morning can be a, a rough groggy one. You know? And, and that's what the single life, that's the attraction.

• 16:17Kevin Hart?

  It's just freedom and there's, there's an amazing reward that comes within that. Um, but for, for me, I don't, I don't want that. I wouldn't be good with that. And I don't think that.

• 16:34Kevin Hart?

  The level of success that I have reached, I would have been able to reach with

• 16:40Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 16:40Kevin Hart?

  With a crazy amount of freedom. Now granted, human, that there's nobody that's gonna get thrown a curve ball of success, fame, money, popularity, and not fall victim to any of the consequences. You eventually will. You will. It's just, it's no way, it's no way around it, especially if you're younger. You will. And after you fall victim to whatever consequences, and there's so many different variations of them, you know, consequences can be spending money and, and, you know,

• 17:23Kevin Hart?

  not realizing the things that came with making money and blowing that load. Uh, it could be drugs. It could be being mean and ignorant to people. It could be, uh, infidelity. It could be, you know, you, there, there's so many different things, you know, uh, kids all over. You could, there's so many different things that can, that can act as a consequence, you know, to, I guess you could say the, the freedom and opportunities that come because of your freedom with success.

• 18:03Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 18:03Kevin Hart?

  I personally, I, I needed the gotta get home, gotta be home, can't do. Did that stop me from being a dickhead in the couple years? No. Uh, you know, did I learn from my mistakes? Of course. Uh, are they mistakes that I would take back if I could? No, I wouldn't. Because I wouldn't be able to understand at the level that I do now. You know what I mean?

• 18:32Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 18:33Kevin Hart?

  So, so without those mistakes and hard punches in the stomach of reality of life, then you don't have any space to grow. You don't, you don't have lesson to learn. So, I can't say.

• 18:50Kevin Hart?

  That I would have been able to achieve.

• 18:52Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 18:53Kevin Hart?

  Cause you, and you also need that, you need the security of an environment that's a good environment and not an environment created off of what you have.

• 19:05Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 19:05Kevin Hart?

  You are.

• 19:06Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 19:07Kevin Hart?

  And if you're engulfed in that world, you know.

• 19:11Lewis Howes?

  left and right.

• 19:12Kevin Hart?

  And, and how much of it is for you as an individual and as a good person.

• 19:20Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 19:21Kevin Hart?

  And how much of it is influenced by the world that you're in and what you have.

• 19:27Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I love what you said here. And earlier you talked about the expectation that people have as human beings is so great right now. It's so high that the world is judging everyone who has any influence to be perfect on every level of every word they say, action they take. And yet, what I'm hearing you say is you need to fail, you need to make mistakes, you need to be an idiot sometimes. So you have perspective and it sounds like for the next decade, two, maybe more, you're going to make a lot more mistakes.

• 19:56Kevin Hart?

  I mean, you don't, you don't know what you're gonna do. Like that's the, that's the amazing thing about life. Like that's the, that's literally the amazing thing about life. You have no idea. It's your job to try to do your best to grow and to set up whatever you can for those around you.

• 20:17Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 20:18Kevin Hart?

  And if you don't have people around you, then you're living for yourself. But it's your job to do the best that you can in doing that.

• 20:26Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 20:27Kevin Hart?

  Along the way, you're gonna make mistakes. Here's the shit that, that is so simplistic that people just don't get.

• 20:35Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 20:36Kevin Hart?

  Who do you think plans to go to jail? Who?

• 20:41Lewis Howes?

  No one.

• 20:41Kevin Hart?

  What, what bank robber do you think ever put the plan together to rob a bank to get caught after?

• 20:48Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, not many.

• 20:50Kevin Hart?

  Who, you don't think they all think that they're gonna be the ones to get away? Yeah, do you don't think that in their mind, this is, this is gonna be a life-changing moment? You don't think that people that overdose on drugs think that there's no shot that it can happen to them?

• 21:07Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 21:09Kevin Hart?

  You don't think that there's, there's actual mistakes that happen within bad decision making? There is. You don't think that the person that bungee jumped thought that this will come back up? You think that person knew it was snack? These are all just really, just examples that I'm pulling out my ass. But these are all examples.

• 21:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 21:34Kevin Hart?

  You know, my little girl, my daughter, she went to go pet a dog and the dog start growling and barking real crazy. My daughter ain't went to go pet a dog since. You think that she thought in her mind this dog is nice because all dogs are supposed to be nice? It's not until you see that they're not that you know that they're not. So I say all that to say, you have to experience some down to know why you're getting up. You know, like this, this whole, the whole thing of a cancel culture and the consequences being so severe for so many. It's ridiculous. Do I think that there should be consequences for people's actions? Absolutely, absolutely.

• 22:19Kevin Hart?

  But are you telling me that you should never be able to recover from a mistake? Then why don't the people go to jail?

• 22:26Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 22:27Kevin Hart?

  Aren't you supposed to go to jail?

• 22:28Lewis Howes?

  To learn.

• 22:29Kevin Hart?

  To learn from your mistakes so you can get out and then do better. That's what this whole reform thing is. It's like you send me to jail to go do better and get better. And then I come out and because I was in jail, nobody wants to allow me to get better. It's a backwards thing. So are, are we teaching lessons or not? Are we, do we want people to improve or do we not?

• 22:55Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 22:56Kevin Hart?

  What do we, what do we say?

• 22:57Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. How do you personally handle the emotional side or the weight or the pressure of media or whatever? Just the online internet world or potential sponsors or brands or shows? They're saying like, oh, you're in the middle of some adversity right now or some controversy. How do you personally deal with the emotional weight to not let it affect you? Because it seems like you just continue to thrive no matter what mistake you make here or there.

• 23:23Kevin Hart?

  Well, it's, it's A, there is no pressure.

• 23:28Kevin Hart?

  And here's what I mean when I say, there's no pressure. Okay, if you make a bed, lay in your bed. Bottom line, you made it, laying it, okay? So in laying in that bed, whatever comes with it is what you're willing to take because you made it. Right now, yes, I have to maneuver differently. Yes, I have to make sure I carry myself in a certain way. I'm a CEO, I'm a brand, I'm a business, and there's a lot of layers that go underneath the machine that that runs the world of of Kevin Hart now. Uh, there's a lot of people that are involved in that world, so

• 24:11Kevin Hart?

  I don't have the good attitude, but I do have an attitude of I've done my share of shit. And in doing it, I've addressed it. And in addressing it, I made my share of mistakes within addressing it. Learn from that too. I've done all of that. None of this stuff has affected the character that I have. None of it has affected me to start to doubt me.

• 24:46Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, really?

• 24:47Kevin Hart?

  I am.

• 24:48Lewis Howes?

  Never doubt yourself after all this stuff. Wow.

• 24:51Kevin Hart?

  I know who I am, I know what I am. And in knowing what I am and who I am, you can go look in the mirror and go, oh, that was a dumb move. Oh, you're you're a jackass. I'm not a bad person. So within my relationships and partnerships, I think that I've done a good job of letting, you know, them all know who I am. And they see who I am, and we have a really good relationship. So in the future, moving forward, I have a job to do to protect those relationships because I care about them, I value them.

• 25:30Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 25:30Kevin Hart?

  So so I can't just, I can't just move willy nilly because that means that I'm not, I'm not staying true to my relationships. And and that's what the older you get and the more you experience, things you learn. Not just about you. It's about others that can be affected by what you do. So now I see that, I understand that. The younger version of me didn't see that or understand that. And there was a high level of, "Man, look, I'm not gonna deal with this. Cause this ain't got shit to do with, with this." And that's not the right attitude.

• 26:15Kevin Hart?

  But if I didn't have the wrong attitude when I had it then, and if I didn't understand what I know now, I wouldn't be prepared for this next wave of, of shit that may be coming my way, or may not.

• 26:30Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 26:30Kevin Hart?

  But if it does, I'm prepared for it now. I'm at least prepared. I'm at least, I'm in a different space of understanding. I'm in a different space of knowledge.

• 26:44Lewis Howes?

  Mm-hmm. It's almost like going back to The Last Dance. You know, Jordan was talking about the, you know, when he had to go through all of it publicly, how much that took a toll on him at first, but then it gave him the experience for the future and for his friends when they went through scandals and stuff, to be able to be a leader in that situation and have more knowledge. And it sounds like you're in that situation right now. I'm curious about your wife. I asked this, The Rock did a live about a month ago on his Instagram, and I asked a question on there and he answered it. And it was a really powerful response. And I'm curious what yours is to this question. The question is, what is the thing you admire the most about your wife that most people don't know about?

• 27:22Kevin Hart?

  Strongest person in the world. Strongest person in the world. And her, her understanding for reality versus false reality is so crystal clear. You know, it's not, it's a, it's a tough seat to sit in, you know, being my wife.

• 27:52Kevin Hart?

  It's a tough seat to sit in. You know, we're, we're, it's, it's, it's crazy to say this, but there's this, there's this movie that people love to watch. And it's called The Rise and Fall.

• 28:06Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 28:07Kevin Hart?

  And the tickets to the rise are sold out. But the tickets to see what a fall looks like, I mean, you're talking about a sellout on top of a sellout. I mean, it's, it's the most watched thing ever. So naturally, when you get to a certain space or a certain level, you know, I don't know why, but there's a, there's a root against. And she experienced a lot of that, you know? A lot of, a lot of that turmoil that we went through, you know, it's girl, don't be with no man that's going to disrespect you, or don't do this, or don't do that.

• 28:47Lewis Howes?

  It's almost like a lot of people are against her for, yeah.

• 28:50Kevin Hart?

  It's insane. It's, it's insane. And, you know, the, the one thing, we had a talk, and the one, the one thing that I told my wife, I said, whatever you do, I'm, I'm here, I'm going to be supportive of. You know, whatever you do, you decided you want to go and leave the honey, by all means. No matter what, she's taken care of. No matter what, you're the mother of my child. You know, my head's white now, we're not together, but she's taken care of. Mother of my kids. I'm not, I'm not a bad person. So I said, that's, this isn't about money. This is about you, your emotions, or whatever.

• 29:33Kevin Hart?

  But understand, the best company to a lonely woman is another lonely woman.

• 29:43Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 29:46Kevin Hart?

  And I said, look at all the advice that you're getting.

• 29:49Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 29:51Kevin Hart?

  And look at the lives of the people giving the advice.

• 29:58Kevin Hart?

  And you tell me how many of them in a, are in a relationship.

• 30:04Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 30:05Kevin Hart?

  That's, that can be considered a solid household. A marriage or even you show, and, and if you don't see that, separate yourself from that for a second and then make your decision. When she looked at at the time, all of the negative energy and negative information came from people that didn't have that. So, people that don't have that, don't understand why you don't wanna let that go. Cause you have something that you're actually building and working on.

• 30:41Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 30:42Kevin Hart?

  And she came to an amazing conclusion. Um, I like the fact that we have a family, that we have a household. And I like the fact that we now got a job to do to get better. And, and that's what you owe me. You owe me

• 31:01Kevin Hart?

  the get better.

• 31:04Kevin Hart?

  And held me accountable. It wasn't a walk in the park. But it was her understanding, but we don't let the outside world affect our inside. And I credit her for setting that.

• 31:19Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 31:19Kevin Hart?

  For setting that tone.

• 31:21Lewis Howes?

  And what's the biggest lesson you've learned from her personally in the last few years with just the challenges, the ups and downs?

• 31:28Kevin Hart?

  If, if a pregnant woman

• 31:32Kevin Hart?

  went through what she went through, delivered a, a, a healthy baby, what an amazing mother to not just her child, but my two kids, when she exited as a stepmother, stepped up on so many different levels while taking one of the biggest punches in life. I don't know, I don't know what's stronger. You know what I mean? Like that's, you're supposed to break.

• 32:01Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 32:02Kevin Hart?

  So you really get to see who people are when adversity puts itself on display.

• 32:09Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 32:09Kevin Hart?

  Who, who, who, who are you?

• 32:13Kevin Hart?

  And who are we? And, you know, I've had to do the same. Where I've had to really ask myself, who am I? When shit really hit the fan. You know, when these moments hit. When these things hit.

• 32:30Kevin Hart?

  There's a reason why not many people get up after.

• 32:34Lewis Howes?

  A lot of people don't get up.

• 32:35Kevin Hart?

  The reason why a lot of people don't get up. These things are, are hard things to overcome and deal with. They're very hard. So, when you, when you, when you do make it out of those storms. And when you are an individual that can go, wow, I can't believe we experienced that. And you look back and go, oh, my God, that was how many years ago? But look at us now. Look at where we are now. That's a, that's a thing. That's a, that's something to hold on to.

• 33:06Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, and what I've noticed is you almost want to have friends who have gone through adversity. Cause you, you start to learn about who your friends truly are at your lowest times, right?

• 33:16Kevin Hart?

  Some character. I mean, my kids, me and my kids had a talk the other day. You know, they, they, they had an attitude. They're going through some stuff. You know, they were going through something and they were like really down about it. They were just pissed. They want to do something. And I'm like, I said, then it's crazy. But you guys don't understand. I was like, oh, life is so not perfect. Life is so not perfect. I said, and you guys don't understand that you've yet to be hitting the face with life.

• 33:43Lewis Howes?

  With challenges, real challenges.

• 33:45Kevin Hart?

  You've only seen perfect. You, you haven't seen.

• 33:49Lewis Howes?

  Success, yeah.

• 33:50Kevin Hart?

  You haven't seen challenges. And I said, this is an example of a challenge. I say, and now in dealing with this, I'm going to use a phrase and that phrase is cowboy up.

• 34:02Lewis Howes?

  The new, the new auto book, yeah.

• 34:04Kevin Hart?

  My son, you know, to my son and my daughter. And it's like, yo, cowboy to fuck up. And right now you're living in a time where if you say that, you have some people that are challenged. Don't talk to kids. What does that mean? Hey, I'm gonna tell you what it means. Cowboyin' up means strap up your boots and get to work. You get it done, whether you like it or not, you gotta get it done. In this case, go through your turmoil, but unfortunately dad can't be here to pick up the pieces. Go through it. These are the things that make you better. These are the things that give you character. You'll learn from it later. And I really embraced that moment because I'm like, this is a lesson.

• 34:45Kevin Hart?

  They'll get to walk out of this. I said, it may not hit today, it may not hit next week, but eventually it's gonna hit.

• 34:52Kevin Hart?

  I know my lessons have hit. I can tell you, my wife has learned shit that acted as lessons that have hit. But if you don't embrace those moments, then you, then you're, you're missing out on the beauty of life.

• 35:06Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 35:06Kevin Hart?

  You're missing out on the, on the lessons that come with it. And I just think it's a great opportunity for me to highlight a lot of moments. And give people a understanding and visual as to how I dealt with, where I got the strength to move on and how. Uh, why understanding me and myself is the most beneficial thing that I've ever done in my life.

• 35:36Kevin Hart?

  You know, and, and, and this is just information. This isn't a way that you have to live.

• 35:43Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 35:44Kevin Hart?

  This isn't a book that you gotta follow or else you're gonna lose. No. It's just information. So many people are afraid to give and share information. I'm not, I'm just sharing information.

• 35:57Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. You've got a lot of, uh, I'm loving these stories. I really appreciate it. You're very public about your lifestyle, the things you do, how you work out, you know, you're posting a lot of things all the time on social media. And you talk more in this book about the mindset of things. I'm curious if you can share the non-negotiables for you on a daily basis internally, on the inside of your mind, of your heart, of your soul. What are the things that you need to do? I know externally, you're working out consistently, you're doing certain things, you're doing the hard work. Physically, but internally, do you say something to yourself? Do you mentally take notes about? You know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna hug and kiss my wife and kids every morning?

• 36:38Lewis Howes?

  Is that, what are the non-negotiables on a day-to-day basis for you that make you better?

• 36:44Kevin Hart?

  Non-negotiables, um.

• 36:47Lewis Howes?

  Or maybe habits and routines that are, maybe you miss every now and then, but you wanna hit as much as possible?

• 36:52Kevin Hart?

  Uh, no day starts without, uh, me working on myself, which is a workout, you know? My workouts just have a, a meaning, and that meaning is self-improvement. It's not necessarily just about the look, it's about my mind, it's about knowing that I'm getting up, and I am putting some effort and energy into me at the top of my day. Making sure that my wife and my kids know that I love them on a day-to-day basis. You don't know what life has planned, so there is no day that should go by without that communication.

• 37:35Kevin Hart?

  And I'll say now, really focusing and thinking on the future, but also processing the now.

• 37:48Lewis Howes?

  How does that look?

• 37:49Kevin Hart?

  Yeah, it's like, well, the future, the future looks bright because I wanted to be bright. And that's the thing, like, those dreams become reality if you really do believe them, and if you put the work into them. You can't just dream just a dream. You can't just dream and expect it to show up. That's not, that's too different, you can't do that. It's, oh my God, I, I dreamed of one day having, well, what are you doing to make that dream come true? It doesn't just, it doesn't, that's not how it works. Something has to be put into execution to make a dream happen, so, and understanding that.

• 38:31Kevin Hart?

  What are my affirmations? What are the things that I'm that I'm speaking on? What are the things that I want? What's the what's the energy that I'm putting out there? To myself, to my team, to my family, like, what am I working on? Forty years old, what does it look like at fifty?

• 38:52Kevin Hart?

  You know, am I done at fifty? Am I working to be done at fifty? If so, what should I have by that time? Where should I be at at forty-five? Like, these are the things that I just I take a lot of pride and energy and effort into vetting out and into thinking. So, a lot of the things that we do, these aren't impromptu moments. This stuff is well thought out, calculated. It's it's been on purpose for quite some time.

• 39:21Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. What are you dreaming about for the next ten years for your future?

• 39:25Kevin Hart?

  Um, I think the biggest one is just my business surpassing my celebrity. You know?

• 39:32Lewis Howes?

  What does that what does that mean in terms of revenue, in terms of?

• 39:36Kevin Hart?

  Well, a lot of a lot of the thing is just the money. Like I was saying, you know, I want to be a billionaire. And it's not just about the money that comes with being a billionaire. It's about the story attached to my name. You know, it's about where I come from, what I did, and about the younger kids that can go, wow, it's it's possible. Right? It's achievable. It's it's possible. And it's something that not many of my particular people get the opportunity to do

• 40:14Kevin Hart?

  or or be a part of. It's a it's a world um that is very far a few and in between. So, if I can get in that world and show the blueprint as to how along the way, create jobs and and change lives, then that's an amazing moment. That's an amazing thing.

• 40:40Lewis Howes?

  Do you have a date that you would like to be a billionaire by? Is there a year, a date? Have you thought about that?

• 40:45Kevin Hart?

  Shit, the world is perfect today at three o'clock.

• 40:49Lewis Howes?

  But if you're dreaming of the future, what would it look like for you if you could be a billionaire? By when? I'm just curious.

• 40:54Kevin Hart?

  I mean, look, in in ten years, in a perfect world when I'm fifty. I would like to battle with the decision of possibly retiring. At fifty, you know, and.

• 41:06Lewis Howes?

  What does that mean retiring your business, retiring comedy, retiring movies?

• 41:10Kevin Hart?

  I think it means just sitting down. I think it means sitting down, you know, being in quarantine and being with my family on a day to day. Being with the wife, the kids and the dogs and and just. Just being here, you know, that's a it's a nice feeling. And at some point, when you when you get on the other side of life. Uh, for me. I wanna I wanna slow down. To enjoy that other side, you know, the first half come out the gates. Come out the gates and we're running.

• 41:50Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 41:51Kevin Hart?

  And and at fifty, if we are blessed enough to get there. That's the start of the other side.

• 42:00Kevin Hart?

  So what does that other side look like? What do you want it to look like? What do you want to do? I think for me, I just wanted to be a little slower.

• 42:07Lewis Howes?

  Did you start to have that perspective after the car accident and? Uh, you know, you had the car accident, then you came back for a month or two, then quarantine. And in your book, you really talk about actually the importance of solitude. Did you come to that importance in the last year or is that something you've always had because you're this outgoing? You know, personality, but I know that your. Your alone time is so important to you as well.

• 42:35Kevin Hart?

  I I think it was definitely enhanced. And enhanced after that, it definitely.

• 42:44Kevin Hart?

  It definitely was. Much bigger, it was, it was. This this just shows you that you're not in control. You know, and when you're not in, when you're not in control.

• 43:01Kevin Hart?

  Or when you think you are, it's even a bigger mind. It's like, what was I, I'm tripping. I'm tripping. Like at any point in time, this can be over. It all can be over. So make sure that you just take the time to let those know, or those closest to you around you know, what they mean to you and, and how much you love them, et cetera. Like this is a, it's something that you should make a priority and that you should just be conscious of. And I think there was a period of time where I wasn't.

• 43:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 43:35Kevin Hart?

  Where I lost that. And that, that, for that, I'm glad that, you know, I had a nice little eye opener.

• 43:44Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 43:44Kevin Hart?

  You know what I mean?

• 43:45Lewis Howes?

  Of course.

• 43:46Kevin Hart?

  It came right on time.

• 43:47Lewis Howes?

  Now, you and The Rock's relationship is very public. You've done so many projects together. He's got a few years on you.

• 43:54Kevin Hart?

  Yeah.

• 43:55Lewis Howes?

  And I'm curious, what's the biggest lesson he's taught you that is actually you've put into practice? And you've seen in great results in your personal life, career, business, from his teaching to you mentorship? And what's the lesson you taught him for his personal life or career that you saw help him tremendously over the last half a decade?

• 44:16Kevin Hart?

  Well, you know what he is, man? He, he really is a hard worker and he's, he's a guy that's adamant about, about breaking new ground.

• 44:27Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 44:27Kevin Hart?

  About doing, doing the unthinkable, you know, like he's, he goes after it and I, and I only, I can only credit him. I can only take my hat off to him because he's doing it at the highest level possible. And he's still going. He's still pushing, still pushing. So, you know, you, look, you, I said time after time again, we're all writing a book, man. And at the end of the day, when you close that book, what do you want people to know about you? What, what is your story?

• 45:00Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 45:01Kevin Hart?

  You know, you can make it as dope as you want, or you can make it as uninteresting as you want. Some people, best book on earth, others don't.

• 45:10Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Was there anything you taught him early on that you've seen him apply and actually implement?

• 45:16Kevin Hart?

  He's learned it all from me.

• 45:19Lewis Howes?

  He's learned it all from you.

• 45:21Kevin Hart?

  Yeah, I teach him everything. No, man, we're just, we're just you guys that, that are so, we're, we're so open to one another and we really talk and we give, it's not necessarily advice, we just give each other information.

• 45:39Kevin Hart?

  And, and we both utilize it, you know? And, and we are, there's a, there's a supportive competitive nature that exists there.

• 45:48Lewis Howes?

  You say supportive competitive, competitive nature?

• 45:50Kevin Hart?

  Yes, yes. So in other words, it's like, hey, man, I'm doing this. Hey, I was thinking about doing, I think I'm gonna do it too. Hey, I just did. You know what, man? That's a great idea. I'm gonna do it too. It's not within the, I'm gonna be better than you and do, it's not that. It's, you know, and this is what our, our world suffers from. You know, people feel like they gotta be the best or they gotta be number one, but there's so much room out here for so many. It's just information is the only thing that's limiting the opportunities.

• 46:22Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 46:23Kevin Hart?

  Everybody wants to be, keep it a secret. Everybody wants to keep the road a secret or how a secret. And it shouldn't be. It shouldn't be. There, there is no gold starters given at the end of the day for being the only one in there.

• 46:39Lewis Howes?

  So would you say you're more about collaboration over competition?

• 46:42Kevin Hart?

  Uh, I'm about, I'm about winning. And, and, and winning is a bigger win when you show other people how to win. That's a bigger win. Opening up a door and allowing some people to come through the door and figuring it out so they can open up more doors. That's a win.

• 46:59Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 47:01Kevin Hart?

  But that's my way of thinking. I, I wanna see other people do it, but I think that's the problem that we suffer from in today's time, that people just don't understand that there's a world that has space for a lot. And it's just about us being open with sharing how. And, you know, you look at now, right? The pandemic hit. How many hundreds of millions of dollars were raised for world hunger? I mean, hundreds of millions, right? Why does it take a pandemic?

• 47:38Kevin Hart?

  Why does it take a pandemic for us to understand that, you know, starvation is real? Figuring out food is real. Some people's needs are real.

• 47:52Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 47:52Kevin Hart?

  People don't have. It takes the most drastic thing to get the attention of when they're shitting. This is, this could be a cycle of what you raise money for. Whether it's once a month, whether it's twice a month, whatever. I mean, world hunger is a serious thing. The water in Flint, Michigan has been dirty and filthy for how long?

• 48:18Lewis Howes?

  Long time.

• 48:19Kevin Hart?

  And they've had a problem with fixing it. But we raised 400 million or whatever through the course of a pandemic to fix and solve.

• 48:28Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 48:30Kevin Hart?

  Just showing you, it, it, you can dig into the simplicity of just thinking and logic. That we complicate so much.

• 48:38Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. A couple of final questions for you, Kevin. I appreciate your time, man. I know how powerful and important your mom was in your life and you talk about her openly a lot in your series and, and everything. What would you say is the overall greatest lesson she taught you? That you really lean on today even more so than when you were younger?

• 49:01Kevin Hart?

  To not do anything halfway. You're gonna do something, give it your all. We don't do anything halfway. There's no value in that.

• 49:12Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 49:13Kevin Hart?

  There is no value in doing something halfway. Either give it your all or don't do it. Don't do it.

• 49:22Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 49:23Kevin Hart?

  Plain and simple.

• 49:25Lewis Howes?

  This is a question I ask everyone at the end. It's called the three truths. So I'd like you to imagine that you're as old as you want to be. But one day you gotta, you gotta turn the lights off and you gotta call it quits. And you've accomplished every dream you can imagine. Everything has come true and you've lived as long as you want to live. You've created everything, written tons of books, more audiobooks will come out. But for whatever reason, you got to take all of your content and information with you. And no one has access to your words, movies, content anymore. But you got to leave behind three things you know to be true about all the lessons you've learned in life to the world. And this is all we would have.

• 50:04Kevin Hart?

  Okay.

• 50:05Lewis Howes?

  What would you say are your three truths that you would share to us?

• 50:09Kevin Hart?

  Three truths.

• 50:10Lewis Howes?

  Three truths, three things that this is all the world would have to remember of you as lessons to live with from your life.

• 50:17Kevin Hart?

  As lessons to live with in life, three things. Live, love, and laugh. I say it all the time. Hashtag it, I mean it.

• 50:29Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 50:30Kevin Hart?

  Live, love, laugh. Do those things as much as you possibly can. Think you're, you're, you're setting yourself up for a nice, for a nice future in life.

• 50:44Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. I've got, this is my final question before I ask it. I want to acknowledge you for a minute, Kevin, for your incredible generosity, the humor you bring to the world, the and more so the work ethic. I think in your Twitter bio, you don't even say what you do as this, you know, big entertainer. You just say, I work hard.

• 51:03Kevin Hart?

  I work hard.

• 51:04Lewis Howes?

  And I think that's something that you don't have to be the best in the world at some skill. But you can be really good or great. It's just putting in that hard work for decades. And your example, you know, you're not perfect, you make mistakes, but your example to keep showing up consistently is something I really admire and acknowledge about you. And if people know that and see that, then I hope that inspires them as well. And in this audio book by Audible, The Decision: Overcoming Today's BS for Tomorrow's Success, you dive in and talk about all these things that are just so inspiring. Everyone needs to get this, I'm telling you, I could not stop listening to how funny it is, how relatable it is, and how insightful it is.

• 51:48Lewis Howes?

  And I want everyone to go download this right now. It's out now, when this comes out. What do you, what do you want people to know about the decision and why they need to get this?

• 51:58Kevin Hart?

  It is a great listen.

• 52:00Lewis Howes?

  It's so funny.

• 52:00Kevin Hart?

  I'm not here to, to over persuade or oversell. Guys, I'm telling you right now, it's, it's really good, you know, I don't, uh... I don't, I don't, like I said, I don't do anything to do it halfway. So if I can't do it at a thousand percent, I don't do it at all. The book is really good.

• 52:21Lewis Howes?

  It's powerful, man. It's hard for me to get through an audio book and I couldn't stop turning it, uh, listening to it. And I was gonna say, turn the page, but click the button for the next chapter. Um, it's only on Audible, guys. You gotta get it. Everyone who listens to this show, it's gonna be perfect for you. So make sure to go to Audible, download it, or you can go to Kevin Hart's, uh, and make sure to tag Kevin Hart over on Instagram when you buy it. Post it on Twitter, tag Kevin, let you know that you listened to it from the School of Greatness. Is there anything else you want to share before I ask the last question?

• 52:50Kevin Hart?

  I'm five four.

• 52:51Lewis Howes?

  I'm six four, so they give something in common. You've got a little gap there.

• 52:57Lewis Howes?

  Final question for you, Kevin. I hope we get to do this again in the, in the, in the future in, in person someday. But my final question is, what's your definition of greatness?

• 53:05Kevin Hart?

  My def- definition of greatness? Happiness within what you do. That's what I would say. That's a, that's a nice definition of greatness. There's happiness within what you do. And you achieve a high level of greatness because that's what, that's what a lot of people are searching to find. That thing that makes them happy. So if you found that and you're doing that, take my hat off to you. Take my hat off to you and I say, congrats. And to those that haven't, uh, just tell you that one day you will, and use the thing that you're doing now that you may not be the happiest with, to get you to the place that you will find that joy.

• 53:49Lewis Howes?

  Kevin Hart. My man, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate your wisdom and your experience and, uh, I hope to do some future, uh, for the next book.

• 53:58Kevin Hart?

  Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you, man.

• 54:00Lewis Howes?

  Appreciate it, man. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks, Kevin.

• 54:06Lewis Howes?

  My friend, I hope you enjoyed this so very much. And if this is your first time here, please subscribe to the School of Greatness over on Apple or Spotify or wherever you're listening to your podcast. And check us out over on YouTube and TikTok. Yes, we are creating some innovative, unique content over on TikTok. Make sure to follow me @lewis over there. And if you enjoyed this, please share it with a friend, text someone, post it on your social media, and make sure to tag Kevin Hart as well, so he knows that you're listening and what you enjoyed from this interview. And I love these two great quotes that Kevin uses in his audiobook, The Decision. "Perfect scores exist, but perfect people don't. So stop trying to be so perfect and just try to be better every single day."

• 54:49Lewis Howes?

  Also, "The goal is not to be liked, but to be likable." Even at the top of the entertainment industry, he's working hard and growing and pushing every day to be more likable and not necessarily to be liked all the time. So whenever you're thinking about your life, your dreams, your passion, your goals, the goal should be to be likable, but not everyone is going to like what you do. People are going to be afraid, people are going to be scared, people are going to doubt you. That's okay. You've got to be focused on your vision, your dreams, and your goals, and keep working hard every single day and learn from what Kevin has done in his mistakes and his successes. Again, a big thank you for Kevin Hart for coming on and for sharing his heart, for opening up,

• 55:31Lewis Howes?

  for sharing his insights, his wisdom, his stories to help you unlock your greatness. And again, I love you so very much. I'm so grateful you decided to take some time today. And as always, you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.