Teddy Swims: “It Was the CRAZIEST Thing!” How I MANIFESTED My Record Deal in 6 MONTHS!

Today, Lewis welcomes the incredibly soulful Teddy Swims, an artist from Atlanta who pours his heart into every note he sings. His debut album, "I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1)," is not just a collection of songs, but a journey of self-discovery and emotional healing. Teddy opens up about his personal battles, the bumpy road to stardom, and how music has been his greatest ally. Join us as Teddy shares his transformative rise from local talent to chart-topping success, and the profound life lessons he’s picked up on this incredible journey. Listen to his debut album I've Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1) out now! Including the hit single, "Lose Control," which just reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In this episode you will learnThe importance of self-forgiveness and healing in personal growth. How music can serve as a profound medium for dealing with personal challenges. The realities of pursuing a career in music and the resilience required to succeed. How to stay inspired and keep believing in your dreams during tough times. Strategies for managing ego and maintaining authenticity in the face of fame. For more information go to www.lewishowes.com/1611For more Greatness text PODCAST to +1 (614) 350-3960More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:Rick Rubin – https://link.chtbl.com/1536-podHozier – https://link.chtbl.com/1596-podRobin Sharma – https://link.chtbl.com/1599-pod 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.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  I needed that that feeling of unhappiness because it was just what I was used to. And which is quite crazy how our brains do that. I try to now attack everything that goes bad in my life with, okay, well, this is this is going to help somebody.

• 0:14Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful.

• 0:17Speaker 02

  My next guest just secured his first Billboard Hot 100 hit.

• 0:20Speaker 03

  My next guest's music has been streamed almost 400 million times now.

• 0:23Speaker 02

  Please welcome back to the show Teddy Swims.

• 0:26Speaker 03

  Please welcome Teddy Swims.

• 0:27Speaker 02

  Teddy Swims, everyone.

• 0:30Speaker 00

  I was working at a Chili's, you know, in 2019 and me and all my friends at the time, we did the Michael Jackson's Rock With You cover. It was like the first cover I put up. We woke up and the next day it was like 10,000 views on it. We're like, holy [BLEEP].

• 0:42Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 0:44Speaker 00

  It's so great like how our like manifestation really works too. Because we started June 25th of 2019 and December 24th of 2019, a day less than six months, I signed the deal with Warner. And the universe, God, whatever it is, is just like was totally, we all put our heads together and said, this is what it is. And life just.

• 1:03Lewis Howes?

  Your album is called, I've Tried Everything But Therapy, Part One. Have you have you tried therapy yet?

• 1:08Speaker 00

  I have not, man.

• 1:10Lewis Howes?

  What do you think is the the thing that you're afraid to discuss or talk about the most that?

• 1:14Speaker 00

  You know, I don't know, man, because I feel very vulnerable. I don't have anything I wouldn't talk about, but I think there's some, I think there's some things about.

• 1:26Lewis Howes?

  Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. We have the inspiring Teddy Swims in the house. My man, so good to see you, brother.

• 1:34Speaker 00

  You too. I'm happy to be here.

• 1:36Lewis Howes?

  Big congrats on everything, man. I'm I'm loving watching the evolution of your journey from, you know, a YouTube cover sensation to original music and just dominating the charts, dominating, you know, Spotify, YouTube, everywhere. I'm loving the soul, the passion you bring in your music and your work. And I'm just so happy for you. So congrats on everything. And I'm curious because I've been I've been digging into some of your background, your story. You used to play football growing up, which I love. But you talk about your father in a big way as being like the greatest man you've ever met in your life and just like the nicest guy who really showed up for you and your your siblings.

• 2:17Lewis Howes?

  I'm curious to start, what was the biggest lesson that your father has taught you about life, music, and love?

• 2:22Speaker 00

  Well, you know, I think, I think my father, man, is, if I could be after man, he is at all in my life, I think I'll be, I think I'll be bigger than Michael Jackson, man. I really, truly, because just, just the heart that he shows to people, man, the time that he gives to people. There's so many times I've even introduced him to people as we've been on, on tour and stuff, where I've met friends through here and, you know, and I've been like, well, look, man, you all got a dad, man, my daddy will be your dad, like, I swear he will, he's the best in the world, and he sure enough, man, he'll call me, hey, man, how's so and so doing, man, or he'll, he'll call them, and they'll call me, yeah, yeah, just talked to your dad like last week, man, he calls me like every week and checks on me every week, and my dad is just really just always got time for everyone, and I think that's

• 3:06Speaker 00

  like, one of the biggest things that he's taught me about love, to start there, is that there's always time, you know, and you're gonna make something work for, and I don't care how busy you are, if it's, if it means something to you, you make time to

• 3:19Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 3:19Speaker 00

  Say, you know, hi, I love you, or you make sure that that little time that you have with somebody, they feel like they're important and they deserve that time and attention, and there's always a time to step away from something for what matters the most, and I think he's just always been so incredible about that, man, he's just, he's just steady, you know, and, and I think, and, and humans aren't very good at being consistent, you know, and I think, I mean, I think it's kind of impossible to be consistent always, you know, because we're, we're humans, we're gonna fail, we're gonna fail each other, you know, and, but I just, I don't see that man as, even some of the things he looks back and he thinks were like failures in his raising of us, it's just like, I look back on those moments, it's like, dad, you hated that, I like, I loved that, you know what I mean?

• 4:04Speaker 00

  He was like, when he was like, he'll, he'll always talk about how when he was always going to softball, when, when I was playing football, he was, he was also like, you know, doing semi-pro at the time, and he would always

• 4:13Lewis Howes?

  You'd do a semi-pro?

• 4:14Speaker 00

  Yeah, and he was, he would come, he'd come like, you know, take, take me to practice in his pads, and then come pick me up, and then I'd go watch his games after he'd watch my little game, and he'd be in his pads, and, and he was just like, yeah, I was just too worried about playing at the time, though, I was still a kid, I wish I was more, and I was like, dad, it was the coolest ever that you were like You know, picking me up and I was in, I was at your bleachers with my little pads on. That's cool. Watching you. I was like, that's the coolest in my life, you know, it's like. But he was worried about. Yeah, he was just like, well, I think I was too worried about playing at the time and I was like, Ah. That's cool, man. That was awesome watching my dad do that, you know, so. It was also you got to see a model of someone, your father go after his dream. Yeah. And his passions and his love and. And what he did for me, speaking of that, is that like, you know, his dad died when he was fifteen, sixteen, something like that.

• 4:59Speaker 00

  And so we didn't really have that much of a, like, that, that much of a figure as growing up and, um, especially that, like, prime time of growing and. Yes. And evolving and, um, I think, I think he, he was the first one too and we went on this trip from Texas and I came home, he's, and, um, when I was nineteen, I was, I was in cosmetology school going to cut hair and. Really? My sweet mother too, she's, she's a hairstylist too and a barber, so, well, she was like, always telling me like, you can, you can pursue your music, but you can have this as a background. You should go, you can just, you know, you can make your own schedule. You can have a backup plan and, and so her sweetheart, man, she went and got her, uh, her license to teach, like, she was going to the same school I was at the same time to. She was teaching you.

• 5:43Speaker 00

  To teach, did teaching, teaching degree in cosmetology the same time I was going, so she could just like, she's like, I'll just go get my teaching degree so we can go to school together and I can kinda teach it through it, like, you know. So I was like, hell yeah, mom, you know, and, but my dad, he was the first one. It's like, look, son, um, if you wanna sing, man, you know, you should drop out of school and, uh, don't, don't go back, go back to college. You need to just drop out and, and just go for it, man, cause if, if you're gonna look back at your life and say, well, why didn't I go put everything into this? He says, it's not gonna happen if you don't put everything into it and, um. So he encouraged you to drop out of school? He's, he's the one that, that told me, just promise me you'll never go back and I did and it took me ten years to, you know. To get to like where I was and I mean even further now and I mean he's just the most

• 6:26Speaker 00

  proudest man in the world dude he's there's not a there's not a gas station or CVS or anything he walks into and he's not like man you know Teddy Swims oh look that's my son dude that's my son right there he's just so proud and so happy and follows me all over the damn world and it's just

• 6:43Lewis Howes?

  That's incredible man.

• 6:44Speaker 00

  So excited dude he's the best guy in the world.

• 6:46Lewis Howes?

  That's amazing man so how old were you when you dropped out of school?

• 6:49Speaker 00

  I was 19.

• 6:50Lewis Howes?

  Okay so 12 years ago.

• 6:52Speaker 00

  Yeah and I yeah and then yeah by the time I was I think I signed in 2019 yeah end of December 24th in 2019 I signed to Word Records so it was

• 7:04Lewis Howes?

  Five years ago almost four and a half years ago right?

• 7:06Speaker 00

  Yeah so I was yeah it was 10 years from from that moment where we finally made it and but I've been working on music for forever I mean he was coming to my my metal bands when I was in high school and stuff and it's like I don't really like that kind of son but I mean whatever it makes you have it.

• 7:20Lewis Howes?

  Support you.

• 7:20Speaker 00

  Yeah yeah I mean and the kind of music I was making at that time I don't know why he would give me that advice because my bands were terrible so I was like I don't know why he was like go for it son but I guess he's like you know if I I feel like if my son sucked at something I would have been like I guess you'd still be supportive but you know I mean he'll find it he'll get his way you know.

• 7:38Lewis Howes?

  I guess you don't want to get

• 7:39Speaker 00

  At least he had some faith in me yeah because I would I would I don't know how if I had a son I'd be like alright you take your time with it but you know he wasn't very good.

• 7:49Lewis Howes?

  Right I mean 10 years of of pursuing a dream until you I guess quote unquote made it what were you doing for the last 10 years were you having jobs were you singing were you singing open mics were you just doing

• 8:02Speaker 00

  All that stuff man yeah.

• 8:03Lewis Howes?

  Different bands like how did you survive and thrive for 10 years until you made it in the industry?

• 8:08Speaker 00

  It wasn't it wasn't a thrive by any means but we we made we made it through a bunch of roommates a bunch of roommates moving back to their parents' houses when it wasn't working out you know and get stepped on and getting hurt a lot and you know losing a bunch of jobs and you know waiting tables for a long time and also not a good waiter at all by any means you know but I remember one of the best advice that I got from this guy Roger Waters he uh he gave me the best advice when I when I first first place I ever waited tables at this pizza place in the small town social circle in Georgia and he'd always be like man you're like the clumsiest server you're like forgetful. Table one's been waiting on their ranch dressing for five hours now, you know what I mean?

• 8:50Speaker 00

  But, but damn it, man, you get good money because people like you and as long as you make people feel comfortable and happy, they'll, they'll take a Diet Coke, you know, even if they ordered a Coke, it's fine. We love Teddy. He's cool. Get, you know, whatever. Just, and so as long as you treat people well, I've, I've found that that, that goes so far in life, you know, just create money and care for people. It's, it goes so far, you know, you can be stretched so thin, but that, just taking that time.

• 9:15Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 9:16Speaker 00

  To love on somebody, they're like, okay, I don't need a ranch dressing, I guess. It's fine.

• 9:21Lewis Howes?

  But you were fun. You were at a good attitude.

• 9:22Speaker 00

  Yeah, man, that's all you can do, man. You gotta, nothing, nothing to steal your joy, that's for sure.

• 9:27Lewis Howes?

  That's great, man. What, so during the last decade, I guess, while you're trying to, you know, figure it out and develop yourself, what was the most challenging time?

• 9:36Speaker 00

  Um, I think the most challenging time for me was, was like right in the between parts of, so I was working at a Chili's, you know, in 2019 and I was, I was also like the things on the, the covers and stuff was starting to go off.

• 9:50Lewis Howes?

  Uh huh.

• 9:51Speaker 00

  And so me and all my friends at the time, there's.

• 9:54Lewis Howes?

  YouTube was like.

• 9:55Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 9:55Lewis Howes?

  You started that around 2018?

• 9:57Speaker 00

  Yeah, 2019, June 25th of 2019. Yeah. And so, uh, June 25th of 2019 to, uh, we, we did the Michael Jackson's Rock With You cover. It was like the first cover I put up because it was, it was just 10 years since Michael had passed. And so I like wanted to do, I wasn't like to do covers, but I just wanted to put that up and just be like, here, pay some homage to the goat, right? And, um, we woke up, I think the next day with like 10,000 views on it. We're like, oh, man, this is huge. We're getting hammered, guys. This is massive. And I mean, 10,000 views now, if anything happens like that, I'm like, oh, you washed up. You know, it's just diminished returns, isn't it? But I remember we like woke up next day. It's like 150,000. We're like, whoa. And so, um,

• 10:41Speaker 00

  so I, it, we started, kept, kept on doing the covers and, and as they were coming in, we were, um, basically, so me and, uh, my band and I, my producer, Lee and, and a bunch of us, we all, we all moved into this house together. And my, my manager, still to this day, my best friend Luke, he was living in, in LA here and, um, Basically like got as pre as pulled you all in the back and drove it all the way to Georgia. We all moved into a house together. It's like, uh, there was 12 of us living in this five bedroom house. And we just put plywood walls up to like, you know, separate bedrooms and to make it. Then we made it like a nine bedroom house with like two studios in it. And we were just, we were trying to, so, cause we were, we at times like, yo, if we can take the pictures, we can design the merch.

• 11:26Speaker 00

  And we were even in our garage, like shipping out the merch as we're distributing it ourselves. And, um, so we had like 15 people over there all the time. Just working and around the clock, doing the covers, writing our own songs, producing everything, playing everything. We just figured if we could do it all ourselves, I was like, look, dude, we just need like six months to just figure this out. If everybody would just donate all their time that they have to this for just six months, I promise you guys in six months, this will work. This is like what I just put a promise on it. And, um, and so we all moved in together and it was a very tough time because I don't think we were all of us on top of each other all the time. But I was, I was in a place where I could work maybe one day a week at Chili's or not at all.

• 12:08Speaker 00

  And I kind of had to quit my job before it was working, you know, and so you were just kind of like existing. Scrapping by. Yeah, just kind of scrambling and trying to do whatever you could to, because work would take you away from this. But then if you don't put everything into this, then this, you know, everything was suffering on both ends. And so you had to just kind of make a choice to go for it. And those guys really had to like, kind of help me float by and, and get by. And we were, we were really scraping it. But, um, and even, even when we first started doing the, you know, it was about October or November and stuff. We were starting to go do label calls and flying to New York and flying here to meet with labels and stuff. And it was, you know, we were like broke as hell. So we were, we were also trying.

• 12:51Speaker 00

  Yeah. We were also trying to stay in hotels, but also tell the labels that like, oh, our YouTube business is crushing it. We're making so much money. We don't need you. So like to, to try to. We need a hotel room. Yeah. But to try to like, let them know, we already had a great business going to, to try to get more leverage in the fact. But the real lie was, was like, we were sinking in our, in our pants and being like, you know, all tough about it, like. Yeah, we're good. We don't need, we don't, we don't need this deal, you know, try to get a better one. I mean, they gotta work, but, um, and my boys, you know, I'm so, I'm so lucky to have a good foundation of a group of guys and, you know, and speaking of that six month, it's so great like how, how like manifestation really works too.

• 13:32Speaker 00

  Cause we started June 25th of 2019 and December 24th of 2019, a day less than six months and on Christmas Eve with that. Well, I signed the deal with Warner and, and, and it like, you know, put all the boys on salary and it was like, it was the craziest thing that just like manifestation, just saying like six months is the time limit was and I'll leave you alone if we can't.

• 13:52Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 13:53Speaker 00

  And it was a day less, like just the universe, God, whatever it is, is just like, was totally, we all put our heads together and said, this is what it is and life just.

• 14:04Lewis Howes?

  Now, were you, were you aware of like manifestation or visualization beforehand or were you thinking about this or setting goals and timelines?

• 14:10Speaker 00

  Yeah, I mean, I'm always, I'm always like a, I'm always a big person of just like, you know, how just what you, what you say and what you look for in life and what you, what you think you want out of life. It's like, you know, it's like a, it's like going through your girlfriend's phone, you know, which you don't do. You're gonna find something you're looking for, you know, but it, but it doesn't have to, it's maybe not anything you're looking for, but if you're trying to find something and look around and peek under a crevice for something, there's gonna be like a

• 14:36Lewis Howes?

  I like that.

• 14:37Speaker 00

  Something that you're like insecure about, you know, and, and, and I'm, I mean that in like a way of, I guess I'm using that as analogy for manifestation, which is a weird analogy for that, but you know, I feel like you're, whatever you're looking for, you're gonna find, is what I'm trying to say and, and, and whatever you wanna heighten out of your life, you can, you can, you know, and you can make anything, anything you want it to be is what I'm trying to say.

• 14:56Lewis Howes?

  Where did you learn this though? When did you start to develop that skillset?

• 14:59Speaker 00

  I, I grew up luckily, man, and I, I say this like principle wise, I'm very fortunate. I, my, my granddad on my mom's side is a Pentecostal pastor and he's, he's a very, uh, big, you know. He's very straight by the book kinda guy, you know, and I, I don't, I, I subscribe to a lot of those principles and a lot of those, the ways you treat people and your work ethic and stuff like that, but yeah, I don't know if I would have, I don't know if I would like, so like telling everybody they're wrong all the time though, you know, I'm not so that far on the Christian belief of that anymore, but it, it taught me a lot so much about, you know, how to treat people and how to, how to, how to ask for things out of life, you know, and how to say that you want this and how to do the work to get what you want out of life and

• 15:42Speaker 00

  and I just, I just think every time I've ever said something, there was so many times too, even, even when we first started this, this, this like, this business, you know, and we, we got signed and then we went through this pandemic and it was like, you know, two years of us not being able to play and we had kinda built our, our, our whole business for touring and so I had, now I had my best friends were, were also, I guess, in some way my employees now, you know, and, and our, our business was like falling. Really? We couldn't, we couldn't, we couldn't, we weren't making money to, to like going on tour or doing anything like that. And so there was so many times where it's like, man, we, we don't know how we're gonna make,

• 16:24Speaker 00

  you know, we don't, we don't know how we're gonna make payroll this week, or we don't know how we're gonna make payroll next week. And, and that's where it gets kinda weird, cause you know, the guys that you, you grew up with that are your best friends since middle school and high school that you're, you're playing with and you, you can't go tell them like, hey, man, I don't know how we're gonna pay you guys Friday, but like, just know that. Stick with me. Yeah. And, and, and, cause you don't wanna say that, you know, and, and, um, and, uh, but luckily I would just always go in there and just say like, you know what dude, something's gonna come through, somebody's gonna call, something's gonna happen. And sure enough, it was, it was like always whether, I mean, I know not to take away from Luke and Curtis, they, I'm sure they were going out and looking for everything they could, but it would be sometimes too that we might just get a call about a private event that would just pay us like a hundred grand real quick. And it would be like, I'm bad?

• 17:08Speaker 00

  We're safe for the next couple of months, you know, and it was, it was just always something when it was just like, I don't know, man, just whatever we gotta do, just stick to the promise, stick to the promise, stick to the promise. And it just continues to, so every time I ever just get to like, If ever anything starts to be questionable or integrity gets on the line, it's like, no, just stick to the promise. We said this and we're gonna stick by this word and stand on that and just.

• 17:32Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 17:32Speaker 00

  And I think just standing on a word is what I really learned from a very early age that life is gonna come to you if you just stand on your word. It's just.

• 17:40Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful, man, yeah. Now, but it was like almost six or seven years of you, you know, after dropping out of school. I guess going all in on the, the music passion and career until something happened, right? It was like six or seven years until like you started doing the covers and started getting attention and awareness. How did you stay? I guess inspired for those six or seven years while you're working restaurant jobs and part-time jobs and trying to do gigs on the weekends? How did you stay in belief that something was gonna come from this?

• 18:12Speaker 00

  I just felt like that's what my, my deal, my, my life was, you know, and there's just nothing I would. I just don't think there would be anything else I could do. I don't know. I would never have, I would have never have gotten through. And I'm very fortunate too, that if I was working at this place and it closed down, or I lost this job, or I lost this house. I had, I had people in my life luckily who were always just willing to just say like, here, I'll float you for this. Or like, you'll come sleep on the couch for a bit, or, you know, my best pal Jesse, man, he's been my best friend since we were in, in middle school. And his dad too was like, he still plays guitar in my band, who writes with me. And his dad was just our hero, man. He's, he, he, he would take me in and, I mean, he, they, they did like commercial plumbing.

• 18:53Speaker 00

  And so he would try to give me some job. I can't, I can't even damn drive a nail though, my dude. I'm like, I'm so bad at, but he would, he'd go back behind me like, sucks. But he would just, you know, still, he'd even take me to the backyard and be like, here, just build me a fucking fire pit or something. Just what something you could do, I'll pay you $12 an hour, you know, just, just come out here and work here, cut my grass or something. Here's some money. Come, come sleep on the couch, man, you're good. And I'm just grateful that, I think everybody in my life was also like, look, we don't want you to do anything else. And so I, I know it's gonna work, you know?

• 19:23Lewis Howes?

  Wow, man.

• 19:24Speaker 00

  I'm very fortunate to have, have, had believers. I don't think I was like ever in a spot where, I know a lot of people in, in a successful place can say that all my haters and everybody that didn't believe in me. And I can, I can honestly say, I don't think I've ever had that point of like, people just telling me, no, you can't do this. No, it's very slim chance that you could do this, or you should think of something different because, and I don't know if that comes from my.

• 19:52Speaker 00

  Because people actually believe that or is it because of my willingness to say if that if somebody ever told me that that there just should not be in my life at all, you know, like I just, I just don't entertain that idea and I don't, I don't like, I would never entertain that idea for anybody else either that I talk to if it's like you want to do something, go do it, you know, I, I got permission from my father to go do something and, and sometimes all people really need, especially children, it's like just permission to just,

• 20:16Lewis Howes?

  That's true.

• 20:17Speaker 00

  Go for it, you know, and that permission goes so far.

• 20:20Lewis Howes?

  Some people don't have that permission from their parents though.

• 20:22Speaker 00

  Yeah, and that's tough.

• 20:23Lewis Howes?

  Stay in school, go do this thing, like maybe you could try for a little bit this music or art or sports career, but really you need to go get a real job. And that's hard to overcome that.

• 20:32Speaker 00

  And that's tough, yeah, yeah, cuz I had, I had one of my best friends I had since preschool, he, he worked with us forever and, you know, his, his dad was always on him about that too and was like, you know, hey, man, or if his grades would start to fall, he would be like, it's cuz you're playing that guitar too much or you're doing this too much and, you know, and he, he was like, he was like a, full-time electrician, you know, and so like a union electrician and he kind of wouldn't push his kid into, look, you need to be doing that, you need to be, you need to be focused on just a good collar job and, making sure that your family's straight, get a family, get a kid and go to college and do this whole, you know, and it was just like,

• 21:11Speaker 00

  I think, I think in some degree that's, that's, that's healthy, I'm not, I wouldn't be, ever be mad at some parents for doing that cuz I do understand the, the ideal of wanting some sort of consistency for your child and safety and safety net for your child and I think that's a beautiful thing to do, but, just, I, I think it's when it came to dampening, you know, the, the, the dream or the like heart and that you can, you could see the light kind of go out of his eyes every time that was just like, put that fucking guitar down, you know, and it's like sometimes you need, you, and I, I'm, of course, I don't have kids, so I would never tell anybody how to raise theirs, but I think he did an amazing job, he's a great man, you know, but, I just, if there would have been more chance for him to be,

• 21:55Speaker 00

  permission, you know, he, he would, he would probably be wherever he wants to be at this point in time, you know, and.

• 22:00Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, permission is the key when it comes to. Having someone start to believe in themselves. I think a lot of people struggle with belief in themselves and their talents. There's so many people I've seen over the years have way more talent than me in so many things, but not just go after what they wanted. How did you continue to believe when you weren't making much money for those years though? How did you continue to? Was there ever a time where you're like, ah, maybe this music and this career thing isn't for me? I'm gonna go full time into something else? Or did you always believe eventually it would happen?

• 22:32Speaker 00

  See, that's my thing is that never happened. And I just like, even though it was times where I was, one of my last bands I was in, there was a guy I was working with and, you know, his, his whole thing was like, look, man, this is my last who ride with this music thing, you know? And, and if it doesn't work this time, then I'm gonna just give it up, you know? Cause I just like, I've been at this for so long and I've seen things fall through. And I had a band that was touring for a while and that fell through. And he's like, I'm just getting old and this is my last who ride with this. And if, if it doesn't happen, then I'm giving it up. And I'm like, well, that's exactly why it's not gonna happen, man, you know? I think, I think, and, and not to knock against anybody there, but I just, I, for me, it was just, this is all that I am and all that I have and all that I was going to be.

• 23:15Speaker 00

  And it was just very still important to me that there was never a sight that I lost of this. I never lost sight of like, I want to do this and I need to do this. It's like, that was the only thing that I was gonna be happy doing. That was what I wanted and what I, I saw for my life from a very young age. And I think I, I never lost that. And I think that's the, that's the important thing. I mean, even though, even though like, I think the self-belief is that I could get to where I wanted to be. Not that I ever felt like my talent was going to get me there, but I think I'm just now even starting to, some of my first bands, man, are just so trash. You could find a, dude, you could find my very first band, I was a senior in high school. Uh, it's called Heroic Bear. You can find our EP on YouTube still and, uh, it's, it's so garbage, man.

• 23:58Speaker 00

  It's a metal band too, and we're like post-hardcore. It's so garbage, but I look back and I'm like, why did you guys tell me I could sing? This is so bad, dude.

• 24:08Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 24:08Speaker 00

  You told me I could sing. It's so bad. But, you know, I mean, thank God they did, because I, I, I knew I wanted it, man. And I knew we, we had something and, you know, here we are, so.

• 24:18Lewis Howes?

  Did you, did you rehearse a lot with your voice growing up? Were you singing all the time?

• 24:22Speaker 00

  Yeah, all the time.

• 24:23Lewis Howes?

  Were you trying different genres?

• 24:24Speaker 00

  Absolutely, man. And I think, I think that's what's also so beautiful about the voice, you know? It's just, it's, it's, it's, it's an instrument that you can take and practice anywhere you go at any point. You know, if I was a guitarist and you can't just use that everywhere. So, I mean, I was never, never not singing, you know? If I'm walking around, if I'm pouring drinks to go to a table, if I'm behind the bar pouring drinks, I'm humming to myself.

• 24:47Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 24:48Speaker 00

  Practicing little runs on my way home. I'm, I just always singing.

• 24:51Lewis Howes?

  Always.

• 24:51Speaker 00

  It's, it's the best feeling, you know?

• 24:53Lewis Howes?

  I mean, growing up in a small town in Georgia, though, and, you know, playing football, were you celebrated for that? Or was it kind of made fun of like, oh, what are you doing with this singing thing?

• 25:01Speaker 00

  For us, it was, it was great. And I also got really kind of late started in it, you know? Because I was like, my 10th grade year, me and Jesse got into theater together. And that year I was doing football and theater. And, and I kind of, after that, stopped football. And, and I kind of pursued, you know, chorus and theater and all that stuff. But I, I, it was not a thing. Like, when, when we were doing theater in high school, it was like, it was cool.

• 25:26Lewis Howes?

  It was cool, huh?

• 25:26Speaker 00

  It was cool. And like, me and all my buddies were in there and we'd, we'd gotten all of the dudes involved in theater. It was like, we'd, we'd go in a, we'd go to like, thespian, like a big thespian conference. And it was like, we had, we had so many guys in our theater program. You know, which was like, but just, I'd like, really like, guys, guys, like shotgun and beers guys. You know what I mean?

• 25:45Lewis Howes?

  Really? That's interesting.

• 25:47Speaker 00

  We had just, we had just, we had gotten everybody in theater and made it cool, you know? It was like, hell yeah, it was just, it was a dudes' party in there, you know?

• 25:54Lewis Howes?

  That's amazing.

• 25:55Speaker 00

  It was quite fu, it was quite funny, because we ended up like, our school, I think, ended up looking for more girls than about the amount of just straight dudes we had in there, you know? And I, I, I just had a, it was a blast for us. I, I think I just had a different experience on, on that.

• 26:08Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. That's cool, man. Now, Teddy Swims is, you know, your stage name. Jaden Gimsdale is, you know, your birth name. What made you want to create a stage name? And?

• 26:20Lewis Howes?

  Do you ever have any insecurities being your authentic name versus your stage name?

• 26:25Speaker 00

  Oh, that's beautiful. Um, well, so weirdly enough, Swims was like something I was gonna go by. So this, this project originally started with me and my best pal Addy Maxwell, who, who is a writer and producer and guitarist of my band as well and known him for years. And we were working on this band called Wild Heart I was in for a while. And he started producing like hip hop beats and stuff and was sending them to certain artists. And he, he's, one day he was just like, dude, we should, we should try like, you know, just rapping on something. And so we did and luckily my good friend Tyler Carter, he's in his band Issues with, and was me for a long, like one of my biggest heroes, best pals in the world, my real mentor and friend

• 27:09Speaker 00

  and just the dearest person in my heart, man. And he came over one day to get tracks ready for his tour with Issues in Europe. And he comes over here, it's like our one rap song and he's like, yo, this is dope. You guys should come on tour for my solo tour next month. And we're like, well, we have this one song. He's like, look, dude, just get 30 minutes of music. I'll be back in a month and we'll go on my solo tour.

• 27:30Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 27:31Speaker 00

  So March of 2019, me and Addy go on tour as just rappers. And that was like the first Teddy Swims thing. I was just gonna go by Swims as like someone who was at me sometimes. And then Tyler at the time was like, well, everybody already calls you Teddy. I've just been called Teddy forever because, you know, just of my stature and joy, I guess. And, and he's like, well, let's put Teddy and Swims together and call it Teddy Swims. It's an awesome name. And I was like, I kind of hate that, dude. And he was like, well, he was like, well, it's my tour, so I'm putting it on the flyer. And sure enough, sure enough, it just stuck. And, you know, here's Teddy Swims now.

• 28:07Lewis Howes?

  Do you still hate it?

• 28:08Speaker 00

  No, I mean, it's, it's, it's growing on me, I guess. It's too late now, isn't it, you know? But everybody hates their own name, I guess. And I think, I think, and the reason I started getting called Teddy anyway, Jaden was always kind of hard for people. It was like, I was like,

• 28:21Lewis Howes?

  Is it Jaden?

• 28:22Speaker 00

  Jamie, Jason, Jamie, Jason. Yeah, you know, it's, so the more, especially when you're waiting tables. If I'm just like, hi, I'm Teddy. And everybody's like, oh, yeah, Teddy. Which is just like such an inviting, disarming name. And I think it just kind of happened. And I don't, I don't, I don't really. There's not really too much of a difference. Like, I, I wouldn't say that Teddy Swims is ever a character I'm portraying, or, or Jaden Dembs is any different. I think it's a, I think it's a, I look at it as a nickname and not like an alias or like a character, you know, because it's, it's always been a nickname and, and I get called both all the time. And so, that's why I say, you know, I don't care what you call me, as long as you call me, man. You call me [BLEEP], so I'm like, I got nothing but love for you, baby, and I'm just happy to be in your mind at all.

• 29:03Lewis Howes?

  Wow, man. But do you ever get insecure onstage or have fear before you go on?

• 29:08Speaker 00

  No, you know, what's, what's crazy is that I, I used to, when I was in, when I was in high school and I first started doing like theater and stuff, I used to get so nervous where I'd just sit and stare at a wall like this blank for like three hours, not eating, not talking to anybody. I was just like, get, throw up. I was just nervous as hell, man. And nowadays, I, I find that I'm like kind of more insecure or like anxiety riddled like all the time except for the stage. Now, I mean, I do get like, the only nerves I really get before a show, I don't really get like no butterflies or anything, but I always know like thirty minutes before a show, like, like clockwork, man. If thirty minutes before a stage, I get a bubble in here, doesn't matter how solid I've been [BLEEP], I'm gonna go paint the back of a toilet, bro. It doesn't

• 29:53Speaker 00

  matter, it doesn't matter. It's like, it just immediately is like, just turns to fluid. It's like, and I'm like, must be thirty minutes. Yep, sure enough, it's eight thirty, you know, and it's

• 30:01Lewis Howes?

  It's like right up until the moment you gotta go on.

• 30:03Speaker 00

  Yeah, right on. And I'm like, this is the worst time.

• 30:05Lewis Howes?

  I used to have that in football too, man. Like, right before I had my pads on, I gotta take them off.

• 30:09Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's, it's always that. It's, but, you know, I think, I think also too, if you stop getting those nerves, then, you know, then you don't love it enough. And I think there's gotta be some sort of like nerves. If you, if you walk in there, I was, I was literally just on, I was on the shop the other day and, and LL Cool J was, was on there too. And it was so cool to meet him and hear some wisdom from him. And he said that same thing and it really stuck with me because he was like, you know, you know, if you ever get to that point, there's no nerves. That means you don't, you don't care enough. You walk in there, oh, cock, you know, I got this, I got this. It's like, man, no, you gotta, you, you should, you should have a little bit of like...

• 30:42Speaker 00

  Some excitement and some anxiety about getting on there, but I've always been when I got on there though, it's the most natural place for me to be. It just feels like home when I'm up there and it'll get my shoes off when I'm on that stage. And I just get to feel solid, you know, ground and respect and try to create a safe place for people to, because I get to do this job where I get to walk up there and just basically just trauma dump on strangers, you know, and just get to just say like, cry about some girl that broke my heart three years ago or something, you know, and put it out there for people and talk about my journey of like self-care, self-love, or when did I start fucking loving myself and when, how did I hate myself for so long?

• 31:27Speaker 00

  And, you know, start just talking to people like this on stage and I get to really just have these moments of speaking just openly and vulnerably. And I think that outlet that I get to do that is not only been so necessary and therapeutic for me, but it's also great when people get to come and we do a meet and greet or something and they say like, you know, this song got me through my divorce, or you know, my husband was meant to be here with me, but he passed in October and so, you know, I bought my friend, but I just want you to know like, your music's got me through that, or your song Amazing was our first dance and he's no longer with us. And it's like, that kind of stuff right there is just like, it's heavy, but it's so beautiful to hear that kind of stuff,

• 32:09Speaker 00

  because, you know, you know that everything that you're writing about, whether it's a love song or whether it's from a place of personal pain, it's so specific to my little personal pain, but then somebody else has their own personal pain or their own memories attached to somebody that they dated or their own moment with doing them in a car when they first heard this song and now it's their and their girlfriend's favorite song. And it's just such a beautiful thing and it makes you feel like all the stuff that you went through was so necessary to go through. Like even that little heartbreak that I went through, all the pain and anguish that I went through on something, becomes now so necessary and the difference I get to make.

• 32:51Speaker 00

  And all that time I spent moping around like thinking woe is me or that I was hurting. Now, now I look back at that stuff and I see how necessary it was for every little issue that happened in my life. And I try to now attack everything that goes bad in my life with, okay, well, this is going to help. Somebody.

• 33:10Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful.

• 33:11Speaker 00

  And I try to just look at it that way. I think, I don't know if that's like, I think that's a healthy way for me to look at it.

• 33:16Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 33:16Speaker 00

  Every heartbreak, I go that, well, this is gonna help me and help somebody else.

• 33:19Lewis Howes?

  That's true.

• 33:20Speaker 00

  And I think it's so wonderful that I get an outlet to talk about stuff and, and I think it's so important that everybody has a voice and they talk about. If you don't talk about your issues or tell your story to people, then they don't also get to, you know, they, they could know that they're not alone.

• 33:36Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 33:37Speaker 00

  Or you, or better, you can help them from ever going through that because you've already been through that. You could say like, hey, don't make this mistake. And you can, you can help somebody from going through it or just let somebody know they're not alone. And I think it's just important that everybody just speaks, you know, their pain. It's important.

• 33:56Lewis Howes?

  Now, you mentioned, you know, you get to, when you're on stage, you get to, I guess, unload your traumas and talk about all these insecurities or fears or love that you have in your heart at that moment. Um, and you mentioned you used to hate yourself in some ways. What was the thing you used to hate about yourself the most? And when did you start to love yourself in a more full, authentic way?

• 34:18Speaker 00

  Um, I think, I think a lot of times in my life, it was, it was, there's a lot of things that came from, um,

• 34:26Speaker 00

  I think from this, this, uh, place of, I don't wanna like blame it so much on like religious situations, but I think some things growing up were, were just kind of like, it was, it was meant to be modest and to yourself and hold things in and, and not letting anybody know what was going on. And, and if there was anything kind of going on in our family, we're all so tight knit. So it's like, you just kinda like, we, we kinda had to, you kinda have to look perfect as a pastor or something, you know? And, and those guys are also going through things.

• 34:57Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 34:57Speaker 00

  Sometimes they're not, there's, there's not people that they go to and just can say like, ew, I'm falling apart here. Or like, I'm struggling with. Thought to suicide or something, you know, there maybe is a pastor going through that, you know, and it's like, and they can't talk about that openly with somebody or they can't talk about certain mental health situations that they got going on because they have to be the, God is the answer and I'm, my life is perfect because I'm so close to God and and it's, and it's just, it doesn't work like, and I think there's just a lot of things in my life that I kind of held in and kind of kept in and, and things that I was insecure

• 35:30Lewis Howes?

  Was it shame or was it insecurity or was it guilt?

• 35:32Speaker 00

  All of that stuff, you know, all of that stuff I think came in and I, I mean not, and I won't just blame it all on, on religious things, but I think it's, you know, also just, I think a lot of time too in my life, I was always a, I was always a big kid and so I, I was struggled with weight a lot and the way I viewed myself and with eating habits a lot and the way I viewed myself and what was, was eating to get through this or was, was, you know, just handling situations in certain ways and, um, from, and, and so I, I had, I had a big, you know, problem with that growing up and, um, it's just always also feeling, I was just always sensitive little boy too. It took everything to the

• 36:07Lewis Howes?

  Me too, man.

• 36:08Speaker 00

  So everything was just so a personal attack, you know, and, and, um, I, I think, I think it's, I think the, the moment that that really switched for me is, uh, right during the pandemic, um, or right before sometime, I think it's 2020 or so. Um, so I got a, I got a chance, Dominique Wilkins had hit me up on Instagram and

• 36:30Lewis Howes?

  Basketball player?

• 36:30Speaker 00

  Yeah, the Hawk, man. He's one of my greatest friends. I got to sing at his wedding, like, uh, you know, maybe a month or two ago.

• 36:36Lewis Howes?

  Wow, that's cool.

• 36:36Speaker 00

  He's, dude, he's the best guy ever. He hit me on Instagram, was like, I want you to come play at my birthday party. So he actually lives in, coincidentally lives in Conyers too, where I'm from. And so we went over there and, um, we, we played it, you know, and he gave me this signed jersey. We, we, I've done a lot of stuff with him

• 36:52Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 36:53Speaker 00

  And he's beautiful. And, uh, he's like, dude, are you a wrestling fan? And I was like, yeah, of course. Man, I got three brothers and he was wrestling fan, right? And, uh, he, he said, well, Diamond Dallas Page is coming through and Diamond Dallas Page is like, is my hero. And I was, I mean, still my hero. And, um, so I met him and he'd win a few cocktails and I was like, all right, man. I was, I was about 300 pounds at the

• 37:12Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 37:13Speaker 00

  And I, I was, I told him, I was like, look, man, you know, cause he's doing the DDP yoga stuff, right? And, um, he's like, look, man, you know, uh, I really want to You know, I would like to try your stuff out or see if there's anything you can do. And he's like, well, come over, man, come over, come over to the house, come do some yoga with me. Come like, let's get together. And he called me the next day and he's like, look, man, I know we're, we were drunk last night, but I meant what I said. If you want to come over, come over tomorrow, we'll start doing, you can come to my house every single day and we'll start talking. I believe in you. Your voice is amazing. Come on, let's, let's, he said, all you gotta do, man, is get this six inch piece of real estate figured out and own that. And we'll, we'll figure it out.

• 37:49Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 37:50Speaker 00

  That dude gave me so much and so much and still to this day calls me, he's calls me, if not every day, hits me every day. He calls me weekly and he's like, we gotta get weekly calls, we gotta get weekly calls, stay on it. He's talked about like this year, he's like, I want to come out for like four or five days on tour and just come sit with you and, you know, just make sure you're straight. Cause and dude, he helped me lose sixty five pounds.

• 38:13Lewis Howes?

  Come on.

• 38:13Speaker 00

  Um, um, yeah.

• 38:15Lewis Howes?

  Congrats man.

• 38:15Speaker 00

  I also, you know, I've been put about twenty back home probably from, from tequila on tour last year, but.

• 38:22Lewis Howes?

  I was gonna say, based on your videos from four years ago, I was like, you look a lot leaner, you look a lot healthier, your skin looks better.

• 38:27Speaker 00

  Yeah. And so there was, there was a time where I was, at, at one moment, um, the, the biggest part of it was, I was living in this house and I was kind of sinking and, um,

• 38:37Speaker 00

  this, this girl I was dating at the time, she had a child and, uh, and I'd known him for a very long time, for about like, he was six at the time. And for most of his life, I'd known him and, um, his dad really wasn't around and, uh, his dad was just kind of in and out of his life and on drugs and stuff. And I, I know what that was like because my, my, my little brother's mom was the same way and I saw my dad struggle through that. And I think, I think I found something and I fell in love with that kid while we were dating and, um, you know, she ended up kind of going back to her baby daddy. And, and I, I really at the time was like, I, I want to do whatever it takes to, even if I gotta get a full time job and still pursue music, I, I would do whatever it takes to, to, to make sure that this kid's okay.

• 39:18Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 39:18Speaker 00

  Um, I ended up really falling in love with that kid. We, we still, we still talk to this day. I love that kid and, uh, and but, um, it, it, it was when that kind of split and she just left to go back to this unsafe thing. It really kind of put me down. And at that same time, um, that same time that she left, my roommates moved out. Uh, I was like four months behind on rent.

• 39:41Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 39:41Speaker 00

  My car had broken down, the transmission went out on the way to work and I had to walk two miles to work. And then they tell me that the place is closing down. And so it was like everything at once, just. Like really just fell apart, right? And so I was really sinking and I had called my dad at the time and I was like, look, man, I I need to just come in and just, if I could just throw my mattress on the floor, I'd be stoked. And it's like, of course, baby. And that was coincidentally enough was wild is that was like right at the beginning of 2019, where we started working on the Teddy Swim stuff. Yeah. And because we were working in Loganville, right by my dad's house on this stuff. And the things like, it's always like one gigantic loss for one.

• 40:23Speaker 00

  I think when everything is falling apart in your life, that was like, that was just making room for everything to start building. And, and I find that life works so much like that too, where there's just one gigantic loss for like something to, I think it just kind of makes way for

• 40:38Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 40:38Speaker 00

  good things. And, and now I try to change my perspective on that so much because of DDP, you know, you gotta own that, own that six inch piece of real estate. And he, he taught me so much about just like, look, man, you gotta do small things. Like look into your eyeballs in the morning. Have you ever looked at yourself in the eyes in the mirror and said like, I love you. You're doing great, man. Don't, you know, just like talk to yourself and tell yourself you're worth it. Tell yourself you're worthy of love. And I felt like so long I was, I was choosing relationships and I was getting stepped on by people because I wanted to give people love and a chance to do something. But I was, I was, I was taking more than, than I should have because I, I, maybe I was also trying to be some consistency for people that I never had or they didn't have, or maybe I was trying to do something unrealistic. I don't know.

• 41:23Speaker 00

  But I, I find that, I, I heard this one, one beautiful advice and a meet and greet not too long ago, this therapist was like, I'm a therapist and I'd like to give you a piece, a little word if I can. And she said, the way people treat you is a reflection of the way that they see you. The way you let people treat you is a reflection of how you see yourself. And it just like stuck with me and changed my life forever.

• 41:45Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 41:46Speaker 00

  Yeah, okay, maybe I should just, there's, there's a way to treat people well and love on people, but there's also a way to notice when they're hurting you, you know?

• 41:55Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 41:55Speaker 00

  I felt like I was so long in my life that I, I, I let people kind of. There was also, I think sometimes I just chose the same pattern because there was something about being hurt or being held down that I think was also, I was weirdly kind of needing for some inspiration to be the greatest, like artist version of myself or to be in pain or something. I don't know why I wanted that. Maybe I needed, maybe that was the consistency, was just being in just turmoil all the time and I needed that, that feeling of unhappiness because it was just what I was used to and I'd rather be familiar than uncharted happy territory, which is quite crazy how our brains do that, you know, and so now I'm, now even

• 42:39Speaker 00

  in my life, I'm with somebody now that's like very good to me and I'm happy and everything in my life is coming greatly and I find that I could still write songs and I was like-

• 42:51Lewis Howes?

  From a place of beauty and love and joy and peace.

• 42:54Speaker 00

  Even if I, even if I still write songs about art, I can always go back and tap into those emotions. I don't have to be there right now and I don't have to just like constantly put myself in hurtful places, you know, and I don't why I do that. I don't know why we did that to ourselves.

• 43:06Lewis Howes?

  Because you see these, I mean, you hear these great songs where an artist created them from a place of pain or sadness or loss or heartache, right? And I always think like, okay, this is a beautiful song or this is a beautiful piece of art, but isn't there a way to create art from harmony and peace and love and abundance that can also move and change the world?

• 43:26Speaker 00

  Yeah, absolutely there is, yeah. And I'm learning that daily, you know, and it's just like something I have to always see like, it's okay to be happy dude, it's fine. Just be happy, it's probably the best for you.

• 43:37Lewis Howes?

  When did you start feeling happier and loving yourself then? Was it, did it happen overnight? Was it months of practice of doing these rituals and habits?

• 43:47Speaker 00

  It's an everyday decision, you know? I find that, I find that happiness is truly a decision you gotta make. Love is a decision you gotta make. You wake up every day with something that like, and your heart, I mean, even if you're- With a partner for a long enough time, you're not gonna wake up every day like, wow, what a great another day to love you again. You know, it's, that's a, you know, you gotta, wake up and you love, you love things despite you, you're happy despite of things and you're, you have to decide it like, you gotta just continue to train your brain to say, you're not upset, just you're happy, man. Like, everything's good. Some day, some days I find myself about stuff and I'm like, what are you about? Come on, dude.

• 44:24Lewis Howes?

  Life is good.

• 44:24Speaker 00

  Life is good and you're so loved and you're so cherished and people love you and you love people and you got good things and a great family and friends and foundation. Like, what the hell is your problem, dude? Come on, just get it together. Like, why are you like, hmm, waking up all,

• 44:41Speaker 00

  yeah, you know, like, don't be a little, get up, just smile, man. It's okay.

• 44:46Lewis Howes?

  Someone watching or listening right now might be thinking, well, Teddy, that sounds good because you've made a bunch of money now and now you're famous and you're got success and you're going on world tours. So it's easy to be happy now. But what do you say to people that, you know, are like, I'm struggling, I'm going through it, I'm working multiple jobs, my, my relationship isn't working out, I'm overweight, I'm not feeling good about myself. How do you speak into them joy and positivity on how they can shift their mindset to feel loved and happy?

• 45:14Speaker 00

  Um, I, I would say, I would say personally, happiness is, is, is never easy, you know, and I think anybody, anywhere in their life is, is, is allowed to feel the way that they feel and I, cause I also, I think I did the same thing when I always told myself, I'll be happy when I get to this, you know, or I'll be happy when I get to this level or when I get to this pace or when I can do music full time, all my problems will go away. And that was the biggest wake up call for me is when I was able to finally do music full time. I was like the most depressed I had ever been because, because I thought that was gonna answer all my problems, you know, but that was like maybe answering a financial problem or like a, a problem that I, I didn't get to do what I love full time, but that was never the issues that was really happening. The issues were way deeper than that.

• 45:58Lewis Howes?

  What were the main issues?

• 45:59Speaker 00

  Was, was all the things that, you know, I've been discussing, the things that I've, I've, I've held in my whole life that I was, that I was insecure about, the things that I was hating myself for, the, the, the, The ways that I was living, the things that I was doing, the people I was around that were were breaking me down, stepping on me and the the the things that the the people that were not valuing me and and me not valuing myself and um it it all it it all came from like so when I got to this point, I said, well, something's clearly got to change because I thought once I got here, I'd be happy and and again, dude, it's still that's not it's not easy to be happy. It's not. It's something you've got to the pursuit is for everybody, right? You know, the pursuit of it is what we need, but

• 46:38Speaker 00

  happiness is something you you got to wake up and choose and it's hard. It's harder some days than others and it's it's it's hard on everybody and and of course, you know, I can't speak for anybody with whatever their situation is going, anyone more successful or really struggling at the bottom. I can't I can't I can't tell them how to be happy or that you should you should just wake up and put it aside, just decide to be happy. You can't you can't do that either, but

• 47:04Speaker 00

  you know, whatever whatever there is in your life that you can find to cling to that's what like that's what kept me alive truly is that even though I got to that point and I was like, wait, there's underlying issues I wasn't addressing. I would tell you that I had a north star of what I wanted and what what I was here for. And so I think the only thing that kept me going while I was in the bottom of the barrel was that this is what I wanted to be and this is when and when I get here, I'll be happy. And I know that was not even true, but I had I had something that I was grabbing for and I had something that was pulling me out of the bottom all the time and I'm I'm grateful that there was there was something to to stay around for. There's something to cling to and as long as you have

• 47:46Speaker 00

  your reason, then I'd just say, man, make sure you have a reason because if there's nothing for you, there's no reason, there's nothing to love that's keeping you here, then I I I I hope there's a way that somebody can find that and have one you just have one thing to cling to, one thing that just keeps you here, you know, because it's without it, there's there's nothing.

• 48:07Lewis Howes?

  Man, what did you I mean, for any artist, musician, singer, creative individual watching or listening right now who hasn't made it yet, who isn't making it full time, who isn't making a full time living or doing what they want full time, but they have a dream and a passion to become more with their art. What would you tell them about? Fame, success and money that you know now that you didn't know five years ago.

• 48:36Speaker 00

  I would say whatever like I would say try to be that's a tough question.

• 48:39Lewis Howes?

  Like what is what is fame, success and money taught you having it now versus five years ago not having it?

• 48:46Speaker 00

  Um, I would say that that that money now to me is now that we were dealing with a lot more of it, but twenty dollars still means what it meant when I was either buying a bottle or I was making it to work, you know, and like twenty dollars still means what it meant to me and and a dollar, the the the value of a dollar is just always stays the same, at least in my brain, I always try to make sure it stays the same and that I know how much a twenty dollar bill can do and no matter how many of those I have, I know what they can do and know how much how much that can do for somebody and and in my life, you know, and how much and and I I try to I try to know that it's coming and it's going and it's it's it's fleeting, of course, but and I think with success too, I I I find that

• 49:30Speaker 00

  I think my version of success is I think defining your own version of success and what success means is is really what the the whole ideal is because you can you can get to this level, but then there's there's such a different level like, you know, if you if you they say that like the human eye sees twenty miles ahead of it, right? You know, and so if you're looking twenty miles ahead, you walk that twenty miles and then there's another twenty miles and it's as far as the eye can see and so I always find that I'm just like, as soon as I get here, I'm like this is like cool, but I won't, you know, I want like what if I'd have died at number two, I'd have been like this sucks and I would have been so hurt, but I'm not so like at like ninety nine point nine percent of people don't even more than that, you know, and so I'm like, why, why, why am I?

• 50:14Speaker 00

  So I I try to constantly just, I I think I I find a way to define success and what success means to me and I think that's that's important for people to do and I think what that means for me is this, I think success is like when you can, when you can offer somebody the opportunity or the ability to have the same success.

• 50:32Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 50:33Speaker 00

  I truly think whatever whatever I can do to when I when I've been able to Build a studio and I've been able to put my friends on a salary or I've been able to bring them into writing rooms and see them flourish as writers and producers and writing songs for artists that are putting songs out or being their own artist and putting their own songs out and I think that's truly what I get my happiness like that my most success from is like watching them flourish because we were able to provide an opportunity for this person or that opportunity and provided to this person and and seeing kids come up that are they're at shows and they're standing in the front and they're nine years old and they come to the show and they're like they they want to be singers, you know, and just reach out and give them a pair of sunglasses while you're singing up there and you know that just changes their life or you bring them backstage after and

• 51:17Speaker 00

  hug on them and take a picture and give them a little word and it's like that stuff is success, you know, that's what success looks like

• 51:23Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 51:23Speaker 00

  in my opinion and I think it's I think it's important for for someone that if if you want success it's it's important to define what that looks like for you because if if you don't have a clear definitive line of what success is and you're gonna be chasing it, never know you actually have it, you know.

• 51:40Lewis Howes?

  Right. And what about fame? What has fame taught you? Now that you've experienced it and people know who you are.

• 51:46Speaker 00

  It's quite strange. I think I try to I try my best to be um like some some people I find are like there's there's there's a certain like separation that happens when you have when somebody and it doesn't have to be fame, it's like how famous you are to somebody, I think that's like you could be um compete a level of famous but people treat you with you just a regular guy, right? But some people when they look at you and it depends on how big you are in their life, some people I find that that all they do is listen to Teddy Swims and they're like they're so like they're the biggest Teddy Swims fan in the world. I'm so honored for that. I'm so absolutely honored for that, but I find it such a weird thing when when somebody's like, you know, they they come to a meet and greet and they

• 52:31Speaker 00

  they like, you know, they're just shaking and they're like I don't know what to say, I love you and you know, and and it's such a sweet thing, but I it's it's quite it's quite a it's quite an exchange that you have to get used to because you're like you know, you they they start crying immediately, you give them a hug, you're like, oh, it's such an honor that you like feel that way to be around me in my presence, you're like all broken down and and shaking and it's like it's such a beautiful thing, but it's such a thing to get used to because you just want to be like hi, how are you? Thank you so much for listening to my stuff. I love you so much and you know, and they're just like, it's like They're just blown away by just like, oh my God, like this presence of, that it's really not any different. I don't know, I, because to me, I'm, I'm just a fat kid from Conyers, you know?

• 53:12Speaker 00

  And so, so, so getting treated that way is, is, is such a beautiful experience, but it's, it's quite a jarring experience to go through. People are just not really thinking you're human, kind of. And you're like, oh baby, I'm.

• 53:26Lewis Howes?

  Bring him back down.

• 53:26Speaker 00

  Yeah, I'm not all that, you know?

• 53:28Lewis Howes?

  How do you, how do you manage your, you know, your ego or your mind, your heart or humility? When that is going to continue to happen more and more? You're going to be number one, you're going to be selling out arenas. What's your process for making sure it doesn't, you know? Make you a bad person?

• 53:44Speaker 00

  I don't think it could, man, because I think, I think there's, there's a thing that happens. I don't, I don't know why people change when they do this, because humility and people and like, I, I was taught like one good advice, you know, and I say this all the time. They said like, you know who the most important person in the world is? It's you, because when I'm here with you, it's our time together and I'm making sure that I'm fully engaged in this conversation. And if you get five seconds with somebody, 10 years with somebody, you make sure every moment you spend is right there. And their time, their time is just as valuable as, as mine. And, and I don't, I don't show up late to things. I, I hate to, I hate to be, and not knocking anybody does, and I know some things, sometimes things happen, but just when you act, when you start acting as if your time is more valuable than somebody else's,

• 54:28Speaker 00

  and even if it is dollar sign wise, it's not like this. Especially when people were dropping their kids and are bringing their kids to a Teddy Swim show and their, their time is, is actually, what's so valuable, their, their time is way more valuable than mine, you know? And they're, they're, they're investing in me and caring about me and, and I think, I, I think when you start treating people like they're lesser than, or that their time is less valuable than yours, or you are worth more than somebody. I think that's like, I don't, I don't, I don't think I have that bone in my body to, to be like, I'm, I'm this, you know? It's like, I, I, cause I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't see myself as that. I don't plan on it. I never want to feel like, I never want to feel like, oh, I'm the best, you know?

• 55:09Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure.

• 55:10Speaker 00

  I think I will strive to be, but as soon as I feel like I'm the best and there's no growth left.

• 55:15Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's a good mindset, man.

• 55:16Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 55:17Lewis Howes?

  That's a great mindset. I mean, you're. Your album is called I've Tried Everything But Therapy Part One. Have you, have you tried therapy yet?

• 55:23Speaker 00

  I have not, man. And, uh, you know, we, I talked about it too before, before this album came out. I was like, look, dude, this is my positive self. When I get out, when I get this album out, I'm gonna go to therapy. And it's been such a whirlwind that, I mean, I know there's always time. Like, I could, again, I can make time to do this and do a 30-minute Zoom here or here.

• 55:42Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 55:43Speaker 00

  And this whirlwind, I think I've just been kind of like, maybe not ready yet or something. And, um, I'm, you know, I'm planning on, I'm doing it, but I just.

• 55:51Lewis Howes?

  It took me until I was 31 to start, for me.

• 55:54Speaker 00

  Yeah, so it's, it's perfect.

• 55:55Lewis Howes?

  Right time for you.

• 55:56Speaker 00

  I think it is, and I, I think, I think even more so now that I am in a good place. I think it might be a perfect time to start, not, and not being just like, you know, I think in a good place is probably a great place to start.

• 56:08Lewis Howes?

  Absolutely, yeah.

• 56:08Speaker 00

  I think it's good at any time, and, and I agree that it's good for everyone, but I just, I don't know what it is. I don't know why I haven't started yet.

• 56:15Lewis Howes?

  Why did you want to title it this, even though it's something you've never experienced yourself?

• 56:20Speaker 00

  Well, I think, I think, I think it was a funny name too, just for the sake of, you know, I've, I'm, I'm done everything except for therapy. You know, I've, I've done every, I've, I've tried everything that I could to, to make myself like, you know, as good as I can. And then, and therapy's probably the next step. And I think, I think in naming it that too, it's, it's, it started conversations like these, which is, which is so important to me because, uh, you know, I think in, in times before, and maybe that's why there might still be some stigma in my brain I'm trying to get rid of. Because, and some generational.

• 56:51Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 56:52Speaker 00

  Curse of people would just be like, hold it in, it's tough. It's, and I've been doing that my whole life, you know, and what we've been discussing. And so, I think, uh, I wanted to just kind of open the door to talk about it and talk about it.

• 57:01Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful, man.

• 57:02Speaker 00

  And the more that I've, I've had conversations about this is, you know, been like, have you tried it yet? Or, and it also keeps me like accountable, and it also keeps me talking about my emotional. Place.

• 57:13Lewis Howes?

  Beautiful, man.

• 57:14Speaker 00

  Yeah, you know, I think it, hopefully it just helps people start opening the mouths about that more and maybe it inspires somebody else to, or maybe when I do, then maybe more people will. But I probably gotta set the example myself, you know what I mean?

• 57:28Lewis Howes?

  What do you think is the thing that you're afraid to discuss or talk about the most?

• 57:33Speaker 00

  You know, I don't know, man, because I feel very open and I can talk about anything.

• 57:37Lewis Howes?

  You seem very vulnerable.

• 57:38Speaker 00

  And I'm very lucky that I feel very vulnerable. I don't have anything I wouldn't talk about, but I think there's some, I think there's some things about like my, my habits of coping that maybe I'm scared of changing. Maybe it's the.

• 57:54Lewis Howes?

  Like from heartbreak or from loss or from sadness?

• 57:57Speaker 00

  It's just in general, like there's certain things, the tics I do or the ways that I handle my stress and emotions or the ways that if I, the ways that, what if I, what if I find out, oh, there's a way better way of handling this than drinking. And I'm like, well, I like to drink when I'm sad though.

• 58:13Lewis Howes?

  You're familiar with it.

• 58:14Speaker 00

  Yeah, you know, it's exactly.

• 58:15Lewis Howes?

  It's like a buddy.

• 58:16Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 58:16Lewis Howes?

  It's like a buddy and you don't want to let go of your buddy.

• 58:18Speaker 00

  Exactly, man. It's a buddy that's probably like.

• 58:21Lewis Howes?

  It's like a toxic relationship that you're like not ready to walk away from. Yeah, yeah. It's literally putting poison in you.

• 58:26Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 58:27Lewis Howes?

  But it's a comfortable, familiar feeling.

• 58:29Speaker 00

  Exactly. And I don't know, not just booze too, but I think just all my other coping mechanism. Like maybe it's even chewing on my nails or the inside of my cheeks. Maybe it's little tics that I have here and there. Maybe it's, maybe it's too much about discovering those things, you know, that are like, that I'm like, might have to change and not be so stuck in my ways anymore. Once I'm, I don't want to be stuck in my ways, but there's something so protective inside of me that's like.

• 58:51Lewis Howes?

  A hundred percent.

• 58:51Speaker 00

  Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Don't change this. It's working. And it's, it's.

• 58:55Lewis Howes?

  Like what's gotten you here?

• 58:56Speaker 00

  Yeah, exactly. So I think there's also a protection of that too. Well, what if I fall on my face after I get fixed, which is not even a thing. Nobody like fixes you, but you know what I mean? There's just this stigma I think I'm still working through and, and I won't know until I really just go take the stab. And it probably will be way different than I'm even explaining it, you know? And so, so I just gotta get there, you know?

• 59:17Lewis Howes?

  The thing I love that you're talking about is, you know, on the humility and fame side of things and how you just feel like you'll always be growing. And I just feel like something like therapy or call it coaching, whatever you want to call it, it's going to allow you to just keep growing as a human inside and outside. So you can serve more people at a better level.

• 59:35Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 59:35Lewis Howes?

  That's the way I look at it. And I look at you as, um, you know, it's the first time we've met. We've met online a few times and I've seen your work for a while, but I see you and the more I see you in front of you as an incredible leader and a voice to be of service to humanity, to express your voice in a beautiful artistic way that can connect with people with what they're going through. Whether it's something challenging or something beautiful in their life, you can use your voice and your artistry to empower and uplift individual souls, hearts and minds around the world. And the more you continue to evolve, it's not about fixing or being perfect or like letting go of every negative habit that you have,

• 1:00:18Lewis Howes?

  but just being aware of the root cause of why you do these things.

• 1:00:23Speaker 00

  Yeah, sure.

• 1:00:23Lewis Howes?

  Saying, okay, does this serve me and my art and humanity at the highest level? Maybe I never get rid of this, but maybe I improve a little bit here and there and I, you know, I did a little bit, do a little bit of yoga for this season of my life and I'm going to try something else. It's like I'm going to enter relationships in a different way, whatever it might be. And then you're going to have that experience and be able to express that experience to humanity from a place of service and growth within yourself. And I think that's a beautiful thing that you're doing and you're on this journey. And just you even talking about it as the title of your album is allowing you to express this personal growth journey. So I'm just really excited for you, whether you do it now or in 20 years, I'm excited for your journey of growth

• 1:01:06Lewis Howes?

  because it's impacting lives around the world and it's really cool, man.

• 1:01:10Speaker 00

  You're an incredible talker, man. Oh yeah, dude, you're so good at talking about that. Yes, sir.

• 1:01:15Lewis Howes?

  I'm just listening to you. I'm just listening, man.

• 1:01:16Speaker 00

  You're so well, so well spoken, man. That's so well said. Thank you, man.

• 1:01:20Lewis Howes?

  I appreciate it, man.

• 1:01:21Speaker 00

  I will see that.

• 1:01:21Lewis Howes?

  Of course, man. Yeah, you've got a, you've got a gift. And you know, I think the first thing I saw of yours was, um, was the cover you did with, uh, Shania Twain, right?

• 1:01:31Speaker 00

  Ah, she's, wow, one angel.

• 1:01:33Lewis Howes?

  And the first thing I ever heard out of your mouth, when someone sent this to me, the first thing I ever heard out of your mouth, do you remember what you say at the beginning of that song?

• 1:01:40Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's my mom. I'm a beautiful mother, man.

• 1:01:43Lewis Howes?

  So you say the first thing.

• 1:01:44Speaker 00

  Yeah, she's. I love.

• 1:01:47Lewis Howes?

  You say you dedicated this to my mom.

• 1:01:48Speaker 00

  Yeah, she's the best.

• 1:01:50Lewis Howes?

  And you say this, you know, you're still the one I. Still the one I love, you know, all that stuff, so. Why did you decide to do that? Cover, I think it did over 120 million views. Why did you decide to do that? And why did you decide to dedicate it to your mom?

• 1:02:04Speaker 00

  Well, you know, that song, I always, that whole album, for God, dude. That she's just, she's, she's just incredible. And. That song just reminded me of my mother. I don't know why, I don't remember what, like what ever was like, we should do this cover and, you know, but. I think, I think I heard it or something and I was like, man. This makes me think of my mama and. Maybe we should do this next. It's something like, I can't remember the place where we decided, but. I remember when we were recording it, I was just saying, man, I'm gonna dedicate this to my mama. Cause it just makes me think of her and. And.

• 1:02:37Speaker 00

  It's just such a beautiful song and it makes me think of us in the car and that song being on the radio and. You know, us going down the road and, you know, me, me singing in the car and my moms and. It just makes me think of home, you know?

• 1:02:47Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:02:48Speaker 00

  And it's been such a beautiful thing too, cause not only has that changed my life so much, but. We still play it every night and. You know, and a lot of people's got like married to my version of that song and stuff too, which is so powerful.

• 1:02:58Lewis Howes?

  Play it on the road.

• 1:02:59Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:03:00Lewis Howes?

  Oh, I gotta see you play that live, man.

• 1:03:01Speaker 00

  We'll always play that one too as far, cause it's like. It's, it's.

• 1:03:05Lewis Howes?

  There's such a contrast, like seeing you with like the physical body you have and the beard and you know, the tattoos.

• 1:03:11Speaker 00

  I think that's a lot of.

• 1:03:12Lewis Howes?

  Singing this sweet, beautiful like song.

• 1:03:14Speaker 00

  I think a lot of that has been like what happened in my, in my career too is, is, is, is been because of like. You know, the way I look versus the way I sound. I think it's been a gimmick that we've really been able to work.

• 1:03:25Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:26Speaker 00

  And, but it's so fun. We go out there and every day I'm like, yo, is anybody, you know, here with the mother this evening? Or is anybody else just a mom at all? And I, yo, for the rest of us, can we make noise for the most beautiful creatures in the world, you know? And you just honor mom for a minute and every day is mother's day for me, man. You know, and so I'm just like. It's fun to go on stage and always just shout out to moms and they're just like. You see somebody with their kid, or you see somebody with their daughter and then their daughter's daughter, you know, and you see this generations of people in the crowd and all shapes and sizes and colors, all just holding each other together. And this couple who got married to it, they're just slow dancing in the middle of the crowd. And you're just like, God, this is a way to bring people together. And, I mean, that song, you know, that song just.

• 1:04:09Lewis Howes?

  What's, what's a line in that song or a phrase in that song that resonates with you the most?

• 1:04:15Speaker 00

  You know, just look at us still holding on, you know, we're still together. And it's like, it's like that, that, that, that, that, that pre, and you're still the one I run to. The one I belong to, you know, you're still the one I want for life, you know, you're just like, I just, that whole song, I think is like, it's a love song, you know, and it's definitely about like a, a relationship with, with, with a person that has been, I guess, you know, together for a long time, but to me, it's always reminded me of my mom. And when we really spend the lyrics, you know, there, there are kind of, it can also be that way, you know, you're still, you're still, we've made it through everything together, mom, and we're like, well, I love you and we're, are you still, you're still the girl I run to, you know, my mom's, this is still my everything and she's my rock, dog.

• 1:04:56Lewis Howes?

  And have you always had a good relationship with her growing up or did you go through some challenges?

• 1:05:00Speaker 00

  We, we went through a lot of challenges, man, we did, but um, she's always been, you know, and, and we, we've grown too. She, she one time told me the most beautiful advice, man. Well, I guess not advice, but just something that she said to, to me the other day, she said, uh, she was like, you know, she was, I was cutting somebody's hair and they, I had pictures of you and Kaylin, my older brother on, on the line. She said, Glenn, how'd you raise such good boys? And she said, hell, they raised me, you know, and, and it just touched my heart, you know, because my mom is just, I, I realized like, she was 23 or 25 when she had two kids. My dad was 21, I think, when he had two kids, or 23 or something, it was like, they're a couple of years apart. And, and if I'd have been like.

• 1:05:44Speaker 00

  Not even twenty-five with two kids, holy dude, or twenty-three with two kids. Oh, hell, I'm a child. I'm still like, I'm still not a child, you know, as far as I'm like, I, I, so I, I just like, I, I see also too that all the times and all the things that like, as I was growing up that my mom was doing, I'm, as I'm getting older, I'm starting to see like, oh, she was like a kid though still, you know, she was still growing and as a baby raising a baby, you know, and like, any mistakes that were made were just like, that's a baby raising a baby, God bless her, you know, she was going through hell, trying to figure out who she was, trying to raise two boys, trying to

• 1:06:23Speaker 00

  maybe still also have a child, like have some youth in her too, and so like, and it's, it's tough to, it's tough to navigate being a new parent at all, but let alone that age, I'm sure, and, and so we had our times, you know, and we had, we had our, we had our stuff, but, um, who doesn't, you know, and I, I think I'm just so grateful that she's, she's really turned into this most, most beautiful woman and

• 1:06:46Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:06:47Speaker 00

  Flourish in that, and also watch, as, as my mother watched me grow up, to watch my mother grow up, it's been like, this has been a hell of a thing, we really grew up together, you know, and

• 1:06:56Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful.

• 1:06:57Speaker 00

  It's, it's, she's just a flower, man, she's the best.

• 1:07:00Lewis Howes?

  That's great, man. What's the, um, what's the lyrics? Or the, you know, the, the phrase in a song that you feel like you've sung the most to yourself? Throughout your entire life?

• 1:07:11Speaker 00

  Um.

• 1:07:12Lewis Howes?

  Maybe your childhood or your adult life? What's the thing that you see yourself just singing in the shower the most, or when you're in the car, or just humming, what are those lyrics of that verse that you sing a lot? Maybe it's your own song, maybe it's another song?

• 1:07:25Speaker 00

  I would say for, for, uh, but my favorite, I think probably the song I've sang the most in my life is uh, knocks me off my feet, Stevie Wonder, I just love like, that, that, that album, uh, Songs in the Key of Life is the best album ever, but I don't wanna bore you with my troubles. Some of the magic of love, you know that song? I don't wanna bore you with it. I love you, I love you, I love you. It's just such an infectious, beautiful song, man, and I, I'll just, that album in, in general has just really always been something that's just so. So beautiful and powerful. It makes me just think of my childhood and just like growing up.

• 1:08:05Speaker 00

  And then, and if I was to say my own song, um, first song on my album is called Some Things I'll Never Know. And um, I find myself always, always singing that, uh, you know, when did, when did your heart let me go? I guess some things I'll never know. And um, and it's a, it's a song that's really like helped me with a lot and, and uh, and acceptance of things, you know, because uh.

• 1:08:28Lewis Howes?

  How's that verse go?

• 1:08:30Speaker 00

  Um, it says, uh, what did your heart let me go? I guess some things I'll never know. It's how the chorus of it is.

• 1:08:35Lewis Howes?

  When did your heart let me go?

• 1:08:36Speaker 00

  Yeah, I guess some things I'll never know. And um, and if you haven't listened to the song, you should. It's such a beautiful song, man. And uh, it's like, when it was written, you know, it, it kinda was like about this acceptance of, well, like people walk out of your life, you know, and, and I say this all the time on stage. When people walk out of your life, it could be a friend, it could be a significant other, or it could be just a death in something, you know, but um, there's, there's no closure, I find, that when people leave your life, you know, and all you can do is hope that the best thing, they're, they're doing the best for themselves. And if you really love them, you gotta just let it go and, and you don't get closure. They're not gonna tell you, this is what you did wrong, this is why I'm leaving, or this is why I'm leaving and, you know, it has nothing to do.

• 1:09:17Speaker 00

  They're not gonna give you closure, you know, sometimes people just leave and sometimes people don't say, they just go. And, and you gotta hope that, or, or find some way to give yourself clarity or some, some sort of acceptance or internal closure that you'll be like, well, I guess this is the end of that. And there's, there's no, and I always found myself with, with relationships that ended like looking for closure, like, wow, did this happen? I don't understand, or um, and then, and it's just the acceptance of, of the things that I can't control. And that whole song's just kind of about, there's, there's things I just can't control. And I, um, I, I just gotta accept that I can't, I can't keep you here. I can't. And, and I, I've found that there's two reasons, I, I, I've, I think anyway, there's two reasons why people hurt you and.

• 1:10:03Speaker 00

  They either do it to specifically hurt you, or they do it to help themselves.

• 1:10:06Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:10:07Speaker 00

  And you just gotta hope that they're doing it for their better good.

• 1:10:10Lewis Howes?

  Interesting.

• 1:10:10Speaker 00

  And if that's what they're doing, if it's, if it's, if it ever takes you hurting me to make yourself better than my army, I would take that anytime and I'd be glad to, well, not glad to, but I can accept that, you know?

• 1:10:21Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:22Speaker 00

  It's always, I think with me, when you're just like trying to blatantly hurt somebody, I think that's when it's like, okay, you know, that you're giving, you're giving me too much power, you're giving somebody else too much power, if it's, they want to hurt you.

• 1:10:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:34Speaker 00

  So I, I just hope that it's always to, to benefit, whatever you gotta do for yourself, you, you're number one, you take care of that, you know?

• 1:10:41Lewis Howes?

  Man, this is, this is a beautiful conversation, man.

• 1:10:43Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:10:44Lewis Howes?

  I'm glad. I've got a, I've got a few more questions for you, if that's cool. Um, but this has been a really inspiring so far. It's a question that just came to me as you were saying this. Uh, you know, you're close to, I think you're close to, or maybe you're over a billion streams already on your music in the last year. Uh, you know, platinum, you're selling out arenas around the world, like so much is happening for you right now. I'm curious, if you could go a year in the future and you could think back about the gift you would like to receive, the internal gift you'd like to receive from where you are now to everything you're about to experience and go through over the next year. What is that gift you would love to receive for yourself?

• 1:11:23Speaker 00

  Hmm. That's a really beautiful question. Um.

• 1:11:30Speaker 00

  I think.

• 1:11:34Speaker 00

  I think, uh, I think I'd like, I think I would like to, I think I would like to, if I could look back like a year from now and look back, I think I would like to just like, I'm, hopefully have a, I, I'll say this as a gift, cause I, I, I think I'd like to just learn to let things go better. You know, just learn to let things slide off, cause everything I feel like sometimes to me is so huge and every moment's so gigantic and everything is so like, you know, massive and whatever's happening right now. And, and there's a, I mean, there's a thing about being present, but there's a thing about being like, everything is not the end of the world. You know what I mean? And if I could, I'm, I'm sure, I'm sure I'm just gonna. And I'm learning every day, but even if I could look back last year, I'm like, all the

• 1:12:15Speaker 00

  shit that I was making such a big deal was not that big of a deal, you know, and hopefully I will have the gift of discernment.

• 1:12:23Lewis Howes?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:12:23Speaker 00

  You know, that would be, discernment will be the gift that I would like, uh, much better discernment. That's, that's, that's what I'm looking for, yeah.

• 1:12:30Lewis Howes?

  I know a great tool that'll help, therapy.

• 1:12:32Speaker 00

  Yeah, you're right, yeah.

• 1:12:34Lewis Howes?

  Therapy has given, therapy has given me that, that's for sure. Uh, but all in time when you're ready, no pressure. Um, you've got your, your tour coming out. Uh, people can go to teddyswims.com to learn more about everything you're up to, but you've got, you know, you're on social media, Instagram, I love your Instagram content, obviously Spotify, YouTube, all these different places, they can see all your videos and everything. What can we do? Where should we follow you the most to see what you're up to, how we can support you, how we can serve you, watch you live? Where should we go?

• 1:13:06Speaker 00

  All those are great places, but, um, personally, I'm, I'm, I'm on Instagram the most. I, I have way too much screen time probably, man. I really, I really, I really just, uh, yesterday we went and got a new, a new phone, like, so I could, so I can, I can have my old phone, but I, I, just that way, if I can have one that's just for, you know, the family and, and also doesn't have any social media on it, so if I just want to leave this one for a day, I can just

• 1:13:32Lewis Howes?

  That's good.

• 1:13:33Speaker 00

  Go try to separate from it, but I'm, I'm always on there. If you, if you want to, you want to hear anything that I'm doing, I'll probably post a fucking stupid story, a meme, anything, something about parks and, no matter what.

• 1:13:44Lewis Howes?

  That's great, man, but you're gonna be on tour for a while, right?

• 1:13:48Speaker 00

  Yeah, we'll be, we'll be, uh, we, we got, we got Europe coming up and then, you know, Australia, New Zealand and, uh, and then

• 1:13:55Lewis Howes?

  Back to the US.

• 1:13:56Speaker 00

  September, October, we're in the States and, oh, it's, it's

• 1:13:58Lewis Howes?

  Amazing, man. So if, uh, if, check out the tour dates, if it's not sold out, and get a ticket, scalp it if you have to, but make sure you see, see Teddy live, um, anywhere around the world. And if you get a chance, you know, go, because you guys do like a VIP thing. People can get upgraded, like see them before or after.

• 1:14:17Speaker 00

  Yeah, we do like a hundred person meet and greet most of the times before. And it's the best, dude, it's the best.

• 1:14:22Lewis Howes?

  Before the event, right? Before the show?

• 1:14:24Speaker 00

  And it gives me all the, it gives me all the energy I need before the show too. You know, it's, I find it's like quite a strange thing though, because it's such an up and down of emotion. Like somebody's like so excited, you're smiling, but the next person you got 20 seconds with, then like sobbing. And then you're like, oh, and then you're like, it's just sucking loads of just up and down. You know, and so after I'm just, oh yeah.

• 1:14:44Lewis Howes?

  You're ready to go.

• 1:14:45Speaker 00

  But I love it, man.

• 1:14:46Lewis Howes?

  That's great, man.

• 1:14:47Speaker 00

  I love just that connection when.

• 1:14:49Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful. Well, if, if anyone watching or listening goes and sees you at a VIP, make sure to give Teddy a big hug.

• 1:14:56Speaker 00

  Absolutely.

• 1:14:56Lewis Howes?

  And let it know that you, you know, what part of this show you enjoyed the most. And the conversation that we had, what you enjoyed the most. This is a question I ask everyone at the end of our interviews, and it's a hypothetical question. It's called the three truths.

• 1:15:11Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 1:15:11Lewis Howes?

  So I'd like you to imagine a world where you get to live as long as you want. You know, another hundred years if you want to, but eventually it's the last day on earth for you. And you get to create everything you want to create. You get to have the relationships you want, the career you want, you get to put the music out, everything you get to do. You dream up, it happens, you manifest it. But on the last day of earth, you have to take all of your creations with you. This conversation's gone, your music's gone hypothetically, right? And for whatever reason, this happens, but on the last day, you get to leave behind three final lessons. Three final truths from your life experience.

• 1:15:52Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 1:15:53Lewis Howes?

  They could be verses from a line of music. They could be what's on your heart or mind right now. They could be anything at all. If you could fast forward to the future, that many years and think about what you'd want to share to leave behind. What would be those three lessons or three truths for you?

• 1:16:13Speaker 00

  I would, I would, I would ultimately say the same thing, man. When you talk to somebody, you make sure that they feel like they're the most important thing in the world and you make sure that time you spend is time well spent. I think also your time is no more valuable than anybody else's, you know, again, and, and I guess, yeah, and the sake of time, you know, like, I guess that's all, because when you, when you, when you ask that question, it does really make you think about the time that you have, or the time that you could have, or what you're leaving behind. And, and I sometimes wonder if, before I get into the third, I also sometimes wonder if like, am I doing this to be remembered? Because like, eventually oblivion is inevitable, right? So like, even when I am gone, at some point,

• 1:16:57Speaker 00

  I'll be forgotten. So am I doing this to like, make little exchanges here and there, or just to make the most out of my life, to have a blast? Or am I doing this to be remembered? Because I always say certainly if I am doing this, this business to be remembered, I'm in the wrong business, because Hitler will be remembered way after I will, way, way long. You know, serial killers will be remembered way after we will. So I think, I think if you really wanted to be remembered, you'd probably just be a serial killer or something. You know what I mean? So clearly, I'm not doing it for that reason. So it's always tyrants and serial killers that are just remembered forever, for some reason. I think it's like, the worse you do on the world, the more you're remembered. So, which is kind of weird in a way.

• 1:17:37Lewis Howes?

  Sad, yeah, yeah.

• 1:17:38Speaker 00

  But, so I don't think I'm doing it for that reason, clearly, but, so I don't know, like, I never really think about what, what I'm leaving behind, you know, but.

• 1:17:46Lewis Howes?

  What would be the lesson, the final lesson you think that you'd want people to?

• 1:17:49Speaker 00

  Man, just.

• 1:17:50Lewis Howes?

  Think about their lives?

• 1:17:52Speaker 00

  I, I think, I think there's only, I think there are some universal truths, you know, and there, there are a lot of things that aren't black and white, but there are things that are black and white. And I think it's just, just, you know, just love, you know, love yourself, love, love people, man, love people, just love people. I think there's, I, I believe in the inherent goodness of people, and I think everybody is, and I think there's just, I think. Bad things happen and, and, and bad decisions are made and think people, uh, just have, have a reason for what you're doing, you know, and I just love people.

• 1:18:22Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful, man. Uh, Jaden, I've got one more question for you. Before I ask the final question, I would acknowledge you, man, because I love how real and authentic you are. I love that you, I love your, I love your heart. I love your honesty. I love your authenticity. And I love that you have been committed to your dream and your voice for the last decade plus, and you've gone all on, all in on it. Most people give up a year or two into their dream and you've been 10 plus years into it. And you're just getting started now. And so the fact that you've been consistent, committed, you know, you've been bringing your friends along the way with you, giving people opportunities.

• 1:19:02Lewis Howes?

  Uh, and it sounds to me like you've been yourself throughout the whole journey. I think it's just a beautiful thing. So I want to acknowledge you, man, for,

• 1:19:08Speaker 00

  I hate you.

• 1:19:09Lewis Howes?

  For everything you're up to and for being of service to people using your voice and your talent, your gifts, whether they listen, they stream something, whether they watch this or they go watch you live. It's a beautiful thing to see, man. And I acknowledge you for, you know, doing everything but therapy and working on yourself because I think a lot of people get comfortable with where they are. They stay familiar, even if it's toxic or it's hurtful. And the fact that you said, you know what, you know, Dallas, Diamond Page, yeah, I'll come and I'll do some yoga and I'll start doing some things over here and I'll try to work on myself. The fact that you're doing that and not staying stuck in this, well, I'm this struggling artist that has to be depressed in order to make great art. That's a beautiful lesson that I want people to take away from this as well.

• 1:19:51Lewis Howes?

  That you can be loving, you can be joyful, you can be growing personally in whatever ways works for you. And make a difference in the world. So I acknowledge you, man. And, uh, I'm excited to, uh, to watch your journey soar. It's, it's a beautiful thing.

• 1:20:08Lewis Howes?

  One final question.

• 1:20:09Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 1:20:09Lewis Howes?

  What is your definition of greatness?

• 1:20:11Speaker 00

  I think it's got a, I think, man, that's such a, that's such a crazy line. I think, uh,

• 1:20:20Speaker 00

  Feeling happiness, you know, I feel like greatness is as if I feel like I don't know. I don't want to say what is the difference between satisfaction and contentment? You know, because I don't know. Is there a difference in those words? Because I don't want to say, I don't want to.

• 1:20:36Lewis Howes?

  Some people are satisfied, but they're not content. It's like they can be satisfied.

• 1:20:40Speaker 00

  I feel like greatness will maybe be satisfied, but I also don't know if I'll ever do that. So it doesn't mean I'll never achieve greatness. I don't know. Maybe greatness is never being satisfied. There we go. That's what I mean. Yeah, never being satisfied is, I think, my definition of greatness. Always striving for more and always, always growing. And yeah, that's a good one. Okay, we figured it out.

• 1:21:01Lewis Howes?

  There you go. Jaden, Teddy Swims, my man. Thank you so much.

• 1:21:04Speaker 00

  Thank you, bro. What a great talk.

• 1:21:06Lewis Howes?

  I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I want to remind you, if no one has told you lately that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter.

• 1:21:48Lewis Howes?

  And now it's time to go out there and do something great.