348 The Key to Overcoming Your Fear

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The next best thing is the wrong thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes and more at http://lewishowes.com/348 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.

• 0:03Lewis Howes?

  Episode number 348, Five Minute Friday, and it's time to take action.

• 0:10Lewis Howes?

  So I was doing a mastermind call the other night with a group of incredible entrepreneurial-minded individuals, and I was doing Q and A for about an hour and a half, and I was kind of in the flow. I was in the zone, and I really enjoyed this call. For whatever reason, the energy, the facilitator, I just really enjoyed and appreciated what they were up to. And they meet once a week on a video chat, and they're talking about their goals and teaching and learning and growing, and I just loved it. One of the questions, one of the ladies was asking me, you know, she's just starting out in this business, she's got her own job, she's got a couple of kids, she's a single mom, she's working hard, but it doesn't seem

• 0:53Lewis Howes?

  like there's not much time in the day, that doesn't seem like there's that much opportunity to grow and achieve this big dream that she has for her business, and she's got this big dream. And she's like, you know, how long is it going to take for me to get to where I want to be? Like, is it going to take a long time? How long did it take you? And I said, you know, it took me essentially eight years from my journey when I first started out, after playing arena football and sleeping on my sister's couch and not really knowing what I was going to do for the rest of my life, didn't have a college degree yet, didn't have any business experience, never made a dime, except for working as a truck driver, believe it or not. I worked as a truck driver six hours a day from Columbus, Ohio to Cincinnati

• 1:36Lewis Howes?

  and back every single day, driving Napa car auto parts. And I was also a bouncer on the weekends at a club near where I was living, and just trying to make a little bit of cash here and there. But I never really worked on my own, you know, maybe the most entrepreneurial thing I ever did was like mow my neighbor's lawn, right? Like, that's about it. But I didn't understand how to generate income. I didn't understand how to...

• 2:04Lewis Howes?

  Build a business or build a brand. I knew nothing about this about eight years ago in my journey. And she was like, is it gonna, how long is it gonna take me to get to where I want to be? And I said, listen, it took me about eight years, you know, to get to this place where I'm at a place where I feel like I'm just starting to scratch the surface, right? I feel like I'm still just getting started. And compared to the Mark Cubans and the Elon Musks of the world, I'm, you know, I'm like barely doing anything. I'm like pennies. I'm just like barely scratching the surface. So I feel like I'm still, you know, learning and growing and, and creating, you know, I still have a seven-figure business and, you know, things are amazing and incredible. And I'm very grateful for what I've created

• 2:47Lewis Howes?

  and what my team and I are doing to make an impact on the world. But it's taken me time. And here is the thing that almost crippled me for a while, you know, for a while on my sister's couch, this almost crippled me. And I'm going to read a quote by Theodore Roosevelt, said, "In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The next best thing is the wrong thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing." And, you know, I remember feeling overwhelmed. And if you're feeling overwhelmed right now, just go ahead and nod to yourself. Just go ahead and nod and, you know, say, yes, I'm feeling overwhelmed. It's okay to acknowledge it. We can acknowledge and accept where we're

• 3:30Lewis Howes?

  at in our lives right now. But we don't have to let it consume us and keep us down. We can feel overwhelmed for a moment, but then we get to move through it and create some momentum and take action. And the challenge is when we feel overwhelmed, or when we feel like, here's another thing, we feel like we have too many ideas, we don't know which idea to take action on. You know, I want to do this project, and I've got this book to write, and this podcast, and I want to speak, and I want to create this business, and this, this mobile app I want to do, and I want to do this. You know, nod if you're the person that wants to do everything. If you've got so many ideas, and you don't know which one to take action on. I've been there as well. The challenge is,

• 4:10Lewis Howes?

  We can feel stuck, we can feel almost paralyzed by the fear of I'm never gonna get to my big dream and I'm so overwhelmed as it is right now, you know, I've got this responsibility and these kids and family and I'm going through a divorce and I don't have the time, there's no free time for myself to even take care of my health. I get it, I get it. And I want you to take a big, deep breath and just take a moment to realize that you've created so much in your life already. You get to acknowledge and recognize all the good you have done. Even if you don't feel like you've done that much, you get to acknowledge and take a moment

• 4:51Lewis Howes?

  right now to say, you know what, I've done a lot of good things and really create a mental list or even write it down. What are all the things that you have created up until this point? And you get to take another deep breath and relax for a moment and realize that all of this is fear. Fear is holding you back from going after your dreams. You know, there's another great quote by Gabriel Garcia Marquez that says, "It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old. They grow old because they stop pursuing dreams." And we get overwhelmed and we grow old because we are feeling like,

• 5:35Lewis Howes?

  you know, we can't create anything. We're paralyzed in decision, we're paralyzed by the fear of what could go wrong. What happens if I failed and all my friends laugh at me? What happens if I succeed? And I, you know, my friends try to hold me down or then now they, I have some new responsibility I'm not ready for, you know? What happens if I look bad in the process? I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know what action to take, you know? In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is do the right thing. The next best thing is the wrong thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing. Nothing. So when you feel paralyzed, when you feel fear, when you feel overwhelmed,

• 6:16Lewis Howes?

  you get to take a deep breath and connect to your vision. What is it you really want? And why do you want that thing? What is that dream inside of you? Are you going to pursue it and stay young? Are you going to stop pursuing your dream and start to grow old really fast? And you could allow fear and depression and confusion and overwhelm to hold you back from pursuing that dream? Who cares if you fail? What's the worst that could happen if you fail? Who cares what you look like? Are you really going to let your ego stand in the way of making mistakes? You're gonna look silly from time to time. Who cares? Are you gonna let that hold you back from achieving and creating and inspiring and

• 7:01Lewis Howes?

  solving problems and creating beautiful families and bringing communities together? Are you gonna let your silly little ego and fear of looking bad hold you back? Heck, no. It's time to take action. It's time to move one step. All you gotta do is one action step each day towards that dream. You don't have to say, "Okay, I have nothing right now and I need to make a million dollars in a week, otherwise I'm a failure." It took me seven, eight years to get to the place where I feel like I'm scratching the surface and just getting started. And I have a long way to go. But every single day, I showed up. Every single day, I worked hard. And yes, I made mistakes.

• 7:43Lewis Howes?

  And yes, there were times where I worked too hard and my health got out of sync. So I had to readjust. I had to reevaluate. I had to get back in balance with my health. You know, there was times where my relationships went out of whack. So I got to acknowledge and realize, "Okay, I'm working too hard and I get to put time and energy into this thing." You get to ebb and flow with the season of your life of where you're at right now. And the most important thing you can do is take one action step today. One action step right now. That is moving you towards your goals. Moving you towards a better life. Moving you towards health. Moving you towards fulfillment, joy. Moving you towards contribution. And moving you towards your dreams.

• 8:28Lewis Howes?

  The biggest thing you can do is take action right now. This is Five Minute Friday, episode number 348. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. You just click on your podcast app and click the subscribe button, or you can go right to iTunes.com/SchoolOfGreatness and subscribe. If you enjoy any of these episodes, I would love it if you left a review over on iTunes as well. That helps us get in front of more people and get more people listening and downloading and sharing it with their friends. If this brings you any inspiration, then please share this with your friends. The link is LewisHowes.com/348.

• 9:13Lewis Howes?

  We are creating a movement of inspiration and greatness, and it's all because of you. It's because you show up and listen every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday when we release these interviews and these episodes. You take in this information from some of the most brilliant minds in the world. You consume it, and then you take action. And by doing that action, you are inspiring those around you. Your inspiration moves the world towards more grace, towards more joy, towards more connection, love, and intimacy. And it's all starts with you. I thank you very much for being here. It means the world to me. Again, LewisHowes.com/348.

• 9:57Lewis Howes?

  If this inspires you or moved you in any way, please share it with your friends online. I love you very much. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.