454 The Ultra-Spiritual Guide to Humor and Healing with JP Sears

"The warrior is the one connected to his or her heart." - JP Sears If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes, video, and more at http://lewishowes.com/454 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.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 454 with JP Sears.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

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

• 0:33Lewis Howes?

  Welcome everyone to the School of Greatness today. I hope you're having an amazing day. We've got JP Sears in the house. And he is known for his hilarious videos on YouTube and Facebook called Awaken with JP. Hundreds of millions of views all over the place online, and they continue to just blow up. He is a holistic coach practitioner and started doing these videos to really share his own personal humor, to let himself out and to let himself be more creative in the world. And he was kind of doing it for fun and they really took off. I mean, people fell in love with them.

• 1:16Lewis Howes?

  So he developed a character that allowed him to share his voice in a unique way. And he's got a new book out called How to be Ultra Spiritual: 12 and a Half Steps to Spiritual Superiority. And we have a lot of fun in this interview, but we also take things a little more seriously at certain points as well. So I think you're gonna like this one. You know, I had a lot of fun with JP. He's a good dude. We just connected for the first time and I really enjoy his message, his way of being and his ability to bring humor in healing. And some of the things we cover on today's episode are if JP wishes he'd started making funny videos sooner, because he was making kind of more serious videos, how-to videos for years before he started.

• 2:01Lewis Howes?

  And his response to that. Also, why numbing out from life is so painful. The reason JP decided to start. Using humor to help heal people, what the source of true power is and where it comes from, and the role of spirituality and religion to make us question and think deeper. Again, I think there's something powerful in humor, especially when we're suffering or going through challenging times in our lives. I believe that humor allows us to make light of certain situations. You know, certain situations deserve a non-light manner and certain time,

• 2:42Lewis Howes?

  but also sometimes we can get in our own head and we can get in our own way and we can allow this challenging times of suffering to hold us back from moving forward into who we're meant to be. So I'm very excited about this one. I really hope you guys enjoy this. Make sure to check out the full show notes at LewisHowes.com/454. And without further ado, let me introduce to you the one and only JP Sears.

• 3:13Lewis Howes?

  Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness Podcast. Super pumped about our guest today, JP Sears in the house. Good to see you, man.

• 3:20Speaker 01

  Louis, so good to see you, brother.

• 3:21Lewis Howes?

  Very excited. The Buddha is staring down on us right now and making sure that we're protected, that we are fully enlightened, and we're going to share some great wisdom today.

• 3:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, you know, when I walked into this room, this beautiful room, by the way, and I just felt this massive push against me. It was just like this energy field, and I thought it was you. And that was a mistake. It's obviously the orange Buddha in the tradition of the School of Greatness. I love it.

• 3:53Lewis Howes?

  That's it, man. You got a new book out called How to Be Ultra Spiritual, 12 and a Half Steps, not 12, not 13, 12 and a Half Steps to Spiritual Superiority. And I'm very excited about this. A funny, funny book, meant to be more humor, right? Not really meant to teach as much as more to bring light to certain things. Is that correct?

• 4:17Speaker 01

  Well, here's my biased point of view. I like to share my perspectives through the language of humor. So using humor comedy, I mean, to me, certainly one of the purposes of the book is experience the levity of laughter. I think we all take ourselves too seriously. But also my deeper intention is for deeper messages to be delivered through the language of humor. So a couple of those messages that I've intended to be embedded in the book, and that's always for the reader to determine, are those messages actually in it? I have the beholder kind of thing.

• 4:50Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 4:51Speaker 01

  But I love to advocate for people to let go of that which served you, that no longer serves you. Just like we take in a breath and we let it go as soon as it stops serving us. So we can bring in a fresher breath. And then I love to advocate for people to be unapologetically their true self. And that's another deeper message that I've intended to be in the humor.

• 5:15Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure. Would you say that this humorous self of you is really your true self?

• 5:19Speaker 01

  No, I would say it's definitely a part of my true self. I think, you know, sometimes people get confused. They're like, ah, JP, I watched your comedy videos and then I saw you have like these serious videos and I'm confused by you. Are you, are you a comedian or are you serious? And my answer is yes. And you know, there, there are two parts that help make the whole of me. And to me, it's just like asking, do you have a right hand or a left hand? It's like, well, I have both. And to me, part of the beauty of life, and I think my journey of being as much myself as I possibly can in any given moment, is

• 5:58Speaker 01

  to be dynamic. You know, which, which aspect of me am I in touch with in any given moment? Sometimes it's the humorous aspect of me. Sometimes it's the very sincere aspect of me. And other times, like it's a vulnerable aspect or a sad hurt part of me.

• 6:16Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 6:17Speaker 01

  So to me, really kind of like mental health, I think more like heart health, is being able to be very true to the aspect of ourself in our inner being that's needing our attention in that moment.

• 6:30Lewis Howes?

  Sure. Okay, cool. Well, you're from Ohio, right? From Bowling Green?

• 6:33Speaker 01

  Man, they say all enlightened people are from Ohio. Would you argue with that?

• 6:38Lewis Howes?

  Speaking my language, baby.

• 6:40Speaker 01

  I think it was Buddha that said that.

• 6:41Lewis Howes?

  Right? Yeah. No, the Silent Monk said that, right?

• 6:44Speaker 01

  He says so much, I stopped listening.

• 6:47Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 6:50Lewis Howes?

  From Bowling Green area, and you actually became certified as a life coach in Columbus, Ohio, right?

• 6:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:55Lewis Howes?

  Okay. And that was what, 15 years ago?

• 6:57Speaker 01

  That was, that, yeah, I've been doing life coaching for about 15 years, maybe a little over at this point. So yeah, way back when I got certified. A beautiful organization called Journeys of Wisdom, definitely, you know, abstract, artsy-fartsy, in the most grounded way possible at the same time. But yeah, connected with a very powerful mentor in that organization, John McMullin. I really changed my life, aside from really arming me with professional tools to help people, help themselves, find more meaning in their life, heal their heart. Uh, step into their greatness if I don't get sued for copyright infringement.

• 7:37Lewis Howes?

  Sure?

• 7:38Speaker 01

  Let me have you sign this waiver.

• 7:41Speaker 01

  But also, uh, doing the life coach training made a huge impact on my life. You know, I rocked up to the, the courses very arrogant, saying like, I want to help other people because they need help. And of course, yes, we all have room for upgrades. But I quickly became humbled, uh, realizing I'm projecting my need for healing onto other people because I didn't know how to identify it for myself. I didn't know how to be vulnerable enough to realize like, wow, I'm really compromised inside. I've got pain in my heart. I've got issues that are just numbed out. So I didn't even know they were there. So, you know, my desire to help other people

• 8:25Speaker 01

  kinda led me on a gluten-free breadcrumb trail into my own heart. Um, so I'm very grateful that I spent some time being arrogant enough to just think like, oh, I'm just so put together. Let me just be the beacon of light for other people.

• 8:39Lewis Howes?

  And how old were you during this?

• 8:40Speaker 01

  I was, let's see, I was 20 when I started the journey of helping myself and helping other people.

• 8:49Lewis Howes?

  Okay. What was the biggest pain you were trying to overcome, or that you realized you needed to overcome?

• 8:54Speaker 01

  I would, and it took me a while to realize it, to be honest with you, but I would say numbness. I think. And I'd love to hear your perspective on this, but I find when we're physically numb, psychologically numb, it's the most tormenting experience we can have. You know, and I think it's paradox because it's like paradoxical, it's so painful that we don't feel the pain that we're in. And it's like, a lot of us can relate, like if you've fallen asleep, you wake up in the middle of the night, been laying on your arm, it's like, whoa, this is numb. Like, it's like unnerving, or you sit on the toilet, scroll on Facebook too long, it's like, oh, now my legs are numb. But that was my being.

• 9:36Speaker 01

  I was just numb because as a child, teenager, I didn't know how to process my emotions. So just, I think at a very unconscious level, I would disconnect. And I'd have the illusion like, oh, my pain's not there because I don't feel it. But I do believe that just because we don't see, smell, hear, taste, or feel something doesn't mean it's not there. And I've found for my life and, and working with lots of clients, that what we don't know about ourselves tends to really, really control and dominate our life. So becoming more emotionally sensitive, you know, breaking the threshold of my numbness has been, I think, my biggest breakthrough.

• 10:16Speaker 01

  And, and just adding on to that, giving myself permission to feel hurt, giving myself permission to not know, giving myself permission to say, I don't feel okay right now, has ironically made me feel much more okay. It's like, giving myself permission to be a human is just somehow liberating.

• 10:38Lewis Howes?

  Acknowledging it, I think, when we acknowledge what we're feeling.

• 10:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, man, it-

• 10:42Lewis Howes?

  It relieves some of the pain, I think.

• 10:45Speaker 01

  For sure. And I think it, when we acknowledge ourself, like, how am I actually feeling right now? That's self-acceptance. I mean, it really is. But to me, I've done so much self-rejection, like, oh yeah, I feel sad, I'm not supposed to feel sad. Real men don't feel sad, you know, I'd be invalidated if I had, you know, challenging emotions when I was a kid, so it's just not okay. But that's like, all self-rejection. And man, I don't know if there's anything more painful or tormenting than self-rejection, especially self-rejection that turns into numbness.

• 11:21Lewis Howes?

  Then what were you numbing from? Or rejecting?

• 11:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's a good question. I think I was, uh, a couple of things. I was re- rejecting my emotional experiences that made me feel unstable because when I grew up, you know, my, my, my family from the outside, like so many other families. Ah, looks like a good family. Eh, nothing is as it seems. But there were challenges inside the family, you know, some substance abuse, uh, marital issues with my parents. They were, you know, getting divorced, not getting divorced, separating, moving out, um, a lot of slinky like effects throughout my childhood. So

• 12:02Speaker 01

  what that equal to me is instability. So it didn't feel safe for me to feel unsafe emotions. Wasn't safe enough to feel unsafe, uh, unsafe emotions. So at a, not a conscious level, but just sort of like a reactive unconscious level. Uh, I took on the mission like I need to be the stable one. One, because it doesn't feel safe enough for me to feel my unstable feelings, like sadness, no way. Um, family's breaking apart. I don't feel sad about it because I didn't feel safe enough to go into the unsafe emotions. And then I think, you know, all people are way more intuitive than what we can comprehend, uh, including myself. So,

• 12:47Speaker 01

  you know, a lot of family secrets in my family. And I think a secret is just an illusion when we realize like we're very intuitive beings. Like we feel the energy of it. It's like,

• 12:58Lewis Howes?

  It's hard to lie.

• 12:59Speaker 01

  It, it is. Like we've all walked into a room and it's like, wow, there's tension here.

• 13:03Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 13:04Speaker 01

  I don't necessarily intellectually know why there's tension or what's going on.

• 13:08Lewis Howes?

  Something's off, yeah.

• 13:09Speaker 01

  Man, the heart never lies. We feel something. So. At that kind of feeling level, feeling intuitive level, I would feel like there's instability in my family. So I want to stabilize my family. So instead of being a freaking child, I took on the role of being the stable adult, which and now I'm in a place of learning to be a child for the first time. I think it was Picasso who said, it takes a long time to become young. And I was like, wow, that's true for me. You know, I was a kid, but I didn't necessarily give myself permission to have a childhood.

• 13:45Lewis Howes?

  To play.

• 13:46Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 13:47Lewis Howes?

  Joke around, to have fun. Yeah.

• 13:49Speaker 01

  Man, and to me, that play, joking around, having fun, that's where the quality of life comes in. And I think there's also so much connection to ourself when we, when we can kind of unwind and have an exhale of our being enough that it's like, ah, I can play. And, you know, I love watching children play because you just see how connected they are. I mean, it's like sometimes they're connected, like in their own little world, like whatever realm they're in. But also playfulness is part of what integrates them into their tribe. It's, it's a, it's like a language of connection itself, from my delusional point of view.

• 14:29Lewis Howes?

  Right, right. So did you feel like you were living a serious life all in your twenties? And how old are you, thirty five or?

• 14:35Speaker 01

  Thirty five, yeah. You're very intuitive.

• 14:39Lewis Howes?

  Sure, yeah.

• 14:42Lewis Howes?

  I try to be unattached. Yeah. So were you pretty, you know, were you like a big adult then, when you were in your twenties and early thirties, until you started taking on this new kind of playful role and persona?

• 14:56Speaker 01

  Yes, I would say I definitely was taking myself in life too seriously. And I would say I, I was very playful on the surface. Not a deep playfulness. So every, you know, ever since I can remember, just a super young child, I've had a sense of humor, which can be, it's like, oh, that looks playful. Well, is it? My sense of humor, I think, was developed because it helped me compensate for my pain. You know, if I felt insignificant inside, which yes, I did during, during my childhood. I learned if I can make someone laugh, it feels like they value me. And if it feels like they value me, then it means I'm significant.

• 15:41Speaker 01

  And if I'm significant because I just made them laugh, then I don't feel the sense of insignificant insignificance that I'm relentlessly trying to escape from within myself. So what that means is I became addicted to making people laugh. It's just kind of like my survival strategy. And I think the the good thing about that is it helped train me in sort of like the becoming a black belt of comedy. You know, thousands and thousands of tons of thousands of repetitions of reading people. What's going to make this person laugh, figure it out super quick and then make them laugh. It's just so much practice.

• 16:19Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 16:20Speaker 01

  So I think there was the illusion of playfulness and and now as I'm doing my best to not escape myself, but go deeper into myself in this phase of life. I I prayerfully hope and I think, but of course I don't like to believe everything. I think I think now my humor is it's flipped where now it's engineered to embrace myself and using humor to invite other people to embrace themselves rather than deflect from themselves because I think humor is powerful. I think it's a very powerful energy. You can use it to hurt people. You can use it to help people. You can use it.

• 17:02Speaker 01

  Absolutely. I think it has very much an alchemist healing energy where if you can laugh about something, not in a shameful way, but in a way where you have a new awareness and a new perspective of that something I think is alchemizes and it can completely transform the experience of it.

• 17:21Lewis Howes?

  How has your business evolved? I mean, when did you start taking on this character, doing these videos?

• 17:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, October 4th, 2014 was the first comedy.

• 17:31Lewis Howes?

  Guys, it took half years ago.

• 17:32Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:33Lewis Howes?

  And a little less than two and a half years ago. And was your business as a life coach doing pretty well before then?

• 17:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was doing pretty well in and I wanted it to do even better. It's like, you know, my schedule was pretty full with one on one clients, but it could be more full. So I started my YouTube channel with the intention of like, let me get more exposure and get more clients into my business and. And for the first year and a half of doing YouTube, it was just all sincere life advice videos.

• 18:03Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 18:04Speaker 01

  Coming from my heart.

• 18:05Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 18:05Speaker 01

  Topics like how to heal depression, that kind of stuff. Then about a year and a half into it, I just, I could no longer betray the comedic part of me. It's like, like we said earlier, that's not all of who I am, but it's a part of me. So uh, once I started to allow my sense of humor to come out on camera, man, that, I thought it was going to be the worst thing ever for my business. I was wrong.

• 18:32Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 18:32Speaker 01

  And that taught me, don't believe everything you think JP.

• 18:34Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 18:35Speaker 01

  But it, it, it made my, my schedule more than full and I, for too long.

• 18:42Lewis Howes?

  Getting clients.

• 18:42Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. We're getting clients. Um, and I, it, it took me a long time to figure out how to say like, I can't see you next week. I can see you in six weeks or I can see you in eight weeks. And then, you know, other aspects of how the business has changed, uh, you know, so many doors of opportunity have, I've been blessed with doors of opportunity to open publishers approaching me to do a book, uh, you know, TV show stuff in the works.

• 19:14Lewis Howes?

  Speaking gigs.

• 19:15Speaker 01

  Speaking gigs, performing gigs and, and other stuff down the pipeline. So, you know, now the, the client business, I've had to take a step away from it. Um, just, there's so much else that feels purposeful to fertilize in the garden of my career right now at this time.

• 19:33Lewis Howes?

  Right. Wow. Now, when you were taking on these new clients who found you from this kind of humorous point of view, were they able to take you seriously or were they able to heal themselves or go through different challenges in a certain way? Or is it more like, is he the character or is he coaching me or?

• 19:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. You know, plenty, plenty of people didn't know how to take me. And they're like, JP, I, I don't know how to understand you. And it's like, what do you think it's like living with me? I was like, I don't know how to take me. But the ones who would, you know, they'd find my comedy videos and then from there, some of them would find, oh, you have serious videos too. So the ones that came to me as a client, they, they were ready to do the work. They, they figured it out. Like, yes, there is a very sincere offering from this. Goofy, delusional redhead.

• 20:21Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 20:21Speaker 01

  Um, so, yeah, they, and a lot of them didn't know what to expect, but they knew it was a sincere offering.

• 20:29Lewis Howes?

  Got it, got it. And do you feel like they got more results based on your brand or persona of being kind of this bigger personality?

• 20:36Speaker 01

  Well, i- in a way, yes. I think the part of the bigger personality, the, the comedy side, people could relate to that.

• 20:47Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 20:47Speaker 01

  I mean, we all, we all know sort of the, the precious spiritual teachers, self-growth teachers. And I don't mean precious in a bad way, but just precious. Like, there's really no playfulness about them. And that's great, but not everybody can relate to that. So people were seeing me like, there, here's this, this yahoo. And he, it, it kind of makes him real. Like, he, he can laugh at himself. He can laugh at me and like a, a good way, not a shaming way. So I think that helped get people in the door that otherwise weren't able to relate to the idea of helping themselves grow and heal inside their heart.

• 21:27Lewis Howes?

  Right. Do you wish you would have done this sooner?

• 21:31Speaker 01

  Man, that, it's a tricky game, playing with the illusion of time. And I'm gonna give you two answers, probably because I'm afraid of being wrong. So let me cover all my bases.

• 21:42Speaker 01

  Part of me would say yes. Uh, and to be honest with you, I alluded to it, uh, a minute ago. I really sold myself a story that said, my humor on a professional level is bad for business. It will be bad for business. So.

• 21:59Lewis Howes?

  Really? Yeah.

• 22:00Speaker 01

  Yeah. So there's a part of me that would say, ah, I, I wish I would have taken off the chains of restriction earlier. And then there's another part of me that I, I'm just so hungry to be myself, express myself and help other people embrace just their own weird self. And I don't think I would have this hunger and passion and what rea- really feels like a, a. A never ending stream of energy inside of me. I don't think I would be in touch with this. If I wasn't voided of it for so long. You know, it's kind of like I, part of me was locked in the basement of my own self for long enough, not seeing the light a day.

• 22:44Speaker 01

  And now after a number of years, it's like, ah, I'm outside and I so appreciate this beautiful gift of being free in this world where I can do anything I want and I can. You know, tirelessly, tirelessly go after my purpose. So. With all of that said, you know, and I'm, I'd love to hear your perspective on this. I think there is. A necessary reason why I needed to betray myself for so long. So, but I'd be curious about your perspective of that.

• 23:15Lewis Howes?

  I think, um, I think it all comes at the right time. You know, if I would have started my podcast sooner, I don't think I would have been ready for it.

• 23:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:22Lewis Howes?

  I don't think I would have had the skills necessary. I don't think I would have. Known what to do with some of the information I was getting and the interviews and.

• 23:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:31Lewis Howes?

  Um, so I think it all is in perfect timing, but I think we need to listen to when that. When we feel called forth to do something, we shouldn't reject it for too long.

• 23:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:42Lewis Howes?

  You know, so if you would have heard this calling three years ago and just waited until now, I think you would have been doing yourself a disservice.

• 23:49Speaker 01

  For sure.

• 23:50Lewis Howes?

  Um, so I don't know. I don't know how long you were kind of feeling like this urge to do like a funny video or just like come out with humor. But it sounds like it came out at the right time and specifically when people wanted it and also timing with technology, you know, Facebook. Native video coming out, you know, things going viral in a sense, maybe you wouldn't have done as well if you did three years earlier.

• 24:10Speaker 01

  That, man.

• 24:12Lewis Howes?

  Or maybe you wouldn't have gotten the traction that would have inspired you to keep going or something, you know?

• 24:16Speaker 01

  The, I, I think that's a beautiful perspective. Can I ask, uh? How many years ago was it that you started to really shine with your offering of helping empower people?

• 24:27Lewis Howes?

  I mean. Say about four and a half, four years ago, I started the podcast and about four and a half, five years ago, I really wanted to transition into the, the other business I was doing into kind of really helping more people.

• 24:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:41Lewis Howes?

  Not just creating like social media courses was what we were doing. But really tapping into the essence and heart of individuals and figuring out how I could serve on a bigger platform as opposed to just one on one.

• 24:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:52Lewis Howes?

  And, uh, you know, awaken myself with all, you know, the reason I interview so many people is to work on myself. You know, it's like I, I interview people based on what I need the most.

• 25:02Speaker 01

  Man, I'm right there with you.

• 25:04Lewis Howes?

  So it's my journey. It's like a selfish reason I'm doing it, but I have a platform so I can get these big names to come on.

• 25:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 25:10Lewis Howes?

  And like learn their stories and then share it with the world. Cause I feel like it's, um, every time I was having conversations before my podcast, I was like, man, I wish people could hear this.

• 25:20Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 25:20Lewis Howes?

  You know, all these conversations I was having with leaders, I was just like, man, people need to hear this.

• 25:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 25:26Lewis Howes?

  Like, and I felt like I was able to hear like secrets from these individuals, stuff they weren't telling anyone. So I was like, what if I could get people on to share it with the world? So, yeah.

• 25:36Speaker 01

  Yeah. Well, I, I, I love your humbleness. I love your humbleness where you can say like, yeah, I interview people because I need to learn.

• 25:44Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 25:44Speaker 01

  I need to grow and, and you, you talk to people out loud so other people can eaves, eavesdrop in on the conversation, which is beautiful.

• 25:52Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 25:53Speaker 01

  And I personally think part of what makes you a powerful teacher, a powerful influencer is just that you own it. You own like, hey, I'm here in the muddy swamp, working on my own stuff. I think the, the, I think it's a thing of the past where people have this mass appeal to the illusion of someone being

• 26:17Lewis Howes?

  Perfect.

• 26:17Speaker 01

  Put together, perfect. Let me talk down on you while I teach you stuff. It's like, man, people want connection and they can't connect to someone who's not real. And I, when you and I had a phone call a couple of weeks ago, something I shared with you and I, it just, man, it really, it's so true for me. I so admire hearing your stories about vulnerability, you know, abuse you've gone through as a child, adversity with your father's issues. It, it just inspires me, like it gives me this sense of permission, like yes, it's okay that I have my version of that too. It's okay. And that's so liberating.

• 26:58Lewis Howes?

  I think it's the most important thing we can do is really talk about the challenges we go through as opposed to never talk about them. Because like you said, we create such a deeper instant connection when we open up and we share. And we don't need to be like bawling in tears, crying about like everything that's happened to us every moment of our lives. But I think when the opportunity arises, we should allow ourselves to move into some type of real conversation of the crap that we've gone through when necessary and being discerning and you know, knowing the right timing of when to say certain things, but you know, the, the key to success in life is relationships and the key to successful relationships is vulnerability, intimacy, real connection. And you can't do that when you're just talking about all the good things.

• 27:42Speaker 01

  For sure. It, it, the good things, it's, it's a great dimension. I mean, let's celebrate the good things and man.

• 27:50Lewis Howes?

  The struggles, the challenges, the things that we're working on that aren't, you know, lifting us up to the highest level. Like what are those things? For me, that's what excites me.

• 27:58Speaker 01

  For sure. And, and that's, that's the opportunity for growth as well. You know, life wouldn't be very exciting if, at least for me, if someone came up and said, Louis, um, you've hit the peak. You actually can't grow. Things cannot get better. They cannot get more enjoyable. There's not going to be any more mystery in your life. So, um.

• 28:19Lewis Howes?

  Might as well die then.

• 28:20Speaker 01

  It pretty much.

• 28:21Lewis Howes?

  Right? I mean, well, isn't happiness directly related to growth? Like the amount of growth that we have is based on like our level of happiness? I think Tony might've said that or someone, but um, I just feel like if we're not growing, we're slowly dying.

• 28:34Speaker 01

  I, I agree. And, and I think. If our happiness is related to growth, I think our growth and happiness is also related to our willingness to be afraid in stepping into the unknown, into the mystery, because growth doesn't happen in our comfort zone. It happens in our uncomfortable zone, the mystery of it. And I think it's human nature to be afraid of the unknown. But it's kind of like, wow, if I'm not willing to be afraid, go forward anyway, then I can't grow. And if I can't grow, I can't be happy. So I think it's paradoxical. A willingness to be afraid is directly proportional to the amount of happiness we can get. And, and I think a

• 29:17Speaker 01

  lot of us are too afraid to be afraid. So it's like we're, we're afraid squared. We're afraid to be afraid, so we don't move. But I think true courage, which equals growth, which equals happiness. True courage is, I am afraid. And I'm the warrior going forward anyway. I think archetypally, the warrior is not fearless. I think that is just a fairy tale BS myth. I think the warrior is the one who's connected to his or her heart and feels the fear, yet has the courage to do his or her task anyway, to hear the call to quest and abide by the mission.

• 29:59Lewis Howes?

  It's gonna be scary going into battle, you know, with other people like charging you with guns and knives.

• 30:05Speaker 01

  For sure. And especially a lot of those guns and knives that are charging us come from our own freaking psyche, self doubt, inner critic.

• 30:14Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, it's interesting, you know, that you talk about that. I'm glad you're sharing this because every year in my business, I take on something new that I've never done and that scares the crap out of me. Because I feel like, one, I do it for myself because I know that if I just keep doing the same thing every year, I'm gonna get bored. And my business is only gonna grow a certain amount. And I'm not gonna differentiate myself from anyone else in my space. If I just keep doing the same things. Certain things I stay consistent to build momentum. But then I always bring on at least one new thing every year that I've never done that scares the crap out of me, or that seems like a big challenge. And then after we do it, it's like, okay, now we know how to do this, let's make it better. But let's bring on something else that's new.

• 30:59Lewis Howes?

  And it scares the crap out of me, but it's like, man, we get to figure something out together. We get to do something that we've never done that seems impossible, but we're going to figure it out.

• 31:08Speaker 01

  Man, I love that. Infinity is always bigger than we think it is, and I think infinity is the capacity we have to grow. And I know that sounds a little cliche and airy-fairy and abstract, yet I think it's freaking true. And to me, it's so inspiring to not play it safe in life. It's like, and I think one of the great curses that someone with success could have is, wow, this has worked for me, so I'm gonna keep doing exclusively what has worked for me. But there's no risk in that. There's no growth. And is there happiness? Ugh.

• 31:43Lewis Howes?

  There's comfort.

• 31:44Speaker 01

  There's comfort for sure. And I've, from my delusional point of view, I think a lot of people, when they're talking about like their, the pursuit of happiness, they're, they're saying the word happiness, but they're not talking about happiness. I think they're talking about comfort. I think the direction a lot of people take when they're quote unquote pursuing happiness, they're pointed towards comfort. They're trying to achieve a sense of comfort.

• 32:11Lewis Howes?

  Or acquire something, right? They're trying to achieve or acquire a certain sense of money or freedom or something. They're trying to have it.

• 32:20Speaker 01

  For sure.

• 32:21Lewis Howes?

  And then they'll be happy.

• 32:22Speaker 01

  For sure.

• 32:23Lewis Howes?

  As opposed to the process of just being happy.

• 32:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, it, it is absolutely ridiculous in my experience. I, um, have you interviewed Brené Brown?

• 32:33Lewis Howes?

  Not yet. I'd love to.

• 32:35Speaker 01

  I'd, I'd love to hear that.

• 32:36Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 32:37Speaker 01

  She's one of my favorite authors. Um, I've never read any of her books, but she's not gonna stop me. She's one of my favorite authors. A quote that she has that I absolutely am in love with, and I might be a little bit off, but I might be right on to. But it's something along the lines of, He or she who's willing to be the most uncomfortable, not only is the bravest, but rises the highest.

• 32:59Lewis Howes?

  Absolutely.

• 33:00Speaker 01

  And I think rises the highest, she's not talking about like significance and status, though that might come with it. But I think rises the highest in terms of quality of life, satisfaction, connection with self and other people in honoring their life purpose, but playing it safe for the comfort, for the status acquiring, it's like, wow, there's. Uh, I think that's the, the repel of a great life, even though it's what we create. I think self-preservation. We want safety, self-realization, we want risk. Safety equals death of our self-realization. And safety equals life of our self-preservation.

• 33:42Speaker 01

  But I think the purpose of life isn't to survive life. I think the purpose of life is to live life. And I think that if we're not willing to scare ourselves to death, then paradoxically, we cannot live our life. We'll survive our life at best, but maybe not even that.

• 33:58Lewis Howes?

  That's powerful. You know, I think this is why so many people go through what it, you know, what we call midlife crisis. It's because they've been striving for something their whole lives, um, to acquire or to achieve. And then they get it, but they're like, I'm not fulfilled. I'm not happy. And now what do I really need to do? It's like they, they get some JP and they're like, okay, I need to go be like a comedian or I do this. Do the thing I've always wanted to do that I've never taken a risk on.

• 34:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 34:21Lewis Howes?

  And then they start to wake up a little.

• 34:22Speaker 01

  And that, that midlife crisis, I'm a big fan of them. Uh, in fact, they, and I'd invite people like, don't necessarily wait till midlife. I think, you know, it's a kind of a proverbial archetypal passage that I think is always there. It, it's like, we can find it, or if we don't, it'll eventually find us. But I think like anything, if we're, if we're proactive rather than reactive and go after that crisis of self. I think that becomes a birth canal. I think the midlife crisis, it's a membrane that we go through. And on the other side is not who we think we are. It's not even who we want to be. I think much more significant, it's who we actually are.

• 35:06Speaker 01

  And man, thank God, or Santa Claus, whoever's up there.

• 35:10Lewis Howes?

  Tooth Fairy.

• 35:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, Tooth Fairy, the doctrine. Do you have a model of the Tooth Fairy?

• 35:16Lewis Howes?

  I should.

• 35:16Speaker 01

  I'm a little offended you didn't cater to my religious beliefs.

• 35:19Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 35:20Speaker 01

  But, but thank God, it feels so unsatisfying, living a life where we're not honoring ourself. I mean, thank God, we eventually, midlife crisis, acquire this inner void where we just become so hungry for something more. We may not know what it is, but we know what it's not.

• 35:41Lewis Howes?

  True. And that's just as powerful, knowing I don't want this, or this isn't what it is, or who I am anymore.

• 35:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:48Lewis Howes?

  Somebody go shed that skin and, and step into something new. What would you say is your definition of spirituality?

• 35:55Speaker 01

  Uh, being connected to something greater than ourself. Uh, you know, maybe a theoretical level, we say like, oh, we are connected to everything else, all is one, but like, okay, let's be in our lower self here for a second. Being connected to something that I think is beyond myself. So yes, I have an ego. I have a sense of separation. Here's JP, here's Lewis, I'm separate from you. So for me, being connected to something beyond me, and I think what Tony Robbins, he's always talking about contribution. And I think that contribution is being connected to something bigger than us. That can be another person. That's a collective consciousness that's bigger than us.

• 36:36Speaker 01

  It can be our community. It can be nature and we can call it God. We can call it our higher self. We can call it our intuition, but something beyond ourself, a connection to it. And I, and I would really differentiate, not a theoretical connection, not a, I think I'm connected to something. Yeah. And that makes sense that I would be connected to something greater than me. But I'm talking about a feeling oriented connection. Like right now, I, I feel a connection to you, like this kinship, brothership with you. And it's a beautiful feeling, much different than I, than just thinking about the connection.

• 37:14Lewis Howes?

  Right, right. Do you have a religious practice?

• 37:17Speaker 01

  I was raised pretend Catholic, uh, so. Anytime my grandparents were around, my family acted like we went to church every weekend, even though we did. Uh, so, uh, I don't have any religious affiliation. Uh, I personally think, uh, I love to get little gems of a lot of different religions and, you know, the real ritualistic, uh, dogmas. I'm not necessarily saying dogma in a bad way, not necessarily a good way either, but, um, leave the, the rest of the dogma, uh, to other people, but I love to just like mine the nutrients from any religion, any philosophy.

• 37:57Speaker 01

  And I personally think so many religions are all saying the exact same thing, but calling it by different names. It's like, we're all looking at the color blue, but we call it by different names and then we fight over how we're calling the same thing, something different. Um, man, I'm a big fan of whatever connects us more together. That's gonna be like some, and, and if that's a religion for a person, great. I, I personally just don't find much sense of connection to myself or other people, or that which I think is beyond me through religious practices.

• 38:33Lewis Howes?

  Do you think religion is good? Or is it, isn't it one of the causes of all the wars?

• 38:37Speaker 01

  Uh, I think people are the causes of wars. I think how people interpret religion is what creates wars. I think religion is just a power potential. And any power potential, just like humor, I think has the potential to be constructive or destructive, connective or disconnective. So I think, uh, a lot of people think they're experiencing a religion, but I think what they're really experiencing is themselves, their values, their judgments, their intolerances, their needs projected onto a religion. And then they justify themselves, but I say, nope, this is the religion. It's not me. So, uh, and by the way, we can't question it now. You can't question me. You can't question my sense of certainty

• 39:19Speaker 01

  because I've just played the trump card. This is the religion. Can't question it. If you question it, I'll get angry. Cause I'll feel, I'll feel threatened about my. Yeah. My beliefs, like who, what I am to the world and what the world is to me. Yeah, it's a great question. I'm curious, your affiliation with religion, if you have any that's important to you.

• 39:41Lewis Howes?

  I grew up in a religion called Christian Science.

• 39:44Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 39:45Lewis Howes?

  Yes, and it was all about the mind, mastering the mind, and realizing that we're all spiritual beings and that we're not physical beings. And so, you know, we, you know, I never had shots growing up. It was like all about not focusing on matter.

• 40:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 40:01Lewis Howes?

  When we put attention on matter, then we become more physical. If we put attention on spirituality and the mind, then we're separate from our physical beings.

• 40:10Speaker 01

  So, non-matter matters more than matter matters.

• 40:13Lewis Howes?

  Exactly, yeah. So, I grew up in that. There were a lot of, you know, challenges I faced with just understanding it. Cause I'm like, oh, this is physical, you know, I feel something, you know, so how is it not? So, I was just very confused. But in a lot of ways, it, it set me up for a very powerful life as well in taking my mind to completely different places that my peers were not willing to do. And, you know, for an example, my father never celebrated my birthday growing up. And I didn't understand why, you know, I'd go to all these other parties and kids would have cakes and presents and, you know, donkeys and bouncy castles or whatever, and I'm like.

• 40:53Speaker 01

  The donkeys you had in there.

• 40:54Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, right. And, um, and then my birthday would come around and nothing. No, like celebration, no cake, no party, presents, nothing. And I remember, you know, when I was like seven or eight or something, I'd be like, Dad, you know, how come we don't celebrate my birthday? And he goes, it's not that, we don't want to celebrate you. He said that I don't believe in time. I don't believe in age because your age, I never want you to be limited by how young or how old you are from going after your dreams. And at the time, all I wanted was cake. So, I didn't really care, but it like sunk in eventually. I was like, okay, you know, in my teen years when I was playing sports, I was like, maybe I am the youngest on this team,

• 41:35Lewis Howes?

  but I'm not gonna let my age hold me back from like pursuing my dreams and being great on this team. And you know, when I went after playing professional football and going after business, I was really one of the youngest guys in kind of the industry. Starting something and I didn't have a college degree. I didn't have any entrepreneurial experience and never made money before. But that mindset and belief of like, it doesn't matter how old or young you are. If you believe it enough, you can create what you want. And so for me, it was a very powerful mindset teaching. Getting raised with this type of philosophy and there were certain things that I. Didn't resonate with and you know, didn't use those kind of like you do with all religions. You take what you like and. Use it how you can to serve you the best and um. But I think it helped me in a lot of ways with my mindset, so.

• 42:20Speaker 01

  And so you're saying like in the immediate moments in your childhood was like, oh, I want cake and it's my birthday, but. You're saying it's my birthday isn't really a thing.

• 42:29Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 42:30Speaker 01

  So you didn't necessarily.

• 42:31Lewis Howes?

  That was just his thing. That wasn't like the religions thing. That was just like him.

• 42:34Speaker 01

  Oh, that was just the religion of fatherhood.

• 42:37Lewis Howes?

  Right. It was. It wasn't like the religion didn't celebrate people's birthdays. I think my dad was kind of like extremist.

• 42:43Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 42:44Lewis Howes?

  In in spirituality and time, you know, he's he didn't believe in time, you know, there was it's infinity, right?

• 42:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 42:51Lewis Howes?

  There, there is no start and and it's like it's always been here and always will be here.

• 42:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, he sounds ultra spiritual.

• 42:57Lewis Howes?

  Right. He he should be in the book. Yeah, so.

• 42:59Speaker 01

  So so the those beliefs of your fathers, religious or not. You I believe I I'm hearing you say you didn't necessarily understand or feel the benefit immediately, but the seed was planted and. And you got nutrition from it later on. That's awesome.

• 43:16Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, so for me it's powerful, but I'm not really, I wouldn't say I'm practicing uh any religion. You know, I've interviewed so many different spiritual leaders and individuals in general. The more I learn, I realize that like. I don't know, the more I learn from everyone, I question everything.

• 43:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:33Lewis Howes?

  I question everything and I realize how like ignorant I am to so much and how ignorant all of us are really.

• 43:39Speaker 01

  Man.

• 43:40Lewis Howes?

  You know, there is no, in my mind, it's like there. The answer, I don't have all the answers still. And that one religion can give me all the facts or the foundation. And I don't believe in blind faith just because someone said, just trust it because I say so. And because I got a message to say us to trust it blindly. Like, I can believe in certain things, you know, that may not be in front of us. You know, that's, there's something that might not, that might be here that I can't see. I can believe in that because of experiences, because of shared experiences, because of feelings.

• 44:16Lewis Howes?

  But a lot of things are hard without, uh, blind faith. Just, oh, this story, trust this story from four thousand years ago, trust this story. Trust, you know, it's like.

• 44:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:25Lewis Howes?

  For all the translations and all, you know.

• 44:29Speaker 01

  And like, yeah, potential egoic agendas that are attached to it.

• 44:35Speaker 01

  And on that note, it's like, I, I really, I'll sound indifferent, maybe. Uh, I really don't care what someone's religion is.

• 44:44Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I don't either.

• 44:45Speaker 01

  Or their life philosophy. What I care about is why. It's like someone says, oh, I'm a Muslim or I'm a Catholic. I don't care, but why are you? And I'm intrigued to learn, like, what is their why? Um, do you have a why? Gee, I, I hope so. And if not.

• 45:03Lewis Howes?

  Or just because you were raised in this and it's what your family and friends do. So you do it because you want to feel connected.

• 45:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, absolutely. You know, what is your why? Does your why serve you, I think is another great question. And, and I, I love your notion of question everything. You know, maybe we should even question, should we question everything?

• 45:20Lewis Howes?

  Sure, I'm open to that.

• 45:21Speaker 01

  But man, to me, that, that is fertilizer of growth. Questioning everything, the, the need to be certain, I think it shuts down growth. But a willingness to be curious, question everything. And I think when we truly do question everything, especially the things inside of ourself, our beliefs, our senses of self. Uh, I think that perpetuates us into more of, you know, Brene Brown's discomfort. Which I think that. That's where life happens, not inside of our comfort zone. I think we can retreat there, catch our breath. But then we have to be the hero going and in, you know, into their hero's journey outside of our comfort zone, questioning things.

• 46:05Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, and I think it's important for us to have a foundation of certain beliefs for ourselves.

• 46:13Lewis Howes?

  Otherwise, we might just be miserable if we don't know why we're here or what our purpose is. So I think it's important for us to find our own purpose and that could be for the purpose for the next six months of our lives or for the next year. It doesn't have to be like for my, the rest of my life. Here's my mission like.

• 46:28Speaker 01

  For sure.

• 46:29Lewis Howes?

  You don't have to know. And I think a lot of people come to me, someone called me recently. It was like, I don't know what my purpose is. And she was in tears, like terrified. She's like, I've been trying to find it and I don't know what it is. How do I find it?

• 46:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:41Lewis Howes?

  And that's challenging sometimes, I think, when you don't know why you're here.

• 46:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, and I'm.

• 46:46Lewis Howes?

  I think all of us as kids probably think that, you know, why am I here?

• 46:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:50Lewis Howes?

  A lot of us kids and a lot of adults are like, why am I here? What's the reason?

• 46:54Speaker 01

  Yeah. Question for you, Louis, by the way, thank you for being a guest on your own podcast and just turn the tables and interview. I'm curious, your perspective, how much do you think a person needs to have a conscious sense of what their purpose is?

• 47:12Lewis Howes?

  I think it's important to have a pretty conscious sense, to be grounded in a journey you're going on.

• 47:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:21Lewis Howes?

  To be grounded on like, okay, here's my journey. Again, for me in school, it was like three month journeys. It was like, I'm playing football this season and here's the mission. At the end of the season, we want to achieve X. So I'm going to work towards reaching the mountain and dropping the ring in the fire or whatever it is. And so I think it's important to have, you know, a sense of mission and being on a journey. And maybe that journey is just discovering your journey. You know, maybe it's like, I'm just going on for the next six months, like Eat, Pray, Love Style. You know, it's like, I don't know what I'm doing, so I'm just gonna go. Figure it out. I don't know. Um, but I think if we don't have a direction of where we're heading, where we think we're supposed to be heading, then we're just gonna be ping ponging back and forth on idea and idea and person and person, and it's gonna be extremely frustrating if we don't have at least

• 48:07Lewis Howes?

  some sort of idea of where we wanna go.

• 48:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, I, I, I very much agree with that, and not that I need to, it's a beautiful perspective, irregardless whether I agree with it. And I, from my delusional perspective, I see some people, it seems like their, their quest to find their purpose can distract them from their purpose. It's like, I don't think necessarily the purpose of our life is to find our purpose. I think, you know, the purpose of our life is to live our purpose, live our life, and I think sometimes like, call it more like at a, a intellectual level, like our, our need to look for our purpose at a conceptual

• 48:48Speaker 01

  level can distract us from living our purpose. It's like our search for the purpose can leave us blind to like, oh, I'm sitting in my purpose right now. Um, which I, I don't know, I, it's like

• 49:01Lewis Howes?

  It's like The Alchemist. Have you read The Alchemist?

• 49:04Speaker 01

  No, no, it's definitely on my list of books I should have read.

• 49:07Lewis Howes?

  My favorite book, it's somewhere over here.

• 49:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, sorry.

• 49:11Lewis Howes?

  But the person goes on a journey to find his, his riches, right, his, his gold. He goes on a journey all around the world to discover, you know, hi- his, his wealth. And he, he doesn't find it. And I won't spoil the whole story, but he, he comes back home and realizes that the wealth is underneath a tree in his backyard, like all the gold in the world is right there, and it was always inside of him essentially.

• 49:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 49:40Lewis Howes?

  He didn't even go find it. It was always what's inside of you. It's just being, you know, looking down and seeing it.

• 49:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 49:48Lewis Howes?

  And I think, you know, speaking of what you're saying that It's really important to realize we don't have to go find something, but it's just opening up who activating who we are. You didn't go on a journey to find this, you know, comedic sense of self, this humorous sense of yourself. You just activated and opened it up and said, let me just try this thing on YouTube and do one video and you're like, oh, let me lean into this and let me do more of it. So I think it's waking up and just being true to what you want to do.

• 50:19Speaker 01

  For sure. I love that. And, and with that, that conscious sense of purpose. To me, it's, and I love how you, you kind of implied like, have sort of like a present moment connotation, like what you, your story, like we all need to make up stories. This helps form our beliefs, in my opinion. At least that's my story about stories. But your story about what your purpose is today, like have that story, because that, that helps connect us to this, whatever our purpose really is. We need a story about it. But let that be your story for today. Don't let it, don't cement yourself in for that to be your story of what your purpose is for the rest of your life.

• 51:01Speaker 01

  And I personally think our purpose is much like anything else. It's meaningful. It's constantly growing, expanding, evolving. So if it's like today on, you know, whatever date in 2017, here's my purpose. It's like, wow, 56 year old JP is going to be resenting me if I tried to shackle him to what I think my purpose is today, but it's like, yeah, marry the purpose today, divorce it tomorrow and marry a bigger version of it.

• 51:29Lewis Howes?

  That's it. You mean, you know, for me, growing up, I wanted to be the best athlete I could be, but then when that ended, it was like, okay, my purpose is over. And I went through a, a time of uncertainty for about a year and a half, two years. I was like, what do I do now with the rest of my life? Because I had no other plans or backups or anything. But then when I said, okay, um, Letting go of this, you know, attachment of like needing to be this athlete and stepping into something new. So many things opened up.

• 51:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:57Lewis Howes?

  When I finally surrendered to the need, that identity on that purpose. That's when actually everything started to flow towards me for something greater.

• 52:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's kind of like what I heard you say is you allowed yourself to shed the skin of who you once were. But it's not who you are anymore.

• 52:15Lewis Howes?

  That's it.

• 52:15Speaker 01

  So you shed this old skin of self so that the miracle of who you are now can arise, kind of like the phoenix rising out of the ashes.

• 52:22Lewis Howes?

  That's a phoenix.

• 52:24Speaker 01

  Right on, brother. I'm channeling you all.

• 52:28Lewis Howes?

  Phoenix rising from the ashes. I love it, man. What do you feel is your purpose?

• 52:33Speaker 01

  Uh, what, what's been coming up for me lately is facilitating connection. I mean, I, I've got to be selfish, much like how you could own like I, I, I interview people. I do my work because I have so much to learn. Me connecting more to me, more to what I think is my higher self is one of my purposes. And then the heart and soul of my work, the purpose of my work is ultimately to invite people to become more connected and find more meaning in their life.

• 53:03Lewis Howes?

  And how are you going to do that?

• 53:05Speaker 01

  So good question. Part of how I do that is expressing perspectives through the language of comedy and that is just a dimension. And, you know, for the past 10 years, I've been going around the world, teaching a lot of workshops, retreats, uh, classes, and there's something shifting there. Like I've been doing that for a long time, but I've,

• 53:29Speaker 01

  that's been downplayed here the past couple of years while I've been energizing the comedy thing. And it was actually January of this year, just so just very recently, where I became very aware of this shift inside of me, where the comedy feels so much less important to me now. I, I mean, it'll continue to be a part of my career. Until it's not, and it's hopefully for a while, but I guess I need to be in tune with that.

• 53:56Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 53:56Speaker 01

  But there's a shift where I need to bring myself more full force into the sincere side of my work.

• 54:04Lewis Howes?

  It's almost going back to the beginning.

• 54:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, kind of full circle, you know, it's like there's been the past two years, it's like massive audience building phase. And it's like, okay, now there's that. I've gone in the horizontal direction and now full circle back to the vertical dimension. So that's, I feel that in my heart, the shift has already happened. I happen and how that's gonna be externalized in my offerings. Those changes have a little, little bit still yet to be determined exactly how they'll be looking. But that's a change. It's a change that feels so great to me. And yeah, it's a step out of the, the comfort zone of exactly what's working well for me

• 54:49Speaker 01

  the past couple of years. So anyway, part of the answer is I'm gonna be very excited to discover it.

• 54:54Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. And what's your biggest fear?

• 54:57Speaker 01

  My biggest fear is losing myself. It really is. There's, I mean, and I know you have a degree of fame and notoriety as well. And my ego scares the crap out of me. I mean, just like going to a coffee shop and having a bunch of people come up, wanna take pictures of me, with me, it's, I mean, there, there's like so much gratitude. I feel like, wow, I so appreciate.

• 55:23Lewis Howes?

  Significance too, right?

• 55:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. So the heart says gratitude.

• 55:27Lewis Howes?

  It's a good kid.

• 55:27Speaker 01

  Heart says gratitude and then the ego says significance. So you've seen the movie, The Lord of the Rings?

• 55:35Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 55:36Speaker 01

  So that says so much to me about what happens inside of me. Like, you know, Frodo was the only one who could carry the ring.

• 55:45Lewis Howes?

  Didn't have the ego.

• 55:46Speaker 01

  Yeah. And it was still challenging for him. But everybody else would be consumed. They would lose themselves feeding off this thing that can't possibly satiate you. So it scares me, the idea that I would lose myself in pursuit of significance and recognition. That's not where my heart's at. But it's a temptation of my ego. And I find, you know, Uh, do I want to enjoy kind of the, the accolades? Yes. Do I want to nurture myself off of them? Uh, that, that's like eating junk food. It's like living off junk food, yet junk food can taste very sweet. It, it can taste very good. So.

• 56:32Lewis Howes?

  Don't go to coffee shops then?

• 56:33Speaker 01

  It's, it's.

• 56:34Lewis Howes?

  Stay inside all day?

• 56:35Speaker 01

  I'm trying to acquire agoraphobia.

• 56:37Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 56:38Speaker 01

  Keep myself safe. Um, but you know, to be honest with you, I love being afraid of losing myself because to me it's like a healthy ego check. I, I, it would actually frighten me more if I wasn't afraid. And, and at the risk of sounding like I'm deflecting from the beautiful question, I'm curious. You know, with the fame and recognition you've acquired, how, how do you deal with it? And how, if at all, do you feel challenged by it?

• 57:09Lewis Howes?

  Hmm. That's a good question. Cause I would, you know, if I'm looking at myself, I would think that I actually had a bigger ego, like earlier in my twenties and in my mid twenties.

• 57:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 57:20Lewis Howes?

  Than what I do now. Now, maybe my team or some people around me would say I still have a, a big ego. I like to think that I ground myself and very grateful.

• 57:33Lewis Howes?

  I'm humble, you know, as much as I can be, but I'm sure there's.

• 57:38Speaker 01

  I'm, I'm more humble than you.

• 57:39Lewis Howes?

  You are. You're competitively more humble than me.

• 57:41Speaker 01

  Sorry.

• 57:41Lewis Howes?

  But I think that, um, you know, I'm also a very confident guy and I think that, that people can take it the wrong way sometimes. So. I know inside that every morning, you know, I'm the best meditator in the world, better than you. And, um, I'm able to, you know, be more grateful than everyone else in my practice. Now, but seriously, I, I feel like I'm constantly aware of it. I'm constantly aware of like, okay, was I a jerk? Was I an a-hole or was I like leading with my ego? Or was that just me being a confident human being?

• 58:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 58:14Lewis Howes?

  And being in certainty. And so I think there's like a fine line. And I could obsess over it like, oh, was I too egotistical or too confident? And did I hurt someone in this way? Like, I'm also just going to lean into being myself and lifting others up as much as possible.

• 58:28Speaker 01

  I love that.

• 58:29Lewis Howes?

  And not worrying about like, if I offended somebody, people and how I said some, certain things. So I do my best to, you know, show compassion and humility when I can and.

• 58:39Speaker 01

  And I hope that others can see that. And I think that the right people can and maybe the wrong, you know, the people who aren't open to that or have their own challenges, aren't able to see that. And they think I'm an egomaniac for all I know. So.

• 58:49Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 58:50Speaker 01

  Um, I'm not sure what the full question was, but.

• 58:53Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, well, uh, am I afraid that I'm gonna have an ego, bigger ego? Is that one of the questions? I think that it's funny because my COO, my, one of my best friends who's like, some big opportunities are coming up, which I know are happening for you too. And he's like, when this happens, don't let your ego like, Hmm. consume you and

• 59:10Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 59:11Lewis Howes?

  make you someone different. And I don't feel like I'm any different than what I was, you know, growing up. I feel like being from Ohio, we have the best state, obviously. So.

• 59:20Speaker 01

  The, the, and the second best football team, apparently.

• 59:23Lewis Howes?

  Exactly. Yeah. So.

• 59:25Speaker 01

  Or fourth best, whatever.

• 59:26Lewis Howes?

  Right, exactly. So for me, I feel like I surround myself with people who are grounded, who are much more grounded and humble than I am. And they constantly keep me in check, you know?

• 59:36Speaker 01

  Yeah. And I, one of the things I loved about your thoughts on the question is, um, how you, part of your answer was in the form of a question where you consider like, did I lead with my ego or was that just confidence? And I love your lack of certainty around that part. To me, that's like the, to me, a sense of certainty is almost the sign of like, poor mental health. But the sign of curiosity for me is the sign of a healthy ego. And then, you know, surrounding yourself with people who, uh, you know, you trust, who care genuinely for you, not what you're doing, but more for you.

• 1:00:16Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 1:00:16Speaker 01

  Uh, that sounds very, it's very important for me as well.

• 1:00:20Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. So, who knows? It's a fun journey though.

• 1:00:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:00:24Lewis Howes?

  I'm excited about everything, every day. And I think that, you know,

• 1:00:28Lewis Howes?

  I think luckily like. You know, an audience didn't just drop on me like this big audience overnight. It's like a slow growth. And so, you know, when a couple of people recognize me out, it's not like a thousand people are swarming to me every day. It's like a few people are like, oh, I love your podcast. You know, so it's not like this, I'm a god or something feeling. It's like, oh, thank you for acknowledging that you enjoyed like an interview. So it's not a big deal for me. But yeah. Um, what's a question you wish more people asked you that they don't ask?

• 1:00:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's a good question. Uh, here's what comes up. What do you think the source of true power is? Uh, it's an easy question to ask, but what the hell's the answer?

• 1:01:10Lewis Howes?

  What is the answer for you?

• 1:01:12Speaker 01

  Um, what is the source of true power? Surrender.

• 1:01:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, for me, surrender. It's something where, you know, kind of our buzzword at the moment is ego. Surrender feels very powerless from my ego's perspective, but I think from the heart and spirit, surrender is true power. The illusion of power, control. To me, surrender is true power. And I think that means we're not powered by, uh, our self, if you will. I think it means we're powered by a source beyond self, like whatever it is we're connected to, whatever we want to call it, nature, God, Santa Claus, tooth fairy raised in Lewis's household. Um,

• 1:02:02Speaker 01

  yeah, I've got to go with surrender. It's, it's never worked against me. It's always worked for me, yet it's still intimidating to get into that place of essentially letting go, letting go and letting God. I don't know who said that, maybe Joseph Campbell. Let's just say Joseph Campbell. That's credibility. Uh, such a source of power.

• 1:02:24Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's cool. I would say vulnerability for me is the source of power.

• 1:02:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, and I would-

• 1:02:28Lewis Howes?

  Similar to surrender.

• 1:02:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, I would say we're actually almost saying the same thing is just spelled differently.

• 1:02:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. I mean, maybe not in like, if you're actually in war, you don't want to just sit there like with no gun, with someone like kill you. But in general, I think like emotional vulnerability.

• 1:02:43Speaker 01

  For sure.

• 1:02:44Lewis Howes?

  Uh, with human conversations is like a source of a sense of power and a source of like actually intimacy and connection where again, I think you create the deepest relationships from that space as opposed to I'm perfect. I know everything.

• 1:02:58Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:59Lewis Howes?

  I'm gonna control you. That's not a sense of power. So I agree with you there. This question is called the three truths.

• 1:03:05Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 1:03:05Lewis Howes?

  Three truths. So you've done every video you've ever want to put out there. You've written all the books you want to write. And it's the last day for you many years from now.

• 1:03:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:15Lewis Howes?

  And for whatever reason, all your videos are erased and your books are erased from time. And you have a piece of paper and a pen to write down three things you know to be true about all the things you've learned in life that you would pass on. And that's the only thing people would have to remember by is this piece of paper with three things you know to be true. What would your be, what would be your three truths?

• 1:03:36Speaker 01

  Hmm. Number one, always be yourself. Never apologize for it. Um. Uh, number two, I think would be, um. Breathe with pain. Breathe with your pain. Don't avoid it. Um.

• 1:03:58Speaker 01

  And number three. Stay connected. And I know that's kind of vague, but screw it. I'm, yeah, that feels good, good to me right now. And I would, and I love that question. I, what, I think what you did there, you beautiful tricky man. It is, you got me in touch with advice that I need to hear right now. Man, I love that.

• 1:04:22Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 1:04:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:04:23Lewis Howes?

  A true life coach, right?

• 1:04:26Speaker 01

  Am I in your funnel, Sister Mel Lewis?

• 1:04:27Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 1:04:30Lewis Howes?

  Um.

• 1:04:32Lewis Howes?

  I want to make sure people get the book, How to be Ultra Spiritual, Twelve and a Half Steps to Spiritual Superiority by J. P. Sears. You guys can get it right now, online, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, where books are sold everywhere in the U. S. And on Amazon, if you're international, I'm assuming, right?

• 1:04:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:04:52Lewis Howes?

  So make sure you guys go get the book. If you enjoyed this interview, share it out and you'll love this book. It's gonna make you laugh. It's gonna make you think. Um, there's some great quotes on here. Holy Mother of God said, it combines the wisdom of bearded Jesus with the playfulness of baby Jesus. The universe said that it's funnier than the law of karma. Buddha said, I got really attached to this book, Krishna, which is the Indian god, is that right?

• 1:05:21Speaker 01

  Something, something like that.

• 1:05:23Lewis Howes?

  Something like that, yeah. Is, JP is the honey badger of the spiritual kingdom, so make sure you guys get this book. I know you'll laugh a lot and it'll be very insightful. Before I ask the final question, I want to acknowledge you for a moment, JP, for your incredible gift of actually awakening to who you are.

• 1:05:43Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 1:05:44Lewis Howes?

  And revealing yourself to the world, because it sounds like to me you were trapped in someone who you weren't for many years, pretending, and now you're not pretending anymore. And look what you've created based on your beautiful gift that you brought to the world. You've created such light, humor, and most importantly, freedom. For a lot of people's pain and suffering. From the work you do, your speeches, this book, the videos you put out there. So I acknowledge you for finally opening up to who you truly are and giving the rest of us permission to do the same.

• 1:06:19Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 1:06:19Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:20Speaker 01

  Thank you, brother. It feels good being.

• 1:06:24Lewis Howes?

  That's good karma right there.

• 1:06:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, you blew me away there with that. But it feels very good being seen by you. I appreciate you for that.

• 1:06:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, of course, man. Yeah. The final question is, actually, before I ask the final question, where do you like to hang out most online? Where can people connect with you and say hi?

• 1:06:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, you know, all my social media handles are Awaken with JP. I tend to hang out everywhere. I mean, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, amongst the other places.

• 1:06:52Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure. But make sure you guys watch his videos, and if you can watch one of them without laughing, then I'll give you a high five. There you go. Awaken with JP, correct? Cool. So last question is, what's your definition of greatness?

• 1:07:10Speaker 01

  You know, I'm gonna, I have to play the card, being your freaking self. Uh, and that's easier said than done. I think it's one of the proverbial journeys, not a destination. It's always a present moment, work in progress. But I think greatness comes from, not necessarily what we do, though we can do great things. Not necessarily, you know, the, the credentials we acquire, but I think greatness comes from what we are. And being ourself, I think allows us to express what we are.

• 1:07:40Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, JP, thanks for coming on, man. Appreciate you.

• 1:07:43Speaker 01

  Pleasure, brother.

• 1:07:43Lewis Howes?

  Thanks.

• 1:07:48Lewis Howes?

  There you have it, guys. I hope you enjoyed this one. If you enjoyed it as much as me, then let me know. At Lewis Howes, send me a message over on Instagram or Twitter and connect with me and JP Sears as well. And share this with your friends. LewisHowes.com/454. Get it out to the world. Again, we did a video recently on one of JP's videos, and I think it's up to like 7 million views already. So make sure to check him out on Facebook. Check out the video where I've got a cameo in. And let me know what you think of how good of a job I did as acting in one of his videos. And yeah, guys, you know, we don't have to be so serious all the time. We don't have to be so strict with ourselves.

• 1:08:30Lewis Howes?

  We can bring humor to our lives. So allow yourself to play today. Allow yourself to add humor to situations that maybe you don't think you're supposed to add humor, and see what happens. See what happens and what unfolds for you. It doesn't have to be all so serious. And we can have fun and bring humor to allow for healing. I love you guys very much. I appreciate all that you do to show up with a big heart and taking action. We are not perfect. Lord knows I'm not perfect. I make a lot of mistakes, but I'm always trying to readjust to move forward in a positive way. So I love you guys very much. Make sure to share it out. LewisHowes.com/454. And you know what time it is.

• 1:09:13Lewis Howes?

  It's time to go out there and do something great.