10 Lessons of Greatness: How to Live Bigger, Love Deeper, and Leave a Legacy

After my football career ended with a broken wrist and a year and a half on my sister's couch, I had no backup plan, no confidence, and no idea who I was beyond being an athlete. That breakdown became the foundation for everything I've built since. Over the past 13 years of interviewing the greatest minds in the world, I've distilled the patterns that separate people who stay stuck from those who breakthrough into 10 practical strategies. These aren't abstract concepts—they're the same principles I used when I had three maxed out credit cards and zero opportunities during the 2008 crash. You'll walk away with a clear framework to transform your life, starting today, no matter where you're starting from. Make Money Easy: Create Financial Freedom and Live a Richer LifeThe Greatness Mindset: Unlock the Power of Your Mind and Live Your Best Life TodayThe Mask of Masculinity: How Men Can Embrace Vulnerability, Create Strong Relationships, and Live Their Fullest LivesThe School of Greatness: A Real-World Guide to Living Bigger, Loving Deeper, and Leaving a LegacyIn this episode you will:Discover how to create a vision so compelling it pulls you forward even when you want to quitTransform your adversity into your greatest advantage by reframing the meaning you attach to your strugglesBuild unshakeable discipline by understanding that motivation gets you started but discipline creates meaningBreak free from comfort and identify the one fear holding you back from your next levelDesign a life of purpose by defining your mission in one clear sentence that guides every decision you makeFor more information go to https://lewishowes.com/1842For more Greatness text PODCAST to +1 (614) 350-3960More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:Tony Robbins – greatness.lnk.to/1840SCGary Vee – greatness.lnk.to/1618SCMark Manson – greatness.lnk.to/1750SC Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  The greatest people in the world didn't start confident. They built confidence and there's a difference. They weren't handed opportunities, they created them. They didn't wait for the right moment. They became who they needed to become in order to create the moments in their life. Greatness isn't a gift. It's a choice. And it's a choice you make every single day to achieve greatness in your life. And when I lost my identity after playing sports, I wasn't confident at all. I was completely broken. But that breakdown became a foundation for my life. And that's when I learned that greatness isn't about luck. It's actually about building powerful habits. It's showing up when you want to quit.

• 0:45Lewis Howes?

  Believing when you feel empty. It's creating a vision so big that it scares you. And becoming the person who can handle it is all you need to do. And that's why I started this experience, this show, this podcast called The School of Greatness. To study how the greatest minds in the world, the greatest thinkers, the greatest athletes, the greatest business leaders, the greatest artists in the world, how they think, act, and live when no one is watching them, when no one's cheering for them, when no one's watching them do a performance or build anything. How are they thinking about building the life of their dreams, about creating the art

• 1:26Lewis Howes?

  that they love, about launching a business to impact millions of lives when no one is watching, no one is cheering, and even when everyone's criticizing them? Because greatness isn't about something that you're born with. It's something you turn into by developing and trading yourself into it. I'm going to be breaking down 10 different strategies to unlock greatness in your life. The same principles that helped me rebuild my life when I was down and out can also help you live bigger, love deeper, and leave a legacy that lasts. That's what this is all about. The first strategy is to create a vision.

• 2:07Lewis Howes?

  If your dream doesn't scare you, it's probably too small of a dream. There's a quote that I like that says, "Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe." Now Oprah Winfrey said that. And in my book, The School of Greatness, I say, "You become what you envision yourself being." This is in my book that just hit our 10 year anniversary on The School of Greatness book. And this is a book that I wanted to really capture some of the key lessons that I'm talking about here, and I distilled it into the book from some of the great minds that I had on this show. You become what you envision yourself being.

• 2:52Lewis Howes?

  Now, some of you might know my story, and if you're new here, you probably have no clue what had happened to me. But when I was in my young twenties, I had a dream of playing professional football. I actually accomplished that dream by going to the Arena Football League, and I was working my way to try to get to the NFL. But in an early game in that season, I broke my wrist. I was in a lot of pain. I played the entire rest of the season with a broken wrist. And afterwards, I had surgery. That surgery left me in a full arm cast from my shoulder to my fingertips in a 90 degree position for the next six months. But I took a bone out of my hip, put it into my wrist, and it took a long time to heal.

• 3:35Lewis Howes?

  Now, I got the wrist, the cast taken off of my wrist or my arm after six months, but it took me another year just to be able to straighten my arm, to be able to use it, to build the strength. And during that year and a half time, I was living on my sister's couch, trying to figure out, what am I going to do with the rest of my life? My dream of playing sports is over. This was the only thing I had planned to do growing up in school. I didn't have a backup plan. I didn't do well in school. I struggled. I didn't have a lot of friends growing up. I didn't know how I could become anyone else than the identity that I had built myself into being, which was an athlete and going to play professional. Now, playing in the Arena Football League, I wasn't even making that much money.

• 4:19Lewis Howes?

  So I was only making $250 a week. This is not enough to live off of. For, you know, month to month, let alone have savings for the next year or two. So I'm on my sister's couch. I'm struggling financially. I'm in credit card debt with three credit cards. I've got student loan debt that I have to start paying off. I have no job. This is in two thousand and eight when the economy crashed, the housing crisis crashed. And they weren't hiring people with uh masters degrees, let alone someone who barely graduated college. And I didn't have any skills. I didn't know how to develop skills. I had zero confidence.

• 4:58Lewis Howes?

  And I wasn't sure what my future entailed. I can tell you right then that I wasn't clear. I wasn't confident and I didn't know what to do next with my life and every day felt scary. Eventually, a few things happened. I started finding mentors. I started seeking wisdom and advice from people who had overcome challenges and obstacles. I started reaching out to people in the community in Columbus, Ohio, where I was living on my sister's couch. And trying to find professionals who had accomplished certain things in their careers or their businesses. I started trying to find way to add value to people. And little by little, I started to build some relationships with some key individuals in my life.

• 5:42Lewis Howes?

  They gave me some wisdom that essentially became coaches to me in a time where I felt hopeless, helpless. And really, I didn't have any confidence in myself. But that confidence that I lacked, those coaches also saw potential in me. They saw a potential for me to want to learn. They saw a potential for me to work hard. They saw a potential for me to create goals and work towards steps to accomplishing those goals. Because I had that willingness to learn, the willingness to be coachable, the willingness to work hard, to set goals and try to overcome these challenges, they were willing to give me some time to coach me up, to help me and inspire me a little bit. And all I did was start taking action. But early on.

• 6:28Lewis Howes?

  All of them said, what's your vision? What's your vision? What's your dream? What's your goal? And the key is you've got to have a clear vision. And once I started getting clear on this vision, things started to unlock for me. And you don't have to have a vision for the next forty years of your life right now, but you need to figure out what you want to do for the next season of your life. And so for me, that vision was how do I make enough money to get off my sister's couch? That was one dream, one vision. And I started getting clear on, okay, I want to get off my sister's couch. That was a vision. It was a goal and it was a dream. I also in two thousand eight saw handball on the Olympics for the first time during the two thousand eight Beijing Olympics.

• 7:12Lewis Howes?

  And that planted a dream in my mind, a vision. I want to go learn handball. I want to play handball at the next level. I want to make the USA national team and I want to go to the Olympics. That has been a seventeen year vision and dream and journey that I've been on that I'm still working towards and still on today. So that vision and dream and goal, I didn't accomplish it overnight. I got off my sister's couch thankfully in the next year, but I didn't accomplish other goals or dreams overnight. All these things take time, take time getting clarity on of what you want and why you want it. And then taking time to creating a game plan, to taking the steps to accomplishing those goals and dreams. I'm still taking steps.

• 7:56Lewis Howes?

  I'm still on the path for the Olympic journey, which has been a seventeen year journey. But I got off my sister's couch much sooner. But again, I didn't have the clarity on how to get off my sister's couch. And you don't need to know how right now to accomplish your dreams, but you do need to know what you want and why you want it. So I was clear that I wanted to get my own apartment. I was clear that I wanted to make a certain amount of money. And then I got clarity on why I wanted those things. So the action step for you right now, for this first part, is to write your dream in one clear sentence. What is it that you want? And it can be a dream for the next few months, the next few years, or even longer. Write it down, one clear sentence and why. Set a specific timeline to make it real.

• 8:43Lewis Howes?

  You know, for me, I wanted to get off my sister's couch within the next year. So I wrote the date of when I wanted that to be, wrote it down. And I was like, okay, what do I do next? Same thing for the Olympics. I wanted to get there within four years. That didn't happen. So I reimagined the dream. Every four years, I set the goal for the next four years. It's been 17 years later and I'm still excited about that dream. So I keep reinvesting to find ways to make it happen. The next thing is to create a vision board or a phone wallpaper that reminds you daily of who you're becoming. This is so easy now with AI. You know, we used to cut out, you know, newspaper clippings and magazines, but you can literally create a vision board

• 9:28Lewis Howes?

  through AI right now within moments. You can say, use this one photo of me and put it in this way and this way and all these different things. And it can make this beautiful wallpaper for you in minutes. So create a vision board or a phone wallpaper that reminds you of who you're becoming and want to become on a daily basis. This is like a visual mantra for yourself. It's like you see it and it psychologically and spiritually triggers you into taking the actions to building the habits to setting the boundaries, to creating who you need to become by visualizing that future version of you. And then the next thing is to spend a few minutes each morning visualizing how it feels

• 10:13Lewis Howes?

  to already live that vision. Because here's the interesting thing, from all these interviews of almost 13 years of doing the School of Greatness, every single week interviewing the most inspiring people in the world. We have learned over and over again, through neuroscience, through research, through inspiring stories, through anecdotes on this show, that when you live a joyful, happy life and you are just grateful for your life, you're excited, you bring joy, enthusiasm, positivity, and you act as if you have won the gold medal. You have accomplished the business success. You're in the marriage of your dreams.

• 10:52Lewis Howes?

  When you act as if it's happened already now, the vision you dream of is already you're living it. And you wake up with joy. Man, do you attract that thing so fast to your life? I'm telling you, it is like this magic. Tool that when you just show up fully expressive, excited, grateful, it's like you already won the Lotto. It's like almost as if life, people wanna be attracted to you. They wanna find opportunities for you to get that even more. Your goals, your accomplishments, the things you're looking for. It's like the, the world starts putting it in your place and starts providing it for you faster. One, because you're clear on what you want.

• 11:37Lewis Howes?

  And two, because you're so grateful and excited to be alive. So everyone around you says, let's give it to them now. Let's get them there faster. And it is an amazing feeling. You can practice this daily of just, I am grateful to be alive. And visualize how it feels to already have the vision in your mind. You will get there faster. And it's a powerful thing that I try to practice every day. That is end of strategy one. Create a clear vision for your life. And that can be a season, years and decades. Strategy number two, this is a big one. Turn adversity into your advantage. Your struggles aren't curses.

• 12:22Lewis Howes?

  They're courses. Storms make trees take deeper roots, said Dolly Parton. And I love that because none of us really enjoy being in the adversity. We don't like going through this challenging breakup that feels like you're dying. Your, your heart is like jumping out of your body. No one likes losing money or getting fired from a career. No one likes their business falling apart and having to go bankrupt and being so scared of where you're gonna find money to pay for rent this month. No one likes being sick or having an injury or feeling like they went through some type of physical accident. No one likes these feelings. This is not fun for us.

• 13:06Lewis Howes?

  And I am not welcoming more challenges in your life. That's not what I want for you. But every time I look back at my life, at some of the hardest challenges, the sadness, the suffering, the depression, the sexual abuse that I went through, my brother being in prison when I was younger for many years, my parents going through divorce, feeling not emotionally safe at home, going through the ups and downs of relationships, struggling financially for years and not having any money and being in credit card debt. Being so insecure of who I was in the world, not feeling accepted, all these different challenges. Being sick at different times, going through injuries, losing my identity from sports, having surgery, whatever it might be.

• 13:49Lewis Howes?

  We've all had some type of pain, problem, sadness, challenge we've had to overcome. And I don't welcome any of them for you or for myself. I don't want these things anymore. But when I look back and I look at the time where I had to, you know, take a bone out of my hip, put it in my wrist, and be in a cast for six months, unable to move my arm, and essentially just lay there on a couch, feeling completely useless for many months. I look back and I realize that's when I started to develop. That's when I went into rocky training mode. That's when I went into learning mode. That's when I went into, okay, it's time to develop. It's time to become.

• 14:33Lewis Howes?

  It's time to learn and get out of this funk. It developed me. It shaped me and gave me a sense of courage that I lacked before then. When I went through breakups, multiple different breakups, and I felt like I would never be in another loving relationship again, and I felt like, ah, the, you know, who's ever gonna love me? And all these different things I went through. I would never be in the moment that I am now in a beautiful marriage with a beautiful woman, where we're growing our family and I feel peace and harmony in a relationship for the first time in my life. I would never have that appreciation. I would have never been able to know what to look for, having gone through, having not gone through those challenges,

• 15:15Lewis Howes?

  whatever it might be, whether it's appreciating and taking care of my health now because I've gone through accidents and injuries, and really doing my best to eat better, all these different things. Making sure that I'm clear on my finances and managing it better since I've lost a bunch of money in the past and felt like, man, all that time and energy and hard work, gone in moments from losing all this money, all this different stuff. For me, it's really. Looking back and realizing, man, these, these challenges aren't curses, they're courses. They're opportunities for growth. And the more I reflect on them and gain wisdom through the challenges, man, that's when I can really appreciate them.

• 15:59Lewis Howes?

  Again, I don't want to go back and relive them. It's not that I want that. But I can look back and say, man, they've helped develop me into becoming a greater person today because I chose to make the most out of those challenges. So my action step for you right now is to list three challenges in your life that have shaped you. And the strengths each one gave you. So you can leave this in a comment below on YouTube. You can write this in a journal or a piece of paper or your notes in your phone. List three challenges that shaped you. Or maybe, you know, create a lot of sadness or suffering inside of you. Three different challenges.

• 16:40Lewis Howes?

  And now, looking back, what's the strength? What's the tool that each one of those gave you?

• 16:47Lewis Howes?

  And I can tell you, for me, you know, all those challenges have shaped me in an empowering way because of what I learned from them and how I've become better after going through them. So I want you to reframe every hardship with this specific question. What is this preparing me for? What is this preparing me for? Or what did that prepare me for? What did those heartbreaks prepare me for? What did that, you know, physical sickness prepare me for? What did that challenge of going through career after career, set me up for, whatever it might be for you? What did that financial

• 17:26Lewis Howes?

  season of, of struggle set me up for today? What did it teach me? What did it prepare me for? Write that down. And then the last thing, use your story to inspire someone else who's currently where you once were. I was just speaking at a Google event two days ago, and a woman came up to me and said, Louis, I've been listening to your podcast for years. And every time I hear your story, that you're on your sister's couch and you're injured, and about a year and a half, you weren't sure what you were going to do with your life, and you had no money, and you weren't sure what to do next, that gives me inspiration, it gives me hope, and it helped me overcome the challenge that I was faced with in my life. And we may think that our story is not that interesting.

• 18:08Lewis Howes?

  Like, I've said this story a ton of times, right? I've been on this show for 13 years. I've been telling my story for a long time. And I think, ah, people are sick of hearing my story. But then I get a reminder, if someone says, Louis, your story inspired me. I'm telling you, your story will inspire other people around you. Whether it's one person, whether it's 100 people, millions of people, keep sharing your story. Be open about it, be vulnerable about it, and you never know who you're going to inspire with your story. That's the end of strategy. Number two is that we've got to be willing to learn how to turn our adversity into our advantage. Because if we

• 18:49Lewis Howes?

  don't turn it into an advantage, then we'll always be a victim to the adversity in our life. Strategy number three, champions aren't fearless, they're relentless. So a quote I like that Ryan Holiday talks about, and it is, "The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." It's from Marcus Aurelius, but it's through Ryan Holiday where I saw him talk about that. And the challenge is that most people don't know how to build a champion mindset. When challenges arise, they just get weaker, they don't get stronger. And we need to be thinking about, and you need to be thinking about, what is the pain,

• 19:33Lewis Howes?

  the problem, the challenge that I'm faced with in my life right now? And instead of saying, why is this happening to me? You need to say, how can I become so good at this? So confident, so strong? And face this, face this emotion, face this fear, face this challenge? How can I face this head on? So that I can expand my abilities beyond it? So that this does not limit me. Champions look at their adversity and they don't run from them. They actually lean into them. They run towards them, they face them. And a lot of people just get stuck because they say, I don't know how to overcome this problem. This is so painful, this is so hard. They complain, they get frustrated, they ask, why does this happening to me?

• 20:17Lewis Howes?

  Why can't this be easier? Instead of saying, how can I get stronger? And I want you to start asking yourself, how can I get stronger right now on the thing that's holding me back? And this is what makes champions great. They lean in. They say, I don't understand this. I don't know how to deal with this and it is hard. And that's what they put their time and their attention to mastering. They master it by focusing on it, by getting support from others, by getting coaching, feedback. They learn, they develop, they, they start to study it. I've been afraid of so many things in my life. I was afraid of public speaking for a long time. And instead of saying, I will never be able to speak in public.

• 21:00Lewis Howes?

  I said, I'm going to go all in on my fear of public speaking. Until this fear no longer has power over me. And so I went to a public speaking class through Toastmasters every single week for a year. I got a coach. I filmed myself and I'd watch myself cringing of how horrible I was speaking in front of a group. And I would give feedback to myself, I would get feedback from others, I would rehearse, I would practice. I invested time into overcoming the fear. Instead of saying, I'm never going to be good at this, so I'm never going to try it. And I want you to think about, what's that one thing in your life? What's that one thing that's holding you back that you can go all in on instead of running away from?

• 21:43Lewis Howes?

  So start to ask yourself each morning, how would the best version of me show up today? How would I show up today?

• 21:53Lewis Howes?

  Going into these fears, these challenges and these pains. And I want you to replace, I can't with, I'm learning to. Instead of saying, I can't do this, say, I'm learning to do this day by day. I'm investing my time and energy in overcoming this. So stop saying, I can't. And this is something I struggled with around Spanish, learning Spanish. I say, I'm learning Spanish every day as opposed to, this is really hard and I can't do this and it's taken me 20 years. And I'm still learning, it's just, I'm, I'm improving a little every day. I'm investing time and energy every day. And it's finding ways to make it more enjoyable and fun when it is challenging for yourself.

• 22:33Lewis Howes?

  Then after every failure, all you gotta do is extract one lesson and immediately apply it. You know, I used to beat myself up a lot when I'd make mistakes or I'd fail. And I would be like, man, you're such an idiot, Lewis, you're so stupid. How could you do this? You should know better. I would do all these things that would confirm of how bad I was and how I'm not good enough. But that doesn't help me and doesn't help you emotionally, spiritually or psychologically. So instead, when you make a mistake or you're not perfect at something or you're, you're fall behind at something. Just say, it's okay. What's the lesson I learned from this and how can I start applying it today? So that is the end of strategy. Number three is to cultivate a champion mindset.

• 23:17Lewis Howes?

  Strategy number four is to develop hustle and discipline. Now, I'm not talking about hustle culture where like every day you have to hustle and burn yourself out. But when I would play basketball, I remember I would hustle after loose balls all the time. And if there was, you know, a loose ball that was falling around, I would dive or I would sprint after it. I would jump out of bounds and throw it back in bounds. And I would have this kind of hustle mentality in certain moments. And for whatever reason, I was always on the court because the coaches said, I like the way you hustle when the ball's in the air. And again, it doesn't mean all day, nonstop, you have to be hustling.

• 24:02Lewis Howes?

  I don't think that's. Sustainable, but there is a mindset around a hustle mentality and really just being disciplined. And the more you can lean into, I'm willing to do what it takes. I'm going to step up and I'm going to do the little things. I'm going to do the extra things. I'm going to go a little extra harder from time to time. Those things really matter and opportunities start to open up for you. Because motivation is a feeling, but discipline is a choice. And we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit, as said by Aristotle. And again, I used to think that hustle meant you had to grind 24/7, but that is not sustainable.

• 24:46Lewis Howes?

  I tried it for a couple of years when I was broke on my sister's couch. I started making a little money and I was like, I need to keep making money because I don't want to be broke again. And I just burned myself out. I got exhausted. I didn't sleep well. I ate a bunch of junk. I gained a ton of weight. I didn't feel good. And it's not healthy to lose yourself for one goal if you're going to just burn yourself out by hustling 24/7. Real hustle is consistency. It's just showing up when no one's watching. And this has been 13 years of the School of Greatness every single week. And I realized that I can be consistent and disciplined and get exponential results. And I didn't have to be always hustling 24/7.

• 25:32Lewis Howes?

  Now, that doesn't mean there aren't days or weeks or months where I'm scrambling for loose balls left and right and throwing them back in the court. You know, there are those seasons. But the greater level of hustle is just being consistent and disciplined with good habits. So one action I want you to think about is to pick one habit that aligns with your vision and make it a non-negotiable. This could be around nutrition. This could be around movement for your body. This could be around sleep. This could be around something around meditation or prayer, something spiritual, something around your relationships, whatever it might be.

• 26:11Lewis Howes?

  Think of one habit that aligns with your vision, a vision of you becoming greater and make it non-negotiable. The next thing is to schedule focused time on a daily basis and treat it like an appointment with your dream. Again, when you have this kind of vision wallpaper, when you write down your goals, when you reflect on them and you see them, when you look at them and you're imagining them and then you're living as if it's already happening, you're going to be creating an environment essentially 24/7 where you're in a relationship with these goals, dreams and visions. But if you can schedule time, first thing in the morning,

• 26:54Lewis Howes?

  at lunch and at night for a moment, to just look at them or to connect with them again, it's going to allow you to stay focused when things get distracted in your life. And then track your progress. This is not about being perfect every day. This is not about accomplishing the goal overnight. This is about tracking your progress and not trying to be perfect every single day. And again, at the end of each night, ask yourself, did I keep my promise to myself today? Did I keep my promise around the two or three things I said I was going to do to support me in getting closer to my goals? And that's the end of strategy. Number four, develop hustle and discipline.

• 27:33Lewis Howes?

  Number five, again, this is all, I break all this down deeper in my book, The School of Greatness. This is the 10 years of this book being out. It was an instant New York Times bestseller. There's a link below. You can grab a copy if you want to get this copy. I also have a couple of other amazing books. The Greatness Mindset, Unlock the Power of Your Mind. This is all about healing your relationship with yourself and unlocking it to a whole nother level around greatness in your life. And then if you're looking to really create financial abundance in your life, you want to make sure you get a copy of Make Money Easy. This is about creating a new relationship around money with yourself. So if you feel like your relationship with money might be off a little bit,

• 28:15Lewis Howes?

  this is the book for you to start creating that inner freedom and financial peace.

• 28:22Lewis Howes?

  Strategy number five is live a life of service. When I was younger, I lived the life for myself. I lived the life for my ego. I lived the life to look good, to have other people like me. And it was all about me, me, me. And when I started this show 13 years ago, I started to wake up a little bit. And I was like, oh, just living life for me isn't what it's made out to be. I'm a lot more unhappy. I'm a lot more depressed. I get triggered a lot easier.

• 28:54Lewis Howes?

  You know, it was just like, it was all about me and how I was perceived in the world. And it was about what people thought of me. And it was like a fight and a battle constantly. And if someone judged and attacked me, I would take it so seriously and get frustrated. When you live a life of service, you make it about others. It doesn't mean you neglect who you are and your dreams and goals. I'm still very focused on what I want. I still think about me and live in accordance with a greater version of me. But it's less about my ego and more about how can I create something that serves other people? Sure, I want to be successful and I want to win at what I do.

• 29:36Lewis Howes?

  And I want to be, you know, putting out something quality when I do something. I'm going to express myself. I want to live a beautiful life. But can I live my goals, my dreams and my vision in service to other people at the same time? That's a new level of breakthrough. That's a new level of greatness. It's not about winning and being the best and being number one. It's about pursuing your goals and dreams in service of other people with that pursuit. Because success without service is empty. And the purpose of life is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. That was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said that quote.

• 30:19Lewis Howes?

  You know, something that I had done for 10 years was I created this event, an annual conference called the Summit of Greatness. And then Summit of Greatness wasn't about me. It was about creating transformation and service for others. It was about creating an experience, a journey. A story, an arc, an emotional expression throughout a couple of days where we brought the greatest minds together, the greatest artists, artists and performers together. And we created something magical where people who came to the event could feel safe, could feel welcome, could feel home and could tap into the greatest version of their future self.

• 31:01Lewis Howes?

  So that they could start transforming and changing into the person they wanted to become. So they could get unstuck from where they are to where they want to be. And that was about service. This show, this episode, we're thinking about here on Team Greatness, we're thinking about you. We're thinking about what is your biggest pain? What is your biggest problem? What are you struggling with right now? And how can we be of service to you? These books is about service. Sure, I have goals. I want to sell a certain amount of copies. And if it's a New York Times bestseller, it's great. But it's about how can we create the best information, the best product, the best service

• 31:42Lewis Howes?

  to serve and support you for listening, if you're watching, if you're consuming in some way. And that's what we try to think about and obsess about on a daily basis. So the action for you is I want you to do one thing today that pure is purely to help someone, no agenda, no expectation. The easiest way you can do that is pick up your phone and text someone and just say, hey, so and so, I'm thinking about you. I wanted to tell you that I really appreciate you today. And is there anything I can do to support you with today? What are you struggling with? Please let me know. Text a few people. Do that right now. I challenge you to pick up your phone. Maybe you're watching this on your phone right now. Continue watching this and just text one or two friends and say, I just want to acknowledge

• 32:27Lewis Howes?

  you for what you're doing in your life right now. And I'd love to support you with one challenge you're faced with today. Please let me know what that is. And I'd love to support you. Just do that with two or three people. You'd be amazed how people respond. I challenge you to do it and leave a comment in the YouTube section right below because I bet within five to 10 minutes, at least one person's going to reply you if you do this right now. It can be super quick. Just do it right now. I challenge you. Share knowledge or encouragement with someone who needs it.

• 33:02Lewis Howes?

  You know, the more you can serve and support other, this doesn't have to be giving all your money away, or like spending all your time doing these things, just share encouragement, share knowledge. If someone reaches out to you for a question, be willing to share your knowledge. And then ask daily to yourself, who can I serve today, even in a small way? So if someone in my life is a friend, family member, someone that I'm working with that I can serve today, who is that person? And do those things. And that is the end of strategy number five, live a life of service. And I truly feel like that's where the greatest fulfillment comes from in life. When you're living to serve other people, this doesn't mean neglect yourself and put yourself last. You can still put yourself first, which I encourage everyone does.

• 33:48Lewis Howes?

  By doing so, how can you also serve other people? Strategy number six is to master your body or your health. Now, this can be looked at as a challenge for certain people. When I say body, right? When I say body, I really say, I want to say like your temple, your health, everything that consumes and encompasses your brain, your heart, your, your organs, like your life force is in your body, right? And if you can take care of your body, the vehicle that is driving you throughout this life, you get one vehicle. If you can take care of it,

• 34:28Lewis Howes?

  hopefully you'll have a much smoother ride throughout your journey in this existence. That's what I want for you. I want you to have a healthier ride. I want you to take less speed bumps because the wheels aren't falling off of your body. I want you to feel smooth on your journey because you're going to be facing challenges. There's going to be construction along the road that you're on. There's going to be things that need to be fixed. There's going to be roadblocks. But as long as your vehicle, your temple is smooth, you can handle these things a lot better. If the wheels are falling off on your body nonstop, man, it's just going to be a lot harder getting through the journey of life.

• 35:10Lewis Howes?

  So strategy number six is to master your health and your body. Ignore your health and you'll pay for it twice. Jim Rohn said, "Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live." Again, when I sacrificed sleep back in the day, I thought I was gaining time, but I was actually just losing clarity. I was losing focus. I was losing joy. I was losing, you know, I don't know, cells in my body and my brain because I wasn't taking care of my health. I was trying to just work harder and hustle 24/7, but that is not sustainable. And neuroscientist who we've had on many times, Dr. Andrew Huberman,

• 35:51Lewis Howes?

  along with many leading experts, has emphasized how critical sleep is for our performance and our mindset. In a conversation I've had with him, he said something so powerful. "Until we're sleeping long enough and deep enough, we're only operating at about 80% of our true capacity." That just blows my mind. Until we're sleeping long enough and deep enough, we're only operating at about 80% of our true capacity. Pooh, 80%. Imagine what life would look like at 90, 95, or 100%. Just imagine what it could look like if you're able to increase that potential of that capacity,

• 36:35Lewis Howes?

  but you've got to be taking care of your sleep. You've got to be taking care of your body. So a few action steps. Sleep. Protect it like it is gold, like it's gold in your hands. Protect your sleep. 78 hours like it is sacred, like it is the most important thing. And this is hard. If you've got kids, if you've got responsibilities, if you're traveling, I ain't get it. I'm not saying this is all supposed to be easy, but make this a priority and your life will be easier if you sleep better. Nutrition. Fuel yourself for energy, not just feeling comfort and quick sugar.

• 37:12Lewis Howes?

  When the times in my life when I'm eating sugar every day are the times I feel the least in alignment with the highest version of myself. I have been a sugar addict. I'll admit it in my past. I have, you know, gone through seasons and years where I've just sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar. Like everything had to have sugar in it and I know how hard it is, but I am able to fuel myself and have so much more clarity. And I'm not saying you have to be obsessive about like eating like a bird and raw vegan and like everything's got to be from like your backyard, you know, grown or something. I'm not saying that's what you need to do. But if you can fuel for energy, fuel for longevity, and listen, have a cookie or some ice cream every now and then, sure, all good.

• 37:57Lewis Howes?

  This is you enjoy life a little, but 80, 90% of the time, do your best to fuel for energy and not comfort. I'm telling you, you'll have a smoother ride along the way. Movement. You don't have to do HIIT workouts every day and lift for four hours. Just get 20 minutes of daily activity, please. That could be walking somewhere. That can be walking with a friend. That could be moving. That could be playing a sport. It doesn't matter. Just move your, we're designed to move our bodies, not to sit still. Recovery. Unplug at night. Just get off the screens for a little bit. No noise, just calm. Allow your brain and your body to recharge and relax.

• 38:40Lewis Howes?

  And that's the end of strategy number six to master your body. I'm going to go through these next last three one pretty powerfully and pretty quick. But I want you to leave a comment below of the, the most important strategy for you so far. So leave a comment below of what that strategy is for you. Number seven is to build your team. The world wants you to think greatness is a solo pursuit. But every person I've met who's truly great will tell you the same thing. They didn't do it alone and I do not want you to do it alone, my friend. You can't do it alone. No one has been able to accomplish anything great on their own. And Jim Rohn also said, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

• 39:22Lewis Howes?

  If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. That's an African proverb as well.

• 39:32Lewis Howes?

  Every major breakthrough in my life came from surrounding myself with people who lifted me higher. There's a great quote out there that says proximity is power. And when you try to do everything on your own and you feel powerless already, well, you're probably going to create powerless results. But when you surround yourself with people that are just even a little bit farther than you, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, financially, relationally, whatever it is that you're looking to accomplish, that they're just a little bit farther in a key area. That's all you need. You don't need the greatest coach in the world. You just need to be around people who are a little more advanced than you, if you can, in some area.

• 40:13Lewis Howes?

  Because those individuals will start to elevate you and empower you just through proximity alone. Because if you're not elevating, they're probably not going to want to stay around you if you're staying stuck in a victim mindset.

• 40:28Lewis Howes?

  If you're bringing energy and curiosity and excitement, they're going to want, that's a value add to them as well. But if you're staying in victimhood, you may not be with people that want to be with you in the future, unless you're willing to grow and improve day by day. And that's the key. You want to surround yourself with people that inspire you. So write down your greatness five. These are the five people that who push you forward right now. Write down these people. Think about the people in your life who push you. This could be a parent, a friend, a mentor, a coach, a teacher, colleagues, whatever it might be. Who are your greatness five? Who are the five people in your life that really push you forward that inspire you and empower you in a powerful way?

• 41:11Lewis Howes?

  Write them down. Spend more time around builders, not complainers. Especially where I'm at in the season of my life. I mean, I used to invest a lot in everyone. And that was part of like getting into the business world in my mid to late twenties, building relationships, building my personal brand, trying to build an audience, trying to find clients and customers. It's like I was networking with everyone. And I realized you can only invest so much time in so many people. And so over the years, I've had to learn how to create boundaries, how to, how to not kick people out of my life, but more so how to just invest more time with the people that really inspired me the most and just less time for other people.

• 41:54Lewis Howes?

  And maybe no time at all for other people, if, if that's the case. We can't spend our time with a hundred people a week and with deep, meaningful conversations. You know, I've got a few core friends that I try to spend time with every week if I can. And I've got an extended circle of friends as well. And then another extended circle of, of maybe peers or colleagues that I stay in touch with. But we only have so much time. Spend more time around builders, not complainers. And really seek mentors and peers who've already done what you want to do. This is something I did early on. I worked for mentors. I would find ways to connect with mentors in any capacity at all. Whether it be a few minutes or sometimes multiple times a month, connecting with them.

• 42:39Lewis Howes?

  Anything I could do to learn from them to try to get me farther. And be the kind of person others want in their circle. Even if you feel like you have nothing to add, nothing, no value right now.

• 42:52Lewis Howes?

  I used to just be curious and excited about life. And people are like, oh, let's bring this Lewis guy along. Like even though he's like young and has no experience and has no money and he can't offer us anything for our business or careers. I was just like, gosh, you guys are so fascinating. I want to learn more and can I just watch you guys? You know, it's just like the excitement and the joy I bring. It's almost like this, I don't know, naive, like young curiosity. I was just like, I will do anything. I'm passionate. I want to help you. And I was just curious. It's like I had to find some way to bring value and that was a way that I was able to do it. So that's the end of strategy. Number seven is to build your dream team.

• 43:31Lewis Howes?

  Number eight is to practice gratitude. Gratitude is the gateway to abundance and joy. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. That's from Melody Betty. Every day I wake up and I say, "Thank you, God, for another day." And I say, "I'm grateful to be here because 150,000 people every day pass away." For whatever reason, around the world, 150,000 people die. Some die young, some die old, some die from an accident, some die from natural causes. But 150,000 people die every single day. And you are not one of them if you're watching or listening to this right now.

• 44:16Lewis Howes?

  I am not one of them today. So I wake up because tomorrow is not guaranteed. I have another day today to express myself, to connect with people I love, to experience life in a beautiful way, even if there's challenge and struggle. I am alive and thank you, God, for this opportunity, for this gift of today. And if you can just do that every day and every night, I also share three things that I'm grateful for. It's, you know, me and Martha, every night we do this in bed. Three things that I'm grateful for. Wake up with a grateful attitude and say, "Thank you, God, for another day. I'm grateful to be here." And then three things at the end of the night that happened throughout the day that you're grateful for.

• 45:01Lewis Howes?

  I'm grateful for the opportunity to experience this. I'm grateful for my health. I'm grateful for my relationships. I'm grateful for the experience at work, whatever it might be. Express gratitude on a daily basis because tomorrow is not guaranteed. And that is practice gratitude, strategy number eight. Strategy number nine is to choose courage over comfort because your dreams live on the other side of fear. And there's a quote by Jordan Peterson that says, "You sacrifice stability in the present for a gain in the future."

• 45:39Lewis Howes?

  I was terrified to start my podcast 13 years ago. But every big opportunity came from saying yes to something that was terrifying or uncomfortable. I was scared to get in front of people and speak. I was scared to salsa dance. I was scared to practice Spanish while I travel in Spain or Mexico. But I'm telling you, every opportunity in my life has come from saying yes to something that I was scared of or was uncomfortable with. And I want you to identify one fear that's holding you back. And I want you to take one bold step toward it today. For me, I've been afraid of a lot of things. And I talk about this again in The School of Greatness in the book that's been around for 10 years.

• 46:22Lewis Howes?

  Talk about in the greatness mindset, about unlocking the power of your mind and living your best life today.

• 46:28Lewis Howes?

  That when we have fear, that we are not leaning towards, that we're not facing, that means there is something that will always have power over us. There's something in your life that's got power of you that I don't want to be held back from it anymore. So make sure you identify what that one fear is, that one thing holding you back, and just take one step toward it today. And ask, what would I do if I weren't afraid? What would life look like if I wasn't afraid anymore? And instead of being afraid of it, do something uncomfortable every week to expand your confidence muscle. That is the key, and that's the end of strategy nine, choose courage over comfort. It's not easy to do. None of these things are easy to do, but I'm telling you, it's worth it.

• 47:12Lewis Howes?

  Because strategy number 10 is the ultimate one. If you're looking to live a better life, you have to live with purpose. Success without purpose is meaningless. Purpose turns success into legacy. Motivation is for those who want success. Discipline is for those who want meaning. Now, everything changed when I stopped chasing trophies and I started chasing impact. And really started aligning towards impact more than chasing it. I was just like, how can I serve more? How can I serve greater? How can I find things that are really meaningful to me? And why are they meaningful to me so that I can put better energy into it?

• 47:53Lewis Howes?

  And I want you to reflect daily, did my actions today align with what matters most in my life? Did what I do today, that how I show up align with the thing that matters? Or am I wasting my time on stuff that just doesn't feel purposeful? I want you to define what your why is and write one sentence about the mission behind your goals. So our mission here at the School of Greatness and my personal why behind it is to serve 100 million lives weekly to help people improve the quality of their life. Why is that my mission?

• 48:31Lewis Howes?

  Because for years I suffered, I struggled, I didn't have the answers, I felt clueless, I felt not enough, I felt insecure, I lacked confidence. I didn't have the tools or skills to feel like I could do anything with my life and I thought I would amount to nothing. And I don't want other people to feel the same pain that I felt. I don't want you to feel that. And so I've been on this obsessive journey of my purpose to reach and serve 100 million lives weekly to help people overcome their challenges and improve the quality of their life. Why do we do that? Because I felt very insignificant and I don't want other people, including you, to feel that way. I want to remind you that you matter.

• 49:16Lewis Howes?

  You matter, your dreams matter, your life matters and you're worthy of taking care of yourself. So this is me, this is Team Greatness reminding you that. But if you create a clear sentence about your mission and the why that's your mission, you're more likely to show up every single day and hopefully create more aligned actions that are in service to your mission and your why. And every week you can also ask yourself, who did I help? Who did I lift up? That's the measure of purpose. Every week we track and we measure how many lives we impact. Did we reach 100 million lives this week? We've never reached it.

• 49:59Lewis Howes?

  But we reach a lot every week. We impact millions and millions and tens of millions every single week. So we measure that. We talk about that. We stay in alignment with our values. And that's what I want for you as well. Strategy number 10 is live with purpose. So here are the 10 strategies for greatness. Create a vision. Turn adversity into advantage. Cultivate a champion mindset. Develop hustle and discipline. Live a life of service. Master your body and your health. Build your team. Practice gratitude. Choose courage over comfort and live with purpose. Because if you practice these consistently, you won't

• 50:40Lewis Howes?

  just win more. You'll live bigger, you'll love deeper, and you'll leave a legacy in your life. My challenge to you is to comment below to the strategy that you're committing to this week. Make sure you're subscribed to our channel. And I want to remind you that you are loved, you're worthy, and you matter. And I'll see you soon. 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

• 51:22Lewis Howes?

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