121 When You Want to Succeed As Bad As You Want to Breathe, Then You'll Be Successful with Eric Thomas

"When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will be successful." - Eric Thomas If you enjoyed this episode, check out the video (with bonus material!) and show notes at www.lewishowes.com/121. 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 121 with Eric Thomas, the Hip Hop Preacher.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, 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?

  What is up everyone? And thank you so much for tuning into the School of Greatness podcast today. Very excited about today's guest. His name is Mr. Eric Thomas. And for those that do not know Eric Thomas, I just want to break it down for you really quick. He is a world renowned speaker, author, educator, and pastor, and he's inspired millions of people all over the world with his videos. And some of you may have heard the quote or seen a video of him. But one of his great quotes is, "When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful." And I've seen so many motivational videos on YouTube and online where people steal this quote and they steal his voice and his message.

• 1:16Lewis Howes?

  And they dub it over an inspiring video. They basically use his message and all the things that he says about his life, about his struggles. He talks about homelessness and we cover a lot of things about education in this episode, but he is an extremely inspiring individual. He reaches out and connects to millions of people all over the world. Again, like I said, and I'm very excited to bring you him today. I've been wanting to get him on for a while. We finally made it happen when he came out to Los Angeles. Make sure to watch the full video as well. You're going to go back to the show notes at lewishowes.com/121 to see the full video. We've got a very special video at the end where ET breaks down his thoughts on greatness.

• 1:58Lewis Howes?

  Also, at the very end of this interview, Eric turns the tables on me and he asked me a bunch of questions. And I share some pretty intimate and vulnerable things that I haven't talked about in a while. And it was It was interesting to have him reverse it and interview me on my own podcast. So we got some really cool things we talked about in this episode. We discussed his educational path. It first took him 12 years to get his degree and then he got his PhD at 44. We talk about the three big mistakes that entrepreneurs make and we talk about how to avoid distractions and the best way to execute. This one is jam packed, full of greatness. Very excited about this. Again, make sure to check out all the full show notes at lewishouse.com/121.

• 2:42Lewis Howes?

  Very pumped. Stick around to the very end. You're gonna want to make sure you see what ET brings on this episode with me. Let's go ahead and dive into this one with the one and only ET, the hip hop preacher.

• 3:01Lewis Howes?

  So thanks for coming on the School of Greatness. I got Eric Thomas on. Thanks so much, my man. I appreciate it. We've been trying to make it happen for a while. We finally connected.

• 3:09Eric Thomas?

  Absolutely.

• 3:09Lewis Howes?

  Made the drive out here. You flew out to Cali. I made the drive out here. So very excited.

• 3:13Eric Thomas?

  Absolutely. It's like good wine, like fine wine. It takes time to mature.

• 3:17Lewis Howes?

  We made it happen.

• 3:18Eric Thomas?

  Yeah, we made it happen.

• 3:19Lewis Howes?

  But I appreciate you. For those that don't know about you, Eric, you have a pretty inspiring story in my mind, but I want to hear you just kind of share your story briefly about how you got into what you're doing now. You just finished your PhD, is that right? That's like yesterday on the flight.

• 3:33Eric Thomas?

  Absolutely.

• 3:33Lewis Howes?

  But I want to hear about how you kind of got to where you are now in your words.

• 3:37Eric Thomas?

  Man, it's the American dream, you know? They say nowhere else, you know, but in America. And I was, it was funny. I was just recently in an interview or had an opportunity to do a luncheon with Warren Buffett. You know, and he was just saying that, you know, this is the greatest country to be born in. This is the greatest time, you know, to be born, you know, in this particular country, you know, social media, you know, economics, just opportunities. So, you know, I'm the American dream. I represent. You know, what so many people from my community represent, you know, mom who had me out of wedlock, pregnant at seventeen years old. My grandmother kicked her out, not because she didn't love her, but my grandmother kicked her out because she had fourteen kids in like a two,

• 4:22Eric Thomas?

  three-bedroom house with one bathroom. Fourteen kids? Fourteen kids. And my grandmother was like, you know, I just can't afford to feed another mouth. Sure. So moms was homeless. So when I say the American dream, you know, you're talking about not just my generation, but my mother, you know, trying to finish high school and, you know, getting a job in Detroit, working for Ford Motor Company. So, you know, the journey started with my mom. And I took it from, you know, my mom to an entrepreneur. But, you know, I eventually dropped out of high school. I was homeless for about two and a half years. And, you know, through education, I think is where, you know, I, I, I got my turnaround. I'm not saying degrees. That's not what I'm talking about.

• 5:03Eric Thomas?

  I'm talking about, you know, going to school and really learning how to identify my craft, how to hone in on my craft, and how to sharpen that craft. And so I started a GED program because I received my GED. How old were you when you did this? I was about nineteen when I got my GED. So you dropped out of high school? Yep, dropped out of high school at sixteen, seventeen. Took a couple of years off? Yep, a couple, a couple of years off, a couple of years off. And what was happening during those couple of years? Um, you know, just trying to find myself, you know. Didn't know who my biological father was at the time. Had never really excelled academically. I was a good athlete, but because I didn't keep my grades up, you know, I couldn't play regularly. So I was just trying to find myself.

• 5:47Eric Thomas?

  And I was fortunate enough, you know, to get in a good church with some good people who helped mentor me, sent me to college, started dating a young lady at the time, who challenged me to go to school with her or she was gonna break up with me. You know, so just some real good things happened at the right time. Ended up going to college. Took me twelve long years. And I think the challenge was I didn't know the code, the rules. You know, I didn't know the language of academia. And I really had to humble myself, you know, and really buckle down. And that's what I did. I started working on my oratorical skills. Most people won't believe it, but I got a C minus, you know, in Fundamentals of Speech. You know, you know, but you know, over time, you know, I always tell people, I got average skill, but I have phenomenal will.

• 6:32Eric Thomas?

  You know, and so I just had to buckle down and really ask myself, what do I want to do with the rest of my life? And so I think it was the GED program I did, and this may sound real simple to people, but I think the GED gave me purpose, you know, and in that purpose, I found my passion. Like, I finally found something that nobody had to force me to do, something that I woke up to every day. I loved it. I loved studying the books. I loved the information. I loved working with students. You know, I would spend the first five, 10 minutes reading a motivational piece and then kind of elaborating on that piece. And I just fell in love with teaching. I fell in love with that environment. I found that I had a way to connect with people that was, you know, that was rare.

• 7:14Eric Thomas?

  And so from there, I went back to school, took 12 years, but got a degree in business. Then went to Michigan State, Masters and PhD in Education and just really worked on my gift. I realized that all of us are born with a gift, but you gotta hone it. You know, it's just not, you're not gonna become great. And we talk about the school of greatness, you know, we talk about, you know, greatness is upon you. And I realized that my gift wasn't going to create itself. My gift wasn't going to nurture itself. My gift wasn't going to perfect itself. That was something I had to do. And so, man, before you know it, we did a video that went viral. I think it's got over 50 million hits now. And we turned our passion into a profit.

• 7:56Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, love it, man. I love it.

• 7:58Eric Thomas?

  Turned our passion into profit.

• 8:00Lewis Howes?

  Is that the, if you want to succeed?

• 8:02Eric Thomas?

  As bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful. Absolutely, yeah.

• 8:05Lewis Howes?

  That's a good one. And that's been used, you know, the audio of that has been used in like hundreds of videos that get, you know, 20, 50 million views alone.

• 8:13Eric Thomas?

  Alone.

• 8:14Lewis Howes?

  I love the football, the football one with the dude.

• 8:16Eric Thomas?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 8:17Lewis Howes?

  That's a great little one. I'm like, put me back in school, coach.

• 8:19Eric Thomas?

  Yeah, but I was like, maybe if I would have taken my shirt off, it would have blew up early. Well, I doubt it. I doubt it very seriously. Yeah, I doubt it.

• 8:25Lewis Howes?

  That's hilarious, man. So was it, would you say that one speech, when was that speech?

• 8:29Eric Thomas?

  Uh, that speech was back in like 2008, 2009.

• 8:33Lewis Howes?

  Did you say that was a big game changer for you?

• 8:35Eric Thomas?

  I mean, I wouldn't say it. The world has said it, you know. And you know what's so funny, and this is why I tell people, you know, just do what you do. You know, so many people are, uh, what I call, uh, they're, they're game watching, they're scoreboard watching. Like every play, they're looking up to see where they are. You know, and I mean, you can't, you, you can't scoreboard, watch and play the game at the same time. You know, you gotta play the game. You know, they're so worried about, all right, is this gonna be my year? Is this gonna, like, they spend so much time concentrating on when the big one is gonna happen. That the big one never happens because you can't, you can't chase two rabbits. If you chase two rabbits, you're not gonna catch either one. So for us, it was an accident. Uh, we didn't, we didn't plan on doing it.

• 9:18Eric Thomas?

  I was in a room, going off on a group of students because they had an opportunity of a lifetime and they weren't taking advantage of it. Some guy just happened to have a video camera, just happened to put the mic on me, just happened to use it for his thesis. And let me say this, he never, ever used it for his thesis. He never used it. Friend of mine's like, yo, what'd you do with that video you did two years ago? He was like, well, I still have it. He's like, okay, give it to me, I'm gonna put it up on YouTube.

• 9:42Lewis Howes?

  No way.

• 9:43Eric Thomas?

  Uh, and not YouTube for the world. YouTube, because that was a, a, a place to house content.

• 9:49Lewis Howes?

  Back in 2007.

• 9:50Eric Thomas?

  That was the only reason you, you just wanted, you just wanted to house content. You know, and I end up leaving my job at Michigan State. I felt it was time to go do, you know, my own thing. And I promise you, two or three months after I left, it went viral. It was literally online for years and didn't have any real traction. And then when I left my job and I said, this is it. I can't explain it, but it began to go viral. The one in the classroom, and then a year or so later, Giovanni's also started to go viral. And he told me, Giovanni said, yeah, the football guy said, he just did it so scouts and NFL could see it.

• 10:26Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 10:27Eric Thomas?

  And so somebody stole it from off of the internet and they put it up.

• 10:31Lewis Howes?

  Put the audio over it.

• 10:31Eric Thomas?

  Yep, put the, and boom. Yeah.

• 10:34Lewis Howes?

  Wow, is he playing in the league right now?

• 10:35Eric Thomas?

  He didn't make it to the league, so, so hey, what does that tell you about the league, right? This guy, to me, I thought he could play in the league. He went to Canada and played for a minute. And, but for whatever reason, you know, he hasn't given up on his dreams.

• 10:48Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 10:49Eric Thomas?

  Of playing in the league, but it just goes to show you that the league is 1% of the greatest talent in the world.

• 10:55Lewis Howes?

  The greatest, man. It's, it's tough to get there.

• 10:57Eric Thomas?

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 10:57Lewis Howes?

  I was trying to get there. I'm playing arena ball, but that's, you know.

• 11:01Eric Thomas?

  Yeah.

• 11:02Lewis Howes?

  That's a challenge, man.

• 11:02Eric Thomas?

  That is.

• 11:04Lewis Howes?

  So, the video, you shot it two years before it actually went viral.

• 11:08Eric Thomas?

  Yep.

• 11:08Lewis Howes?

  And you were still just grinding and doing your thing.

• 11:10Eric Thomas?

  That's it.

• 11:11Lewis Howes?

  And you weren't like hoping like, I hope this thing gets me this viral hit and all these people learn about me. You were just still consistently grinding.

• 11:18Eric Thomas?

  And, and I think that's greatness. I think what people get confused is, you know, they're grinding with a goal. And I'm not saying you shouldn't have goals, but you should be grinding for grinding's sake. You know, you should grind because that's what you do. You're passionate about what you do. You know, and so you're waking up every day with this concept of, I have 24 hours. And they're mine. This 24 hours belongs to me.

• 11:41Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 11:41Eric Thomas?

  And whatever I do in this 24 hours will determine where I'll be tomorrow and the next day. And I think that's what people need to focus on. Like, get off of this, I want to make six figures. I want to drive this car. I want to live in this house. I think what people should be focusing on is, I have 24 hours. Like Oprah only has 24. Bill Gates only has 24. Like Warren Buffett only has 24 hours. And in that 24 hour period, I can either break my life or make my life. And I think, and I'm not saying you shouldn't have goals, don't, don't, that, I just think that goals for people is too high on the priority list. And I think what should be on the priority list is, go in the bed so you can wake up the next day and you can grind it out.

• 12:24Eric Thomas?

  And I'm just a dude that believes you reap what you sow. So if you're grinding on Monday, grinding on Tuesday, grinding on Wednesday. If you're grinding six, seven days a week for, for a span of five or six years, something's got to come out of that.

• 12:38Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 12:39Eric Thomas?

  But if you're only grinding, you know, on Monday you fired up, Wednesday you back. Sleeping in Thursday, you got the funk of the world is on like I've heard people say.

• 12:48Lewis Howes?

  Hump day.

• 12:49Eric Thomas?

  Hump day. What is hump? Every day is hump day. Like what's Wednesday is hump day, like Monday hump day. Tuesday is hump day. Like every day is hump day. And I think if we would spend more time on what's my goal? You know, and meaning what do I need to accomplish in this day to live this lifestyle? And you go after it, then I think, I think more people will be successful.

• 13:10Lewis Howes?

  Interesting.

• 13:11Eric Thomas?

  Yeah, but they spend too much time like scoreboard watching. They spend too much time on their, I want this car and this house and live this lifestyle. No, that's, that's the wrong.

• 13:20Lewis Howes?

  You can think about the goal and have that in your mind, but then think, okay, I'm gonna hustle every day to make it happen.

• 13:25Eric Thomas?

  And, and not just hustle every day. I mean, you should be specific. Like, look, I, I gotta believe that millionaires do certain things. I gotta believe that millionaires have a certain habit. I gotta believe that they sleep so many hours. I gotta believe that they know their craft. I gotta believe they're passionate, that, you know? And so when I take my goal, instead of looking at my goal and asking, how much money can I make? I've gotta ask myself, what things do I need to do every single, like from eight to nine, what should I be doing to be a millionaire? From nine to 10, what should I be doing? From 10 to 10 15, like what should I be doing? And that's why I wake up every morning at three o'clock because for me, it's okay, Monday, do this, Tuesday, do this, Wednesday, do that.

• 14:10Eric Thomas?

  And if I do those things, I'm guaranteed to be successful.

• 14:13Lewis Howes?

  So tell me about your daily rituals then. Do you have a daily ritual? I heard you get up at 3 a.m. Is that true every day? Do you, what is, what does your hour to hour look like? Walk us through your process.

• 14:23Eric Thomas?

  Now, now here, here's a challenge. A lot of people ask me what time I wake up in the morning. And I, I think that so many young people, just because they've never been exposed to greatness, they're asking a good question. The great question should be, what time do you go to bed at night? That's, that's the question you should be asking me. The question is, what time do you go to sleep? And so every night I try to go to bed, like, like literally in the bed, eight 30, nine o'clock, sleep by nine 30.

• 14:50Lewis Howes?

  That's like some two year olds.

• 14:51Eric Thomas?

  Oh, man, I'm talking about.

• 14:52Lewis Howes?

  Some baby stuff right.

• 14:53Eric Thomas?

  That's like kindergarten, like that. And I, and I, and I do that routinely. Now, I tell people, of course, I travel the world. So, of course, I'm not going to bed every day at nine thirty. But, but here's the deal. When I can, what happens is I create this habit that my body believes that, alright, nine thirty. Alright, you wake up at three, which means I'm getting five to six hours of sleep, which is pretty good, right? But here's a trick. When I came to California, my body still woke up at three something because it's accustomed to going to bed at a certain time. My body doesn't really know what time it is. Like, my body's not, it, it's not knowledgeable of time zones, right? My body just knows that this is the time we normally wake up. So, I go to bed consistently early.

• 15:38Eric Thomas?

  I wake up early. Now, this is why I wake up. Now, if you're listening to me, you're an entrepreneur, you have to hear this. There are people who graduated magna cum laude, soon, I didn't. There are people who were born into wealth. There are people who were born into a certain network. I wasn't. But here's the trick. Even though I don't have what they have, I can outwork you. So, if I'm getting up at three o'clock in the morning, and as sweet as you are, networks, parents, wealth, opportunities, and you're getting up at eight, I've got a five-hour jumpstart on you. Like, I don't care who you are. If, if, if, if, if we're traveling to the same city, and I take off five hours before you, nine out of ten, I'm gonna get there before you get there.

• 16:22Eric Thomas?

  So, my trick is, I get up at three o'clock in the morning because I didn't know who my biological father was. It took me twelve years to get a degree. So, I wake up earlier because that guy who is deeper than I am, who has more advantages or opportunities than I have, when we get our contract to that same company, when my contract gets to that guy, that CEO reads my contract at three thirty in the morning. He's like, this dude is serious. So, I know this guy graduated magna cum laude, but he, he sent me his contract at nine and sent his at three thirty. Like, you gotta give me a shot. You gotta give me at least an interview, right? For the three thirty thing, you gotta give me an interview. So, what I'm trying to explain to people is my Ritual is I'm gonna beat you to the spot.

• 17:06Eric Thomas?

  I'm gonna beat you to the spot. That's what it's all about, right? For those of us who play basketball, those of us who play football. Sometimes it's not about being the the the greatest talent. It's about beating a person to the spot. So if I beat you to the spot and I got an open shot. It doesn't mean I'm the greatest, but I beat you to the spot, right? I created my own shot. I created my own space. That's what the crossover is about. The crossover is about creating your own shot, creating your own space. And the way I have become a millionaire and the way I've become one of the top motivational speakers in the world. Nobody knew who I was six, seven years ago is that I've created space. I've created space. I've I've I've given myself an advantage that others don't have. And is it hard?

• 17:48Eric Thomas?

  No, not really. You just wake up earlier. You can take naps during the day if you want to, right? So it doesn't mean you have to stay up the entire day, but it does mean you have to get to the spot before everybody else. So it kind of looks like the first hour, um, I'm I'm really a dude of faith. So the first hour I really spend, you know, um, read my Bible, praying. After that, I work out for about a good hour. I've got accountability group that I talk to for an hour, spend time with my wife. Every morning? Every morning, every morning accountability group. Hour, two hours, we're kind of just talking about our day, what we're gonna do. Spend time with my wife. My wife is, they say iron sharpens iron, but my wife is like titanium sharper than titanium, you know? Uh, and my wife is constantly telling me, you need to improve in this area. You need to do better in this area.

• 18:33Eric Thomas?

  Um, and then eight o'clock in the morning CJ and I get on the phone and we spend the rest of the day going after it. So we've got a list of call Australia, a list of you got four videos, two voiceovers. Um, and and let me say this to my entrepreneurs. I have a ritual where even if you're my closest friend, I have boundaries. So just because it's my company, it doesn't mean I can take calls all day. I have boundaries. So you can't call me at a certain time. Why? I'm working. So if I'm on the phone all day, just be and and I'm saying this to entrepreneurs. Because one of the gaps, and we'll we'll talk about this later in the show, but you gotta find the gaps. And one of the gaps where entrepreneurs. Is that they feel like because they own their day, they can spend it like they want to.

• 19:18Eric Thomas?

  You cannot spend it like you want to. So if you were working for IBM, or you're working for Ford, whoever you're working for, you couldn't be on the phone all day at a major corporation talking on the phone. So, so why do you allow yourself to talk on the phone when it's your business? Matter of fact, it's yours. You should probably, you should make sure there's no phone calls going on because it's your business. So, one of my rituals is when I get started, there are no interruptions. When I get started, I don't care if it's my wife, my children, they know that from a certain timeframe, I'm going all in, and I can't go all in answering the phone. I can't go all in watching TV. I can't, I can't go in with the distractions. And so some entrepreneurs are like, why am I not blowing up?

• 20:00Eric Thomas?

  Because you don't, you're not in abstraction. You don't have that, that, that moment of your day. I don't care if it's two hours, four hours, where you shut the entire world out. No Twitter, no Facebook, no, nothing.

• 20:14Lewis Howes?

  No Instagram.

• 20:15Eric Thomas?

  No Instagram. No Instagram.

• 20:18Lewis Howes?

  We love that Instagram.

• 20:19Eric Thomas?

  So, but just for two hours, I'm going in, and then once I come out, then we can do Instagram. And I'll be honest, your content probably would be stronger if you had that, that time of isolation, of solitude, where you give yourself a chance to think, you give yourself a chance to go in, and when you go in, you go 120%. So yeah, that's my ritual.

• 20:41Lewis Howes?

  What would you say, I want to, first I want to get to accountability.

• 20:44Eric Thomas?

  Okay.

• 20:45Lewis Howes?

  Why is accountability so important for you and so many other people? Why does it, why is it a game changer for you?

• 20:51Eric Thomas?

  I, I, you know, I, I learned this from Dan Gilbert in Quicken Loans. He has like 19 isms that, you know, his company lives by. And, and the one I love the most says, innovation is rewarded, execution is worshiped. So what I learned of, of being around Dan Gilbert is like, Your money changes when you execute. I, I, I, I realized, I didn't know, I didn't have a right concept of success. Now I understand success is accomplishing what you say you're going to accomplish. It's getting done what you say you're gonna get done. And let's be honest, if you were to sit back and do a percentage on what you said you were gonna do in a time span, like, how would you grade yourself? If you're saying 70, you're a C.

• 21:36Eric Thomas?

  If you're saying 80, you're a B. 90, you're an A. 100%. And so I said, if I could execute every single time. So, as I began to look at my life, I realized, and this is for Eric Thomas. If I say I'm gonna work out 21 days in a row and nobody knows about it.

• 21:53Eric Thomas?

  Nobody knows I'm gonna work out for 21 days. I can kinda sneak away with, I'll do 30, I can do 10 and cheat here and cheat there. But when I call somebody and say, hey, I'm gonna work out for 21 days. I need you to hold me accountable. A part of my working out has absolutely nothing to do with working out. It has absolutely nothing to do with my health. It has absolutely nothing to do with me caring about my body. It has everything to do with, I told you I was going to do it. And I don't want you to call me and ask me that I do it and I have to tell you I didn't do it. So I realized that every man is where he is because when he says he's going to do something, not only does he do it, but he does it in a certain timeframe and with a certain quality.

• 22:35Eric Thomas?

  And if I have a group of people who can call me every day and say to me that you, you say you're gonna do that? You say you're gonna do that? Listen to me, I, my first book took me 10 years to finish. And I did not finish my book until a good friend of mine, Kegia, within the span of about a year or two, kept calling me every week and say, did you finish yet? What chapter are you on? What, okay, how, did you, what part, did you, alright, when is it gonna be done? And I, I wanna be honest, he got on my last nerves. And I, and I think just the whole disappointing him, I just was like, I'm tired. And so I finished that book and I finished the second book before he could ask me about a second book. And sent him the second book when it was finished, like, shut up. Like, don't call me, don't ask me about it. Same thing with school.

• 23:20Eric Thomas?

  You know, I had finished all my coursework, didn't start the dissertation, and I would be on the road and people say, ET, you said three years ago on one of your TGIMs that you was gonna get your PhD. How's the PhD coming? I got tired of people asking me, when is the PhD? When are you gonna finish? Are you finished yet? When are you gonna finish? You know, and so a part of my success has been being brave enough to say it. And I'm not saying it because I thought I could actually do it, but saying it so I could be held accountable. And then once people start holding me accountable, boom, I start, I just didn't wanna seem like a liar. I didn't wanna let people down. So if you're an entrepreneur, I challenge you to get out of the dark corners, the dark spaces,

• 24:03Eric Thomas?

  you know, of having these goals and dreams that nobody knows about. And I challenge you to take your dreams and goals and share it. Now, here's the other part. For me, that's critical. I always think about, if I don't execute, how is that going to hurt my family? How is that gonna hurt my friends? So, so if I don't execute, what type of Christmas are we talking about? Like, we can't come to Cali if I'm not executing. You know, say like, my son, uh, first year of school, I paid cash for him to go to school. You can't pay cash tuition if you're not executing. You know, if you're not getting engagements, right? So each one of my children, they have their own car to get to school. You can't buy your kids vehicles when you're not executing. My wife has a car. Just took her to Hawaii. She only works 12 hours a week.

• 24:48Eric Thomas?

  She can't, she can't do those things. And mind you, she had, we just, uh, it was diagnosed a year and a half ago. She had a chronic illness of six to seven lesions on her brain. Imagine if I wasn't an executor, my wife would still have to work 40 hours. There are women with the same disease that my wife has that have to work 40 hours. Why? Because their husband didn't execute. So they gotta get up and go to work, even though medically it's not healthy. They still gotta get up and go to work. My wife does not have to get up and go to work. She wants to work, so she does 12 hours. Why? Because I executed. And I realize now, execution in business is like a heart beating as it relates to your body. Once that heart stops, That's it for your body.

• 25:30Eric Thomas?

  When you're not executing as a business person, as an entrepreneur, it's over for you. The day you're just talking, you're spending hours, you're talking about what you're gonna do. You're spending hours visualizing, you're spending hours, and I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but I think you can appreciate this. I don't even do lunch like I used to do with people anymore. Why? Because I realized a lot of people want to do lunch and just talk.

• 25:51Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 25:51Eric Thomas?

  Like, we just, we just spent an hour talking, 30 minutes drive, that's two hours. I could have been making money in those two hours. Like, I could have been executing. So, so I'm not against mentoring, I'm not against meetings, but a lot of the meetings that I attend, it's a bunch of jargon.

• 26:07Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 26:07Eric Thomas?

  It's wasted space, wasted time. And so I'm gonna say, I guarantee you, this year could be the best year of your life if you execute more. I'm not saying you're not executing, but I'm telling you, if you were to execute 100% of the time, you probably would add another comma to your income, another zero to your income just by executing, executing within the timeframe you say you're gonna do it, and executing with excellence. Just do those three things, and I guarantee you're gonna go to a whole other level.

• 26:36Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah. And I think, you know, I know what you're talking about when it's saying mentorship, where you don't have lunch with people, but really, you want to do it on a broader scale. You want to do it on a bigger scale, and that's why you have your show, that's why you do speaking, so you can mentor hundreds of thousands, millions of people, as opposed to spending two hours with one person.

• 26:52Eric Thomas?

  Or sit here with you and doing almost millions.

• 26:54Lewis Howes?

  Exactly, exactly.

• 26:55Eric Thomas?

  I sit here with you for an hour, and now we're gonna mentor.

• 26:58Lewis Howes?

  Exactly. So what is your, what's your why? You're so passionate, you're so committed.

• 27:03Eric Thomas?

  Yeah.

• 27:03Lewis Howes?

  Why are you so committed to excellence and greatness in your own life? You talk about family, but I'm assuming that's part of it.

• 27:10Eric Thomas?

  Absolutely. But, you know, to me, bigger than that, because family is important, but if you live in a third world country, let's, let's be honest, you're limited to what you could do for your family. So while family is important, listen to me, opportunity is the biggest thing. Like, people ask me, why did you wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning? If I could be a millionaire in America and live wherever I want to live, all I gotta do is get up at 3 o'clock in the morning?

• 27:31Lewis Howes?

  That's pretty sweet.

• 27:32Eric Thomas?

  That's it? That's a sweet deal. And I can go to bed whenever I want to go to bed and I can buy a good bed. I can have a good mattress, right? That I can sleep in when I go to bed, right? So, for me, it's opportunity. That in this great country, and you know, this country has had, you know, it's dark past, you know, but I'm fortunate enough, yeah, I'm fortunate enough not to have lived in that dark past. So, there was a time in this country's history where Eric Thomas would not have had some of the opportunities that I have now. So, I have opportunities that Dr. Martin Luther King didn't have. I have opportunities that just 50, 60 years ago, they didn't have. So, in my generation, it doesn't make a difference what your race is, it doesn't make a difference what your ethnic background is. I can be an entrepreneur.

• 28:17Eric Thomas?

  Like, 100 years ago, somebody from my background couldn't have been an entrepreneur. I can be a CEO of a company. The two of us can get together, you know, and work together. Like, I lived the dream. I have an opportunity to live Dr. Martin Luther King's dream. You mean to tell me that I have that opportunity and I'm not gonna take advantage of it? Like, that's ignorant. Like, there was a time where we couldn't go to school. Where if we were trying to get in school, they bring the National Guards, they've got dogs, and they're walking these kids in, you know, to a school where people don't want them. I have an opportunity to go to school and be embraced by professors. I have an opportunity to write books. I have an opportunity to do conferences. I have an opportunity to have a show on YouTube. You mean to tell me I have an opportunity to do that and get paid for it? And I'm not gonna take advantage of that? Like, that's what I'm passionate about.

• 29:02Eric Thomas?

  We flew first class last night, my entire family, right? I have an opportunity to fly first class. I have an opportunity to walk up to the street, Ontario Airport, and just get a vehicle. Like, that's not something that happened 200, 300 years ago. And here I am, living the dream. And you mean to tell me that the whole world is in front of you and you're not going to try to be a millionaire or billionaire? You're not going to write books? You're not gonna get degrees? So, for me, opportunity, and this is the biggest thing that, listen to me, that's ever happened in my life. And I know we all have different goals, different dreams, to each his own. But the greatest contribution of my life... I dropped out, my grandfather dropped out, my father dropped out.

• 29:46Eric Thomas?

  My son graduated from high school on time, right? Went to Michigan State Uni- he is a student at Michigan State University, a Big Ten institution. Works for Tom Izzo, who is going to go down in the NCAA Hall of Fame as a basketball. My son is working with one of the top coaches in the world as a general manager, traveling the world. Uh, this was maybe about a month and a half ago. I just, man, overwhelmed. Um, the AD and Coach Izzo at a big award ceremony, gave him his Letterman jacket. You know what I'm saying? That's huge. He has the ring when they went to the Elite Eight last year. They won the Big Ten Championship. He's got the ring, you know, he's in school.

• 30:30Eric Thomas?

  He's, man, that's my greatest, that I broke the cycle. So for me to have this opportunity and to set my children up now, you know, for this type of life, that's my why. That I have an opportunity, but more importantly, I can break the cycle. I can change the trajectory of my family forever just by the decisions that I make. So I say this a lot to entrepreneurs. The stuff you're doing right now, the decisions you're making right now. Warren Buffett, you know, Bill Gates, the stuff that, the decisions that they made 20, 30 years ago has set their children up for the rest of their lives. And here I have an opportunity to do the exact same thing. I told my son, I will pay for you to get a degree. I told my daughter, I will cash, I will pay for you to go to school.

• 31:14Eric Thomas?

  That's my gift to you, to give you one of the greatest starts that you can ever have in America. You know, so that, that's, that's, that's my why. And then for all those kids out there who don't have their fathers, who haven't had, you know, um, exposure to certain role models, uh, certain opportunities. You know, every day when I do my videos, I'm, I'm trying to give them access. You know, to some of the greatest speakers I've heard. I've been with Les Brown. I've been with John Maxwell. I've been to Bob Proctor. I've traveled the world. I've met people like Dan Gilbert. I've met, you know, just, just, you know, people in this industry who are just, I mean, gurus.

• 31:57Eric Thomas?

  And now I want to take that same knowledge and I want to give that to these kids so I can give them the same opportunities that I had.

• 32:03Lewis Howes?

  Who are your mentors right now? And how important do you think it is for people to have mentors slash coaches throughout their entire journey of their life? Whether they're in school, playing a sport, running a business, you know, trying to be married? And how important is it to have key mentors and coaches?

• 32:20Eric Thomas?

  I mean.

• 32:20Lewis Howes?

  And who are yours?

• 32:21Eric Thomas?

  Yeah, I mean, it's everything because, you know, my mother calls it triple darkness. You don't know that you don't know that you don't know. You know, it's triple darkness for the kid that's grown up in a certain neighborhood without his father. You know, he hasn't had, he's never left his city. He's never been a 10, 20 mile radius outside of his city. There are kids in Los Angeles who've never been to a beach.

• 32:40Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 32:40Eric Thomas?

  You know, it's unbelievable. You know, there, there are kids in Chicago who've never been downtown at the pier or never walked the magnificent mile. You know, there are kids in San Francisco who've never been to the Golden Gate Bridge. I mean, can you imagine kids at Huntsville, Alabama, who've never gone to the Space and Rocket Center? You know, so I think it's everything. I'm not where I am because of who I am. I am where I am because of the information that individuals gave me, you know? And so my mentors, and we're fortunate in this generation, through books, through social media, anybody could be your mentor. I mean, you can follow whoever you want. But of recent, Dan Gilbert has been, you know, of course, owns Quicken Loans, the Cleveland Cavaliers. You know, he's been a mentor to me.

• 33:20Eric Thomas?

  He shared with me, you know, the 19 principles that he uses to revolutionize not only his company, but bring back Detroit. And I think that's why my relationship with Dan Gilbert is so important. Bill Emerson, who's also with Quicken Loans, Tony Knuckles, is because I'm watching these guys build Detroit back up.

• 33:36Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 33:37Eric Thomas?

  I, I get to see the, the, the, the, the millionaires, billionaires who are building the city back up. I know them. I get to call them. I get to do lunch with them. I get to ask them questions. So Dan. Here with his boy, Tom Izzo, definitely, you know, have an opportunity. He seems like an awesome guy. Yeah, awesome guy, man. I'm talking about hard-nosed, old-school, just lives by principles. You know, going to the practices, having access to Tom Izzo, you know, another, you know, has been another mentor. Coach Dantonio with the football team. I get an opportunity to, you know, go up there on a regular basis and just watch how he operates. I watch these guys in the film room. I get to see these guys, you know, on the road, on the plane. You know, how they're pouring into these kids and, you know, forcing these kids to get a degree and just the, the, the exposure that they're giving to these kids.

• 34:22Eric Thomas?

  And then through them, you know, just recently I was, uh, through Dan Gilbert, I had a chance to sit down and do lunch with Bu- Warren Buffett. That's not somebody that I would normally have exposure to. Sure. So, that's why I tell these kids, when you get an opportunity to meet ET, you don't know who else you're meeting. Like, you know, I, I work with the NFL, I work with the NBA, you know, their kids. You, you work with Kyrie Irving. I'm like, I work with these kind of guys on a regular basis, you know, and I've learned from Kyrie. I've learned from, just when I lecture him, just seeing that, that passion in his eye, you know, just seeing him listening and follow him on Twitter. So, I, I would say that those are some of the, you know, the people now, and of course CJ, even though CJ works for me. You know, CJ is a brilliant young man, you know, he, he really is, is the brand genius of this company. I've been doing this for years.

• 35:07Eric Thomas?

  Uh, but C kinda came in with just, just the, the vision, you know, um, that was just out of this world. So, C is definitely a mentor. I'm learning a lot from CJ. And, uh, I would, I would say to young people, you know, if you're living in the community and the resources aren't there, I challenge you to get on the bus and go to the library on the other side of town. I challenge you to go, um, and learn the Handel's Messiah. I challenge you, you know, to pick up a piano, to pick up, um, um, a violin. I challenge you to not accept the life that's been given to you. You know, just because somebody gave you that life, that does not have to become your reality. I challenge you to go outside of your immediate environment and I challenge you to explore.

• 35:52Eric Thomas?

  You know, I challenge you to discover, uh, because there's so much, like, if you live in America, you never have to go out of this country. Now, I'm not suggesting that you don't travel, but I'm just saying there's so many. Great gems in this country. I travel to kids who spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on shoes. To, I, I challenge you to get a plane ticket and come to California. You know, I challenge you to go to Miami. I challenge you to go, you know, Manhattan and New York. I challenge you to see America and get out of your neighborhood. Get out of those four walls. I challenge you to learn a second language.

• 36:23Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 36:24Eric Thomas?

  I challenge you to watch PBS, you know, NPR radio. Like, I challenge you to get out of just that world that you've been given. I challenge you to read books, you know, to learn the history of this company. Like, I challenge you to be bigger, bolder and better. Five years from now, 10 years from now. I challenge you to get your high school diploma. Try college. Look, if you don't like it, you can leave, but give it a year, you know? Because so many people think it's just about school. I met some of the greatest friendships, some of the greatest people I met in college. So, I would say exposure is so important. And some of the people that we admire are people who have been exposed to things that other people haven't been exposed to.

• 37:03Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. What would you say are the three biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make? That don't make them successful? Or three big mistakes that someone who's not an entrepreneur, but someone just trying to get what they want? What are those three big things that they do that, that are mistakes?

• 37:17Eric Thomas?

  Yeah, for me, I think most people move without knowing, you know?

• 37:20Lewis Howes?

  No vision.

• 37:21Eric Thomas?

  Yeah, I, I just think, man, you know, for a lot of people, they have not literally sat down and thought through, what will this take?

• 37:29Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 37:29Eric Thomas?

  You know, okay, so I want to be a real estate, yeah, okay, real estate is great. But have you spent months and years asking yourself, what are the qualities of a great real estate, you know, uh, individual? What are the great, um, uh, books that we need to read? What's the knowledge that you need to know? Like, I think people get started from feelings. They get started from these great ideas, but they don't get started from facts.

• 37:53Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 37:54Eric Thomas?

  And I'm telling you, one of the things Warren Buffett said that blew my mind. When they asked him his routine, he said he's, he spends the first, well, he didn't say first, but he just said six hours a day, he's reading.

• 38:06Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 38:07Eric Thomas?

  And I'm like, Okay, so just in case you missed that, because I don't want you to go and just buy a whole bunch of books and start reading for six hours a day. What I heard was, his decision-making process is so much stronger than mine's because it's based off of six hours of information. Wow. That's incredible. So you spent six hours. So a lot of basketball players that I meet, D1 ballers, they spend more time playing the game than they do studying the game. So they don't like watching film. They don't like practicing. And so I would say to the entrepreneur out there, it's not about what you know that's going to create success in your life. It's what you don't know. It's the gaps that's gonna break your company.

• 38:50Eric Thomas?

  It's those little things that you don't do, that you didn't know you were supposed to do, that will break the back of your company. That would allow the other guy to get breaks that you don't get, you know. So for me, I started this company and it was just little things that I just didn't know. That going to conferences and meeting people, like I did not know that Eric, whether you like meetings or not, you need to have meetings. And not just have meetings for meeting sakes. There needs to be measurements. There needs to be accountability. There needs to be immediate goals and long-term goals. There needs to be, look at the threats, look at the opportunities. So the first thing I think is that most people are starting a business without truly being informed. You may have 70% knowledge or 60%, but you're not operating on 100% information.

• 39:35Eric Thomas?

  And you're so eager and you're so desperate to make money, you're so desperate, you know, to move forward, that you haven't spent the quality time building a solid foundation. Right, right. So number two, I think the problem is, once we are informed, we don't have the design. You know, and when I say design, let me just say this, you guys know I'm from Detroit. We call it recall in Detroit. So a car industry would make a car, but the design of that car is not thorough. So they have to call it back. Something wrong with the brake system, something wrong with the acceleration, something's wrong with the ignition, which could create death, right? It has for...

• 40:15Eric Thomas?

  For many people it has. So what they have done is they have created a car, but the design was not...

• 40:24Eric Thomas?

  Of greatness, it was not excellent. And so I would say to people, number two, after the knowledge, make sure that your design, the design of your company, the strategy of your company, the infrastructure of your company is sound. Because what we've discovered is that most companies don't make it past three years. Now, I don't know the statistics, but they're high. I think it's over sixty percent of first-time businesses don't make it past three years. Why? Because they're building off a sand and they're not building off a solid foundation. So number two, make sure your infrastructure is solid. Now, we're gonna be around for a long time. Now, a lot of people say, you know, we don't, we didn't know who Eric Thomas was before. You know, we had never heard of this guy before.

• 41:09Eric Thomas?

  And the reason why you hadn't heard of me? Because I've been building the infrastructure like an ant. Like, if you study the ant, when you look at the, the, the infrastructure underground of an ant, they say it's like their highways and freeways. They say it's like they're building Rome. Their infrastructure is solid. And so you haven't heard about Eric Thomas. Why? Because I've been getting the masters, I've been getting the PhD. You know, I've been meeting with some of the best leaders in the world. The John Maxwell's, you know, the Bob Proctors, the Les Browns. Like, I've, I've been, I've been meeting with these individuals. So I've been getting my infrastructure solid, okay? And so now that I'm out, because this is what happens. I don't know if you guys, and I just, I want to make sure that, because this is radio,

• 41:52Eric Thomas?

  that, or the, the, your, your audio, you're hearing this, I want to give you the visual. Uh, but there was a commercial years ago of a company, you know, that had made this, this great brand. And so they were looking for, um, uh, one of these, I guess, you know, UPS, FedEx, these packaging companies to, you know, help support them. And so when they started, the very first day they opened, they had like three hundred sales and a thousand sales. And before you know it, they had like three thousand sales. And it overwhelmed them, you know, because they weren't ready for, while the product was great, they didn't, they didn't have the shipping aspect great. So it overwhelmed, they had like three thousand, and you could just see the numbers going up, going up. And they're sitting there like, oh, it's no way possible.

• 42:34Eric Thomas?

  For us to get, you know, three thousand of our, um, uh, our designs out to the world. Because the infrastructure was not solid. And the, the last thing I think is the discipline. I think where most people go wrong is that once they have the knowledge, once they have the infrastructure in place, they don't have the discipline that it takes to become successful. By discipline, I mean, there are many opportunities that I've had to do TV. There are opportunities that I've had to, to, to work for specific companies. But I had the discipline to say, no, it's not the time, not right now. You know, no, um, I, I would love to be in TV, but TV would take away,

• 43:15Eric Thomas?

  you know, from my ultimate goal and no, I don't want to get up and go to class and no, I don't want to work on a PhD. And no, I don't feel like writing and no, I don't feel like working out. And so I find that most people aren't successful because they don't have the discipline it takes. The discipline to say no, when they should say no, the discipline to say yes, when they should say yes. And more importantly, the discipline to wait. And so for a lot of us, we get broke in that waiting process. You know, and I found that a lot of companies that initially told me, no. And I would, and I said, no, I can't do it for that price, you know? I can't, I can't do it under these circumstances that three years later, when my videos kept, you know, going up, the numbers kept going up, now they're like, Eric, we want to work with you.

• 44:00Eric Thomas?

  And they're willing to pay me what I feel my, my product is valued at and why? Because I waited. I, I, I didn't, I didn't say yes to everything. I didn't, I didn't bite at the first opportunity, you know, I wasn't desperate. I knew, I knew, I knew my stuff. I knew I had put in the time. I knew I had made the investment. And so now I'm considered one of the top motivational speakers in the world, one of the top coaches in the world. Why? Because man, I got the knowledge first. I've been in this thing over 20 years. I built a strong infrastructure and I've had the discipline it takes to say no to some things, say yes to some things, and more importantly, I've been able to wait.

• 44:43Eric Thomas?

  I've been able to wait and now that I've waited, I think I'm on the show with you. So apparently my time is coming.

• 44:50Lewis Howes?

  I love it. Well, I want to, I want to wrap it up in a few more questions because I could hear you speak forever. So this could go for more hours and hours. I'd love to have you come back to us again. But I wanted to get you to your family. What are you most grateful for recently and overall this entire year and now that we're wrapping up the year? What are you most grateful for in your life?

• 45:09Eric Thomas?

  I would say I'm most grateful for second and third opportunities. You know, I'm getting my PhD at 44, you know, and the way the structure is designed to give you 10 years, you know, to complete that process. And I think I would have done it in eight. Now, from start to finish, it probably was only four and a half, five, but I'm grateful for that grace period, you know, that while I was doing some other things that I thought were a priority that had to be taken care of before I could take care of this. So I'm grateful for grace. I'm grateful for while my wife has, you know, been, been diagnosed, you know, with a chronic illness, I'm grateful that it hasn't debilitated her, you know,

• 45:53Eric Thomas?

  that while she does need, you know, her rest and she's changed her diet, of course, she's still able to go to work, she's still able to travel and we've had to make some great consensus, but and some adjustments, you know, and we've had to, you know, we have, we had to alter our lifestyle to some extent. I'm grateful that it has not, she's not in a wheelchair. She hasn't been hospitalized. You know, a lot of people with her illness have, you know, experienced blindness and, and had some other, you know, not been able to walk and some other sensory issues. And my wife hasn't had anything other than issues of fatigue. And while I won't minimize fatigue, I'm just saying that's not the worst thing, you know, that could happen. So I think this year I've just been so grateful, you know,

• 46:36Eric Thomas?

  just for grace, that the grace that has been extended to my family and traveling mercies. I'm on the road quite a bit, you know, and there are planes that have crashed. You know, there are people who got into accidents and I've been able to make it home every after every trip, you know, and so it's been great. And then finally, like I said, you know, seeing my son, you know, do what he's dreamed of, seeing him, you know, on ESPN. He's been on Sports Illustrated, you know, a couple of times and, you know, just seeing, like I said, seeing him enjoy his life. I was homeless at his age, you know, I was a high school dropout. And so seeing my son get a better start than I had has been phenomenal. So, and just seeing all the emails and, you know, different things we get from people who

• 47:17Eric Thomas?

  say, hey, I had cancer, you got me through it. You know, I had to take my bar exam three times, but I passed it. You know, I had to take my medical exam a few times, but I got it. So thanks for, you know, almost being transparent, you know, thank you for sharing your weaknesses, you know, to give us strength. So it's been a phenomenal, phenomenal, phenomenal year. And I would say I'm grateful for my fans who've turned into my family, you know, because they go to bat for me. You know, it's funny sometimes on these different sites, people will make comments out of ignorance, they haven't studied me as long as other people. And my fans will jump right on it. They're like, hey, you don't know ET, don't say that about ET. ET put in the work, you know, he's not that type of guy, you know. So it's just

• 48:02Eric Thomas?

  been a phenomenal year and I'm really looking forward through, you know, through the digital platform to really take my game to the next level. I'm looking forward to seeing what doors are going to open with this PhD. That's been, you know, like I said, four or five years of grind. And I'm looking to see what type of fruit is going to be produced as a result of me going into that intense type of study.

• 48:25Lewis Howes?

  Very cool, very cool. I think gratitude is such a big part of my life for, you know, continuing to add more of what I want. So I love to ask people what they're grateful for. Before I ask you the final question, Eric, I want to acknowledge you really quickly for your passion. You have so much energy, you have so much passion, you have so much love. I can feel it radiating, literally radiating off of you. So much love for other people and their success. So I want to acknowledge you for being an incredible gift to so many people, for using your voice for good, for using your voice to inspire and lead others to show people what's possible. So I want to acknowledge you for that. And I thank you for stepping up in the world when so many people don't.

• 49:07Eric Thomas?

  I appreciate that.

• 49:09Lewis Howes?

  Final question. It's what I ask all my guests at the end. What's your definition of greatness?

• 49:14Eric Thomas?

  My definition of greatness, man, is leaving the world better than how I was given to you. You know, my mother, who, like I said, got pregnant with me at seventeen. She had one wish for all of us, and that was that each generation should do better than the next generation. So for me, greatness is, you know, just making this world a better place. Leaving YouTube better than it was before Eric Thomas got on it. Leaving Instagram better than it was before Eric Thomas got on it. You know, Michigan State University, the state of Michigan, the state of Alabama, like wherever I've been. Making it better, you know, and hopefully, you know, even with, you know, your contribution to the world,

• 49:57Eric Thomas?

  you know, through this podcast and through video. Making sure that in 2014, it's one of the top programs that people can go to and listen to for inspiration. You know, so for me, greatness is about making things better. Greatness is about getting better. You know, when we were kids, granny used to say, "Good, better, best. Never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best." You know, so for me, greatness is about, nobody knows Eric Thomas. Nobody knows what I'm capable of, but I know what I'm capable of and getting better every single day. Never settling, never saying, "Well, I got a PhD, so I'm finished." You know, "Well, I've got a video, a few videos that went viral. Most people have never done that. I'm doing good. I wrote three books. I'm good."

• 50:41Eric Thomas?

  No, no, Eric, you know, you know, at the end of the day, when you lay your head down to sleep. Imano, Imano, man to man, my flesh to my spirit. You know when you've given your best. You know when you've gotten better. And greatness is challenging the today you and the future you, saying you can get better. You know, to me, that's what greatness is. And then I think finally, and I've alluded to it, but really making people's lives better. You know, like tangibly, some of us have been blessed to get certain opportunities. We're at a certain place financially, we're at a certain place in our influence. And I believe it's my duty to use my influence, you know, in my finances, in my time, to tangibly.

• 51:27Eric Thomas?

  Make other people's lives better. And to me, that's what Gandhi, Mother Teresa, you know, Mother the King. When I think of greatness, you know, those are the people that I think about. And they've long been gone, but their contributions still live with us today. And they're still making an impact on the world today.

• 51:46Lewis Howes?

  Eric Thomas, thanks for coming on.

• 51:47Eric Thomas?

  Yeah, thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. So you got, remember before, I got a question for him.

• 51:53Lewis Howes?

  Oh, yeah.

• 51:53Eric Thomas?

  All right, all right, all right. Y'all ready?

• 51:56Lewis Howes?

  Go ahead.

• 51:56Eric Thomas?

  All right, all right, all right. So I just want to turn the tables.

• 51:59Lewis Howes?

  All right.

• 52:00Eric Thomas?

  Because I believe, you know, it's no coincidence that, you know, your numbers have grown from the first time you started. And I just believe that's an indication that there's something of value that you bring to this world, which is why people follow you. And there is a group of people, you know. So first, I just want you to just talk to me like, how? How or why? You know, like, why? Why did you, of all the things that you could do? You talked about, you know, going to the league. And while you might say it didn't work, I think it worked. I think, I think you got a lot out of that.

• 52:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 52:34Eric Thomas?

  That experience, I think you got a lot out of the people that you met. But, but of all the things you could do, why did you, why did you decide to do this? And why did you decide to do it now?

• 52:42Lewis Howes?

  This podcast?

• 52:43Eric Thomas?

  Yep.

• 52:43Lewis Howes?

  Well, I was not fully fulfilled in my business before. And so I sold my company to my business partner. We had a great run, made a lot of money. But it wasn't, something aside of me wasn't like, this is what I want to do every day when I wake up. And I realized that for me, I'm really inspired by constantly learning, constantly growing and constantly connecting with the most inspiring people in the world like yourself. And I've had great opportunity to meet some amazing people like yourself and become friends with a lot of great people. But a lot of my friends don't have that opportunity. And a lot of people that follow me online don't have that opportunity. So I said, I wanted to create an experience and environment. A platform for people to gain the information from the most intelligent, inspiring people in the world.

• 53:28Lewis Howes?

  And show people what's possible for their lives so they can step in their own greatness. For me, I've always wanted to defy the odds about myself, you know, my physical limitations, my mental limitations. You know, I couldn't read growing up, always struggled in school, was in the bottom of my class every year. We would have grade cards with rankings on them and I was always the last four. For me, I just wanted to break the last four and I had to cheat constantly in every class. It'd be homework assignment, I had to cheat to get through, just to be able to play sports. So for me, I wanted to show people what was possible for them and not have to suffer like I did growing up. Feeling stupid constantly, feeling like I didn't have the information, like I couldn't learn.

• 54:13Lewis Howes?

  And bring it in an approachable place to inspire the world.

• 54:17Eric Thomas?

  So, so give me a myth because you know, guys are looking at you now, you know, they're, they're looking at the success of the podcast. They, they have probably looked at, you know, your website and the profile. And they're thinking like, yo, here's this, you know, rich, you know, white male who grew up, you know, with every privilege in the world. So yeah, it's easy for you to say, you know, you could do X, Y, Z. Demystify that, you know, for those who think that you just, you know, you just woke up at the top.

• 54:45Lewis Howes?

  Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, when I was five, I was raped by another man. Uh, when, when I was eight, my brother went to prison for four years, four and a half years for doing drugs. Uh, you know, there was no chemistry with my parents growing up. So it was constant screaming every night in the other rooms. Uh, and we didn't have money. So for me, there wasn't really this like healthy environment growing up. And of course I was in a, you know, middle-class suburban white neighborhood mostly. And, uh, you know, so I had that, but like my inner ghetto was taking over, right? Whatever it is, you know, I may look a certain way, but like we all have inner battles that we go through. No matter if we're born with a lot of wealth.

• 55:29Lewis Howes?

  Some of those people are the most unhappy people, so I think, um, you know, I always knew that I wanted something better for myself, that I wanted to achieve greatness in my own way. And I wanted to leave a mark and I wanted to inspire others through my transformation. And it's a constant transformation. It's not like I've arrived now and now it's like I know everything. The reason I do this podcast is for selfish reasons, so that I can continue to learn.

• 55:53Eric Thomas?

  Absolutely.

• 55:53Lewis Howes?

  It's not just like, here, you can have the information too, world. It's for me to like, what am I missing? Where's my gaps? What can I pick up from you, your energy, your one thing that you say might be able to connect with me like, oh, man, that's the next thing for me. So for me, um, yeah, that's.

• 56:11Eric Thomas?

  Yeah. So, so if you could, um, and I know this might be a challenge, but like if you could, cause it's, to me, I feel like this is a soft generation in some regards, you know? They want everything handed to them. They don't want to work for certain things. So if you could vet, if you will, to those entrepreneurs who feel like, you know, why do I have to go through this? Why I gotta do this? You know what I'm saying? Like those who think that it's easy, what would be one or two things as you're venting that you would say to that entrepreneur, you know, who it could possibly be at the brink of getting to the next level, but that victim's mentality is stopping him or her from going to that next level?

• 56:47Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. I mean, it's, it came down for me of being responsible for everything and taking responsibility for every dream I have, for every action I take, for every mistake I make, taking full ownership in everything that happens to me, around me, the friends, everything in my life. And when I decided to take ownership and supposed to start blaming other people of what they did wrong or why it didn't work out for me, that's when everything started to shift as well. Internally, and I was still achieving a lot of results in sports, you know, I was all American in two different sports, played professional football, didn't make the NFL. Built a million dollar company within the first couple of years of business. But I was taking ownership and achieving, but inner battles were like taking over still. I was still, something wasn't there, like something I wanted was not fulfilled.

• 57:33Lewis Howes?

  And it's because I had, uh, you know, I was still a victim in other ways. And what I would say for people is that a lot of people don't want it bad enough. And they aren't willing to sacrifice to experience pain every single day. For me, I try to do something that is painful every single day to build up my pain threshold. And football and sports is a great experience of that because every day for two and a half hours, you're putting on the pads, you're getting beat up. It sucks, you know, there's pain. I'd rather be sitting on the couch watching a movie, but it's painful and that's what's going to get me to my goal. And I think people aren't a able or not willing to experience pain. I'm not talking about suffering, I'm talking about pain. And I think the more pain we can go through and continue to push through

• 58:19Lewis Howes?

  and do something every day, whether it's a workout every day, you know, that's painful. You push yourself to the limit. People aren't willing to experience pain and there's never going to be pleasure without pain. Um, if you're not willing to do the work. And I don't think you have to experience it forever. Once you build up the momentum and you've got a leverage, you can just push buttons, make a phone call and you get the deals done. But people aren't willing to do the work and do the pain and feel it enough in order to achieve what they want.

• 58:43Eric Thomas?

  All right, so last question, ready? All right, so I'm just going, we're just going to go rapid. All right, we're going to rapid and you just tell me first thing comes to mind, all right? So, so when you hear the word greatness, what comes to mind?

• 58:56Lewis Howes?

  Jerry Rice.

• 58:57Eric Thomas?

  Jerry Rice, right? When you think of excuses, what comes to mind?

• 59:01Lewis Howes?

  Oh, so the first thing that came to mind was, uh, this is tough. I don't even know how to say this, but my sister years ago.

• 59:08Eric Thomas?

  Okay. We won't go into detail. As bad as you want to breathe.

• 59:17Lewis Howes?

  When I think of that, the first thing comes to mind, I think about your speech. I think about, I think about, I think about doing whatever it takes. I think about no excuses. No matter where you need to go, how you need to go, you'll do whatever it takes.

• 59:33Eric Thomas?

  Barriers, obstacles.

• 59:35Lewis Howes?

  I think about bullies. And I think about limiting beliefs that the media and friends pressure us to believe that hold us back from our greatness.

• 59:45Eric Thomas?

  When you think about faith and possibility.

• 59:48Lewis Howes?

  I think about grace. I think about trusting our inner wisdom, listening to our intuition and trusting the greater power in the universe.

• 1:00:00Eric Thomas?

  When you think about 2015.

• 1:00:02Lewis Howes?

  Man, I think about number one, New York Times bestselling author. I think about unlimited possibilities. I think about hitting a million people a month on this podcast. I think about stepping up in ways I've never stepped up before.

• 1:00:17Eric Thomas?

  And finally, for all of us, you know, death is inevitable. And so when that time comes for us, what do you want people to say about you?

• 1:00:27Lewis Howes?

  That I had such a big heart and that I cared so deeply about people. And that I always wanted to make a difference in their lives and let them know how much they matter in the world.

• 1:00:39Eric Thomas?

  That you have it, people. School of greatness. You heard it yourself.

• 1:00:43Lewis Howes?

  Appreciate it.

• 1:00:47Eric Thomas?

  All right.

• 1:00:52Lewis Howes?

  All right, there you have it, guys. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Again, if you did like this interview, please go back to the show notes at lewishouse.com/121. And check out the full video that we have, the full video interview. It's really inspiring just to watch Eric. And also check out the extra video that we do at the very end. I think you're gonna love that. And make sure to share this with your friends. If you enjoyed this message of greatness, if you enjoyed. Eric Thomas's vibe, his energy, his, his message, then please share with your friends. Again, just post LewisHowes.com/121. You can share that anywhere on Instagram, on Facebook, on Twitter. Get the word out. I want to let people know about Eric Thomas. And also,

• 1:01:34Lewis Howes?

  we've got links to his book back on the show notes as well, and all of his videos and content that you can get access to. So check it out, LewisHowes.com/121. We've got some killer guests coming up soon. Very excited about this year and all the new things I'm going to bring you to you guys on the School of Greatness podcast. You know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.