707 How Champions Win

FIND THE WINNING BALANCE. You hear so often that people get to the top of the mountain and realize that the summit isn’t the answer. To be a champion, you have to know that there is so much more to success than a final outcome. If you focus on the goal without being connected to your joy and larger purpose, you will get burnt out. But when you’re coming from a place of passion, the results will fall into place. To explore this topic further, I gathered parts of conversations with four world-class champions who’ve visited The School of Greatness in the past: Julianne Hough, Ray Lewis, Shawn Johnson, and Novak Djokovic. Julianne Hough is a two-time winner of ABC’s Dancing with Stars and now sits as a judge on the show. She’s one an Emmy for Outstanding Choreography and has appeared in many movies and TV productions like Footloose (2011) and Grease Live on Fox. Ray Lewis is a former NFL linebacker. He is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Super Bowl MVP and played his entire 17-year career with the Baltimore Ravens. Shawn Johnson is a gymnast who won a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics for balance beam and a silver medal in floor exercise and all-around. She’s also a five-time Pan American Games gold medalist. Novak Djokovic is a Serbian tennis player is currently ranked third in men’s singles. He’s won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and four Wimbledon titles among many more. These athletes have achieved the immense success in their fields and have all realized that being the best is not enough of an end goal to give them purpose. So learn how these champions get in the mindset to win on Episode 707. In This Episode You Will Learn: Why being content won’t ruin your drive (10:30) What Ray Lewis learned from joining ESPN (13:40) Why Ray Lewis thinks he was able to play football for so long (14:10) What people can do to win even if they get second (14:56) What helped Novac Djokovic get through a breakdown (21:04) 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 707 on how champions win.

• 0:06Lewis 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.

• 0:31Lewis Howes?

  Sammy Davis Jr. said, "You always have two choices, your commitment versus your fear." And I want to ask you this question, are you allowing your fears to control and consume your life on a daily basis? Does your fear of success, failure, or your fear of judgment hold you back in a major way of taking the actions you need every single day to build that momentum, to build that belief, that confidence in yourself to get out there and achieve what you want in your life? If your fears are holding you back, it's time to eliminate those fears. It's time to actually embrace them, move into them, and say, "You know what? It's okay if I fail because that's where I'm going to learn.

• 1:16Lewis Howes?

  That's where I'm going to get the lessons to improve things. That's where I'm going to get the feedback I need to take a different action towards success. And it's okay if I do succeed because some of us are afraid of success, the weight, the pressure, the responsibility that success comes with. It's okay because you were born to succeed. You were born to achieve. You know, when you just live a mediocre life, that's saying that you don't believe you're here for a reason, and you are here for a reason. And the fear of judgment, if that's holding you back, if you're afraid of what other people are going to say about you, that they're going to say, "I told you so," that they're going to make fun of you, or you're going to be embarrassed. That judgment, you're focused on your ego more than on impact.

• 2:00Lewis Howes?

  So you've got to stop focusing on the fears and start focusing out. Focus on how can I make the biggest impact on the people around me? And when you come from that place, that mindset, that's how you build the foundation to be a champion. That's how you develop a winner's mindset and allow you to win at the things that you're going after in life. And today we have an incredible episode where I've got some of my favorite guests who are talking about this championship mind and how champions win and why losers lose. And we've got Julianne Hough, we've got Pro Bowler Ray Lewis, we've got Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, and the man who is on fire right now,

• 2:44Lewis Howes?

  Novak Djokovic, one of the greatest tennis players of all time. And in this episode, we talk about why you need to take the time to appreciate the moment and the process. So many of us are focused on the end result and we allow all this fear and insecurity and doubt to hold us down as opposed to focusing on one step at a time. We're also going to cover the reason you need to be proud of yourself. I hate when people are constantly doubting themselves. They do something that they should be proud of and they say to themselves, well, it wasn't that big a deal. Or they can't take a compliment, or they can't receive when someone says, you did a great job. And if that's you right now, then this is important for you.

• 3:27Lewis Howes?

  And how being proud of yourself will actually bring you more opportunities your way. We talk about how fear and doubt will keep you from making the choices that will lead you to success. If you are suffocated by fear or doubt or insecurity, you are unable to achieve what you want. Self-esteem is one of the most important factors to success. If you have no self-esteem, if you doubt yourself constantly, why would anything good come your way? You're just going to sabotage yourself if you have no self-esteem. We talk about the reason you shouldn't be keeping score and why what you feel is what matters the most.

• 4:09Lewis Howes?

  I am so excited about this one and make sure to share with your friends. LewisHowes.com/707. Tag me on your Instagram story as well because I want to connect with you if you resonate with this as well. Again, a big thank you to our sponsors and without further ado, let's dive into this episode on how champions win.

• 4:33Speaker 01

  I was thinking about like why I wanted to be an entertainer when I was a kid and like why I wanted to be an entertainer now. And the meaning was so different.

• 4:43Lewis Howes?

  What was it when you were a kid?

• 4:44Speaker 01

  When I was a kid, I was like, it's so much fun. I was like, this is awesome. This is so fun and like people are laughing and like we're just having a good time and we're being creative. And then like as I got older, I realized it was like I wasn't having fun anymore. I was just trying to get the next thing and like what the next part of my career was going to do for my career and the success of that and like being the most important person and like all those things where I knew underneath, I still love to do everything that I did, but I was doing it for a different reason.

• 5:16Lewis Howes?

  A lot more pressure, it seems like.

• 5:18Speaker 01

  Oh my gosh, and I never felt successful in anything that I did and I was never good enough and like all these different things and and people would find that hard to believe and I'd be like, well, yeah, but I'm not there yet. And they're like, but look at what you've done. And I'd be like, yeah, but it's not, it's not enough.

• 5:33Lewis Howes?

  So how would you feel when you would, you know, you won Dancing with the Stars a number of times or you come out with a new record? How would you feel when you released something or you won something or you checked it off the list or the movie came out? How would you feel?

• 5:45Speaker 01

  What's next? Yeah.

• 5:46Lewis Howes?

  So it was never like appreciating the moment, like being grateful for this and excited. It was like, this isn't enough.

• 5:52Speaker 01

  Yeah. Well, I mean, the, you know, when I won Dancing with the Stars, trust me, I was on a high. Yes.

• 5:58Speaker 02

  Two days later, you were like, okay.

• 6:00Speaker 01

  A day later, I was like, okay, what's next? And like, I have to have my music career and I have to have my, my acting career and I have to have this and that and that. And, and when I got through all that and I realized what I was doing it all for. And then I kind of came back to my 10 year old self, which was like, let's go have fun.

• 6:17Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:17Speaker 01

  And enjoy it and like, have a good time. I ended up feeling like the most successful person. And like, I was like, wow, look, look at everything that I've done and like, I'm so proud of myself. And like, and I think that's really hard for people to say, cause you know, like, it's hard to say that you're proud of yourself. And one, because you're like afraid of what people are gonna think. Are they gonna think that I'm cocky? And it's like, screw everybody else what they think of me. I'm like, am I proud of myself? Yeah, I'm proud of myself.

• 6:46Speaker 02

  That's good.

• 6:47Speaker 01

  So, yeah. And, and everything is just better now. Like, and, and I find that I'm, I'm getting more things that are just coming in. And it's that kind of energy where you're just, you're just being and you're just living and you're just, you're just enjoying things. And, and then you find that you're, you're attracting more things that come your way and, and more success or whatever, however you define it. But yeah, life is just great right now.

• 7:13Speaker 02

  Amazing, I'm excited for you.

• 7:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:15Speaker 02

  But it comes across that way too. It doesn't seem like you're stressed or you have any weight on your shoulders. You're just like, let's have fun.

• 7:21Speaker 01

  Well, yeah, and I would notice that a lot. I'd be like, and I'd always take deep breaths, like, I'm overwhelmed and like, I need, I need to do this. And like, why am I not that person that's that, you know, like, I'm, I would compare myself to people all the time. Like, why am I not there and they're there? Like, I'm doing what I can and I'm trying so hard. And I'm like, that's the point. I'm trying so hard.

• 7:41Speaker 02

  Just be.

• 7:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, just be and like, being authentic and real. And like, I know it's easy to say that, but when you can find it and you feel that feeling, you don't ever want that feeling to go away.

• 7:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:51Speaker 01

  Like, that's almost like the addiction now for me is like, it's not the like, it's not that I've lost my drive, but like. It's the, like, I used to hate, sorry, I'm all tangenty right now. You're good, dude, go on it. But it's like, I used to hate feeling satisfied. I used to like, I, I used to say that if I ever felt like I was, you know, content, that was the worst thing in the world. And so then, I would, I, like, last year, I started feeling content. And I was like, oh, does that mean my drive's gone? Your hustle's gone, your drive? Yeah, my hustle, and like, you know, because I used a lot of like, the negativity that has happened in my life to prove myself, to show what I've gone through. And I got rid of that, so I was like, is my drive gone?

• 8:36Speaker 01

  Like, do I not have the same? I just want to relax on the weekends. Yeah, and what I realized was that, like, it didn't go away. It actually just made me more calm and peaceful, so that I was more able to go and be really passionate about the things that I loved when I needed to do that. And then I could turn off.

• 8:59Speaker 03

  Wins and losses come a dime a dozen. But the battle will never be different. And that is you versus me. And when a man physically feel you thrust into them, they know what intention you come with. Right. So every night, Wow. I had to get to a point of releasing worry. Wow. Releasing doubt, releasing fear. That's why I studied so much. I studied so much because when I go, I'm gone. You can, you can call it how you call it, but when I go, I'm gone.

• 9:43Speaker 03

  And that's what, you know, it started to become such a spiritual battle because...

• 9:50Speaker 03

  When you, you know, people used to, guys, I used to be playing the guys, they used to be like, "Come on, Ray, don't talk to me like that. I ain't got no other choice."

• 9:59Speaker 03

  Out here, this is pure battle. Wow. You know, this ain't no disrespect to war. War and battle is different, right? But it is. It's battle. Like, it's you taking your body. I've been through nine surgeries. Ugh. Right, so it's like you taking your body and you're saying, "I'm finna go try this one more time, and one more time, and one more time, play after play after play after play." Seventeen years. Oh, bro. And so, and so my, I used to go in hotel rooms and people would tell you, "I don't leave my hotel room for nothing."

• 10:35Speaker 03

  Walk downstairs to the meeting, back upstairs to my room. Oh, wow. I don't need to see the city. I don't wanna go out in the city. Wow. My head is down. I don't need, this is what's crazy. That's what I'm telling you. I, no disrespect to the game. Sure. I cheated life so much. Because I was so serious about the game that I walked in, I'll never forget it, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, all these places, I walked in these places and I promise you while I was playing, I never knew what they looked like. The cities, yeah. Never. My head is down the whole time. I'm like- You got the headphones on? Everything. The hoodie. Everybody out. I'm tuning everybody out. Wow. And only until I joined ESPN for a few years,

• 11:20Speaker 03

  then I started to travel. Look at this city, that's cool. I'm like, wow, Cincinnati is beautiful. This is why people live here, right? And then I started to realize, like, man, there is more to life. Like, Ray, you got to come out of this shell. And my, um, my oldest daughter said something to me one time. She was like, she was like, "Daddy, you finally let go." I was like, "What do you mean?" She says, "You laugh all the time now." Because when I was playing- You didn't smile much at all. Yeah, my kids, man. I, I took my kids to a lot because my kids was like, they had, they had pissed off. Always bad pissed off. Bad is always pissed off.

• 12:00Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 12:00Speaker 03

  And I played with them, you know, and I did my thing, but.

• 12:03Speaker 02

  It wasn't a sense of like free joy.

• 12:06Speaker 03

  It was like, cause I knew, I knew that every week I had raised them and trained them to never be outworked, never be outworked. Louis, I didn't stay around because of my athletic ability. I stayed around purely because my effort was way higher than everybody else's.

• 12:35Lewis Howes?

  How can people going into big events or big goals that they have? Obviously, we have expectations of winning or we want to win. Well, how can they set themselves up to win even if they lose or get second? What are some things they can do emotionally or psychologically, do you think that you've learned?

• 12:51Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 12:51Lewis Howes?

  People can do?

• 12:52Speaker 05

  Well, I think something that kind of saved me and kept me sane through that whole process is I grew up with my coach and I started training with him since I was, or when I was five.

• 13:02Lewis Howes?

  Geez.

• 13:03Speaker 05

  And he taught me from day one that nothing was ever about a score. So when I competed, I was never allowed to look at a score. I was never allowed to look at, you know, rankings, scoreboards, nothing. I mean, I studied those afterwards, just learning the science and kind of the math behind the sport, but it should never, or he taught me it should never drive your performance.

• 13:25Lewis Howes?

  Interesting.

• 13:26Speaker 05

  And so when I got to the Olympics, having that kind of ingrained in me, the scores didn't necessarily matter, but that final result of the medal, I wasn't used to. So it made me kind of look at the scores and reflect on how I was judged, but that made me go against everything I've been taught my whole life.

• 13:46Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 13:47Speaker 05

  And so when I kind of learned to push that away and go back to it's not about the scores, but it's about how you felt you did, how much effort you put out, your performance, I could go back and look and say, I did the best I possibly could.

• 14:01Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 14:01Speaker 05

  And, you know, my, my validation as well was finishing my last routine and seeing 50,000 people and they ran on their feet. I mean, it's. Things like that that mean more than a score, a medal, but

• 14:13Lewis Howes?

  I just got chills.

• 14:14Speaker 05

  Yeah. You know, in your heart, too, I mean, how well you've done, how hard you've worked. There's no greater reward or judge than your conscience.

• 14:24Lewis Howes?

  Sure. Man. Well, how has it affected you in the decisions you've been making since then? Like, have you been ever second guessing yourself when you're doing anything? You know, you did Dancing with the Stars. Were you guessing yourself in that? When you went back to compete, did you second guess yourself? And was that the London, or no, what Olympics was that?

• 14:44Speaker 05

  London.

• 14:44Lewis Howes?

  London Olympics?

• 14:45Speaker 05

  I don't think it's changed anything in the way of like second guessing, but I would say I feel like I've made every decision differently than I would have had I gotten a gold.

• 14:57Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 14:58Speaker 05

  Kind of.

• 14:58Lewis Howes?

  How so?

• 15:00Speaker 05

  Because it's no longer about winning to me. I feel like, and I use the word winning in the sense of like, it's not about money. It's not about being the top at a business. It's not about living in the biggest house. It's just, I kind of took that away from my life because I got there and realized that didn't matter. And so, you know, I butt heads with some people sometimes, some friends, some agents, some, I mean, all these people who are still driven by that. But for me, it's about the worth that I feel in my heart anymore, which again, is a lesson I learned back then. So.

• 15:38Lewis Howes?

  It's about the balance, it sounds like.

• 15:39Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 15:40Lewis Howes?

  The winning balance, right?

• 15:41Speaker 05

  The winning balance. I've definitely rearranged a lot in my life just over the past few years, just trying to get more things in my life that made me feel good instead of just trying for a reward that didn't mean anything.

• 15:55Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. What have you done?

• 15:56Speaker 05

  What have I done?

• 15:57Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 15:58Speaker 05

  For me, I've tried to, on a daily basis, just admit, openly admit that I'm not 16 anymore. I'm not at the Olympics. I'm not that person. I feel like a lot of the perfectionism issues I have is comparing myself now to who I was then.

• 16:19Lewis Howes?

  Interesting.

• 16:20Speaker 05

  And.

• 16:20Lewis Howes?

  It was six years ago, right?

• 16:22Speaker 05

  Yeah. It's six years ago today.

• 16:25Lewis Howes?

  Today?

• 16:26Speaker 05

  Today.

• 16:27Lewis Howes?

  The Olympics for today?

• 16:28Speaker 05

  My, my gold medal was six years ago today.

• 16:30Lewis Howes?

  Shut up. It was not.

• 16:32Speaker 05

  It was.

• 16:33Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh.

• 16:34Speaker 05

  August 19th.

• 16:35Lewis Howes?

  Shut up.

• 16:36Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 16:37Lewis Howes?

  How serendipitous.

• 16:38Speaker 05

  I know, right?

• 16:39Lewis Howes?

  Wow. I just got four shells.

• 16:43Speaker 05

  But that's my lucky number, by the way, 19. Cause I won the gold medal on the 19th. I was born on the 19th and I won Dancing with Stars on the 19th.

• 16:51Lewis Howes?

  Wow, interesting. But you were 16 when you won.

• 16:55Speaker 05

  But I was 16. Yeah, I would say just like what I've done is.

• 17:00Lewis Howes?

  Over the last six years.

• 17:01Speaker 05

  Over the last six years.

• 17:02Lewis Howes?

  Admitted that you're not that same place anymore.

• 17:04Speaker 05

  Yes, and that I, I never will be. I mean, and that's fine.

• 17:08Lewis Howes?

  Never again.

• 17:08Speaker 05

  And to accept that that's normal and that's good is kind of been my progress.

• 17:16Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 17:17Speaker 05

  You know, back when I was 16, every little thing about me back then was, was judged by a coach or someone, an individual. And me now comparing myself to when I was 16, I see those same qualities. I'm like, well, I need to be thinner. I need to be, need to look what I looked like when I was 16 to be able to be accepted by the world, which is kind of what you're taught back then. So kind of learning to put that aside and admit that past is past. And the only thing you can better of yourself right now is who you are right now and who you're going to be tomorrow. Cause you can't change yesterday.

• 17:59Speaker 06

  I had this upward kind of spiral and trajectory in my tennis career, in my life. And everything was great, you know, it was, everything was great. And then all of a sudden I had this period of two and a half, three years where I didn't win a slam.

• 18:16Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 18:17Speaker 06

  I was, I was managing to be three, four in the world, but I just, I struggled a lot. And for me, being number three of the world wasn't enough. I just, I was not satisfied with that. And I was just, I always go back and say, wait, okay, when I, when I was seven, eight years old, my dream, my life goal was always to be number one and win Wimbledon. That's it. And I need to achieve that, no matter what.

• 18:39Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 18:39Speaker 06

  But then I reached a kind of mentally low point in my career. I think it was after Roland Garros, you know, one of the four slams and I lost. I was two sets to love up. I lost in five sets in quarterfinals. Against a guy called Jürgen Mälzer, he was top 10 at the world, very good player. But I had him, I mean, I had a match and I just lost. I just had a breakdown. I remember going first to my parents and, you know, talking about this and that and I just... I cried and I like, I don't know if this is worth it, I don't know if I should keep going and... And my father was like, "Tough enough, tough enough", you know, no, no, no, you know, like... But it wasn't enough, like, I felt I needed to think about it more, I felt I needed to share more. So I went to my coach at that time, Marian Vida, and my, uh...

• 19:23Speaker 06

  One of my best friends in life and my former physiotherapist, Milian. And I was in their room and I remember sitting on the floor, again, I had another breakdown and I was saying, "I don't know", you know? And they were like, "Okay, take your time. Let's first, okay, breathe and let's calm down. Let's look back." And they were really, really wise for telling me, like, "Let's go, look back first. Why did you start playing this sport and the whole thing? Do you love it? You know, leave aside what you want to achieve, what you want to do."

• 19:51Lewis Howes?

  The passion for it.

• 19:52Speaker 06

  You know, but do you really like holding a racket in your hand? And then I'm like, "Actually, I do, I really, I love holding a racket in my hand, whether it's a Grand Slams, Centre Court Finals, whatever, or it's just a normal, you know, public court, I still like playing for the sake of playing." They're like, "Well, that's your source. That's what you need to tap into and let's take a little bit of time." And literally, they thought it's gonna take a few weeks, I, next day, I'm like, "Okay, I'm back on track, let's go, let's keep going." And I never looked back ever since that moment. I remember, the next tournament was Wimbledon, probably played semifinals, and then after that, I won Davis Cup with my country, with my guys, end of that 2010, that was one of the highlights of my career.

• 20:33Speaker 06

  And then after that, I went into having 43 matches win in a row and I had that streak, I became number one.

• 20:40Lewis Howes?

  How long is that for?

• 20:41Speaker 06

  It was, it's like, almost six months.

• 20:43Lewis Howes?

  Six months, you didn't lose one match?

• 20:44Speaker 06

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 20:45Lewis Howes?

  You lost a set, but not a match, right? Not a game?

• 20:48Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 20:49Lewis Howes?

  Holy cow.

• 20:50Speaker 06

  It was McEnroe and myself, we hold the record for longest streak of history. Okay, so this is, if you go, if you go online, so wait, wait. So if you go online, you'll say John McEnroe 42, Novak Djokovic 41.

• 21:04Lewis Howes?

  Oh, no.

• 21:05Speaker 06

  Why? Because they didn't count the two matches of the guys that retired the matches to me. So they didn't count them as wins and I would have the 40. But okay, John, you have it, you have it, John. Okay, you have it. So it's John.

• 21:18Lewis Howes?

  Wow, man. That's gotta feel amazing. You were just in the zone.

• 21:20Speaker 06

  It was unbelievable and it just gave me, it gave me wings. I mean, I just, I felt all of a sudden that I started to play and play freely. Between winning the first slam and that moment, it was three years and I felt like I was playing for the wrong reasons. I was playing because I wanted to achieve. I wanted to this, I wanted to lift trophies, I wanted to do this and that. And that's okay, but that's secondary. Primary, so to say, motivation needs to be what inspired you to start playing? What made you fall in love with the sport? And that is the love, the joy, the passion for it, to play it. I all of a sudden became the kid that I was when I started. I felt so much, so much power and energy and I just, exactly. So I never looked back after that.

• 22:11Lewis Howes?

  There you have it, my friends. I hope you enjoyed this episode, How Champions Win. I thought this was powerful. If you loved it, then message me and post this on your Instagram story right now with the link lewishouse.com/707. You can tag me at Lewis Howes. I want to hear from you. I want you to share this with your friends. Text it to a couple of friends you think will find it powerful as well. Again, Sammy Davis Jr. said, "You always have two choices, your commitment versus your fear. Create a new commitment today. Be committed to overcoming that insecurity, that doubt that you have and put yourself out there. It may feel painful. You may get embarrassed. You may fail. You may fall flat on your face and it's gonna sting and hurt."

• 22:56Lewis Howes?

  But the only way you're going to grow is through failure. That's the key, guys. That's the answer. The one who can experience more embarrassment and more emotional pain than the other is the one that typically learns how to overcome that challenge and be secure with themselves when they realize that, hey, I'm still alive, there are people that still love me and that care about me, no matter how much I fail. And in fact, the more I fail and put myself out there, I'm going to inspire more people around me because at least I did something. So do something today. Make a commitment versus living in your fear. And as always, you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.