- When I'm not excited about something,
then I want to give up or I don't want to do it.
I want to go back to thinking about my dream.
I've always wanted to be a symbol
of inspiration, of possibilities.
You if you want to build something
really powerful and really big,
and expand and grow, you've got to
learn to be able to work with a team.
- You're like really good at leading, it's crazy.
- I'm a New York Times best selling author.
I'm a top 100 podcaster in the world.
I'm a former professional football player.
I used to hold a world record for
the most receiving yards in a single game.
I'm an entrepreneur, I'm a coach, I'm a speaker.
My name is Lewis Howes and this is my
Top Ten Rules for Success.
- Rule number three is my personal favorite.
And I'd love to know which one you guys like the best.
And as always, as you're listening,
if something really resonates with you,
there's a message that really holds true to you,
please leave it down in the comments below
and put it in quotes, so that other people can be inspired.
And when you write it down, it's much
more likely to stick with yourself as well, enjoy.
(upbeat music)
- I think you got to have a dream first.
You know, for me it always starts with a dream.
Because I can go through any adversity
when I have a dream, something I'm passionate about.
When I'm not excited about something,
then I want to give up or I don't want to do it.
I want to go back to thinking about my dream.
And so I think first, we have to figure out
what is our dream?
And go on a journey and a path to achieving that.
And, you know, years ago I was telling
Scooter, our mutual friend, backstage years ago,
when I didn't have much, I remember watching
this show and seeing people dance.
And I literally envisioned in my head
hip bumping you, dancing on this stage.
- And we did it.
- We did it.
- Wow!
(audience applauds)
Listen, there are many examples of that kind
of believing it and achieving it.
- The first one that most people come to me
is they don't have a clear vision of what they want.
They want a better life.
They want to make more money.
They want to have a better relationship but they're not clear.
And the greatest minds, and the greatest achievers
are very specific and clear on their vision.
It's so certain to them what it is.
They can see it, they can feel it, they can taste it.
And as an athlete I used to visualize
how I wanted to create my sport.
How I wanted to create myself in sports.
And vision was very powerful for me, back then,
as it is now for the business world.
So the first thing is vision, that people
are going to get clear on.
Started with vision.
In sports we always start each season
with a clear vision on the chalk board in the locker room.
What are we looking to achieve this season?
Do we want to make the playoffs?
Do we want to win the championship?
We are always very clear.
It's written up on the board.
Every day we walk in the locker room we see our vision.
We know what we're working towards.
So for me, I have a board with my vision.
And every day I look at it.
And I'm very clear and specific
about what it is and when it's going to happen,
each six months to a year.
Each season of my life.
So I just try and translate all that
I learned as an athlete, because that's
all I knew, into life.
And it's helped me get to, at least,
where I'm at currently.
I lot of people, when they're trying
to get success as an entrepreneur,
and they fail, it's because they
don't first believe in themselves.
Now, you've got to believe in yourself.
You've got to build some confidence in yourself.
So that you can build the right relationships.
So that you can take action, create the right products,
deliver the service, sell yourself.
Really, it's all about selling yourself
if you want to sell your products and services.
So you got to build some small wins.
Little wins every single day, to build that confidence.
And start believing in yourself.
- There's a lot of people who get frustrated.
Who then say, "You know, enough is enough.
"I'm going to do something."
and the next day they wake up and it's,
they're like back to their old life.
Like, they had this moment of boldness,
moment of greatness, and then fall back
into repeated patterns and habits,
and life just gets them down again
and they go back to their job at their regular life.
Like, how did you break that cycle?
And, "This is actually the day I'm going to
"go and do something bigger."
- I think it was just a moment of, like, enough is enough.
Like I was sleeping on my sister's couch
for a couple of years, originally.
And she had told me, "You know,
"are you going to start paying rent?"
At about a year and 1/2 mark.
(he laughs)
Like, "When are you going to start paying rent?"
Because I was just eating her food for free.
I was, a slob, I didn't clean up.
I was just taking advantage of the situation.
And I was 24 years old or something.
And I remember just being, "It's time
"for me to grow up and do something with my life."
I've sat here for a year and 1/2 almost two years now.
Depressed, miserable, whatever I was doing, Making excuses.
"This isn't who I want to be.
"I aspire to be something greater.
"My parents didn't raise me to be this way."
I wanted to make myself proud.
I wanted to make my last name proud.
I wanted to make my family proud.
And I wanted to be a symbol.
I think I've always wanted to be a symbol
of inspiration, of possibilities.
From my sports days, I remember the feeling
after the games when parents or fans,
or parents of other players from other teams,
would come up to me and say, "Thank you
"for showing me what's possible.
"There was no way you were going to
"be able to catch that ball, but somehow you did that.
"It blew my mind.
"There's no way you guys should have
"come back after how much you were down.
"And what you did blew me away."
I loved hearing that.
And seeing in other people, the spark of passion,
excitement, of possibility, for what
they could create in their life.
And I wanted to be that symbol of passion,
and vision, and focus, and commitment
towards my dream, to show others what's possible.
And I've never been the best at anything I've done.
You know, in sports I was always the underdog.
I was never the biggest, fastest, or strongest dog.
And I think I just wanted to show it's possible.
So that's what I'm still doing.
It's like, I'm just a kid from
a small town of Delaware, Ohio.
Who had a lot of emotional turmoil inside, growing up.
And I'm trying to show people what's possible.
No matter where you come from.
I built it up.
I didn't have that big of an audience
when I started, almost three years ago.
I had a pretty decent size, but I had
the relationships with influencers,
from the years of previous stuff with my other business.
So I was able to get a lot of great influencers
on because I'd do an interview podcast.
And I was just consistent, I said,
"I'm going to do it every week, for this year."
And I'd do one once a week.
Then the second year I said, "I'm going to
"do it twice a week, this year."
Because people were asking for more.
Then the third year, now, people said,
"We want more."
So I said, "I'm going to do it three times a week."
And so, I'm at 240 episodes, almost, right now,
over a three year period.
And I still feel like I'm scratching the surface.
But I'm almost three years in,
at the end of three years and I still love it.
So I think a lot of people get into
a podcast because they feel they need
to do it, or they want to do it.
And they'll talk about a topic
for six months and then they're burnt out.
So I think if you're going to do a podcast,
do something that you're committed to
for the next three, five, 10 years.
If you really want to see it grow and build momentum
around your brand and have an impact.
We always had this goal in sport.
And I give the credit to my coaches
for instilling that in me.
He was like, always creating this goal,
this par time to achieve something.
And during that time, nothing else mattered.
It didn't matter what was happening in school, for me.
Relationships didn't matter.
It was just, achieving that goal.
And maybe it comes back to childhood or something,
where I just wanted to be a great athlete.
But when I get in that mind frame, I guess.
I don't know, I just want to achieve
the goal more than anything else.
And that's what I like to do.
Learning to be with a team, learning to be coachable.
I wasn't the best athlete but I was very coachable.
So once I learned that, "Okay, how am I
"going to build a business.
"How am I going to do anything outside of sports.
"Well the first thing I need is a coach."
Because that's the only way I was successful in sports.
So I hired coaches and mentors early on.
And I just know that the greatest
athletes in the world, can never do it on their own.
They always have a coach, even when
they're at their peak, they hire better coaches.
So for me, coaches, and then learning
how to work with a team.
Can't achieve anything on your own.
Can't achieve anything great, on your own.
So I learned quickly about developing
a team around me, of people much smarter,
who could support my vision.
Building a powerful team.
I think there's a lot of people,
especially in the entrepreneurial world,
they want to be a lone wolf, they want to
do it on their own, no one can do it like them,
no one's as good as them, no one knows
how to do it like them.
And that can only take you so far.
So if you want to build something really powerful,
and really big, and expand, and grow,
you've got to learn to be able to work with a team.
And you've got to lead with some inspiration.
You can't put people down and make people feel bad,
because there's a lot of different options
these days for people to leave
and go do whatever they want.
So how're you going to build a powerful team?
Loving deeper, you know, relationships,
I've discovered, are the key to success in life.
And the key to successful relationships are loving deeper,
and being more vulnerable and intimate
and showing yourself.
And I think we've missed that sometimes.
We're so busy, we're so focused on
our own selves and our cell phones,
whatever it may be.
That we don't take time to connect like this.
And just look in someone's eyes
and tell them what their dream is,
and how they feel, and listen.
So relationships are the key to success, in my mind.
I just went to India to get certified
to be a meditation instructor.
Went through a two week process.
And it's something I try to do on a daily basis.
And when I implement a daily meditation practice, I feel it.
I feel positive, I feel clear,
I feel intentional about what I'm doing, I'm less reactive.
Since I've been back, there's been days
I've missed doing my meditation.
And since missing them, I feel lethargic.
I feel lazier, I feel more reactive
or frustrated in certain times.
So I definitely feel the difference
the days I meditate versus the days I don't.
So set yourself up to win, in this year.
To making it your greatest year ever
by having a daily meditation practice.
I'm telling you guys, it's so simple.
Meditation is becoming well known,
from people all over the world now.
It's not some weird, woo woo thing anymore.
People are talking about it in the workforce,
in sports, in relationships, whatever it may be.
It's all good.
And set yourself up to win.
(salsa music)
(she laughs)
Okay, you ready?
I'm so nervous because you're so professional.
- It's so good.
You're like, really good at leading, it's crazy.
(salsa music)
- You're good, I'll let you do your thing for a second.
Do your thing, do your solo thing.
- What'll I do.
- Do your solo thing.
Do your little solo thing, yeah.
- Yeah, whooo!
- Yeah!
(salsa music)
- I'm like, dead.
- It's almost over, it's almost over.
(salsa music)
It's going to be a good promo video.
I'm getting a workout.
(salsa music)
Almost done, I'm going to die.
That was awesome, thank you.
- Thank you.
- You're amazing, hopefully I wasn't
too much of a white boy.
- You're amazing.
- I hope you guys enjoyed my Top Ten Rules for Success.
If you did, head on over to my YouTube channel.
YouTube/lewishowes, and make sure to
subscribe to my podcast @schoolofgreatness.
It's one of the top 100 podcasts in the world.
Talking about how to achieve greatness in your life.
Go head over there right now and I'll see you soon.
- Thank you guys so much for watching.
I made this video because Michael Tann asked me to.
If there's someone you'd like me to profile
in the next top ten, check out the link
in the description and go and cast your vote.
I'd also love to know what was your favorite
message from this video.
What did you learn from this video
that you're going to immediately
apply somehow, in your life or in your business?
Please leave it down in the comments below.
I'm really curious to find out.
I also want to give a quick shout out to Monika Tep.
Monika, thank you so much for picking
up a copy of my book, Your One Word,
and posting it to your Instagram.
I also see Lewis' book there on
the top left corner, so I'm in good company.
I'm really glad that you enjoyed the book
and I appreciate your support.
So thank you guys, again, for watching.
I believe in you.
I hope you continue to believe in yourself
and whatever your one word is.
Much love, I'll see you soon.
- First thing is you want to create a unifying brand.
So, across all your social media accounts
and your website, go ahead and make sure
you're unified with your vision.
You don't want to have, Steve, the good
looking TV guy as your Twitter handle,
then Steve GDLA on Instagram.
You want to have a unified vision.
- All the way through.
- All the way across, yeah, keep it the same.
Or just your first name and last name all the way across.
- You don't want to make stuff up.
Like the skinny tie wearer guy.
- You want to make it as easy as possible
for people to remember you and see your account set.
- Got it.
- Creating a unique and powerful website.
What is that?
- Yeah, you can't really have a powerful brand
if you don't have a home base.
A place where people can go to.
So you build your accounts on Twitter and Instagram.
You want to send people back to one place.
Sent them back to a place where they
can learn more about you.
- So if you have multi platforms,
you're getting in the way of yourself?
- you're not getting in the way of yourself.
You just want to direct them to one place.
- One source.
- That's going to help you--
- You can pay people to do this.
- Here's what I love.
I love this one, number three.
Go against the grain.
- Yeah, there's a lot of people,
if you're working in an industry,
you want to stand out in that industry.
So you want to build a personal brand
that's unique, that's different,
that says something that is different than everyone else.
- People will pay attention to the difference.
- You want to pay attention to that.
Figure out creative ways.
It doesn't have to be a set way
that everyone else is doing something.
If you've got an idea.
If you've got an audience.
If you've got an offer, or product,
then get creative of how you can
bring an income or make money around that creative idea.
You think you have to be perfect
before you can really launch.
I see this all the time, especially
with online entrepreneurs, where they
want to have the perfect logo, or the perfect design,
or they want to package the product perfectly.
But really, that's just holding you back
from being successful.
Now, good and profitable, is better
than perfect and not done.
So make sure to get the product done.
Get the service done and then make it profitable