The School of Greatness - 22 Shawn Johnson: The Mindset of an Olympic Champion

Episode Date: June 25, 2013

Do you know what it feels like to be a world champion and Olympic gold medalist? Most of us will never make the Olympics, but what if you could LEARN and APPLY this same mindset to your business, career, health and relationships? If you're like me, you know it would be a powerful mindset to […]

This is episode number 22 with Shawn Johnson. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. What is up, all you beautiful greats out there? I hope you're having a fantastic week wherever you are in the world. And a quick shout out to our fan of the week, Johnny Jensen,

And a quick shout out to our fan of the week, Johnny Jensen, who tagged a picture on Instagram from Maidstone East Railway Station in Maidstone, England. So big shout out to you, Johnny. Thanks for posting and listening in. I appreciate you. And there's lots of pictures you guys have been posting on Instagram and on Twitter and on Facebook of where you're listening to the School of Greatness. So keep on a posting. I appreciate it. We've got a huge episode this week. It's with the one and only Shawn Johnson.

Now, if you've been living under a rock for the last four or five years, you wouldn't know about Shawn. But she is basically America's sweetheart. She won an Olympic gold medal in Beijing in gymnastics. And she won a number of silver medals as well. She also won a show called Dancing with the Stars a few years ago. And she's just an amazing individual, a pleasure to be around. And she actually beat me in CrossFit this last week, which was a little bit embarrassing. But there was a little bit embarrassing, but there was

a gymnastics element to it. So, I mean, you got a six, four guy that has no clue what he's doing in gymnastics and you have the world champion in gymnastics. She better be able to beat me. But other than that, I did beat her at another exercise. So we're even now, and we're going to keep the competition going. I think she's probably going to dominate me long term. But it's been fun hanging out and at least meeting her one time at something. Now, I'm excited to share with you guys this interview because Sean has some amazing insights. Now, when you get to perform at the hardest level of sports, the Olympics, and all the pressures on you. Millions and millions of people watching you all around the world,

and you're only 16 years old, and you come out with a gold medal. You've got something inside you that should be shared with the world. So we're going to learn about what Shawn thought about right before these big moments and how she was able to focus in when all the pressure from the world, family, friends, town, state, country was all on her. How could she target in and harness her greatness and let it out at the right moment? She's going to talk about that. She's also going to talk about her experience with Dancing with the Stars and a lot of other cool things she's been up to. I'm very excited to share this interview with you. So make sure to stay tuned and listen to the entire thing. You're not going to want to miss out. She is spectacular. I want to share the quote of the

week before we get into the interview. And I've been doing a lot more lately of pushing myself and stretching myself and really going for it. Not playing small in the world anymore, but really stretching to see how far I can really go in all senses of the word and how much I can get done and how much I can create in a shorter amount of time, as opposed to giving myself longer deadlines, giving myself shorter deadlines, and actually seeing what is possible when I put a little pressure on myself and what I can actually create. So the quote of the week is this. It's from Mario Andretti. He says, if everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. So think about it right now.

How is your day, your week, your month going? Do you feel like it's pretty good, it's pretty easy, pretty relaxed, nothing too challenging for you? If so, why don't you start putting some pressure on yourself to create more, to play bigger in the world, to start dominating in your industry, in your workouts, with whatever you're trying to create, whatever you're trying to accomplish. Start pushing yourself, stretching yourself to actually create it faster, to get it done, to make it bigger, to change the world more. So that's what I want to challenge you guys with this week. And make sure to tweet that out if you like that quote.

But here we go, guys. This is what you've all been waiting for. This is with the queen, America's sweetheart. All the other cool words you want to say about her, but I'm excited to introduce you to the one and only Sean Johnson. All right, what's up everyone? Lewis Howes here and I've got a new good friend, Sean Johnson, who's in the studios with me today. What's up, Sean?

What's up? We were just salsa dancing a little earlier and Sean was teaching me a little bit of her moves, but she can turn and move it. Not really. It's pretty impressive. I can just be pushed around the floor. You just like to be pushed around the floor. Yes. So we were just talking about where Shauna's from, because she said that's what usually is the most boring question she gets,

but she's actually from West Des Moines, Iowa. Yes. Not Des Moines, Iowa, so we just want to make that distinction here. And for those that don't know, Shauna Johnson, she is a superstar. She's an Olympic gold medalist, silver medalist in like six events, and world champion, national champion. There's pretty much everything.

You've won everything, right? Nah, sure. Something like that, right? I don't know. She's super humble, too, so she's probably never going to brag about it. But extremely talented. I'm excited to talk to you.

We've been hanging out for about the last hour, uh she's been making fun of how tall i am she's about 4 11 right she says but i think she's probably i'm probably 4 11 which is like isn't that like technically no it's not midget size no it's not i think it is it's 4 7 now it's been googled because people have talked to me so much about this. You sure? It's 4'7". You get it all the time, don't you? Well, your Wikipedia.

Let me see what your Wikipedia says because that's like… Well, that's when I was 16. I was 4'7 when I competed at the Olympics. That's what it says. Let me see here. Wikipedia. It says 4'9". Well, that was in my in-between stage.

Okay. So, she's 4'11". And you just turned 21 recently right yeah january okay it's pretty amazing what you've done and basically you're 21 and you've accomplished more than people are ever going to accomplish i know i forget half the stuff that i've already done yeah i like to look back at pictures and stuff i'm like oh like beijing seems like forever ago it does london seems like forever ago i mean i didn't compete like forever ago. I mean, I didn't compete, but still getting to experience that. Yeah.

I was working. You were working? I worked for the Today Show. Oh, did you? Yeah. That's awesome. Every day you were doing reviews? Yeah.

Oh, that's got to be cool. I did all their social media work. It was pretty cool. Really? Mm-hmm. Interesting. Yeah, I was there. We didn't qualify for team handball, unfortunately, so I just pouted and watched the team that did go.

Well, I didn't qualify either. So I was pouting a little bit too. Now, you got injured in 2010? Yes. Skiing. And you weren't supposed to ski. No. And I know you've talked about this a bunch.

It's okay. But I want to talk about comebacks and what it takes I guess mentally to like come back from an injury like that because I've had major injuries where I've had to sit out a year of football and things like that and I've had to retire as well and when I watched some videos of you on YouTube competing before you got injured you were like so in the zone when i watch maybe they just show the ones you're in the zone when i saw but you were so in the zone and it was like it was beautiful to watch it was amazing because you had this look in your eyes before i watched before you're about to go

out there you have this look in your eyes but then when you were performing it was like you just had the whole package because you had the look but you also had like the confidence you had the energy you had to smile you weren't just like rigid the whole time i want to learn about what it was like when you came back from the injury how did it feel i guess mentally confidence wise poise wise did you feel like you had that same mentality but just the physical stuff maybe you were a little off from the injury or how did you feel um I think I lost all of it really yeah um the mental side the physical side of confidence I think it was still there but up until I got injured I had never been injured. I had sprains, strains, pulls, but I'd never been taken out of my sport for a longer duration than two weeks. And I almost had that sense of invincibility.

I thought I could do anything. And you kind of feed off that. I think my confidence feeded off of that. And when I got injured, it kind of stripped all of that away. I found that I was hesitant. I found a fear kind of aspect that I'd never had before. You never felt fear before, really? You know, things made me nervous, but it was a thrill.

I mean, it wasn't like a genuine fear of, you know, you could be laying in a hospital bed like you did the, you know. So you were afraid of, like, pain. I was. Coming back from my triad of my knee, it was awful. I am physically active every single day, all day. And having to lay in a hospital bed or a PT bed and kind of be humbled by the fact that you have to start over. So humbling.

It's, you go from the top of the world down to the bottom. And I mean, there's things that can be a lot worse, of course. So I hate to complain about that. But I remember coming out of surgery and them saying, well, we're going to have to teach you how to walk again and the climb a stair. And I was like, I'm an Olympic athlete. You know, I'll be back in a couple of weeks, whatever. And, you know, I still struggle with it. It's been two and a a stair. And I was like, I'm an Olympic athlete. I'll be back in a couple of weeks, whatever. And I still struggle with it.

It's been two and a half years. Struggle with walking? No. With my knee. With my knee. You still feel pain? You still feel the same things you can't do? Yeah.

Again, it's frustrating because when I was competing, I felt like I was Iron Man. I mean, I even felt like I could do anything. And after I got injured, you just have that hesitation there. And I just kept picturing myself tearing it again or feeling that pop. And I would give anything to go back to my comeback and be able to take that hesitation away. But I literally couldn't find a way to do it. What do you think you would need to do to overcome that fear after when coming back from injury like if you could say yeah so you could go back now you're like i could do anything to go back how would you change it so you could

get back to the place when you're 16 that fearless young woman who i don't know i i feel like especially when i was 16 i had a sense of just, I was naive. I was innocent. I had no idea. You'd never been injured, so you didn't know what it felt like. I mean, I kind of didn't even think for myself. My coach thought for me. He would tell me to go do something I would.

Whereas when I got older, I understood the way things worked more. He would tell me to go do a triple twisting double back. I'm like, okay, I have to think about that one now. And that sounds impossible. It just registers different. Did you say a triple flip? Yeah, I've never done that. Oh, okay.

Slightly exaggerating for dramatic effect. But it's difficult. I don't know if there's anything I could change except for have been given more time to train, to hopefully train that out of me. Train it out of you. But I think it's just a mental thing that kind of gets, lack of a better word, broken. Is there a way to get it back, you think? I think there definitely is.

I would say time. Or when someone's injured, you're just tainted for life. Not at all. I feel like you can definitely overcome anything, especially injuries of all sorts. People have come back and been extremely successful. I made it back into international competition. I medaled.

2011, right? Yeah. I saw the Visa Championships, right? Yep, Visa and then Pan Ams. And you medaled? I medaled, yeah. Gold you meddled. I meddled. Yeah. Gold? Silvers.

As always. Always silver. You got gold at a couple? I got a few gold. Yeah. Yeah. But I think it just, in my case, I don't think my heart was in it anymore. You weren't like 100% passionate.

I was passionate over the idea idea but i was doing it for other people yeah i wanted for myself i wanted to get back just to know i could yeah and it's like as soon as i i did make it back to pan ams and championships i was successful and I didn't need it. No. And I proved myself that my knee could last, but I always said the reason why I retired was my knee had issues. It was torn again and I needed surgery and didn't have time. But I remembered back in 2008, how much the Olympics meant to me. much the Olympics meant to me. Like I lived it. I breathed it. It was my entire world. And had I continued without retiring, I had a chance of making the team, a decent chance in London. And I told myself that if I was given one of those places, knowing that it didn't mean that much to me anymore, I'd be taking it away from a 16-year-old whose world that was,

and that crushed me. I didn't think it was fair. But what if you were more talented than that 16-year-old? More experienced, more talented? Yeah, I think, well, first of all, they did pretty well. They won. But I have always been a firm believer in passion over talent. I think you can be the biggest or the most talented person in the world,

but if you don't love what you do, then it's not going to show and it's not going to work. And you don't really necessarily have to have the greatest talent, but if you work for it and you love it, then you'll have better results. Yeah, you said once in your book that life will be richer once you find your passion, but never lose sight of everything else. If one activity becomes everything to you, you may have nothing left if you lose it. Thank you.

You have all these great lessons in your book. Thank you. So you decided that even if you got it, you wouldn't do it? Or you decided it wouldn't be fair if you got it? Kind of like I said there. I knew it wasn't my passion anymore. It wasn't your main thing. I knew I had, I don't know, I felt like I could do more good going and being the team's cheerleader than I could going and competing.

And it was something that just clicked one day. I knew I was done. I knew I couldn't go any further. just clicked one day i knew i was done i knew i couldn't go any further i had images of me not being able to walk when i was 30 because i was you know killing my body so much and my knee and not putting my health first and then i saw the other girls i trained with who would literally do anything to be there and i just kind of as i was like in the mama role when I went back because I was so old. I don't know. I just yeah, I just couldn't see myself taking it from them.

Interesting. Now. I'm interested in to hear your answer to this. I have a feeling what I know what you're going to say. But if you could go back to the day you went skiing, would you not go skiing that day or would you ski still? I would still ski. That's what I thought. Everything happens for a reason.

That's what I thought you'd say. And, you know, my comeback, the injury, everything was, I think, for the better. I mean, it taught me a lot. Just it humbled me a lot learning that you can be broken, but you can also get back up from it. And, you know, making the comeback and deciding to retire, I learned that I was doing it for the wrong reason. I was doing it not for me, but I also learned to make a decision based on, you know, it went against everything the entire world was telling me to do. And I made it for me and it was the best thing.

So I learned lessons the hard way. My parents say I always learn lessons the hard way. Sure, sure. A lot of us do. It's a fun way to do it. It is. It's more fun. Now, did you feel a lot of pressure going into 2008 because you were like the world champion before then in 2007, right?

Yeah. Did you feel like the weight of the world on your shoulders or the country, or were you just kind of like, you're so passionate about the Olympics? I definitely felt pressure. I mean, if you ask anybody around me, I was a stress ball pretty much. Really? Because you were like the golden girl back then, right? A little bit. They had me pegged to come home with six gold medals.

Oh, my God. That's too much pressure. Yeah. I mean, front. 16-year-old, right? Yeah, front page of every newspaper. I was like, great. But in a way, I loved it back then.

I liked the motivation. I liked the challenge. I think I was more capable of handling it back then than I am now. I'm such a people pleaser now that I'm like, oh gosh, if I come back with one, they're not going to be happy. Right, right, right. That's funny. Now now did you have more pressure the first time around or after you came back you felt i personally feel like i had more pressure the second time yeah why um because the

last time people saw me compete was in 2008 being on top of the world You came back in 2010 or 2011? I came back and competed for the first time in 2010. Yeah. And bombed. Before the injury? This is after the injury. After the injury, yeah. And bombed. Bombed.

Fell on everything. I think I saw a couple of those. Yeah, probably. Yeah. But it's, again, humbling to know you have to start. You can't just walk back in where you were. You have to start over. Sure.

But people kind of put out there, I don't know, their own reason as to why I was coming back. And no one ever really asked what my reason was. They just assumed, right? And everything was because I didn't win gold in the all-around. I was coming back for redemption. Right, right. Which had nothing to do with it. So I didn't win gold in the all-around. I was coming back for redemption. Right, right. Which had nothing to do with it.

So I don't know. I feel like the pressure came back with the only thing people expected to see was what I was in 2008 or better. And I was a different person. You're a different person. Yeah, I think I remember you saying that in an interview. I think I remember you saying that in an interview. Now, one of the things is you said when you were training, when you were growing up, that you decided not to do the typical amount of hours, right?

Yep. Was it normally like 40 hours a week is most humans do? Yeah, 40 to 50. And you said, I'm going to have a balance in my life. Pretty much. And I'm going to do 20 or 25 or half, basically. Yep. Do you think if you would have done the 40, it would have changed anything? Do you think it would have been more pressure, more stress? I don't think I would have made it. You wouldn have changed anything you think it would have been more pressure more stress i don't think i would have made it you wouldn't

have made it because it's been too much right i think i would have broken you were more loose because you're only doing 20 hours a week yeah i had i still had freedom i still had a room to be a kid i went to dances i went to football games i got to go play with friends and do homework and go to school and have friends, you know, just have a normal life. And I saw a lot of girls who didn't get that, who didn't make it because of it. And I think they could have. Because they were training so hard. Because they over-train, you know, when you're, when you're 12 years old and living in a gym, doing 50 hours a week, you homeschool there. You do everything.

You don't have friends outside. You homeschool at the gym? You homeschool at the gym. Did you do that for a while? No, never. Oh, my gosh. My coach, fortunately, didn't believe in that. He wanted an outlet.

He wanted all of his girls to be able to get away from the sport. And he said that's what kept your mind fresh. Well, when you see a 12-year-old break because they're doing 50 hours, I mean, of course they're not going to go any further. That's crazy. What do you think is the difference between a champion and second place? That's a hard question because I have many different opinions on that. I don't know. Given my past of the all-around coming in second place,

I knew there was physically and mentally nothing more I could have done. You did the best you could have done. I did. So to say that I could have given more and the difference between champion and second is an effort of any sort you gave your best i mean i lived it i breathed it i trained my entire life for it i couldn't have done more i mean even if i went back and said i could have i don't think that's the proper way to approach it right so let's frame it this way let's frame it someone who always gets first and someone who always gets second or third,

but just can't break into the first. It's because they don't believe in themselves. That's what you think it is? I don't think. Yeah. Let's talk about the power of belief because I did a show where I talked about the power of belief. And some of the greatest athletes in the world, I feel like, have one of two things, in my opinion.

They have a belief in either their faith in God, a higher sense of being, and they're so strongly believing in that. Nothing can break their faith in that, that their faith is helping them achieve higher levels of athletic ability. Or the other side of the spectrum is you see athletes who are so confident and believe in themselves so much. They're so egotistical. They're like, I'm greatest gifts in the world. Right. But they believe it.

And they have so much certainty with that belief either way with God or themselves. You think that's true or no? I think if anybody has that strong of a belief, it gives them something to fall back on. It gives them reason. Sure. I've seen the belief in self that can be destructive because...

You mean believing in yourself can be destructive. Yeah, definitely. I mean, if you are that person that says, I believe so strongly that I'm going to win, and I believe so strongly I've given my all, I've almost seen it as a cop-out in some senses. Right. Because if they believe so strongly and they've convinced themselves of that, then they're not opening themselves up to what other people are doing and the actual competition that's out there. Right. I think when you have a belief in faith,

you're open to what else is out there. Sure. You have a strong belief in your faith, right? Yes. Yeah. So I don't know. It makes it not about you. It takes the pressure off you, right?

Yes. In a sense. Because it's not like, oh, it's all on me. No. I mean, I feel like the people who have that strong belief in themselves, they don't have any other greater reason. Yeah. If you have a belief in faith, then you have a greater reason to work for it.

Sure. Right. They've been a competitor your whole life. So what's your thoughts? What's competition taught you about the human spirit in general whether it be yourself or just witnessing it and other people and competitors or teammates i'm competitive in everything everything i do i don't think you could tip a cow as good as i could probably not but i'll try as hard. I don't know. I think in human spirit, it's just like having a competitive spirit,

basically, I think just gives you a daily goal to be better. I mean, if you don't have any drive to compete against yourself or even others, then you don't have a direction to go towards. Right. And I feel like you would get kind of just complacent. That's true. That's true. Why do you think you never got complacent?

Because I always wanted to be better. I always knew I was capable of doing better. I think, again, that's that belief side of it. I feel like if you believe you can do more, then you're going to push yourself to prove you can. But where did that drive come from? Like how did you – why were you so motivated every single day to train, to perform, to compete, to win?

Where does that come from? Does it come from parents? Does it come from watching sports on TV? Does it come from friends? I'd say a lot of people are either born with it or not maybe. Do you think you were just born with it that drive that competitive spirit i don't know because i see people who don't have it i'm like i don't understand how you could not right um i also yeah i hate to lose so do i more than i like i hate it more yeah yeah

i don't know because even when i started competing in gymnastics i never won i was i was the girl at the like end of the floor that was getting that really hot pink colored ribbon. No. Yes, I never won. You never won. No. So when was the moment you started winning and realizing,

I have an opportunity and potential to go to the Olympics? Well, I think that was the interesting part of my career, is I never focused on winning, especially when I started out and I was in like 30-something place out of 39 people. It was never about winning. I just was always either frustrated because I made a mistake and I wanted to do better, but I could have cared less. I liked the hot pink colors.

You like flipping around and wearing pink? Yeah. I think the only thing that really started to make me want to work more and kind of get on top of the podium was the feeling of pride you had when you were successful. It had nothing to do with a medal. That was kind of just, you know,

extra. It was just knowing you had done your best and you were being acknowledged for it. But that's something my coach taught us when growing up was medals and scores have nothing to do with it. It's the, the, the feeling of knowing you couldn't have given anymore.

I was thankful for that one. What do you think was the most important lesson you learned from your coach? I'd say that, um, that it's, he? I'd say that, um, that it's, he really drilled into me that it's, it's not about what others think. It's about knowing at the end of the day that you worked as hard as you

possibly could. And, you know, even if a score is worth the very last place, you couldn't be any happier. That's tough though. when there's so many people who are telling you what they think and being critical and being judgmental or giving you praises.

Yeah, but... Put that aside and be like, it doesn't matter what half the world thinks of me right now. Yeah, it's difficult, but yet it's liberating. I mean, I remember in the Olympics, going back to that, what he taught me, and really thinking about that. Because I came in second multiple times.

Like four or five times. Yeah. I was on a roll. Silver's still pretty good. Yeah, right? But I remember just the freeing feeling of knowing in myself that I couldn't have done anymore.

But the reward being every time I finished, I would stand up and see 50,000 people in the arena on their feet. I mean, there's no greater like satisfaction than knowing you've been like accepted pretty much. Yeah. And just because that one judge on the floor doesn't give you that score, you've kind of won over the world. Yeah. And just because that one judge on the floor doesn't give you that score, you've kind of won over the world. Yeah.

It's, I kind of found my, I don't know my reward and that instead of in the middle. And do you miss that feeling? I do. Performing in front of 50, 100,000 millions of people watching. I really do.

I miss, I miss the stage. I miss performing. I miss that daily goal of working up towards that yeah you know i don't know it's it's uh makes you feel awesome it's the best feeling what are you trying to do are you ever going to try to compete again in anything um i've i would love to i don't know what it would be possibly i don't know i don't think i can do that one but i would love to yeah have you thought about any other sports you thought about going olympics and something else

i would love to uh thought about other sports though i don't know what i'd be able to do i don't know what i'm not quite hand-eye coordinated can flip on a four inch beam what about the the trampoline gymnastics oh heck no no that thing is terrifying have you ever been a trampoline yes i'm an olympic gymnast and i hate the trampoline i can do like one flip but when you start doing like six or seven worry about breaking my legs or something yeah no thank you okay so that'siving. There you go. Then you have to think about, we land on our feet. They land on their heads. Oh, man. And I have to turn everything around.

That might be a little difficult. I'm sure you'll figure it out if you want to. So there's a cool poem you wrote. Oh, gosh. I saw it in your book. Yeah. And there's a poem you wrote in seventh grade. Yeah.

That's what it said in the book. It says, a caring girl who loves to play. Are you going to read this whole thing? I'm just going to read the last few sentences. Okay. And in the poem, you wrote in seventh grade. So you're 12, I think, when you wrote this. In the poem, you say, I understand that nothing is easy.

I say everything happens for a reason. I dream of one day the world is in peace. I try to see the good in everything. I'm a caring girl who loves to flip. So has anything changed since 7th grade? No, it's pretty spot on. It's pretty spot on. I don't tend to flip too much anymore.

No? Every once in a while. Every once in a while you just do like a flip backflips? Yeah, I just flip them straight. I tend to run on like anything that looks like a beam. Run on it? Yeah, like if I'm going for a run, like there's a curb, why not run on it?

Yeah, it's interesting. Okay. Now, I ask this question a lot and I'm curious if you are more afraid of failure or success. I'm terrified of failure. Really? Yes.

Now, why? I don't know. I personally don't think that's abnormal for any elite athlete or elite mindset because you know you're capable of success, but you've been taught that anything but perfection isn't okay. I know perfection is kind of like a drug. It's addicting. And knowing that you are only rewarded in your career, in any Olympic career, you're really only rewarded if you are perfect. If you win. If you lose lose that's not

acceptable so not remembered yeah right and add on top of that i'm a people pleaser i i love to make people happy and i want to make myself happy and proud the idea of not succeeding or living up to someone's expectations scares me hurts you hurts you, right? It does. It's inside. It's scary. As soon as it happens, I'm like, I want to do it again. I want to fix it. Right, right.

And I don't know. I think there's something about that as well, though, that's not quite right. I think people should be allowed to fail. Well, I think failure is necessary in order to succeed. Definitely. But being scared of it can be a good thing because it motivates you, but it's also normal. You don't want to control you though.

No, not at all. It can hold you back and like cripple you. No, I don't think it holds me back, but it definitely makes you second guess everything. Yeah. A little bit.

Yes. So what's the future for you now? So you're 21. You got sponsored by Nike and a couple other cool sponsors. What are you thinking is the next chapter for you, the next few years? I feel like I'm just now finishing my gymnastics career. I mean, getting out of all of that and dancing with the stars of course yeah and finally at a point where i have to choose a path that you know a lifestyle because

gymnastics is no longer involved and i don't know i work a lot with kids which is my favorite thing to do and of course health and fitness but it's pretty much as specific as it gets right now so you're open to new opportunities yeah i i try anything i i love when people approach me with things that i never would have thought of because it challenges me to step out of my comfort zone yeah yeah you like to tackle challenges i really do yeah i really do of course but tell me about dancing with the Stars. What was that like? Fun. You won in 2009.

You won it all. I did. Congratulations. Was it an amazing experience? It was. It was probably one of the best things I've ever done. Next to the Olympics, you're performing, you're competing. It was the first time I did something outside of gymnastics.

So it was the first time I proved to myself that I could be more than a gymnast, which was a big deal for me. It was a big step. Because I didn't think I could be anything but a gymnast. Right. And going back the second time was even better. Well, you went twice? Mm-hmm. Oh, it was like the all-stars?

Is that what it was? So it was a whole season? Yeah. And you didn't win that, did you? I Mm-hmm. Oh, it was like the All-Stars? Is that what it was? So it was a whole season? Yeah. And you didn't win that, did you? I came in second. Second. Of course. Who won that one?

Melissa Rycroft. Okay. Yeah. Which was a better experience, the first one or the second one? I'd say the second one. I absolutely loved the first one. Don't want to take anything away from that. Or my partner, because it's a different partner.

Sure. But the second time, I was… Because you won the first one. Yeah. It take anything away from that or my partner because it's different partner sure um but the second time i was the first one yeah it's gonna feel good yeah but i'd say the first one i let myself go more or the second one i i relaxed yeah i allowed myself to try new things or is the first one i was really reserved and it was also 16 so and I was in the company of like 30 you know everybody was I couldn't relate to anybody no or it was the second time I got along with people a lot better and I could actually have a voice and stand up and have an opinion right but it was just it was a better experience that's crazy okay so final question that's what I asked all my guests so what's your definition of greatness then definition of greatness

can be a lot of things everyone's got their own thoughts self greatness or just greatness in general what's it mean to achieve greatness to you I would say does it mean to achieve greatness to you? I would say.

Does it mean like winning at everything? Does it mean, you know? No, I'd say it means having pride in yourself and knowing you couldn't have done anything more. Yeah. I don't know. I think that's a huge kind of issue society has is as long as if you're not holding a gold medal or at the top of anything then you haven't achieved greatness but if you're happy with yourself and you're proud and you've worked for something i think that's greatness in itself yeah it's cool what's your message to young girls then

that you can do and be anything you want to be and there there is no limitation, and that it's okay to be different. Society makes a mold, and girls think they have to live by it. Did you feel like you were molded? Society was trying to mold you? I think people, I think, of course, society tried. They couldn't hold you back. No. I luckily was, uh,

surrounded by a family that wanted me to be different. They wanted me to be me and no one else. So awesome. Awesome. Well, where can we find you online? What's the best place? Twitter,

Twitter, Twitter. Yes. We're working on your website. We're going to get it updated soon, but at Sean Johnson on Twitter. Yes. You're on Instagram all the time too.

I've been following you there. Sean Johnson as well. Sean Johnson, Facebook fan page or what? Yes. Sean Johnson on Twitter. Yes. You're on Instagram all the time too. I've been following you there. Sean Johnson as well. Sean Johnson. Facebook fan page or what? Yes. Sean Johnson? Yes. Sean Johnson everywhere.

Yes. Thanks so much. Thank you. For sharing your thoughts and make sure to check her out. Go check out her book also and appreciate you, Sean. Thank you.

And there you have it. Big shout out and thank you to the lovely, talented Shawn Johnson. Make sure to follow her on Instagram, on Twitter, on Facebook. It's all at Shawn Johnson. Go check out her book. She's got some amazing things she's working on. She's got some amazing sponsorship deals, partnering with a lot of different companies. Make sure to follow her every single move

because she is a sweetheart. She's always putting out inspiring messages to the world. So I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did. And you're going to see some big things from Sean in the near future. With that, guys, thank you so much for coming on the show this week. We've got some huge episodes coming up in the next few weeks. I'm talking big, big, big. So make sure to check those out. And also, if you enjoyed this episode, go over to iTunes and just subscribe to the podcast.

That way you get notified each and every week of a new episode. So go ahead and subscribe to the podcast. Leave us a review on iTunes. We'd love to hear your feedback. And let me know where you're listening to this in the world. Go ahead and post a picture on Instagram and tag me, at Lewis Howes on there and hashtag School of Greatness so I can see where you're at in the world, where you're listening to it.

And I appreciate all the mentions out there with that guys. I hope you enjoyed this episode and make sure to do something great. Outro Music