The School of Greatness - 367 8 Lessons the Olympics Taught Me About Greatness

Episode Date: August 15, 2016

"You can't score if there's no goal." - Lewis Howes If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes and more at http://lewishowes.com/367

Episode number 367 and you're entering a solo round. 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. What is up, everyone?

This is the Olympic edition. In fact, eight lessons the Olympics taught me about greatness. I just got back from Rio in Brazil. I was there for the first week of the Olympics. And what an incredible journey. I went to the London Olympics in 2012, and for the first time, I was at the Olympics then, and I remember saying to myself, there's no way I'm going to miss the next one. It was just such an incredible, magical experience for me on my pursuit of being an Olympian myself. It's a dream of mine I've had since a kid.

For those that have listened to the podcast for a long time, you know that I represent the United States national handball team, which is team handball. It's actually the only sport that the U.S. is not represented at the Olympics this year is the sport that I play. So it's kind of like a bittersweet experience. The only thing that I play is the one thing that we're not represented at the Olympics because you've got to win the Pan American Games in order to qualify for the Olympics in Team Handball. I believe they only take 18 countries in total, and that's just how it's set up right now. So unfortunately, we don't train enough together. We all started playing when we were like 25 years old where these other countries, they play together every day. They've got funding. They've been playing since they were seven. And it's just, it's challenging for us to compete at that level. But still a journey that I'm on. And I wanted to go down there because I played against both Brazil

and Argentina, and they were both playing actually because Brazil had the automatic qualifier and then Argentina was in it as well. So I had played against those teams a couple of months ago in the Pan Am championships. And I wanted to go support them, watch them and see what the dream looks like for these guys. You know what it feels like to be at the Olympics, to experience it.

I also met a couple of other Olympians that are fans of the podcast that listen to the podcast. Shout out to Rachel Adams on the USA Women's Indoor Volleyball team. I got to watch one of her games, and she did an incredible job. So congrats to Rachel Adams over there as well on the USA Women's Volleyball team. And also Stephen Lambin, who we connected with a little bit, also want to meet with him a little more. But he's a listener of the School of Greatness podcast, and he is the USA Olympic team for Taekwondo.

So good luck to him. It's coming up soon for his competition. And I'm not sure who else is listening who is an Olympian with the United States Olympic team. But if you guys are listening, feel free to tweet me, send me an email and let me know if you're a listener of the podcast. Would love to connect with you and maybe potentially have you on in the future. Got to chat with a few other people, but those were some of the USA people that I connected

with who I had a great time with. And as I was flying back on the 18-hour journey to get back to Los Angeles in the connection to Atlanta, I was just thinking about, you know, the journey that I've had of in my sports experience and how I've, the lessons I've learned from sports and how I've translated into business and life and what I continue to learn, you know, the older I get in sports because there's still so many lessons that I gain from playing at 33 as opposed to when I was 23. You know, there's so many things that I'm learning now that I'm different.

I don't play the same way, you know, with more injuries that have occurred in the last few years. I don't. I'm more strategic. I'm smarter. I'm wiser than just constantly throwing my body anywhere because I can bounce back like when I was 21, 22. And while I was there, I just had a great time. I just wanted to see as much as I could. I saw handball. I saw women's gymnastics, men's gymnastics. I saw beach volleyball, indoor volleyball. I saw USA basketball team. So I was running around all

over the place. I saw Michael Phelps swim. I saw a lot of different things happen. And I was observing the entire experience. I like to observe experiences and see where I feel more powerful in a situation than other situations. And I want to experience the emotions that the athletes were having and what they were going through. And so I was very observant of all of this. And I realized that there were some great lessons that the Olympics taught me about life and about greatness. And I wanted to share with you guys what these lessons are. And there's many more lessons that

I got out of it and some other things that I observed that I'm probably not going to share here. But I thought there were some eight core lessons about the Olympics and what they taught me. And the first one, first one is vision is the beginning of the journey for how they got to the Olympics. So each athlete had some type of vision with their sports, and they held on to it during the years of pain and practice and sacrifice in order to have the chance to qualify. You know, I've got a vision to go to the Olympics and team handball, and we didn't even have the chance, right? So I've got the vision to get me there, but we didn't even have the opportunity really to make it happen. We weren't good enough. So all these athletes and teams started with vision. They didn't just say,

oh, maybe I think I'll do this and I'll try it out. No, they were so clear on their vision of what they wanted to create it. They have a goal in mind. You can't score if there's no goal. So you have to have a vision, a goal. And the way this pertains to any part of life or business, there's so many people that talk to me who are entrepreneurs that want to make more money or want to build a business or want to start something. But when I tell them what their vision is, they don't know. And it's hard to score if you don't know where the goal is. So you got to get clear on what your vision is. And all these athletes had a clear vision to make the Olympics or be a medalist or win

the gold. They all have a vision. And that's how it got them to the Olympics in the first place. So have a very clear vision of what you want in your sports, in your business, your relationships. So have a very clear vision of what you want in your sports, in your business, your relationships. Otherwise, there's no way you can score the goal when you don't have a goal. That's the first lesson that the Olympics taught me about greatness. The second thing is talent.

Man, they all have incredible talent in order to get there. They are the best of the best, right? These aren't average talented people that make it. These are the top in the world that make it. They all have this incredible gift that they've trained, that they've developed. Some are more naturally talented than others. Some developed the talent over the years. Maybe they weren't the fastest or the quickest, but they became, you know, the most technical and it got them there and they worked hard to develop the talent.

When we do the things that you love and have great talent in also, that will take you the farthest in life and will inspire people around you. So when we do the things that we love and also have talent in, that's going to take us the farthest. If we just do the things that we love, but we don't have have talent in, that's going to take us the farthest. If we just do the things that we love, but we don't have any talent in, I think it's going to be hard to really inspire people around us. If we just love something, we just enjoy it and love it, but we aren't good at it. So we've got to find something that we both love and have great talent in. And man, that is a magic formula for creating greatness, for creating incredible results,

and for inspiring people around us. So find something that you have talent in or develop talent at something at a high level. Master a skill. Master something in your business. Become a master of something because that's going to inspire others as well when they see that talent, when they see that gift, that art that you've developed over time. So that's number two is talent.

Develop your talent. Number three, obsessed passion. Wow. Like I said, talent isn't enough. Okay. Talent isn't enough. I remember there was a basketball player when I was in eighth grade. I would go watch the high school basketball games in St. Louis, Missouri at the school I was going to, Principia. And there was this guy who was the most talented athlete I'd ever seen in my life. He was a freak of nature, built like a Greek god. He could jump out of the gym. He could

shoot from anywhere on the court. He was so quick, could dribble like a machine. He was so talented. His gifts were unbelievable. And he worked hard to get great at some of these things, but he didn't have the passion. He didn't have the willingness to do whatever it takes to get to the next level. Talent isn't enough to get you to the Olympics. You've got to be obsessed passionately about it. And I'm in tears watching these athletes when I was there in person, but also on TV right now, I'm in tears watching the passion, you know, when they win gold and their emotions erupt, that's their passion of years and years of hard work and sacrifice going into achieving their vision. And when they release it with this battle cry or these tears or whatever they do, for me,

they release it with this battle cry or these tears or whatever they do. For me, that's inspiring. Talent isn't enough. You've got to be obsessed with passion. And the world makes room for passionate people and it inspires others when we are passionate. We are attracting other people with our passion. When we are not passionate about what we're doing in life, we are not going to be inspiring others to be as passionate with us or to do things in their life with passion. So have obsession with your passion. Number four,

coaches and team. This is something I talk about a lot as well. Finding a mentor is what the advice I give young entrepreneurs who are like, what's the first thing I should do? The first thing you should do is find someone who's already achieved what you want to achieve and learn from the best. That's going to accelerate your learning curve and your growth process. You know, all these athletes at the Olympics, they don't go alone. They're not like, okay, I got here on my own. So let me just figure this out. No, they have a team of people supporting them, whether it be trainers or teammates or sports psychologists or someone supporting them, massage therapists. They've got a team, but they also have coaches who are supporting them while

they're at the top, at the biggest moments. They support them when they're starting out, in the middle phase, when they're getting to the Olympics, and when they're at the biggest moments. They support them when they're starting out in the middle phase, when they're getting to the Olympics and when they're at the Olympics. They don't just say, okay, I've arrived. I don't need a coach anymore or a team. That's when they need the team and the coach the most is to have people in your corner. You know, when a boxer finishes each round, if he just went over there and sat down by himself and didn't have someone fixing his face that's all bloodied up or cut up and have someone keeping him positive and saying, you got this round. It's time to be focused. Here's what you need to do. Here's where you are falling short. Make sure you cover yourself. Make sure you block. Make sure you jab. You know, if you don't have that coach in there, it's really hard when adversity strikes to get

don't have that coach in there, it's really hard when adversity strikes to get inspired, to have the passion yourself, to do it all on your own. It's exhausting. It's wearing. Don't try to live life on your own. Build a powerful, inspiring team around you. Find the best of the best and have them in your corner. Have them by your side. Michael Phelps has a coach there. He's had the same coach for many, many years. And I guarantee he would say, I couldn't do this on my own. I couldn't do this without Ryan Lochte pushing me in every event, without all the other competition, without my teammates, without a game plan and someone keeping me accountable every single day to keep me on track of my vision. So you've got to have the coaches and the team in your life, in all areas of your life. I'm talking about not just you're trying to make the Olympics, but trying to make the Olympics of your life, healthy life, spiritual life, relationships, financial success, fulfillment, all of that. Have a team or coach or someone supporting you who's been there,

done that. Number five, this is a big one, guys. Embrace pain. Embrace the pain and the adversity. And these athletes go through so much pain every single day of training. They'd go through physical pain, emotional and mental pain. You think getting up every single day and training in the pool for hours or training on the track or in the gym, punching the bag for freaking hours every single day and waking up at 5 a.m. and eating the right foods constantly and not going to – like Simone Biles was saying that I've had to give up on so many things. I don't go to football games in high school.

I don't go to prom because I'm training or I'm out of competition. You've got to experience and embrace the pain and adversity that comes your way. And it's going to continue to happen. The bigger the dream, the more pain you need to be able to embrace. The more adversity is going to come your way. You don't need to look for it. It's just going to happen when you have a big dream. It's going to occur.

And you've got to be willing to say, I welcome it. I embrace it. I love it. I can't wait to experience it. You've got to fall in love with the process. So many people want the prize right away that they don't fall in love with the process. And man, when you look at the journey and you appreciate every single day in the journey and you reward yourself every single day and you make it fun, then the destination is even more beautiful, but we may never reach the destination. So if you just go through pain all these days and you don't embrace it and make it fun,

then what's the point? What's the point of just feeling like a piece of crap all the time or experiencing this pain for the hopes of one moment of victory? Gosh, that's not a life that I want to live. And that's kind of how I grew up living. Like I would achieve all these dreams of mine, but just to be unfulfilled, to be miserable still. And it wasn't enough. So embrace the pain and have fun in the pain. Number six. This is a big one. and this makes sense because of the Olympics, is to play for

something bigger than yourself. Play this life for something bigger than just yourself. And all of these athletes are there competing for something bigger than themselves. Yes, they want to win a gold medal. And yes, they want to be there and do well for themselves. But they're playing for their country in the Olympics. That's what the Olympics is all about, representing your country. And people break world records all the time at the Olympics and do incredible things because they are competing for something bigger.

There's some magic in the air when they fully embrace that, wow, this is for hundreds of millions of people or 10 million people or however big your country is. This is not just for me. This is for the hope, the inspiration, the pride of all of the people from where I come from. This is for something bigger than myself. And when we build a business or live life or go through our experience for something bigger than ourselves and we're on a mission in life that is more than just for us, that's where great magic comes from. So be on a mission in your life for something bigger than yourself.

You're going to get way more out of your personal vision when you play for something bigger than yourself. Number seven, understand that all we can do is our very best. This is it. You know, this is one of the agreements of life is to give your best at all times. You know, we might have these big moments on stage and big performances or big competitions. And at the end of the day, you've arrived in this moment and all you're capable of doing is your very best. Maybe it's better than what you've done before.

Maybe it's going to be worse than what you've done before. But all you can do in that moment is what you're capable of. And you're capable of far more than you think. So you're always able to reach beyond your boundaries in whatever you do. We're always capable of doing more than we think. But all we can do is our very best. And it might not always get us to where we want to be. It may not be good enough that day to achieve the certain vision. And especially in the Olympics, there's only one gold medal. So you may be one of the best in the world all the time. You may be the best in the world, but in that 52nd race, if you lose by, you know, one one hundredth of a second,

you're not going to get the gold. You're not going to get your vision. That doesn't take anything back from who you are as a person. That doesn't mean you're not great. That doesn't mean that you're not still amazing and world-class and one of the best. But for whatever reason, whatever your best was that day, it wasn't as good as someone else. But we get to understand. It doesn't mean we don't have to be disappointed and frustrated and wish we could have achieved our vision or done a little bit better. We can still have those feelings, but at the end of the day, we need to understand that all we can do is our very best. And if you give your best, then you've got to be pleased with the

effort in this moment. Yes, the next day you can go out and train harder and prepare to get better. But in the moment, you've given your best and that's all you can do. Understand that. And number eight, acknowledge and appreciate your accomplishments. Now, this goes along with number seven is understanding that all we can do is our best. But we get to acknowledge and appreciate what we've created. You know, so many people put themselves down and say, it wasn't good enough. I wasn't good enough. I could have done better. I failed. You know, there's only one winner in the Olympics in these different events. There's one

at the Olympics. That's how sports are played. And there are multiple winners in life, in business. You know, we create our own winning and losing and our own games and our own metric systems in business and life. And we get to acknowledge all the hard work we've put along on the journey. Again, it is the journey that is the juice in life. That's where it comes from is every moment, every step, every breath, every heartbeat is an incredible opportunity because we may not have another heartbeat tomorrow. It may not be there. Something might happen where this is our last day. So we get to acknowledge, man, all right, I'm at the Olympics. I didn't win the gold. I lost by one one-hundredth of a second. I got the silver.

But man, the last four years have been incredible. I've traveled all over the world. I've competed in all these events. I've built incredible relationships. I've grown as a human being. I've gotten better as a person, as an athlete. I've gotten healthier. I've learned so much.

I got to be on TV and do this and that. And what an incredible experience. And I'm so appreciative of every accomplishment along the way to get here. And it's not always about the end result. It's about every step along the way in the process of trying to make the end result happen. So number eight is to acknowledge and appreciate your accomplishments. These are the eight lessons the Olympics taught me about greatness. And again, just this is my favorite time. Every four years, this is my favorite couple of weeks because there's so many inspiring stories. And NBC does

a great job of telling these stories and showing the heartaches and the adversity and everything that's happened with these families of people behind the athletes and what they've done to get there. And for me, that is what makes it great is the stories, the adversity, the years of the years of the process that's taken them to get to the one moment. The process is what inspires people, not that they achieved something. Yes, that is great. But when you hear the stories about, man, it took them two decades to get here, that is inspiring. That fuels passion in me every Olympics because I see these stories and that's what it's all about. We have an opportunity every single day to,

to be an inspiration to other people around us, you know, create the Olympics for your own life every single day by being in the process and growing as a human being and being able to share your story with others through what you've overcome and what you've created for your vision. And again, some of these athletes that they feature on NBC, on the Olympics, they don't win the gold. Some do, but some don't, but we're still inspired by them, by their lessons.

And some athletes that fall down in a race and get back up and they get the bronze. We're still inspired by their story. This is what it's all about. Human connection, human relationships, and us being able to relate to other human beings and what they've gone through. The Olympics are such a powerful thing for me. And I know they're powerful for so many people in the world, but we get to show up powerfully every single day. We get to do our best every single day. We get to have a clear vision. We get to develop a talent and then become obsessed with passion because that's what inspires others.

We get to build a team and find great coaches. We get to embrace pain because pain is going to support us in getting to that next level. because pain is going to support us in getting to that next level. We get to play for something bigger than just our desires and our needs and our wants, but play for something or someone bigger than us. We get to understand that all we can do is our very best in this moment, and it may not always get us to where we want to be, but we get to acknowledge and appreciate every accomplishment and all the gratitude and all the blessings that have come our way during the process.

This is the eight lessons the Olympics taught me about greatness. Make sure to check out the full show notes and maybe some photos I'll post back on the show notes at lewishouse.com slash 367. Share this out with your friends over on Twitter and Facebook and let me know what you thought. I did a full kind of behind the scenes on my Instagram account at the Olympics was showing everything in the front row where I was and kind of posting behind the scenes and had a lot of fun. And so many of you said you appreciated that. So if you're not following me on Instagram or watching my Instagram stories, make sure to check me out there at Lewis house. I love you guys so very much. And I am just so grateful that you continue to show up and listen to these episodes and these podcasts,

because there are a lot of choices for you out there. There are over half a million podcasts that you could be listening to, but you listen to this one and it means the world to me. So thank you very much. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Outro Music