The School of Greatness - 956 Kevin Hart on His Secrets to Success and Building an Empire

Episode Date: May 21, 2020

"You have to experience some down to know why you’re getting up."This week, Lewis sits down with Kevin Hart to talk about his path to superstardom, from his early days as a struggling comedian to his current goal of becoming a billionaire entrepreneur. They discuss the lessons Kevin learned from past mistakes, the perspective he gained from his nearly-fatal car crash, and the habits that allow him to be successful. Kevin also shares insights from his new motivational audiobook, The Decision: Overcoming Today's BS for Tomorrow's Success.For more Kevin Hart on the School of Greatness, visit lewishowes.com/956. And text Lewis at 614-350-3960.

I'm about winning. It's a bigger win when you show other people how to win. Opening up a door and allowing some people to come through the door and figuring it out so they can open up more doors, that's a win. This is episode number 956 with the one and only Kevin Hart. 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. One of the world's foremost entrepreneurs once said, it's not about putting up with discomfort. It's about refusing to put up with comfort. And they also said, a life of greatness is like an endless boxing match. Now, believe it or not, both of these pieces of advice came from the comedian and actor Kevin Hart in his new audio book, The Decision, Overcoming Today's BS for Tomorrow's Success, which is available exclusively on Audible. That's right. One of the biggest superstars in the entertainment world is trying to tap into the magic we make here on the School of Greatness.

And the audio book is hysterical i was laughing throughout the entire time and it's motivational and kevin is truly a life coach unlike any other as he takes you through his mental fitness boot camp and i was lucky enough to talk intimately with kevin this week about so many things that were just eye-opening and inspiring real and relatable we discussed about how he overcame self-doubt when no one was going to his shows as a comedian starting out. We talk about what winning in his life really means

and what it really looks like to win and how he's bounced back from some pretty significant mistakes to become a better person. We talk about the perspective he gained from his nearly fatal car crash last fall and new insights from quarantine. And finally, he revealed when he hopes

to become a billionaire and when he wants to retire. I loved doing this interview. I got so much from it. And I believe you're gonna love this just as much from listening. If you do enjoy, please share it on your social media, text a friend, and inspire someone else today. So without further ado, let's dive into this episode with the one, the only, Kevin Hart.

Kevin Hart, welcome to the School of Greatness. Thank you so much for being here, my man. I appreciate it. I loved that you came out with this audio book, The Decision, because it's exactly what people I feel like need more from you is this kind of bigger brother talk of here's all the mistakes that I've made in my life and here's what you shouldn't do and here's what you should do. So I'm glad you finally came out with this book, man. You know, I think there's so many different reasons that are behind the development of this particular project. I mean, I think the main one comes from me just really being in a place of disbelief of just how the times are changing and how much we've lost the level of normalcy.

We've lost the level of normalcy to the point where everybody's held to these standards that aren't realistic. You're held to the highest of the high without ever asking to be or without ever saying that you should be. It's kind of crazy. And I think because of that, so many people are now getting in their way. So many people are getting in their own way, you know, and it's because of the judgment. It's because of the fear of what you

think people think, the fear of the conversation that you have no idea about or, you know, or control over. It's a fear, but it's you in your own head. And what I found with me through all the ups and downs, and there's definitely a lot of ups and there's a lot of downs, you know, I've been able to realize that some things you just can't change. And the thing that you can't change, you can't control, you can only get past and attempt to do better moving forward. And that's kind of what I've held on to in life. And that's what's helped me get to where I am today. And this doesn't mean that I'm at some amazing place and standing on some amazing mountain and screaming down below. It just means that I have information that I think is valuable and that I think some people may want to hear. And, you know, if that's the case,

then it's just a way to develop some mental fitness that you may not have known that you have the ability to do. Yeah, that's powerful, man. I love that. I love that during the audio book process, you're making me laugh pretty much the whole time while you're teaching me a lesson of a mistake you made. And you're telling it in a funny way

so that we don't do the same thing ourselves. Something you mentioned about self-doubt, I think this is huge for people to understand. You seem like a guy who has zero self-doubt. And at that same point, you talk about being liked and likable, the difference between being liked and likable. As a comedian growing up, you had to do so many horrible shows where three people were in attendance, one person, whatever, ten people,

and it didn't go well. People aren't standing up laughing. They're not giving you standing ovations. They're booing, whatever it is. How do you get to the point where you show up day in, day out, every night to these places if you're not being liked or likable and no one's giving you reassurance that you're actually any good in the beginning?

You know, I think that for me, the best thing is this. It's like, look, I understand that everybody's not going to like you. That's a fact. Everybody's not going to like you. And there was one moment where I felt like everybody was supposed to. I felt like everybody is supposed to like me. Man, I'm a nice guy. I'm a lovable, nice guy.

Why wouldn't you like me? What I found, I was like, look, everybody's not supposed to like me, man. I'm a nice guy. I'm a lovable, nice guy. Why wouldn't you like me? What I found, I was like, look, everybody's not going to like you. And you can't change that. You can't control that. So it's my job to be happy with my attempt and what it is that I'm trying to do. That's my job. So, you know, as you're going to perform at said shithole or said small environment, I realized that each one of those opportunities was a way for me to work on me, my craft.

And I'm supposed to take something out of that moment that's good. Whether it's two laughs, whether it's 20, whether it's 100, I have to take something away from this experience and, and basically hold on to it and improve off of that. If, if I go do these things and everything about these things are always bad, well, that means that I'm, I'm doing something wrong. There can't always be bad. There has to be something good that's coming out of it. I'm just not, I'm not searching for it. So I found a way to search

for the good. I found a way to search for, you know, the positive side of my experiences. Whether they're good or bad, there's a way to search for the good shit.

And as I continue to do that, I developed a high level of shoulder shrug. Yeah. But that's not easy to do when you're, I mean, a foot shorter than all the comedians out there. People are just doubting you. You were talking about in your book how you can't even get an audition in the early days to the movie side of things. How do you increase confidence in yourself when there's just no, no, no, no? Well, because everybody's story is different. Everybody's story is different.

And what I find is that even the easiest road is still met with some degrees of difficulty. At somewhere, some point, you're going to go into some degree of difficulty. For example, I'm watching, you know, the Jordan documentary. Oh, man, Last Dance. It's amazing. Right?

I'm going to tell you what I realized from the Jordan documentary. Wow. It's so dope. So amazing. You want to know who I've been actually In awe of since watching this Steve Kerr Oh man the last two episodes with him He's unbelievable

Steve Kerr People don't even realize this Steve Kerr is sitting on Eight championships Eight championships Listen four with the Bulls One with the Spurs and he has three with the Warriors But in between all of that

What seems like an easy road, a great road You find out that Steve got punched in the face By my supporters You find out that there was these bumps Along the way that you would have never known From the outside You would have never known that Mike challenged Steve And the pressure that Steve felt

When he was on his franchise to do certain things. And I didn't have the athleticism. If I got passable, I had to hit the shot. You only had five shots a game, all that. Five shots a game. But if I missed any of those shots, the ball wasn't coming my way anymore. So I had to make sure. You would have never known. You would have never known. I say that to say and use it as an example for there are no easy roads. So when I was coming up and I'm not getting the auditions, I'm not getting the opportunities. I had to say to myself, it's going to come.

If I put the work in, it has no choice but to come. Now, as I'm saying that and doing that, I'm looking around. There's certain comedians that were doing the same stuff over and over again for years and years and years. Certain comedians that felt comfortable with just making whatever the money was. It wasn't about the money. It was about the craft. So I knew that if I got better at the craft that I would eventually get to the money. And that's what my focus was. Granted, I'm a part of a very small percentage and I, you know, you have to attach some luck to it. And in the hard work with the luck is an amazing collaboration. So I ended up paying off, but I knew what I had to do.

off, but I knew what I had to do. So there were no other options. I didn't have other baskets with eggs in it. This was it. There's no backup plan, no backup plan. So you weren't thinking of like, I'm going to go to the job here. This is the only thing I've got. No. Now, when you were getting, you know, booed at, and it wasn't going your way for years, was it your mom that you come back to and say well i still believe in you you're funny you you've got this did you have a group of friends that would actually encourage you or they kind of saying what are you doing this for you know go get a real job i don't think that there are no there were no other options right and there was nobody to really lean on because nobody saw the gold in comedy

you know when you're trying and you tell your friends or or your family members that you're doing stand-up comedy it's not like there's no money you're about to be a millionaire you're gonna make oh nobody says that they're going to make it all. Nobody says that. They're like, what? You tell them, good luck with that, buddy. Nobody sees the light at the end of that tunnel. So that's a vision that you have. Wow. And that you have to hone in on because nobody else has that.

How did you see that, that this is something you can make potentially a lot of money with or enough to live? I loved it. I loved it, I loved it. And there were people who did. So they obviously, there's obviously a,

a world of revenue that funnels through comedy. Why do all these comedy clubs all over exist? Why do these colleges book comedians every year? And the colleges have to spend a certain amount of money on entertainment. Why are comedians the ones that are best suitable for hosting jobs, personality driven jobs, etc.? Radio personalities. There's so many doors that get open. Talk shows.

Yeah. Yeah. From the world of comedy. So when you look at that and you realize that it's just about figuring out how to get there yeah that's the hardest part how do you get there how do you go down that road what are the what are the goals what are the accomplishments that are baby accomplishments but that become bigger the first one is getting to the comedy clubs but getting to the comedy clubs as major now i'm into the comedy clubs, that's major. Now I'm a working comedian, and I'm working.

Am I a regular host? Am I a comedy club's feature? All right, that's here. So now how do I work on being a headliner? Let me get some material so that way when I do get the opportunity, I'm ready. I'll wait, but how do people come see me? I got to figure that out. Oh, shit, but how do people come see me? I got to figure that out.

Shit, I'm going to start doing what? I got to get my likeliness up at the time. These are all little hills that you have to climb, but after climbing them, they pay off. Do you think it was harder for you to learn how to be a great comedian or learn about the business of building your personal brands, your audience, selling tickets, marketing, sales, packaging, positioning, which one was harder?

Becoming a good comedian is definitely the hardest. Comedy doesn't come easy. Yeah. You know, the most talented, you still got to learn how to be a comedian. You still have to learn how to be a comedian. You still have to learn how to tell a joke. You still got to know the beginning, middle, and end, a punchline, a segue, a set.

You still have to do all those things. So, you know, we're in one of the most critiqued professions in the world. You know, if you're not funny, boo you. Boo. It's the easiest shit in the world. Boo. It's the easiest shit to do in the world. It takes a lot of skill

and craftsmanship to be a good comedian. You know, so honing in on that craft and perfecting that craft for doing your best at scent too. That's a, that's a job within itself.

Making people laugh is easy. If you're funny, naturally funny, but being comedian is a different ball game. I've got kind of a personal question for you. I want to ask you about, I don't have kids. I've got a girlfriend just moved in a few months ago. I'm curious. And I asked this to a lot of successful men out there in the world. I'm curious, do you think that you'd be able to build the empire you have as a single man with essentially quote unquote more time to go out and do the things you want to do, master your craft, build your business, or do you believe that having a great family, a great wife

is the key to part of your success and growth as well? It's, I think that you, you definitely need that. Can you be single and have success? Of course. There's several people out there that do. Can you also not be focused? Absolutely. You know, the world of fun is never ending, if you want it to be. Every night can be a fantastic night but every morning can be

a rough groggy one you know and and that's what the single life that's the attraction it's just freedom and there's there's an amazing reward that comes within that. But for me, I don't want that. I wouldn't be good with that. And I don't think that the level of success that I have reached, I would have been able to reach with a crazy amount of freedom. Now, granted, human, there's nobody that's going to get thrown a curveball of success, fame, money, popularity, and not fall victim to any of the consequences. You eventually will. You will.

It's just it's no way around's no way around it especially if you're younger you will and after you fall victim to whatever consequences and there's so many different variations of them you know consequences can be uh spending money and and you know not realizing the things that came with making money and blowing that load. It could be drugs. It could be being mean and ignorant to people.

It could be infidelity. There's so many different things. Kids all over. There's so many different things. Kids all over. There's so many different things that can act as a consequence. I guess you could say the freedom and opportunities that come because of your freedom with success. Yeah. I personally, I needed the got to get home, got to be home, can't do. Did that stop me from being a dickhead in a couple of places?

No. You know, did I learn from my mistakes? Of course. Are they mistakes that I would take back if I could? No, I wouldn't because I wouldn't be able to understand the level that I do now. You know what I mean? Yeah. So so without those mistakes and hard punches in the stomach of reality of life, then you don't have any space to grow. You don't, you don't have lesson to learn. So I can't say that I would have been able to achieve because you, and you also need that.

You need the security of an environment that's a good environment and not an environment created off of what you have. You are right. And if you're engulfed in that world you know temptation left and right and and how much of it is for you as an individual and as a good person and how much of it is influenced by the world that you're in and what you have. Yeah. I love what you said here. And earlier you talked about the expectation that people have as human beings is so great right now. It's so high that the world is judging everyone who has any influence to be perfect on every level of every word they say, action they take. And yet what I'm hearing you say is you need to fail.

You need to make mistakes. You need to be an idiot sometimes so you have perspective. And it sounds like for the next decade, two, maybe more, you're going to make a lot more mistakes. I mean, you don't know what you're going to do. Like that's the amazing thing about life. Like that's literally the amazing thing about life. Like that's the, that's literally the amazing thing about life. You have no idea. It's your job to try to do your best to grow and to set up whatever you can for those

around you. And if you don't have people around you, then you're living for yourself but it's your job to do the best that you can in doing that yeah along the way you're gonna make mistakes here's the shit that that is so simplistic that people just don't get who do you think plans to go to jail who no one what what bank robber do you think ever put the plan together to rob a bank to get caught after not many you don't think they all think that they're going to be the ones to get away

you don't think that in their mind this is going to be a life changing moment you don't think that people that overdose on drugs think that there's no shot that it can happen to them You don't think that people that overdose on drugs think that there's no shock that it can happen to them. You don't think that there's actual mistakes that happen within bad decision making. There is. You don't think that the person that bungee jumped thought that this would come back up. You think that person knew it was Snap?

These are all just really just examples that I'm pulling out of my ass. But these are all examples. You know, my little girl, my daughter, she went to go pet a dog, and the dog started growling and barking real crazy. My daughter ain't went to go pet a dog since. She think that she thought in her mind

this dog is nice because all dogs are supposed to be nice it's not until you see that they're not that you know they're not so i say all that to say you have to experience some down to know why you're getting up you know like this this whole the whole thing of a canceled culture and the consequences being so severe for so many it's ridiculous do i think that there should be consequences for people's actions absolutely absolutely but are you telling me that you should never be able to recover from a mistake then why don't the people go to jail? Right. Aren't you supposed to go to jail?

To learn. To learn from your mistakes so you can get out and then do better. That's what this whole reform thing is. It's like you send me to jail to go do better and get better. And then I come out. And because I was in jail, nobody wants to allow me to get better. It's a backwards thing. So are we teaching lessons or not?

Are we, do we want people to improve or do we not? Right. What are we, what are we saying? Yeah. How do you personally handle the emotional side or the weight or the pressure of media or whatever just the online internet world or potential sponsors or brands or shows they're saying like oh you're in the middle of some adversity right now or some controversy how do you personally deal with the emotional weight to not let it affect you because it seems like you just continue to thrive no matter

what mistake you make here or there well it's it's, it's a, there is no pressure. And here's what I mean when I say there's no pressure. Okay. If you make a bed, lay in your bed, bottom line, you made it laying. Okay. So in laying in that bed, whatever comes with it is what you're willing to take because you made it right now yes i have to maneuver differently yes i have to make sure i carry myself in a certain way i'm a ceo i'm a brand i'm a business and there's a lot of layers that go underneath the machine that that runs the world of Kevin Hart now.

There's a lot of people that are involved in that world. So I don't have the attitude, but I do have an attitude of I've done my share of shit and in doing it,'ve addressed it and in addressing it i made my share of mistakes within addressing it learn from that too i've done all of that none of this stuff has affected the character that i have none of it has affected me to start to doubt me really i am never doubt yourself after all wow i know who i am i know what i am and in knowing what i am and who i am you can go look in the mirror and go oh that was a dumb move oh you're you're jackass. I'm not a bad person. So within my relationships and partnerships, I think that I've done a good job of letting, you know, them all know who I am

and they see who I am and we have a really good relationship. So in the future moving forward i have a job to do to protect those relationships because i care about them i value them right so so i can't just i can't just move willy-nilly because that means that i'm not i'm not staying true to my relationships. And that's what the older you get and the more you experience things, you learn. Not just about you. It's about others that can be affected by what you do. So now I see that. I understand that. The younger version of me didn't see that Or understand that

And there was a high level of Look I'm not going to deal with this Because this ain't got shit to do with With this And that's not the right attitude But if I didn't have the wrong attitude When I had it then And if I didn't understand

What I know now I wouldn't be prepared for this next wave Of shit that may be coming my way or may not. Right. If it does, I'm prepared for it now. I'm at least prepared. I'm at least, I'm in a different space of understanding.

I'm in a different space of knowledge. It's almost like going back to the last dance. You know, Jordan was talking about the, you know, when he had to go through all of it publicly, how much that took a toll on him at first, but then it gave him the experience for the future and for his friends when they went through scandals and stuff to be able to be a leader in that situation and have more knowledge. And it sounds like you're in that situation right now. I'm curious about your wife. I asked this, The Rock did a live about a month ago on his Instagram. And I asked a question on there and he answered it. And it was really powerful response. And I'm curious what yours is to this question. The question is, what is the

thing you admire the most about your wife that most people don't know about? Strongest person in the world. Strongest person in the world. And her understanding for reality versus false reality is so crystal clear. You know, it's not, it's a tough seat to sit in, you know,

being my wife. It's a tough seat to sit in. You know, we're, it's, it's crazy to say this, but there's this,

there's this movie that people love to watch and it's called The Rise and Fall. And the tickets to The Rise are sold out, but the tickets to see what a fall looks like, I mean, you're talking about a sellout or a type of a sellout. I mean, it's the most watched thing ever. So naturally, when you get to a certain space or a certain level,

you know, I don't know why, but there's a, there's a root against, and she experienced a lot of that, you know, a lot of, a lot of that turmoil that we went through, you know, it's girl don't be with no man that's going to disrespect you or don't do this or don't do that it's almost like a lot of people are against her for yeah insane it's insane and you know the the one thing we had a talk and the one the one thing that i told my wife, I said, whatever you do, I'm here. I'm going to be supportive of, you know, whatever you do, if you decided you want to go and leave the honey by all means, no matter what she's taken care of, no matter what you're the mother of my child, you know, my ex wife now,

not together, but she's taken care of mother and my kids i'm not i'm not a bad person so i said that's this isn't about money this is about you your emotions or whatever but understand the best company to a lonely woman is another lonely woman. And I said, look at all the advice that you're getting. And look at the lives of the people giving the advice. And you tell me how many of them

are in a relationship that can be considered a solid household, a marriage, or anything. And if you don't see that, separate yourself from that for a second and then make a decision. When she looked at it at the time,

all of the negative energy and negative information came from people that didn't have that. So people that don't have that don't understand why you don't want to let that go. Because you have something that you're actually building and working on. Right. building and working on. And she came to an amazing conclusion. I like the fact that we have a family, that we have a household. And I like the fact that we now got a

job to do to get better. And that's what you owe me. You owe me to get better. And held me accountable. It wasn't a walking apart, but it was her understanding, but we don't let the outside world affect our inside.

And I credit her for setting that, for setting that tone. And what's the biggest lesson you've learned from her personally in the last few years with the challenges, the ups and downs? If a pregnant woman went through what she went through,

delivered a healthy baby, an amazing mother to not just her child but my two kids when she acts as a stepmother stepped up on so many different levels while taking one of the biggest punches in life i don't know i don't know what's stronger you know what i mean like that's you're supposed to break. Yeah. So you really get to see who people are when adversity puts itself on display.

Yeah. Who, who, who are you and who are we? And, you know, I've had to do the same where I've had to really ask myself, who am I?

When shit really hit the fan, you know, when these moments hit, when these things hit, there's a reason why not many people get up after. A lot of people don't get up. The reason why a lot of people don't get up,

these things are hard things to overcome and deal with. They're very hard. So when you do make it out of those storms and when you are an individual that can go, wow, I can't believe we experienced that, and you look back and go, oh, my God, that was how many years ago? But look at us now.

Look at where we are now. That's a thing. That's something to hold on to. Yeah. And what I've noticed is you almost want to have friends who have gone through adversity because you start to learn about who your friends truly are at your lowest times, right? Some character. I mean, me and my kids had a talk the other day. They had an attitude. They're going through some stuff. They were going through something and they were like really down about it. They were just pissed.

They want to do something. And I'm like, I said, the thing that's crazy that you guys don't understand. I was like, life is so not perfect. Life is so not perfect. I said, and you guys don't understand that you've yet to be hitting the face with life. With challenges, real challenges.

You've only seen perfect. You haven't seen. Success, yeah. You haven't seen challenges. And I said, this is an example of a challenge. I said, and now in dealing with this, I'm going to use a phrase, and that phrase is cowboy up. To the auto book, yeah.

To my son and my daughter, and it's like, yo, cowboy the fuck up. To my son, you know, to my son and my daughter. And it's like, yo, cowboy to fuck up. And right now you're living in a time where if you say that you have some people that are challenged, don't talk to kids.

What does that mean? Hey, I'm gonna tell you what it means. Cowboying up means strap up your boots and get the work. You get it done. Whether you like it or not, you got to get it done. In this case, go through your turmoil. But unfortunately, dad can't be here to pick up the pieces. Go through it. These are the things that make you better. These are the things that give you character. You'll learn from it later. And I

really embraced that moment because I'm like, is a lesson they'll get to walk out of this I said it may not hit today it may not hit next week but eventually it's gonna hit I know my lessons have hit I can tell you my wife has learned shit that acted as lessons that have hit

but if you don't embrace those moments then you're missing out on the beauty of life you're missing out on the beauty of life. Yeah. You're missing out on the lessons that come with it. as to how I dealt with, where I got the strength to move on and how, why understanding me and myself is the most beneficial thing that I've ever done in my life. You know, and, and, and this is just information.

This isn't a way that you have to live. Yeah. This isn't a book that you got to follow yeah this isn't a book that you gotta follow or else you're gonna lose no it's just information so many people are afraid to give and share information i'm not i'm just sharing information yeah you got a lot of uh i'm loving these stories i really appreciate it you're very public about your lifestyle, the things you do, how you work out. You know, you're posting a lot of things all the time on social media. And you talk more in this book about the mindset of things. I'm curious if you can share the non-negotiables for you on a daily basis,

internally, on the inside of your mind, of your heart, of your soul. What are the things that you need to do? I know externally, you're working out consistently. You're doing certain things, you're doing the hard work physically, but internally, do you say something to yourself? Do you mentally take notes about, you know, I'm going to hug and kiss my wife and kids every morning? What are the non-negotiables on a day-to-day basis for you that make you better? Non-negotiables. Or maybe habits and routines that maybe you miss every now and then, but you want to hit as much as possible.

No day starts without me working on myself, which is a workout. My workouts just have a meaning, and that meaning is self-improvement it's not necessarily just about the look it's about my mind it's about knowing that i'm getting up and i am putting some effort and energy into me at the top of my day making sure that my wife and my kids know that i love them on a day-to-day basis. You don't know what life has planned. So there is no day that should go by without that communication. And I'll say now, really focusing and thinking on the future,

but also processing the now. How does that look? Yeah, it's like, well, the future looks bright because I wanted to be bright. And that's the thing. Those dreams become reality if you really do believe them and if you put the work into them. You can't just dream just a dream you can't just dream and expect to show up that's not that's too different you can't do that it's oh my god i dream

of one day having well what are you doing to make that dream come true it doesn't just it doesn't that's not how it works something has to be put into execution to make a dream happen. And understanding that, what are my affirmations? What are the things that I'm speaking on? What are the things that I want? What's the energy that I'm putting out there to myself, to my team, to my family? Like, what am I working on? 40 years old, what does it look like at 50?

You know, am I done at 50? Am I working to be done at 50? If so, what should I have by that time? Where should I be at at 45? Like, these are the things that I just, I take a lot of pride and energy and effort into vetting out and into thinking. So a lot of the things that you see me do, these aren't impromptu moments. This stuff is well thought out, calculated. It's, it's been on purpose for quite some time.

Yeah. What do you dream about for the next 10 years for your future? this for quite some time. Yeah. What do you dream about for the next 10 years for your future? I think the biggest one is just my business surpassing my celebrity. You know, what does that, what does that mean in terms of revenue in terms of, well, a lot of, a lot of people think it's just the money. Like I was saying, you know, I want to be a billionaire and it's not just about the money that comes with being a billionaire. It's about the story attached to my name. You know, it's about where I come from, what I did, and about the younger kids that can go, wow, it's possible. Right? It's achievable. It's possible. And it's something that

not many of my particular people get the opportunity to do or be a part of. It's a world that is very far few and in between.

So if I can get in that world and show the blueprint as to how along the way, create jobs and change lives, then that's an amazing moment. That's an amazing thing. Do you have a date that you would like to be a billionaire by? Is there a year, a date? Have you thought about that? Oh, shit. The world is perfect today at 3 o'clock.

But if you're dreaming of the future, what would it look like for you if you could be a billionaire? By when? I'm just curious. I mean, look, in 10 years, in a perfect world when I'm 50, I would like to battle with the decision of possibly retiring at 50. Wow. the decision of possibly retiring at 50, you know? And what does that mean? Retiring in your business, retiring, comedy, retiring movies. I think it means just sitting down. I think it means sitting down,

you know, being in quarantine and being with my family on a day to day being with the wife, the kids, and the dogs, and just being here, you know? It's a nice feeling. And at some point when you get on the other side of life, for me, I want to slow down to enjoy that other side, you know. The first half, come out the gates. Come out the gates and we're running. And at 50, if we are blessed enough to get there,

that's the start of the other side. So what does that other side look like? What do you want it to look like? What do you want to do? I think for me, I just want it to be a little slower. Did you start to have that perspective after the car accident and you know, you got the car accident, then you came back for a month or two, then quarantine. And in your book,

you really talk about actually the importance of solitude. Did you come to that importance in the last year or is that something you've always had? Because you're this outgoing, you know, personality, but I know that your, your alone time is so important to you as well. I think it was definitely enhanced and enhanced after that. It definitely, It definitely was much bigger.

It was this just showed you that you're not in control. When you're not in control or when you think you are, it's even a bigger mind. It's like, what was I, I'm tripping.

I'm tripping. Like at any point in time, this can be over. It all can be over. So make sure that you just take the time to let those know, or those closest to you around you know what they mean to you and how much you love them, et this is a it's something that you should make a priority and that you should just be conscious of and I think there was a period of time where I wasn't yeah where I lost that and that that for that I'm glad that you know I had a

nice little eye-opener yeah Yeah. You know what I mean? Of course. It came right on time. Now, you and The Rock's relationship is very public. You've done so many projects together. He's got a few years on you. Yeah. And I'm curious, what's the biggest lesson he's taught you

that is actually you've put into practice and you've seen great results in your personal life, career, business from his teaching to you, mentorship, and what's the lesson you taught him for his personal life or career that you saw help him tremendously over the last half a decade? Well, you know what he is, man? He really is a hard worker, and he's a guy that's adamant about,

about breaking new ground while doing, doing the unthinkable, you know, like he's, he goes after it. And I, and I only, I can only credit him.

I can only take my hat off to him because he's doing that the highest level possible. And he's still going, he's still pushing, still pushing. So. And he's still going. He's still pushing. He's still pushing. So, you know, look, I said time after time again, we're all writing a book, man. And at the end of the day, when you close that book, what do you want people to know about you? What is your story? And, you know, you can make it as dope as you want. Or you can make it as uninteresting

as you want some people best book on earth others don't yeah was there anything you taught him early on that you've seen him apply and actually he's learned it all from me he's learned it all from you. Yeah, I teach him everything. No, man, we're just guys that are so – we're so open with one another, and we really talk, and we give – it's not necessarily advice. We just give each other information, and we both utilize it, you know? And we are – there's a supportive competitive nature that exists there. You say supportive competitive, competitive. Yes. Yes. So in other words, it's like, Hey man, I'm doing this. Hey,

I was thinking about doing, I think I'm gonna do it too. Hey, I just did. You know what, man, that's a great idea. I'm going to do it too. It's not within the, I'm going to be better than you and do it. It's not that it's,'s you know and this is what our world suffers from people feel like they gotta be the best they gotta be number one but there's so much room out here

for so many it's just information is the only thing that's limiting the opportunities everybody wants to be keep it a secret everybody wants to keep it a secret. Everybody wants to keep the road a secret or how a secret. And it shouldn't be.

It shouldn't be. There is no gold star that's given at the end of the day for being the only one in it. So would you say you're more about collaboration over competition? I'm about winning. And winning is a bigger win when you show other people

how to win. That's a bigger win. Opening up a door and allowing some people to come through the door and figuring it out so they can open up more doors. That's a win. But that's my way of thinking. I want to see other people do it,

but I think that's the problem that we suffer from in today's time, that people just don't understand that there's a world that has space for a lot. And it's just about us being open with sharing how, and you know, you look at now, right? The pandemic hit.

How many hundreds of millions of dollars were raised for rural hunger? I mean, hundreds of millions, right? Why does it take a pandemic? for us to understand that starvation is real. Figuring out food is real. Some people's needs are real. People don't have. It takes the most drastic thing to get the attention of when it shouldn't.

This could be a cycle of what you raise money for. Whether it's once a month, whether it's once a month, whether it's twice a month, whatever. I mean, world hunger is a serious thing. The water in Flint,

Michigan has been dirty and filthy for how long? Long time. And they've had a problem with fixing it. We raised 400 million or whatever through the course of a pandemic to fix and solve. Yeah, exactly. Just showing you, you can dig into the simplicity

of just thinking and logic that we complicate so much. Yeah. A couple of final questions for you, Kevin. I appreciate your time, man. I know how powerful and important your mom was in your life. And you talk about her openly a lot in your series and, and everything. What would you say is the overall greatest lesson she taught you that you

really lean on today, even more so than when you were younger. To not do anything halfway. You're going to do something, give it your all. We don't do anything halfway. There's no value in that. Yeah. There is no value in doing something halfway. Either give it your all or don't do it.

Don't do it. Yeah. Plain and simple. This is a question I ask everyone at the end. It's called the three truths. So I'd like you to imagine that you're as old as you want to be, but one day you got to, you got to turn the lights off and you got to call it quits and you've

accomplished every dream. You can imagine everything has come true and you've lived as long as you want to live. You've created everything written tons of books more audio books will come out but for whatever reason you got to take all your content and information with you and no one has access to your words movies content anymore but you got to leave behind three things you know to be true about all the lessons you've learned in life to the world and this is all we would have. What would you say are your three truths that you would share to us?

Three truths. Three truths. Three things that this is all the world would have to remember of you as lessons to live with from your life. As lessons to live with in life. Three things. Live, love, and laugh. I say it all the time. it i mean it yeah live love laugh

do those things as much as you possibly can i think you're you're you're setting yourself up for a nice for a nice future in life. Yeah. I've got, this is my final question before I ask it. I want to acknowledge you for a minute, Kevin, for your incredible generosity, the humor you bring to the world, the more so the work ethic. I think in your Twitter bio, you don't even say what you do as this, you know, big entertainer. You just say, I work hard. I work hard. And I think that's something that you don't have to be the best in the world at some skill,

but you can be really good or great. It's just putting in that hard work for decades. And your example, you're not perfect. You make mistakes. But your example to keep showing up consistently is something I really admire and acknowledge about you. And if people know that and see that, then I hope that inspires them as well. And in this audio book by Audible, The Decision, Overcoming Today's BS for Tomorrow's Success,

you dive in and talk about all these things that are just so inspiring. Everyone needs to get this. I'm telling you, I could not stop listening to how funny it is how relatable it is how insightful it is and i want everyone to go download this right now it's out now when this comes out what do you what do you want people to know about the decision and why they need to get this it is a great listen it's so fun here to to I'm not here to over-persuade or over-sell. Guys, I'm telling you right now, it's really good.

Like I said, I don't do anything to do it halfway. So if I can't do it at 1,000%, I don't do it at all. The book is really good. It's powerful, man. It's hard for me to get through an audio book, and I couldn't stop turning it, listening to it. And I was going to say, turn the page, but click the button for the next chapter.

It's only on Audible guys. You got to get it. Everyone who listens to this show, it's going to be perfect for you. So make sure to go to Audible, download it, or you can go to Kevin Hart's and make sure to tag Kevin Hart over on Instagram. When you buy it posted on Twitter, tag Kevin, let you know that you buy it. Post it on Twitter. Tag Kevin. Let you know that you listened to it from the School of Greatness. Is there anything else you want to share before I ask the last question? I'm 5'4".

I'm 6'4". So you get something in common. There you go. You got a little gap there. Final question for you, Kevin. I hope we get to do this again in the future in person someday. But my final question is, what's your definition of greatness? My definition of greatness?

Happiness within what you do. That's what I would say. That's a nice definition of greatness. If there's happiness within what you do, then you achieve the high level of greatness because that's what a lot of people are searching to find. That thing that makes them happy.

So if you found that and you're doing that, take my hat off to you. Take my hat off to you and I say congrats. And to those that haven't, I'm just telling you that one day you will. Use the thing that you're doing now that you may not be the happiest with to get you to the place that you will find that joy. Kevin Hart. My man, thank you so much for your time.

I appreciate your wisdom and your experience and hope to do some future for the next book. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you, man. Appreciate it, man. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks, Kevin. Bye.

My friend, I hope you enjoyed this so very much. And if this is your first time here, please subscribe to the School of Greatness over on Apple or Spotify or wherever you're listening to your podcast. And check us out over on YouTube and TikTok. Yes, we are creating some innovative, unique content over on TikTok. Make sure to follow me at at Lewis, over there. And if you enjoyed this, please share it with a friend. Text someone, post it on your social media, and make sure to tag Kevin Hart as well so he knows that you're listening and what you enjoyed from this interview.

And I love these two great quotes that Kevin uses in his audiobook, The Decision. Perfect scores exist, but perfect people don't. So stop trying to be so perfect and just try to be better every single day. Also, the goal is not to be liked, but to be likable. Even at the top of the entertainment industry, he's working hard and growing and pushing every day to be more likable and not necessarily to be liked all the time. So whenever you're thinking about your life, your dreams, your passion, your goals, the goal should necessarily to be liked all the time. So whenever you're thinking about your life, your dreams, your passion, your goals,

the goal should be to be likable. But not everyone is going to like what you do. People are going to be afraid. People are going to be scared. People are going to doubt you. That's okay. You've got to be focused on your vision, your dreams, and your goals,

and keep working hard every single day and learn from what Kevin has done and his mistakes and his successes. Again, a big thank you for Kevin Hart for coming on and for sharing his heart, for opening up, for sharing his insights, his wisdom, his stories to help you unlock your greatness. And again, I love you so very much. I'm so grateful you decided to take some time today.

And as always, you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.