The School of Greatness - Adam Carolla's Guide to Overcoming Adversity and Finding Your Voice

Episode Date: August 21, 2023

The Summit of Greatness is back! Buy your tickets today – summitofgreatness.com – Adam Carolla is a well-known comedian, podcast host, actor, and author. He gained fame as the co-host of the radio and television show "Loveline" and later became a prominent figure in the podcasting world with "The Adam Carolla Show," one of the most downloaded podcasts. Carolla's humor often touches on controversial subjects, and he is known for his candid and unfiltered approach.This conversation delves into the significance of embracing criticism and offers advice to aspiring comedians and podcasters: prioritize authentic expression over fearing consequences. This episode also highlights how cancel culture can lead to self-censorship and encourages reflection on instances where external pressures influenced content choices. In this episode you will learn,Balancing Controversy and Humor: Striking a balance between discussing sensitive subjects and maintaining a comedic tone is key to navigating potential backlash.Handling Criticism: Embracing criticism is important. Advice for aspiring comedians/podcasters: Don't fear consequences, focus on authentic expression.Avoiding Self-Censorship: Cancel culture can lead to self-censorship. Reflect on instances where external pressures influenced content choices.Maintaining Authenticity: Staying true to oneself and comedic style requires resisting external influences and staying genuine.Audience Engagement: Authenticity and addressing controversial topics can foster a loyal fan base by resonating with listeners seeking genuine discussions and perspectives.For more information go to www.lewishowes.com/1487For more Greatness text PODCAST to [phone]More SOG episodes with two of our favorite comedians:Bert Kreischer: https://link.chtbl.com/1234-podAndrew Schulz: https://link.chtbl.com/1234-pod

Calling all conscious achievers who are seeking more community and connection, I've got an invitation for you. Join me at this year's Summit of Greatness this September 7th through 9th in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio to unleash your true greatness. This is the one time a year that I gather the greatness community together in person for a powerful transformative weekend. People come from all over the world and you can expect to hear from inspiring speakers like Inky Johnson, Jaspreet Singh, Vanessa Van Edwards, Jen Sincero, and many more. You'll also be able to

dance your heart out to live music, get your body moving with group workouts, and connect with others at our evening socials. So if you're ready to learn, heal, and grow alongside other incredible individuals in the greatness community, then you can learn more at lewishouse.com slash summit 2023. Make sure to grab your ticket, invite your friends, and I'll see you there. I didn't become a comedian to vet all my jokes with folks that may be pearl clutchers or easily offended or disagree with the jokes that I'm making. It's kind of the opposite of being a comedian. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur.

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. Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. We have the inspiring Adam Carolla in the house. Good to see you, sir. Good to see you.

Thank you for being here. We were just talking about how you've been in L.A. for a long time, and you've been leading the comedy. You've been tapped into TV and film. You've been one of the first in podcasting. You've been in this space for a while. You've seen a lot. You've said a lot, you've done a lot. And you know, I feel like everyone in this kind of community, or you've tapped in or interviewed them or connected in some way to a lot

of people. So congrats on everything that you've created for yourself and the impact you've made. Oh, thanks. Of course. Yeah. I wanted to ask you a question because I watched a video that you did, Oh, thanks. we say. You know, as comedians, I feel like comedians have had to learn how to mute themselves or really think differently about what they're going to say. I think in all types of media forms, podcasting and things like that, social media, we've had to learn how to do things differently. I wanted to hear your thoughts on that, kind of just broad thoughts on where we are now after the last really five, six, seven years of more of cancel culture or just critics really speaking out against people's comedy, podcasting, words, media. I'm curious where you're at today on that.

I've always been pretty consistent in that. I wanted to say what I wanted to say. I was a carpenter for a lot of years, and I've always kind of said, look, if I have to stop saying what I'm thinking or what I think is funny or what I think is relevant or important or just saying what I want to say, then I should get back into carpentry, which doesn't pay nearly as well. So I probably wouldn't, but I'm just saying I didn't become a comedian to vet all my jokes with folks that may be pearl clutchers or easily offended or disagree with the jokes that I'm making. It's kind of the opposite of being a comedian. And I believe the second you start second guessing yourself, especially on stage or into a microphone or even doing what we're doing now, when you start second guessing yourself, it's sort of like you'll get the yips, which is a sports term for a second baseman who's bouncing the ball to the first baseman it's not a physical problem it's the yips it's it's a mental problem that once the second baseman who's been fielding balls since he was six right if he's playing in the major leagues i mean maybe five

i'm sure his dad was out in the yard with him when he was four just fielding balls and all of a sudden eight years into being a professional baseball player bounces one to the first baseman and it's a 14 foot throw now he's got the yips and he's and if he gets that ball and he does that and he thinks about it this one's going in the dirt too and i just never you know i never wanted that so i would never have that no i and so i've always had this sort of philosophy, which is I am not an asshole, so I can act like an asshole. Really? What does that mean?

Can you give me some context? Don King. Don King was convicted for stomping a man to death. Wow. But he's got the little flag and only the America and the haircut. Uh-huh. So he has to push that forward. Wow. But he's got the little flag and only in America and the hair puff. Uh-huh. So he has to push that forward. Wow.

I'm not that overtly nice or enthusiastic and I rarely dance, but I've never done any harm to anybody. I'm sort of quietly, maybe marginally generous, quietly, and just sort of take care of people around me but i may act like a right but i'm not you're not a soul but you might be a way to say i'm interested in protecting some inner thing that i'm scared is going to get out. Like an image of you or something. Yeah. I realize people, most people think I'm a asshole, but I'm not. So I can say whatever I want. That's interesting. Have you ever felt worried or insecure or that you should be on guard when you were either on stage performing comedy or doing a show or a podcast where you're like,

maybe I should be careful of what I'm saying because I'm getting criticized. Or was the criticism something that you would lean into because you would play with that? I, I, I, you know, I don't know how to fully convey this, but I think, I think COVID was probably a chapter that everyone went through and I went through it. And judging from my reaction to COVID, I would say I probably lean into the criticism or whatever it is. I put out a tweet. God, it's been almost three years now. And I basically put a tweet out and said,

COVID kills old people and sick people and the rest of you got played. And who's getting played next? And then everyone ran up to me and said, you got to take that tweet down because everyone's pissed off. And I said, well, I'll take it down if it's untrue but i'm not gonna take it down just because you know people are pissed off and i never took it down

and i had you know a couple notable hollywood timeshook call me sort of as a friend and just go hey man you take it down like because you're not doing yourself any favors and i was like no really so do you appreciate them reaching out to you and saying hey like i do yeah i see what you're doing and it's cool but also uh you know you have more sensitivity or something yeah no i get what they're what they're doing but you just get it you just do it you know it's it's either true or it's not true right and i guess that's the dance of like comedians which is like kind of speaking some truth or truth into something but it could be a sensitive topic for people well also there's this thing where it's like, oh, come on, come on, man. And I'm like, my kids missed two years of school, kid, for this thing that doesn't hurt them.

So what do you mean? Oh, come on. What about them? Right. What about everyone who's behind now? What about people who have languished at home and put on 30 pounds or committed suicide, depression? Oh, come on. Why is it always just one way stream?

I was like, oh, I heard someone's feelings. All right. Mike, I was talking to my son the other day. It's like, he's entering his senior year. I'm like, how much school do you miss? He's like, I miss entire ninth grade. Wow. And like part of the 10th grade. I'm like, you missing, you have no ninth grade. You did not go to school for the ninth grade. If you were a football player and that was your senior year, I mean, when I played football my senior year, I was like. It was everything. Vision quest.

I was like, oh, I'm going to be all valid. I'm going to hit the weight room. If you just canceled that season, I would have killed myself. Like, honestly. So don't give me oh come on man what about everyone else you're up and so that's that was like my approach to us and in many other subjects that probably make me unpopular right so when you get these friends that reach out that are maybe not trying to like judge you or put you down, but are trying to have your best interest and say, hey, you know, I want what's best for you.

And I don't want you to get harmed or your career or you to get canceled or whatever it is. You'll appreciate that. It sounds like you're grateful for their concern. Everything for me is motivation. Right. motivation right so if you're reaching out and your motivation is is all i like adam and i i care about him and i'm trying to offer some advice because i like him then then i appreciate it yeah if you you know if you woke up at five in the morning and came to my house and got my car keys and were taking my car out to get it professionally detailed for my birthday and you totaled it on the way home, I wouldn't be mad at

you at all. You were trying to get my car detailed. Right. On the other hand, if you're just going to be lazy or whatever, then I don't have time for you but it's everything is motivation sure for me right how how old were you when you got into started getting your comedy um i was like well i mean the story is i had a 30th uh the the story since we have time that you teach like teach like Jimmy Kimmel how to box or something? And then he. Yeah. Yeah. So, so I was like 21, 22. And I was like, my, my life, I, I was sort of looking at the trajectory of my life and, and I didn't see anything good, you know, down the road.

I was like working as a carpenter, probably kind of apprenticed. It takes probably a decade to really be a carpenter. I know that's three quarter inch birch or half inch birch. For wood here, yeah. I have no idea what it is. If you did it for 10 years, you'd really know. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it takes a little while. But I was probably about three years in, so I knew it was like 10 bucks an hour. And I was just kind of sitting around in my apartment, one bedroom, North Hollywood, Laurel Canyon,

two roommates, no air conditioning, sleeping, sharing a futon. In the valley, no AC, that's a risk. No AC, upstairs, facing the west. Oh, no. No shade. The heat is insane. It was an oven.

It was a goddamn oven. And I was just sitting in there, you know, sweating through my shirt. And I was like, well, there you know, sweating through my shirt. And I was like, well, there's got to be something better than this. Like, where's this going? And I was like, all right, where's the carpentry going? Like, I'm good with my hands. I picked it up.

I could do it. I had a little bit of a knack for it, you know. and I was like, all right, so where are we going here? Like, by the time you're 30, what are we talking about here? 21, 22. I go, well, maybe I'm making 18 bucks an hour. Everything was sort of by the hour. Incrementally, you know, you had to get from 10 bucks to 12 bucks to 15 bucks to 18 bucks. had to get from 10 bucks to 12 bucks to 15 bucks to 18 bucks and it was everything's just like can we add a buck an hour every year and a half or something like that and and so i was like sitting

around i was like and yeah i was so broke that you know the notion of 25 bucks an hour like one day that sounded pretty healthy to me but i still like it rains you don't work you don't get paid you know you leave your truck outside they rip off your tools you gotta you live in an apartment you gotta bring the truck you gotta bring the tools in the living room and it's just like it starts early everyone's at toll it's like half the guy in california i mean in l.a half the guys don't speak english so it's like you can't sit around and chew the fat tell jokes you know and lunch it was like okay like uh yeah so and then the guys who do speak English don't have any sense of humor either so I'm like eh what's this and so I'm like I well I don't have any money my family doesn't have any money I don't I don't have any money. My family doesn't have any money. I don't, I don't really have a lot of choice. I got to go to work every day as a carpenter, but what else might I be doing

in the future that, that is interesting, or there's some air conditioning involved with it, you know, something you think live in an apartment this summer i'm working in chatsworth in a in a warehouse with no air or or up on the roof kind of thing like i mean whenever the whenever the weather is you're there so i'm like well this sucks and then i'm like well what else could i do but you know doctor lawyer white collar i could fill out an application i don't have any real education i don't have any credentials like i where am i going to work i can't even know how to make a tie i don't have a suit like whoa where would i work i'm just a sort of knock around blue collary dude from north hollywood so i'm like, you have a sense of humor and like, all right,

you can do, you're funny. You could do something, uh, with something with comedy, some behind the scenes writer room. I, you know, writing for greeting cards, like funny greeting cards, you know, anything just to get some air conditioning and kind of get off the job site, you know? So I was like, all right, well, you're, you're 22. You got eight years. So you got eight years to figure it out. Wow. To like try the comedy thing, to figure out your lane, your Avenue or. And, and to, to, and to get some skill like all right so you're funny i mean you know being funny it's like saying i'm handy yeah you're handy but you don't know the nailing schedule on a sheer wall you don't know what a tico clip is or like an a35 or you don't know dim trick

instead a trimmer header parallel you know i don't know i'm in a parallel now you can be as handy as you want because you don't know you don't intrinsically know that stuff right you got to go learn it and i was like you me as funny as you would but if you don't know downstage stage left you know uh if you're not composed on stage or you don't know how to put together a set or yeah set together you don't know how to put together a set or set together, you don't do anything. Then, then don't kid yourself.

Pardon the pun. So I was like, I got to go get some training, I guess. So I started signing up for groundlings classes and found my way. And, and, you know,

and groundlings was like, you're funny, but you don't know what you're doing, and so you can't act, and so you got to go take an acting class. Like, they're like, we'll let you out of basic, we'll put you in intermediate, but first you got to come back and prove that you passed a theater class, like an acting class.

And I was like, where do I go? What do you want me to do? Now, the only rub was I didn't have any money. So it's like, you know, the growlings in a happy class, I didn't have insurance on my pickup truck, you know? So I didn't have dental, medical. I was barely paying rent.

So I was like taking whatever beer money I had and just been like... So acting class was a luxury. Oh, yeah. Everything was sort of a luxury and i i literally didn't have car insurance but was paying the groundlings to like take classes or the drama whatever place in studio sure sure everything and yeah i couldn't act i didn't know what the was going on i i i'd never been on stage and nervous i didn't know where to look yeah you know what i mean like uh you weren't a theater arts kid you didn't go to like high school and and take these classes there no all i did was play sports

in high school and like wrestle with dudes you know just right there just played sports and I would say wrestle, but somewhere between wrestling and a full fist fight. Like it wasn't just wrestling. It was sort of the ante was up, but that's all I did. And then I went on a construction site. So I was dealing with people that went to theater school and college and majored in this and that. They had five years of reps already. Yeah. And I also didn't know anything.

I was uneducated, you know? So I didn't, you know, they'd be going, oh, give us an activity. And they'd be like, you're making a topiary. And they'd go, oh, okay, here we go. And I'd be like, oh. What is that? Yeah. What's a topiary? Yeah. Like like i remember not knowing any of these things uh well they take shrubs and shape them

into you've ever been to disneyland yes you like walk in and there's a ficus tree that looks like donald duck okay yes it's a topiary gotcha. So how, how was there ever a moment in those first few years of taking the, you know, standup classes, the acting classes where you're like, oh, this is too hard to learn these skills. And everyone is way more advanced than me.

And I'm clueless half the time or part of the time. And I don't have the money to afford this stuff. Was there ever a point where you're like, I just need to stick to doing the carpentry stuff? I had some ebbs and some flows and some highs and some lows. Like when I got asked to leave the groundlings at a certain point, at the end, I was like rudderless and fully depressed. Wow.

I didn't know what to do. rudderless and fully depressed and like didn't know what to do. But, um, well, I was like, look, um, I don't think carpentry is, is a viable option in that I wanted, I was like, I want to own a home one day and I might like to have kids one day and a wife and, and I'm going to have to like support those kids and pay a mortgage and maybe support my wife and have insurance and a credit card, or maybe we want to go on a vacation or something. I don't have a credit card. I don't have anything. And I just can't see carpentry doing that carpentry giving me that house and but all that stuff when was this early 90s though yeah i mean this is uh the decision is probably made in like later 80s but now into the early 90s nothing's happening but i'm assuming if you're

saying to yourself i don't see this carpentry thing being able to support my vision and you're saying i'm going after comedy i don't think parents or anyone else should say that's the right path to go down if you want to buy a home if you want to you know yeah yeah it seems lower percentage it's like take the safer more surefire thing as opposed to try this comedy thing for 10 years. Maybe you make some money, you know, and figure it out. Yeah. It's a lower percentage route.

It didn't seem like this is the surefire way. Yeah. Well, I didn't have to vet it with anybody because my parents were like, look, you're, you know, you're 18. You got to leave. And that was sort of the last career-based conversation I had with them. So I did not, you know, there wasn't, they wouldn't have cared.

It didn't really matter. They just, whatever I was or whatever I did, as long as I didn't ask them for money, we were fine. In the late 80s early 90s who were the big people in comedy uh whether it was stand-up or tv film or late night shows who were like the icons at that time it was like andrew dice clay was blowing up seinfeld's always kind of a stalwart you know he's always there uh guys like richard lewis were doing making the rounds i mean it a lot of names you probably wouldn't recognize because they had a kind of had some

heat then and sort of died off now yeah he literally or figuratively like i mean there's just so many names that you know cycled through And a lot of them had shots on The Tonight Show and had their own game shows and stuff like that. You just haven't heard of them and haven't heard of them. But who are the people you looked up to or you were like, wow, that's really inspiring what they've done in their career that you actually became friends with or worked with or have? I was always I always listened to the radio and i always loved the radio and i i listened to talk radio when i was younger and it didn't matter who was on i would listen to a psychologist um named david viscott i would listen to Dean Adele, the doctor. I would listen. I'd tell Dennis Prager still on the radio. I go, I would listen to religion on the line,

your first talk show. And I'm an atheist. And I would just listen because I was like, we had a rabbi, we got a priest and we're going to argue about religion. I'd go, good, let's hear it. And I, I'm not religious at all all i just always enjoyed hearing what dr ruth had a show on out here i would just you know the real estate guy or the financial guy i would just listen to talk radio always like talk i would just listen to it like i don't know like when you're leaving and you think your dog's gonna get lonely so you put the radio on so somebody probably freaked out because you think someone's trapped in the speaker i mean we don't really think of the downstream consequences of keeping our dogs company but i just like

voices you know and i would listen to morning radio because i drove my truck every morning. My construction hours are like morning radio hours. Morning radio is 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. That's the shift. And then they start playing music after that. A lot of stations. F.M. I'd be getting into my truck at 6.15, 6.20, 6 o'clock. Because I had a job.

And I worked working to build a house in an avocado orchard in Simi Valley, you know. You got to be rolled out at 7 a.m. You got to leave at 6 or house up in the hills of Malibu on Ramla Pacifico, you know. Got to leave at 6 or downtown doing earthquake rehab, you know, sitting in traffic. So I get in the car, turn on morning radio i go right through i get to the job sites turn on the the boom box or go to the uh warehouse cabinet shop is working at chatsworth an industrial park and just walk in you know turn it on finish listening listen only and and i was like i could do that i could definitely do that i'm never gonna do it i'm not gonna get a chance to do it but i but i can i can do it and so for me

you know it wasn't so much like comedy is low percentage and carpentry is a much higher percentage gig. And so, you know, you were inquiring about me going, I want to get a house and have a family. So I'm going to do comedy. Comedy is going to get me there. Yeah. It sounds low percentage. And, and I want to sound like a huge, but playing in the NFL, super low percentage, but it's not for Lawrence Taylor for him. It's a good, it's a pretty good bet.

He shouldn't work at a home Depot. He should be coming off the weak side, you know? And I felt like I had enough ability where it was like, yeah, it's one in every 2000 kids who played college football gets to the pros. And you go, that's low percent. It's not low percentage for Lawrence Taylor. He's setting his own percentage. You know what I mean?

He's in charge. And that's how I looked at it. Like I'm in charge. Right. Yeah. If you take 500 guys who want to be a comedian they go or only one of you is going to succeed then no i'm not doing that but if you let me produce or create or let me come off the weak side then then i can make the team all right or at least i could make the team right i don't i don't know that there's any right right

guarantees that's interesting because you know i feel like in every high school or every college there's always like a couple of funny guys right it's like okay this is our funny guy who tells all the jokes if we want someone to lighten the mood there's always a couple people that you could rely on so there's thousands every year that come out of high school or thousands every year that come out of college who are like the funny person from their school around the country. Right. But was there something inside of you that said, I have a belief in myself, even though I haven't really had these experiences, I'm getting kicked out of the standup club. Um, you know, I don't know what they're talking about with these theater concepts and lingo did you still just have this belief that like well i can figure out my own weak side i

can figure out my own lane in this comedy world to make money or how did you believe in yourself enough to pursue it until you started to make money i got kicked out of the growlings just for growlings just for accuracy. What is the Groundlings? It's an improv. Improv is what I meant, yes. That's where all the SNL cast comes. I said stand-up, I meant improv, yeah. I know you did.

Yeah, Groundlings is improv, got it. For your viewers at home. Sure, sure. I was, I've never been, And I was, I've never been, I never really involved my own feelings in my assessment of myself. So I'm never right because it's me or I'm never wrong because it's me. It's I'm very compartmentalized and detached. So I have no ego and I grew up with not low self-esteem. I grew up with no self-esteem, which is not bad. I just didn't have any thoughts about myself that were

inaccurate. I just didn't get fluffed up by my family at all. I didn't think I was anything. So the good news about not having a bunch of free existing notions or feelings about yourself is I could judge myself pretty practically, you know, and, and I would say to people, you know, later on and all the time, but I don't know why it makes you, but I was like, I was a good carpenter and I was funny. Like I knew I was funny. Like I knew I was a good carpenter. So I don't know, you can say, well, that's egotistic or you're fully or, or whatever it is. And I was like, no, I listened to the morning radio shows when I drove my truck and I got to the shop and everything. And I would listen to everybody. And I was like,

I'm faster than these guys are and I'm funnier than these guys are. I could fill in the joke faster than they could just drive my truck. You would respond by yourself to what they were saying. Yeah, like what would you say? Well, you're interviewing this person or that person

you know, bang, bang, bang. That's cool. I was like playing the game in my head. And so I was like clubber Lang, you know, just training alone know, bang, bang, bang. And I was like playing the game in my head. And so I was like, um, clubber laying, you know, just train it alone. All right. That's cool. It's like, yeah, it's like, you're like, I think of that as like the people that watch jeopardy and they're just responding before everyone else. Right.

At home. You know, you're watching at home and you're like, you know, every answer before the person does. Right. Now the difference is, is the pressure and what happens when the spotlight hits you, you know every answer before the person does. Right. Now, the difference is with Jeopardy and with stand-ups, what happens when the spotlight hits you? Can you still do it? You will slow down a little bit in your answers.

The second guess. I've been there. So I can tell you. Have you done Jeopardy? I've done other stuff like that. Stuff like that. And you're like, oh, crap, you knew. You can't summon because you've got 10 seconds.

And you're like. you can't summon because you get like 10 seconds you know you're like um so uh i was like i have the ability to do this and i've always been realistic you know with myself um i wanted to play football when i was younger i played it as much as I could play it. I was a standout in high school. And then that was, it was pretty much it. And I was like, because you do not have the ability to do this. So you weren't at a higher level. You don't have that ability. You're not Lawrence Taylor. But if I knew how to do something or I felt like I have the ability, then I'm not going to deny it. That's the way I felt. And so I just kept, you know, sort of plugging away, but I didn't really find a home.

I knew I needed to find a specific sport to play other than just being athletic sure he did the sport his stand-up radio the sport of comedy yeah the sport of comedy or the the avenue the lane yeah yeah that's like saying i'm funny it's like saying i'm athletic i mean well look you you may play baseball but that doesn't mean you bowl or ski well right you play football doesn't mean you're fast swimmer or something you know what i mean like you gotta pick your lane you know and i never knew what lane so you try to budget different stuff i picked all lanes how many years did it take until you felt like oh i'm actually making decent money and I figured out my lane or lanes that work for me. How many years was that?

Well, it wasn't years. It was months probably. Yeah. I didn't make, well, because I made no money for eight years or something, I just, I didn't get paid. Improv troops, acting classes, growlings, open mics, any thing that anybody said sounded cool. You know, like if you just went, Hey man, let's just go sit at the, let's go sit at the diner and write sketches till four in the morning, just drinking free coffee refills on a Tuesday night.

I'd be like, I'll bring my notebook. What do you think about this? What do you think about that? So all I did was just for free. I never made a penny. I mean, occasionally it'd be some weird thing where, like, some guy would get a gig. You know, like, we're going to get in cowboy outfits, and we're going to the Gene Autry Museum, and they need us to do a funny little thing, you know, and I'll pay you $100.

You know, and I'd go like, yeah, okay, let's do it, you know. But, I mean, I taught comedy. Traffic school was a thing back in the day. I got paid. But I was a traffic school it was a thing back in the day i paid but i was a traffic i was a traffic school teacher but i but in my mind i was in front of an audience even though there was just people that were cited for speeding right and it was air conditioned you know getting paid and i wasn't covered with stucco dust you know at the end of the day so uh but no i didn't yeah i didn't i didn't make any money so you're doing stuff you would like to enjoy that you were finding a talent and good at but you weren't making money until how many years

until you're making well then when i was coming up on my 30th birthday was was the problem and that was the timeline for you. It was like, okay, I got eight years. I just, I could have started at 21. I could have started at 22. I mean, I remember the apartment I was in. I was in my first apartment, so it was pretty early. But I was just like, look, you got until you're 30.

Because 30 sounded old enough to like, okay, no more sharing futons and drinking know right drinking schaefer beer in the park you know ramen noodles yeah yeah ramen noodles and you know generic captain crunch and not even the real captain crunch like that no everything was the half off captain yeah yeah i was like by the time you're 30 you gotta be doing something doing something you know and um so what did you decide to do well i was a little earlier on probably about a year maybe a year and a half earlier i i like i always like boxing you know and i was like they were opening these gyms that were like white-collar boxing or whatever, like you teach lawyers and doctors how to box. That could be fun because I like it.

I was so tired of construction that I just couldn't take it anymore. And I was like, I want to be around people and smart people and people that have money and people that drive some truck and everything. And I kind of made my way into a boxing gym. It's called bodies in motion. It used to be right up this down Pico or something. Not far. Is this like late nineties now? No, no, this is still early. This is like 90. Wow.

91, maybe whatever. I went into there and I, like i talked to the guy and i'm like hey man i you know i could really be a good boxing coach and he's like get out get out of here and he just told me to buzz off you know and and i was like why don't you give me a shot you know and he's like we don't we just hire ex-champions and champions yeah we hire real people like we gotta have credentials because this guy's a wba you know welterweight right you know you idiot walked off a construction site that's that those are credentials you know bronze medalist in olympics this is a yeah and if they fluff them up a little you know but so he just went now you know and and i remember i was i was i was looking at the club at the fitness place and i saw like speed

bag stations with the bag and the you know i saw a couple like they're sitting on the floor like against the wall and he was like shooing me out of the place and i was like hey those speed bags you need those hung and all of a sudden he was like uh yeah like well i'm a carpenter and he's like oh you are and i'm like yeah and he's like because i got some heavy bags that need to be hung too. And I'm like, well, I know how to do that. And he's like, oh, so let's talk. And I said, okay. You give me $10 an hour, just flat out.

And I mean, back then, carpent probably make it 15, 16 bucks an hour. So I was like, it's going to be 10 bucks an hour. What time's the gym close? Like 10 at night or whatever. So what time's it open? Six in the morning. I was like, I'll be here 10 at night, six in the morning.

I'll show up at night. I'll hang all this stuff. Just give me the keys. And you let me try teaching boxing. Wow. And the guy's like, yeah, okay. Sure. So I taught a little bit. And then he wanted to open a place in Old Town Pasadena.

That was another place, but he needed it renovated or whatever. And he was like, you build that place for 10 bucks an hour and you can teach there and i was like i'll do it holy cow and so i built it and so i taught there but i would be 20 a class so and i was only teaching like five classes a week or so but it's like in in my world i was doing something different and I was kind of enjoying myself. It was fun, fun to leave the class and put your mixtape on and all that stuff. And so I was like, all right,

well, this feels better than, you know, being on a construction site. But I was still building cabinets and working for myself because I couldn't cut it on a hundred bucks a week. You know, I, teach my morning boxing and then, then go to the job and go build cabinets for somebody or something like that. And then I was, I was driving over the hill, um, driving over Laurel Canyon, going up the hill. And I was listening to kevin and bean on k-rock and they were talking

about jimmy the sports guy and michael the maintenance man and jimmy said something offensive and they got into an argument and um they're gonna have a boxing match and they're like we need trainers you know and i was like oh my god oh my god i could i don't think it's like i could see the radio station. What is this like, this radio station? I listen to it every day. I don't know where it is. What's it like?

And I got to the customer's house, and I was like, could I use your phone? And she was nice. And she's like, yeah. And I was calling the radio station i just get frank murphy the producer i just get his answering machine i'm a boxing coach and i want to train someone and you know here's my home number leave a message or whatever and uh they never they never called back and and some days were going by and i'd be listening like we need a

boxing coach and they're like guys were like calling in on air and stuff and i couldn't get anything going oh i they wouldn't return calls they wouldn't do anything so i just went i found out where the radio station was went before my 7 a.m boxing, or maybe it was like a 6 a.m. boxing class. I can't remember. It was early, like 6.30, 7. And I went down there. I got into the building. It was like a commercial building

and then just went up to the ninth floor, but the suite was locked where the radio station was. And I knew they were in there somewhere, but they're not the receptionist. And they do you know business hours nine to five you know like if you win tickets to youtube you gotta pick them up but you can't show up at seven no one's there and they're there but the receptionist isn't there you know so i was like odd uh now oh now i showed up at 5 30 in the morning one day and i couldn't get into the building

that's what happened then i showed up the next day at like 6 30 or 7 i did get into the building but i couldn't get into k-rock and then i was just standing on the ninth floor by the elevators and i knew that was the k-rock like suite but no one's gonna answer and i was just like standing by the elevators like what do i do do i come back like maybe i'll come back in two hours and someone will be there but then what if i get into the suite i like says the receptionist gonna go get the morning show guys i don't think that's what they do like they're gonna just go leave a number and i'm just gonna leave and i'm and rise i'm sort of going over the machinations in my head of like where could i how could i work this out some guy just comes out of the elevator

and he starts like making a a line for the back of k-rock with the key card door, like the staff door. And I'm like kind of walking with him and he's going in, you know, and I go, are you going into K-Rock? And he's like, yeah. And I don't know to this day, I don't know if he's the vending machine repair guy or he's a phone screener, like whenever he is, he's just going in just going in and i go hey if you're going in there just tell him the boxing there's a boxing coach and he's just i'll just be by the elevators i'll just be hanging here so just tell him someone's here and like you know i think the guy kind of just put his hand up or something like we didn't talk about it he was like doing something you know and just kind of yeah he wasn't door shut you know

so i just went stood by the elevators and i was probably out there about 10 or 15 minutes 20 minutes something like that and then at some point some guy just came down the hall it's a young guy he's like you're the boxing coach like yeah'm like, yeah. And he goes, oh, okay. You want to teach me to box? I said, yeah. I said, who are you? What's your name? He's like, my name's Jimmy, Jimmy the Sports Guy.

I said, okay. Well, Jimmy the Sports Guy is going to fight Michael Aminia's man. I guess I just got Jimmy the Sports Guy. So I'll train you to box. And I said, when do you want to start? He said, how about today? And I was like, yeah, I'm at Bodies in Motion in Pasadena. Like, well, I'll meet you by the parking structure. Like, at noon.

He said, all right, I'll see you at noon. Okay. And then that guy turned out to be Jimmy Kimmel. Wow. And I was pretty lucky that it wasn't michael the maintenance man who came out but jimmy did so you start so jimmy shows up that day and you start boxing yeah and i'm going to be turning 38 in like three weeks wow and i'm like i've got got to figure out something with this guy. So what happened with, how long were you training Jimmy Kimmel for this match?

And then what evolved from that opportunity? Probably had about three weeks, probably. A few sessions a week? Well, Jimmy was my meal ticket, my life preserver. I'm like, I got to hang on to this guy with both hands. He's a dude. He's in radio. He's on radio.

He's on the radio. He's making money. He's making money. Now he's making, yeah, $49,000 a year or $44,000 a year. He's living in a rented house in Reseda and driving an RX-7 that's beat to, you know. Well, it's better than you. But it's better than me and he's in radio. And so I'm like, I got to figure out a way to get this guy to think I'm super funny. And not just a boxing coach.

Right. Not just, oh, I showed up to like teach you and then this is all I do. I'm super funny. And not just a boxing coach. Right. Not just, oh, I showed up to teach you, and then this is all I do. No, but I don't want him to think I'm not a boxing coach, because I don't want him to think I'm just trying to springboard this into that. I'm some guy who just said he was a boxing coach. How many people have come up to you at a restaurant in LA and said, I'm an actor, I'm a writer, let me show you my script, or let me do a set, or...

Yeah, yeah, nobody wants that. So I was pretty much 80% boxing and 20% funny for the first few sessions. But then I started to move more toward comedy and and as the boxing diminished the comedy went up and and then we like train you know he trained for 45 minutes or i don't know an hour whatever teach him a few things and then go you know they got this little cafe upstairs you know they got his cold snapples just unwind a little you have a seat drink a snapple you know and yeah and he didn't want to train either so yeah let's go shoot yeah let's go grab a sample and cool off you know

and next thing you know we're we're sitting there for two hours comedy hour it's comedy hour and i'm talking about this is a radio show. You're like, our conversation. Yeah. So. Wow. I had him pretty convinced after about, by the time the fight came around, he said, do you have anything like tape or anything I could see on you? Like, I don't exactly know like what your thing is, you know?

on you. Like, I don't exactly know like what your thing is, you know? And I had a tape, VHS tape of a home improvement sort of comedy show that I did on Eagle Rock public access, you know, it's nothing. It was just a little public access, stupid Saturday thing, but it was, hey, it was something, you know, it was something. was something you know it was something and i like brought it over to his house and i was like it's just a public access thing you know it's not very professional whatever but you could kind of see what what i'm like you know on camera whatever and and he watched it and because jimmy's you know has a good eye, he was like, yeah, I get it. Like, I can see, I can see this. I can see what you're doing.

I see what you're doing. I mean, there's no production and there's no set. There's no anything. But, but I get it. You know, I, he, I, he was discerning enough to kind of go, there's bits and pieces here or something. And then, um, he lost the fight. the fight and then he's like you weren't that good of a trainer you're better i was not that good a trainer right i was actually i was a good trainer that i could teach people how to box but we we weren't getting it done in three weeks yeah

i was focusing on comedy and so uh when we were done with the fight on a friday she and i were friends you know he he loved me i loved him i mean he found somebody he could talk to and he liked comedy kind of like he just liked me i liked it like immediately you know and he was like was he around the same age around 30 he's a couple years younger than yeah and and he was like he's like three and a half years or something he was he was like 27 he was like 26 and i was turning 30 like right about then and i know what his birthday is hey so he had two kids and was married at 26. you know before that wow right right now yeah and i thought god this dude's got kids and i'm living in la crescenta in a rented house with three dudes you know and he's like has a family and house and got put together yeah and

And he has a family and house. Got put together. Yeah. And I think this guy's kind of responsible, has it going on. It's not like my buddy from high school. Right. And so now the fight's over and this is kind of the end of the prom for me. And I'm like, what could i do to like with the radio like something with a morning show or something something to have like a segment or be a correspondent or just

something like i'll drive the van i'll do whatever i want to get in there you know i want to get in there and what do you say he said uh he said what do you do and then i said i make things funnier like i shoot the breeze i'm back and forth i'm on my feet you know i'm an improv guy i'd be in there making it making it funnier you know and he just went that's what heaven and being do that what do they need you what do they need you for you think you're gonna sit like in between them and like make them funnier that's their show and they don't need you for that so you you gotta come up something other than that and so he said you gotta come up with a character And if you come up with a character and it works,

and then it could be part of a reoccurring thing. And I'm like, I'm not really a character, dude. I don't really do voices. I'm not that guy. Like, I'm just not a character guy. And he's like, well, it's a better start. Figure it out. And I was like, all right right that's your way in and he said you can call it on monday i won't tell them who you are because they'll think you're the boxing

coach that's not gonna work so i'll just set it up i'll tell them i got this thing's funny guys gonna call in they're not gonna know anything and just call in monday and you know it they're a little moody like it may not they made it's probably i've been on the other end of this a lot where it's like someone goes how you want to get that guy back or is it funny and i'm like yeah didn't know didn't really land it didn't really work and um so i did it uh you know monday morning whatever and um i did a character and and it kind of worked like it was it was like worked enough you know and of course i called jimmy like the second how'd it go what happened yeah and and he was like yeah they thought it was pretty you know that was pretty good you know it was okay um like could we try it next week i tried again next week okay i think i can get them to whatever next week and so i did it the next week and then the next week and then it

it blew up and it just became this super popular bit and and then and then i got loveline and i got signed by i got signed by william morris like immediately and one of the everyone in hollywood kind of listened to k-rock and this bit became so successful and the character got so popular so fast that I literally got signed from Willie Morris like a couple of months into it. And then I got Loveline. And so there was no trajectory. I was like making zero. And I've looked at my statement. It's like Social Security, whatever they send you in the mail every 10 years i was

like making four thousand dollars a year and twelve thousand dollars a year zero a year because i was working under the table whatever and then it's like thirty six thousand dollars a year was like my first sort of heroic thing and then the next year was like three hundred and fifty thousand dollars and then two years later it's like a million dollars it was like it was like $350,000. And then two years later, it was like a million dollars. Wow. It was like, but it was nothing before then. And when I started, I started for free, you know, and I did it for a while, months probably. And I would have a lot of my friends from the neighborhood kind of guys be like, what are they paying you? What are they paying you?

And I'd be like, they're not paying me anything. And they're like, why is it paying be like what are they paying you what are they paying you and i'd be like they're not paying me anything and they're like why is it paying you used to be paying you and so eventually we settled on on 50 bucks a bit and i remember telling my friends so now they're paying me they're giving me 50 bucks a bit they were like 50 bucks a bit you know because they got at that time they're making 20 bucks an hour as a carpenter like i thought this was show business you know we're making less than right for a day you know and i just remember super clearly when they were protesting 50 bucks the kind of money's that that's a big station you know i just like this is a dream for me i'm on the radio i'm doing a bit i got william moore's yeah i said i should be paying that oh and they didn't really understand what it meant but i got signed by william morris i took over on loveline and it was just sort of rocket ship soon as you know two months later after i told them that. So I was like, and I knew instinctively

this exposure is so great and people. And it was as I'd planned, not planned, but I walked in and I was funnier than everyone. And I was like, I knew it. I just needed, the reason it took off is because I was really good, but I just never had an audience or a place or a sport or whatever. A platform, yeah.

And then I got in a love line and then they started syndicating and then it was like a hundred and whatever markets and then the TV shows, blah, blah, blah. But I was good. Like I was ready to go. And I'd train and I'd train and untrain, and I had no matches. And all of a sudden, I met Jimmy. But it wasn't just me and Jimmy. It was just being exposed. The second I got exposed, everything just blew up.

Would you say he's one of your closest friends and colleagues over all the years? Oh, yeah, for sure. What would you say are the three lessons you've learned the most from him, from working with Jimmy and being friends with him and watching his career? The number one lesson I've learned from him is when you make yourself of service for other people, you end up getting paid back

sort of tenfold. And it's, and I don't mean cosmically, I just mean, you know, Jimmy stuck his neck out for me. He helped me. He would show up at four in the morning with the radio station and help edit a bit I was doing or something like that. He was very magnanimous, very magnanimous. But at some point, I took over for Howard Stern. I signed a big radio deal. Jimmy was a producer. And Jimmy was making hundreds of thousands of dollars, you know, mailbox money. And it's like, oh yeah, you did get, you did make some money. I mean,

we're still not even, I owe him a lot more money, but he invested this time and it wasn't, he did it because he believed in me or who, whatever he believes it, you know, he didn't do it for the money, but he put the time in and there was a payday after, after that. And, and, and it's about relationships and, and the people I know who give the least have the least. The people I know that are the most tight-fisted with not so much money, but their time. Time and teaching and mentorship and access and resources. I think about the people, mostly family members of mine, who've done nothing for anybody else and have nothing. And then there's Jimmy who does everything for everyone else and has everything. Wow. And I realized, well, how's this work? Cause it's not like, oh, I lend everyone a hundred dollars or I give everyone a hundred

dollars. So I'm rich. How does it work? And it's like, oh, it's all relationships. It's all relationships. Wow. So that's a big lesson you've learned from's like, oh, it's all relationships. It's all relationships. Wow. So that's a big lesson you've learned from him. What's another lesson that you've either witnessed or he's taught you directly or indirectly, would you say? I've learned a lot about pizza. Yes.

The first gift I ever got him was a pizza stone for his oven. And he started building elaborate pizza ovens. A lot of it's sort of pizza related. Okay. I learned that show business and comedy is sort of part your God-given sense of humor and ability, your God-given sense of humor and ability, but it's mostly about whatever qualities you would need to succeed in the roofing or siding business or whatever. It's just Jimmy. Jimmy is not the most naturally gifted comedic mind I've ever met, which sounds like I'm downplaying it.

I'm not. Jimmy's a funny dude, but there's a lot of funny guys. He brings the work ethic to the comedy. Really? A lot of comedians like to rip on loads, rip on loads and, you know, go to brunch and sort of hang out. Like, like a lot of comedians were attracted to comedy because they didn't want to work. And they just were like, and there are a lot of those comedians like they're hanging out during the day. Jimmy's at work. Jimmy was always at work. He was at the, you know, radio station at five in the morning. You know, when we're doing the man show, he's bringing home a stack of writers submissions and reading every one of them and everything. ability when that ability meets strong work ethic you can conquer the world each one alone is not really going to cut it in show business or comedy right because you've probably seen a ton of comedians at stand-up over the years who are probably really funny.

Like, you're like, wow, that was creative. That was, you know, a genius thing. Or you really had the timing down or whatever. You were working the crowd and they were in it, in the pocket. But they didn't have the work ethic to actually follow through and produce something or build the right relationships to make things happen.

You've probably seen a lot of funny people, right? Talented, funny people that didn't make it. Yeah, for sure. I mean, that's, you need, I mean, you know, it helps to be semi-sober and not, you know, go off the rails with, you know, cocaine or whatever. I mean, there's sort of mitigating factors and circumstances, but not pissing people off, not being flaky, doing what you said you were going to do, being kind of dutiful, showing up,

like having people be able to count on you to be there. Right. Not being a diva. To take care of the business, not being a diva. Not being a diva like you on a Wednesday. So and so. I need a fresh coffee so that's kind of a work work ethic which which he has a very strong he has a kind of a accountant's like work ethic with a sort of artist's mind that's cool you know what i mean if you you put those together uh you got a pretty winning combination that's amazing how long were you guys working on the man show for because that was a big show for a while uh we did four seasons maybe a hundred something episode 100 a little over 100 episodes i think

something like that you've done a lot of projects together you've been so what's it been 30 years like working with him and knowing him and helping each other and just being in the business together well yeah it's it's easy for me because i was going to turn 30. So I know I have a marker where I met Jimmy because I'm always bad at it. It's like, you know, I, I'm like, I would say to Dr. Rue, when did I start Loveline? Was that 95? No, 96 or whatever. I'd be like, yeah, when, when was it? I, I, I'm not a marker of time, but because I was so consumed with turning 30 and not getting anywhere i i met jimmy right when i was turning 30 and i'm 59 now so wow it'll be 30 years 30 years three decades wow coming up where do you think you'd be if you didn't show up to that radio station that day

um i mean is is kevin and bean put it as i'm working on a k-rock documentary they're like you know adam was so funny he would have ended up somewhere doing something again i'm trying to sound like a swipe but they were like he's super like the funniest guy i've ever met so he would have figured in jimmy the same Like he wasn't going to stay there at K-Rock doing the sports for another 25 years. He would have been on to something. I would have been on to something too. God knows when. I mean, I don't know when, where, I don't know if I would have. I mean, I'm a kind of a strong believer in, I may have, I would have found my way into radio in some way, somehow, because I was so interested in it and always kind of circling around it, thinking about it a lot. It's interesting though, because if you maybe turn 30 and then 31 and two, if you haven't had anything yet, you might've been like, you know what?

I'm just going to go full time into carpentry or boxing or whatever it is yeah i was i was like i just wouldn't commit to not trying to do something creative i i was told i used to pull up to the job site with my crappy pickup truck you know and and i remember periodically like every couple of years some guy had a new truck you know and and i remember periodically like every couple of years some guy had a new truck you know and if you had a new truck that was that's a big deal you pull it up in that new truck because everyone's driving beaters you know i'd buy my stuff out of the recycler you know old dots it's you know 79 you know miniature little japanese trucks and stuff and i i remember a guy named jan spent my age a couple years older so four minutes he come fold up this new ford ranger you know and v6 and it was like oh crew cab you know whatever and i was like wow sweet yeah and he was like

went down at you know galpin ford and it's you know 289 bucks a month it's like but you have to have full coverage insurance like for your making payments and stuff and he's like yeah and i was like he's like you should go get a truck get a nice truck get a new truck and i was like if i commit to that then I'm not going to be able to, you know, I got to take my groundlings classes, do all my other stuff. I don't want to get, if I get committed to this payment, then I have to get my contractor's license and you're getting your contractor's license. And everyone's like, get your contractor's license and start making some money and get a new truck. And I was like, I'm going to get sucked into this thing.

I'm going to have bills. And then this is what I'll be doing. Right. Like full time. Wow. And I'm not going to be able to take off and go do this class or do this thing or do whatever. So I always kind of knew it. I don't want to commit to this and I want to commit to comedy, but I know it's not a high percentage thing and I don't know what is in it, but

I just feel like I'll find a way if I just keep walking forward, I'll find something. This is the fascinating thing though. This is part of your story that I really like is there's a lot of talented musicians or artists or athletes or just talented smart people at different things who don't go to the station they have they they take the classes they work at 4 a.m at the coffee shop working with their friends on projects they do their art in their living room they do these things but they don't put it out there. They don't risk it to that extent. And just that one extra step that you took, it's like, I showed up and no one was there. I showed up the next day and no one was there, but I decided to stick around. Then I told the guy, Hey, let them know I'm outside. I'll be here.

And then you waited. Like you, you took an extra step that was unconventional at that time. My girlfriend, she's done over 40 movies. She's done a ton of movies in Mexico and also in the US. But she has a similar story where she was like, I didn't know how to get into acting, but I just showed up at the casting place and I just said, hey, I think it would be great for a movie. And here's my paper, here's my headshot, whatever.

And just talk to everyone and just said, hey, do you have anything that I can do a casting for? If she didn't show up for that, she wouldn't have landed like her first big movie and then all the other things that came from that. Because she showed up to the office, the casting, unannounced. And I think a lot of people don't show up unannounced.

Showing up, it's about seven or eight-tenths of whatever it is you're trying to do. You just have to show up. Because you had the talent for years. Yeah. You were the funny, you're like, yeah, he would have finally figured it out and landed somewhere,

but maybe you wouldn't have if you didn't put yourself out there in that way, if you didn't show up to the station. Yeah, I was never that kind of guy. I was not proactive. I was kind of low self-esteem, and I just kind of kept quiet and stuff, and I didn't put myself out there.

That's inspiring you did. So I didn't do it, but I did it this time. And you met Jimmy, and look what happened from there. It's amazing. Yeah, it's interesting. It's amazing. Yeah. It's, it's, it's a journey, man.

Adam, I appreciate your time here. I've got a couple of questions that ask everyone at the end before I ask them, I would just want to tell people to make sure they check out your show and adamcarolla.com. I think you got your tour dates on there. You got your podcast information. You got all this stuff you're working on there.

Um, uh, I appreciate you having me on your show. I thought it was a lot of fun. It's just a funny time and everything that you guys talk about over there. So thanks for having me on your show. And, uh, I want people to follow that Adam Carolla show over on podcasts and check out your tour. If you thought this was interesting and funny and you know, all that stuff, make sure to check out your website and check out your tours.

Is there anywhere else we can send people to today to support and serve you? No. AdamCarolla.com is where all the info is. Yeah. That's great. I appreciate your honesty. I want to acknowledge you for your realness and your truth and sharing just all the lessons in the journey. You've been in this game for a long time.

You've seen people come and go. You've gone through ups and downs. And I just appreciate your consistency. You show up, you work hard. You know, some people love you. Some people don't like you, but it sounds like you like you, which I think is good. It's like you, I'm agnostic on myself,

but I just realized my strengths and my foibles yeah you know and i just i you should be realistic with yourself otherwise you're gonna get your sure but you also realize you're like oh this might be a little but this is who i am and this is you know but i'm trying to be a good guy. So I just appreciate the realness of you being who you say you are. And I acknowledge you for that. I acknowledge you for really leading the way in an industry that I felt like I was an early adopter in podcasting, but I remember seeing you and Rogan was really in some random tech, you know, podcasts early on that were leading the way. And so I really acknowledge you for inspiring me for,

you know, seeing what's possible in the world of podcasting, seeing what's possible to share my voice in my own unique way. And there was only a few people that were doing that. And that was you. So I really acknowledge you for that, that, uh, model that you had. Um, this is a question I ask everyone towards the end. Um, two final questions that I ask everyone towards the end. Two final questions that I ask everyone towards the end. One is called the three truths. So this is a hypothetical scenario. You can answer it however you like, but I would like you to imagine that you get to live as long as you want, but it's the last day in your life. You get to experience and accomplish everything you want for as many years as possible, but then it's the last day. And for whatever reason on this last day, hypothetical

scenario, you've got to take all your content with you. So books, podcasts, shows, no one has access to your content anymore or anything you've shared. But you get to leave behind three lessons to the world that you feel like, all right, this is all they have of my content. I'm going to share these three lessons. I call it the three truths. What would those three truths be for you? Whatever damage happens in your life or negative things that happen in your life, it will most likely be self-inflicted. Most everyone I know who's really had some bad times, it's all been either directly or indirectly their own doing. So you do a lot of externalizing, realize when stuff happens, there's a, if not direct, indirect path right back to you

and your actions. So understand that. Um, there's really almost no such thing as like literally just, I was just sitting in my car and a drunk driver plowed into me. There's, there's something that you could have been doing to, to avoid that in some way, even if it seems totally random. So kind of internalize that and, and use it is one. The other is the aforementioned Jimmy lesson. Just be generous and don't be generous because you're generous. Be generous because you can do it because you're a narcissist.

I mean, Jimmy's a narcissist. He's not magnanimous. He wants people to think of him and go, wow, I love that guy or owe that guy my career. I owe that guy. I want to help that guy. He likes it. It's healthy. It's fine. It's fine to go, I want to do this and don't look at it as being sort of out of pocket. It's you, you pay for dinner a couple of times and then you, your dinner gets paid for, for in perpetuity. So, you know, be, be that. Um, and then I guess, um, simple tests, uh uh would be the phone ring uh identification test which is when the phone rings it's hard hearing the phone literally just started ringing comes up and whomever sees it, what do they think?

Because we've all had that person or people where like the phone rings and you see it and you're like, I'm just not really up to this right now. Or what do they want? They want something. I can't deal with this person. And then there's people you go, oh, cool. Good. I get to, this person's calling. I get to talk to this person. What emotion do you elicit from others if your phone, if your name is popping up on their phone,

what is their impulse going to be? And the freest anyone will be is just going, oh, that's you? Oh, okay. Yeah, what's happening? It's a kind of interesting metaphor because we all have a scale. We have the people

in our lives where they call, they go, oh, good. And then there's the people in our lives where they call they go oh good and then there's the people at the bottom where you're like this i'm not picking that phone up and then the ones like in the middle where you're like depends on your mood yeah they won i know i'm not up to this i'll call them back or or whatever like you got to figure out where you rank yeah and then try to adjust your ranking it's a great three truths i appreciate it uh adam model question what is your definition of greatness um i mean personally for me it's it's it's living up to your potential i i was i was talking to someone about this last night they They were like, what was your plan with show business? Or what was your plan with this?

Or what was your plan? I said, I just wanted to live up to my potential. And they kept talking about money or ratings or something. And I was like, no, I was a carpenter. I knew I could do comedy. And it was bothering me that I wasn't realizing it and I wasn't living up to my potential. And that potential doesn't mean riches or, or accolades or Academy awards or anything. It's just, I was doing this. I thought I could be doing that. And I wasn't satisfied until I was doing that. And not because

that was better or more noble. It was just, I knew I could do it. And I was going to be horribly unsatisfied in life because I felt I had this potential and I wasn't living up to it. And to me, that's the definition of a great life. If you can live up to your potential, even if your potential is not sexy or glamorous or any of your potentials, maybe it's just being a great dad. You know what I mean? Like maybe that's your potential. That's something to aspire to. I hope today's episode inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a rundown of today's show with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me as well as ad-free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel on Apple Podcast.

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I wanna remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.