The School of Greatness - How To CREATE Your Life With Your MINDSET - Shape Your Reality With Your Thoughts & Feelings | Eric Thomas

Episode Date: November 20, 2024

In this powerful conversation, I sit down with ET "The Hip Hop Preacher" for a profound discussion on mindset, personal responsibility, and transformation. Eric shares his remarkable journey from homelessness in Detroit to becoming a renowned motivational speaker and thought leader. He opens up about how discovering his self-worth and taking responsibility for his life became the catalyst for his success. We dive deep into the importance of mental discipline, the power of mentorship, and why your mindset is the key to unlocking your potential. As we approach 2025, Eric offers game-changing insights on how to take control of your life and create lasting transformation.Join Eric's FREE challenge to kickstart your 2025In this episode you will earn: Why taking full ownership of your life is essential for transformationHow to shift from an emotional decision-making process to a fact-based approachThe three key steps to developing an unstoppable mindsetWhy mentorship is crucial for reaching your highest potentialHow to create your own "mental rock bottom" to push yourself toward greatnessFor more information go to https://www.lewishowes.com/1696For more Greatness text PODCAST to [phone]More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:Sarah Jakes Roberts – greatness.lnk.to/1606SCMichael Todd  – greatness.lnk.to/1508SCIce Cube – greatness.lnk.to/1562SC

I never even realized I was where I was because of who I was. And I was actually getting the physical manifestations of my thoughts, of my feelings, my emotions. I was creating this. Somebody asked me the other day, like, what's one of the hardest things you've ever done? The hardest thing I've ever done was look in the mirror and tell myself I'm sorry. From living off the streets to becoming one of the world's most in-demand motivational speakers. The voice that ignites a fire in millions. Eric Thomas. You need to tell you that you owe you something. becoming one of the world's most in-demand motivational speakers. The voice that ignites a fire in millions.

Eric Thomas. You need to tell you that you owe you something. You need to be more disciplined about your minds. Mmm. And all the stuff that you said was absolutely right. My daddy wasn't there, my mama did this, this person did to me. Why would you let them destroy your life? Mmm.

Let's go. Why would you allow that thing they did to hurt you not define the rest of your life? At the end of the day, you have to be the first thing that you invest in before you check anything. Check you and go look yourself in the mirror and go, yo, I'm on my lottery ticket. We have worshiped careers more than we worship created. So the first thing I was headed at Google

is what would life look like if you did it on your terms? I want you to think about your life instead of the life. What would the next couple steps be to set up the mindset for success? I would say... Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. If you want to succeed, as bad as you wanna breathe,

then you'll be successful. We've got ET, the hip hop preacher in the house. My man, welcome back. It's been a while. It's been a, welcome back. It's been a while. It's been a minute. I gotta say this. Congratulations, man. You know, I was saying when I was talking to you, it's like 10 years ago, you know, and I remember because you were like, E, I want you on the show. And I hadn't really started doing podcasts. So that was like one of the first podcasts. And I was like, but my mother, my godmother was dying of cancer.

And so I was like, man, I can't leave and go, but I definitely want to. And you were gracious enough like, where you at? Eat. I was like, in the six weeks I like drove out. I was like, all right, let's do it. I like, let's get it. And man, just to see your evolution, you know, over the years. And like I said, it was a lot of us that started during that timeframe and to see kind of where you are today

and you survived the resilience. Bouncing back, getting bigger, stronger, better. Like you ready to go back to sports. Let's go, baby. Let's go. Yeah, so congrats, man. I've seen it. I mean, I can't name all the people, but Kobe, I've seen.. I mean, I can't name all the people, but Kobe, I see my girl Tab on the show,

you know, just to see all those people. And of course, I watch the show and learn from it. So, man, congratulations. Thanks for. Appreciate it. Congratulations. I'm excited about this because I feel like you haven't been out there a lot. You've been doing a lot of your own stuff for a while. So I'm excited because there's probably a lot of people who don't know your full story because you used to tell it a lot of your own son, a while so excited because there's probably a lot of people who don't know your full story at because you used to tell a lot 10 funds. So I kind of want to

reintroduce to the world's yeah. And I feel like the world is at such a unique place right now as we go into 2025. It almost feels like there needs to be a massive mindset shift for everyone to take back ownership of their life, to take the full responsibility of their life, cannot rely on other people to give them opportunities, but to go own their own opportunities by creating and having a clear vision. And there's a few things that I want to talk about that you have that I've seen you share some incredible strategies around mindset, I'm gonna dive into in a second. But for those who don't know, you were at one point living homeless, you know,

a long time ago, people probably don't even notice about you. Because you used to talk about it. But it's like you had a season of life where you didn't have any money. You had no education. You had no opportunities. Essentially living homeless. Yeah. Struggling, trying to figure out what you're going to do with your life. Yeah. And I don't think people remember this about you because they see the success, they see the coaching, the speaking,

the massive following, the New York Times bestseller. They see all these things now. But 20 years ago, you weren't in this space. No, I definitely wasn't in this space. What was the space you were in back in the day when you were living without the opportunities you have now and what was the moment you switched your mindset that allowed you to take different actions

to start creating your own opportunities? Yeah, so I'd say it's the mindset. Like I had a victim mindset. You know, it was my mom got pregnant at 17. You know, my biological father wasn't in my life. You know, I didn't go to the best schools in Detroit. You know, I wasn't in this environment. I didn't have like everything was about somebody else. You know, it was like the outside inside theory, you know, I'm saying, which is terrible. It's like everything that's supposed to blow me up and take me to the next level has is somebody else's responsibility. Like it's something that is going to happen or somebody and it's going to.

And it was like, yo, he like, why are you in this abandoned building? Like your mom's not here. Your biological father, no, he's not in your life, but he didn't get pulled over by the police officer. And the police officer doesn't know the counselor or the principal that kicked you out. It's like, but there's a common denominator here. There's a common denominator.

And you homeless, your mom's not homeless, your biological father's probably married with a family somewhere like yo, is that right or wrong? Who cares? You are living in this abandoned building high school dropout You're on your way to and so when I look back all the anger and the frustration and the hurt It was all blaming everything was about this person or that person or this person. Nothing had anything. I never even realized I was where I was because of who I was. And I was actually getting the physical

manifestations of my thoughts, of my feelings, my emotions. Like I was creating this and didn't even realize I thought my mom created it. I thought my father created it. It's like, no, you created this. And I'm going to tell you, the moment I realized you are the greatest common denominator, you probably the least greatest. Like you the common denominator. Once that realization hit me, it was like,

oh, okay, you got some confessing to do, bruh. Like, and I'm gonna tell you the hardest thing that I've ever done. Somebody asked me the other day, like, what's one of the hardest things you ever done? The hardest thing I've ever done was look in the mirror and tell myself I was sorry. And that was a hard start for what I was sorry for what I've got myself into the choices that I made, you know, okay, yeah, you 12 years old when you find out that the person is raising you

is not your biological father and your mother lied. Absolutely, bro, that's not necessarily best circumstances for a child to be born in. Like, your mom lied about who your father is and you know your father and don't even know you know your father a while. Like, you've been around your father. But you didn't know he was your father.

I didn't even know he was my father. Wow. I'm with his mother. My grandma and me like this. I'm with his sisters. I'm with his brothers, my grandma and me like this. I'm with his sisters, I'm with his brothers, my aunts and uncles. I'm hanging out with them every day. And so the realization of like,

yo, not only did you get lied to, like it's been manipulative, it's been deceitful. But what do I do, I run away from home at 12. And I'm living in garages and living in my friends' homes and this vicious cycle of every time something goes wrong or every time I'm confronted by this reality that's not your father is run away from home. It's run away from home. And at 16 it's like, okay, Ma, you just flat out lied to me. Everybody told me you lied. You keep telling me you didn't lie. You go tell me when I got older.

I'm like, I'm out. But it's like, when I looked in the mirror, it's like, why did you have to take, why'd you have to leave? Your mom, you had counselors. Why, why when you sat down with a counselor and they tried to walk you through the tools and the strategies to get on the other side of this, why were you in, don't talk to me, you ain't my mom, don't talk to me, you ain't my daddy, don't talk to me, I don't want to talk to y'all that these are professional Counselors who are saying yo we get it when you're going through a lot, but we're here I don't want counselors at school principals teachers. I'm just now into board need I'm Evil ring mean man, and I looked at myself in the mirror. It's like why was that the choice?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You got to talk to me. I know why you made the choice, but why did you make that choice? We know what the choice was. You always were from conflict. You always blame somebody. But why? And the reason why is because it was easier to put it on my mom and my dad than for me to have to do the work. And so the Eric Thomas that you've seen, the NFL, NBA, commercials, whatever, that dude is the dude that looked himself in the mirror was like, yo, you owe yourself an apology.

And not only that, you owe yourself correction. You owe yourself change. Wow. You need to be taught, you need to be trained. You need to become a better human. And that was one of the most difficult days of my life, was looking at myself, correcting myself, telling myself I was sorry, and then moving forward,

saying, now what are we gonna do from this point? So the growth you see is the response to, are you repentful, meaning you're about to change or are you sorry? And I'm like, no, I'm not sorry. I wanna repent and I want a better version of me. Because what 16 year old should be living in abandoned buildings, eating out of trash cans? Like that's not, it's not healthy, one.

It's not safe in Detroit to be in abandoned buildings walking on, it's not safe. And I put myself in so many situations where guns were pulled out on me. You know, people would break into the abandoned building and take my belongings from me. It's like, E, what are you doing? Like, come on, bro.

This version of me had gone all the way. It was like, if you don't, if you don't stop. And so yeah, that's, I'm glad you did that. Cause like you said, I don't know about that anymore. So you're essentially you just said that because the future you had to have wisdom and kind of speak to the younger you. The this version of you at this age, you know, 20, 10, 20, 30, 40 years later, whatever is speaking to the younger you and saying, wake up, wake up, wake up.

Greatness is in you. Dang, man. This wake up, wake up. Greatness is in you. Dang, man. This is fascinating, man. Was it like an intuition that got you to wake up? Or was it like just rock bottom that was like, OK, I can't go any lower in my life. Now I need to wake up. OK, so I always think it's a combination.

So it is. It is a rock bottom. But this is a blessing because rock bottom turned into go to church with my boy. Right? And go to church with my boy turned into I start dating this girl. Right? And I fall in love with this girl. You know? And this girl becomes almost like my first coach. You know? And she's saying to me, man, I'll never forget, she called me to her home to me, man, I'll never forget, she called me to her home, she's like,

my mom's not here, I'm like, praise God. She's like, can you come to the house? I was like, well, sure. Finally. I'm 16, 17. I was like, I've been here, we're like, finally, like you been, this church girl, and finally, you know, so she's like, yeah, come to the house now,

this was payphone day, I get to the house, and she comes outside, and I'm confused, like, why you coming outside? And she's like, I wanna talk to you. I was like, okay, we can talk, but can we talk inside? phone day I get to the house and she comes outside I'm confused like I come outside. She like I want to talk to us okay we can talk we can we talk in the bedroom. You know it's a sign on I'm serious, I'm serious. She said do you love me and I was like whoa I we kids on my 17 almost 18 I do I love you.

Like I don't have no other girlfriends that that's what you ask me but I don't you no other girlfriends if that's what you're asking me, but I don't, do you love, she said, no, no, no, do you love me? Like, is this serious? And I was like, yeah, it's serious. She said, well, I just got my acceptance letter and she showed me. And she said, when I go to college,

if you don't come up, come with me, I'm breaking up with you. And so it was twofold. It was, I was rock bottom. But this relationship was like hope. Like when I was with Dee Dee, it was almost like I wasn't homeless for that timeframe that we were together.

Wow. You know, we were in church together, you know, I got a job cause she made me get a job. It was just, you know, we would do stuff together, concerts, we would do stuff together as kids. We were downtown Detroit. It's a restaurant called Nicky's, right? Greek town.

So we were in Greek town on the weekend. Like I was living life and I was like, whoa, she's elevating her life. I'm like, bro, you rock bottom. And the only life you have in your life is saying they gone. And they're not. And look, bro, I'm just being real. I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm not. I'm not stupid.

She's not going to go away and get a degree and come back looking for a homeless kid four years from now. It's not going to happen. No. You know, and so it was it was rock bottom. She saw a grade in her senior year. But you had to do the work. I had to do the work and I did the work.

I went to night school. I got the GED. I followed her to Oakwood and we've been married over 34 years. Crazy, man. You feel me? And so I was like it was a combination of rock, rock bottom and hope. And when you put those two together,

it was like I had something to wake up to, something to look forward to. So I'm going to be real. That's why it took me 12 years to get a 40 degree because I never went to college for college. I went to college for Dee Dee. Wow. That's why I went to college.

And so once I got to college and we got married, I was like, yo, I got what I wanted. And she was like, OK, we're going to have to do this again. Yeah. I can't be with you if you don't finish what you start so then I had to go ahead and just business again and I started to speak in career you know in the middle of that as well this is there's a lot of like pressure for people to accomplish certain certain things by certain ages but it took you 12 years to graduate college right so

you're in your 30s or whatever. 30, absolutely. And then you're 44 when you got a PhD. Yep. What do you say to some of the younger generation that feels like they're a failure if they don't accomplish things by 20 or 25 that they feel like they're supposed to accomplish?

So here's where I went with that. One of the dangerous things is the outside inside theory. It's dangerous because what you're doing, whether you know it or not, you are comparing your journey and your life to somebody else's journey and somebody else's life. Like you don't even have, let's just be honest. You don't even have the right context to do that.

You don't know why they're doing what they're doing. You don't know like what their strengths and weaknesses are. So you compare yourself to somebody that may have strengths. You don't know why they're doing what they're doing. You don't know, like, what their strengths and weaknesses are. So you compare yourself to somebody that may have strengths that you don't have. Like, they're nowhere near who you are. Yes. And so you're comparing yourself. So this is why I believe for those of us who finally get it, it's the inside out. Like everything we do starts from the inside. And then from there, we kind of say, oh, okay, I see my boy, he's doing

X, Y, Z, but I'm not doing it because you're doing it, but I'm calling you, you're kind of saying, E, in the industry this and so I'm using the information you're giving me to build my journey, not I'm trying to be you. And so what I realized was, yeah, there's some kids that can come and graduate in four years because they took K through 12 series or not to be disrespectful. There's some kids that can come and graduate for four years because they they took K through 12 series. Or not to be disrespectful, there's some kids that can come and graduate for four years because they're going to get a job. You can't come and graduate in four years one because you didn't take K through 12 series

and you're about to be one of the greatest speakers ever. It's gonna take a little longer. It's gonna take a little bit longer to develop you. So my man on a four year plan, but he might, no disrespect, but he may settle into a traditional life. And so for the four years, that's all it takes. But if you are about to be Eric Thomas, that I didn't even know I had the capacity,

dude, you're talking about the school of greatness. God was like, you have to be in the school of greatness a little bit longer. You have to be in the school of greatness a little. Why? I always say, and everybody knows it, but when you're doing a swing shot, the further you pull it back, when you let it go.

So for me, I was like, it's going to take 12, not because you're behind. It's going to take 12 because that's how much time it's going to take to develop you. So once I release you into the world, now you're going to be able to do phenomenal stuff. Let's go. So I can't compare myself to the dude that's just gonna get a job somewhere, who's just gonna settle, and all he's caring about is his life.

He's not necessarily creating content or writing books that are gonna change the world. He's just trying to take care of his family. So 40 years works for him. So now I'm comparing my life to a person who is not even trying to accomplish what I'm trying to accomplish. That's dangerous. Wow.

Dangerous. Wow. But I mean, what about the people? I mean, going back to kind of your story of the victim mindset. Yeah. You know, your mom lies to you about your dad. You don't see your dad, you know, abandoned warehouses. You know, all the problems, inner inner city kids struggle getting kicked out of school

struggles. You had everything against you right. And I don't even know. See you. Okay. You say that. Okay. So I got you. So that's the outside. Yes. So that's the you had everything against you. No. The greatest problem was I was against.

Oh that was the challenge. But most people most people have both of that. I wouldn't say most people, but a lot of people might be listening or watching whom I feel like the outside has been holding them down. No question. Right. Yeah. Their parents have been holding them down to school. Their teachers, their coach doesn't give them the opportunity. Their boss is holding him to whatever might be.

The economy is holding them down. One thousand percent. The where I live is holding me down. The president is the whole president, the government. It's all holding me down. It's holding you down. How does someone get to a place and maybe it's true that things are holding them down.

They're absolutely true. Right? Maybe it's true. Yeah. But what I'm hearing you say that living in a victim mindset or living in an outside, inside theory will not help you get to where you want to be. All I'm saying is this,

they have the potential only to hold you down because you're allowing them to hold you down and you're seeing that they're holding down. Let me tell you the one thing I wish I can go back, all my mentors, everybody, everybody told me, and they were right. Look, bro, everybody told me, and they were right. Look, bro, I'm not saying that they were wrong. You need to get a degree.

You need to make some money. You need to do whatever. But what they taught me was that my greatest assets were real estate. My greatest asset was a degree or a career. Nobody ever told me I was my greatest asset. I'm my greatest asset. It doesn't matter.

Look, people act as if if you grow up in a house where your parents are rich, you're automatically, bro, we can look at people who grew up in wealth. And are messed up. Bro, they messed up. They own drugs too. They make bad decisions too. Unfortunately, they take their lives as well.

They check out. Bro, it does not. So people think money environment or you have both your parents in it and you get, so you think your story is, it doesn't matter where you come from. If you don't activate you, the environment doesn't matter anyway. Great environment, bad environment.

If you're not activated, if you, bro, I sit here sometimes and I can whip myself. My grandma used to whip, I can whip myself my grandma used to whip myself and why do I say that? I'm sitting in the school of greatness like no we were together 10 years ago I'm still standing I'm mad at me because like you said I got a PhD at 44 I could have got one when I was 34 I just didn't I thought you know and I when I go into the schools I tell all us I thought, you know, and when I go into the schools, I tell all us, everybody leave, principals, counselors, everybody leave, listen to me kids, this is 2024.

Y'all got the internet. Y'all on TikTok, y'all blew TikTok up. And I know it because adults are on LinkedIn and LinkedIn ain't made no money. LinkedIn ain't made no money. TikTok, billionaire, Instagram, why, cause these young people are there. I said, when you show up to anything, it blows up. Here's my problem. LinkedIn made no money. TikTok, billionaire. Instagram, why? Because these young people are there.

I said, when you show up to anything, it blows up. Here's my problem. You're in the school and you're failing, why? Because you're waiting for the teacher to teach you. The teacher didn't teach you TikTok. The teacher didn't teach you how to play call duty. They didn't teach you how to do that. You did it on your own, why?

Because you wanted to do it. And anything you activate, anything you do for you, it's gonna blow out. But you're waiting for some teacher to teach you how to do that, you did it on your own. Why? Because you wanted to do it. And anything you activate, anything you do for you, it's going to blow out. But you're waiting for some teacher to teach you. When you can pick up a book, you can go online and learn on your own. So in this environment, you are absolutely, you're not reaching your fullest potential

because you're sitting back, oh, it's the teacher's job. It's the counselor's job to tell me when I'm supposed to graduate and what classes I'm supposed to take. And then what? And then what? Did you agree to get it? And then what? What job to get? And I'm supposed to graduate and what classes I'm supposed to take and how to get the degree to get and then what job to get and put me in the right job. But she not call the duty, there's no school counselor.

There's no teacher, there's no principal. And you on there with people from all over the world and y'all playing and communicating, competing. And listen to me, these kids are so dope and they don't realize how dope they are. They did something with video games that we never did. They turned it into a career. You can make money without playing video games.

You can. I hate to date myself with joysticks. I know it's not the truth now. But when it was joysticks, you couldn't make millions doing it now because of these kids and they're taking this thing and giving it a life that it never had before. Anything you touch when you know who you are,

believe who you are, I could have PhD. I don't say that like on the brand, I say that because if I got a PhD, that means I could have finished high school. But I wasn't in school, I was just there because my mother dropped me off. Like I wasn't immersed in it. I wasn't excited about it.

I wasn't enthused about it. And so it's like now I'm enthused about life and my life. And now I realize, yo, your mama don't got no, whatever she did, that was just to get you started. It's like on the swing, when somebody push you and get out the way. They don't, the swing doesn't work if that person keeps pushing you back and forth.

It only works if they push you, they get out the way, and you do your feet. And so it's like when I showed up and said, Eric, the government, where you come from, your dad not being in your life, your mom being young, that has absolutely nothing to do with why you can't read. You can't read because you are lazy.

You can't read because you don't take it as serious as you take playing air mental football. You shouldn't be playing air mental football. You shouldn't be playing football. You should be studying. And so when I started taking my life serious, again, I mean, I say this with all, you know, sincerity, I'm in one of the best podcasts in the world. And not only that, when people were asking about it, I was like, oh, no, I got a relationship like this. What you think it is. This is not to your point. I don't do podcasts. Like I don't have that media schedule where I,

you don't see Eric Thomas on different shows. And I remind people, don't get it twisted. I can't be on shows. That's just not my thing. So I'm not here today just on some, I'm on a, I'll go here, look, but then I got this podcast. That's not what this is about. This is about a friendship that I'm tapping into

and saying, man, it's good to see you alive. It's good to see that we made it and it's good. I still remember the red shoes with the red shorts with the red and we're in there just kicking it. And now I'm like, yo, this is an enterprise now. This is on a whole nother level. Not saying what you did to me was nothing. I'm saying this and it still be alive

and it still be welcome. It's like, this is what happens when you realize you're your greatest asset and you tap into you. Nothing wrong with real estate. Nothing wrong with investing, the SMP file. But at the end of the day, you have to be the first thing that you invest in. And if you invest in you, I just believe there's nothing that can stop you.

100% and investing in you and being willing to stay consistent and have long run. Absolutely. Because we were just talking beforehand. It's you know, we we met 10 years ago. We've done a lot of stuff together. You've been on the show a few times. I've been to your events. You've spoken in my events. We've helped each other with book launches and all that stuff

and just been fans of each other over 10 years. And we've seen a lot of people in this space come and go. We've seen people try to come and they get a big hit and then they fall off and they don't stay consistent. And we've continued to stay consistent. And I think what both of us do really well is we have a vision of a future for ourselves and the world that we live into.

We speak into that and we constantly invest in our own personal growth. You're always growing, evolving, transforming, changing, whatever you wanna call it. And I feel like we have to hold ourselves to that standard. Otherwise it could all go away if we don't. And so it's, and I'm curious, you know, for those that are listening or watching

that are still thinking, you know what? It's just too hard for me. The world's against me. Like I hear what you're saying, Etienne. I know you did it. I know people like Oprah did it. Like all these kinds of outliers. It's like, that's only for a few people

who can really break through and create the life they want. My parents really didn't show up for me or I was abandoned or I got cheated on and abused and sexual abuse and physical abuse. And I know what you went through was pretty hard and it was tough in inner city, but what I'm going through is even harder. And it's just, it's too much of a weight.

It's too hard. It's too much friction to eat healthier to get up earlier to be consistent. It's just too hard. Do people need to think about motivation in order to overcome themselves and their problems and their challenges? Or do they need to think about being more disciplined to overcome the weight of the world they're feeling? Yeah, I'd say both and, but to your point on the discipline, you need to be more disciplined about your minds. What do people need to be thinking about with their minds? So here's the deal. You're already in pain, get a reward for it. It's just like, look, do me a favor.

Everything you say, you're right. But why go through life with whatever people did to you when you were younger or a young adult, and then you have to live with it for the next 40, 50 years? Like, why would you sit here and all the stuff that you said was absolutely right? My daddy wasn't there, my mama did this, this person did to me.

Why would you let them destroy your life? Mm hmm. Let's go. Why would they? Why would you let them own you? Why would you allow that thing they did to hurt you? Now define the rest of your life. Yeah, it's like no, I was in pain. It's real but get a reward for it. So for me walking into first of all driving here in a car

service getting to LA, walking in this beautiful facility, seeing the other businesses that are here. I'm like, E, I'm proud of you, bro. You made it, E. You could have stopped. That's a homeless boy. And nobody would have tripped. Your daddy wasn't there. Your mom was 17 when she got pregnant.

All the negative that happened to you, Eric, we understand. Bump understand. Let me tell you, one of the things that just blew my mind the other day, so we were fortunate to own a home in California on the hill, right? So we got this property, we got the basketball court, with the logo, all the companies that, whatever. And I go outside yesterday and I see my wife

and my son playing basketball. And I'm thinking to myself in California, only looking at all these beautiful properties. My wife and my son are outside hooping. Dream life. My wife was like, I want to work out. My son was like, I didn't even know. She was like, I'm going to play basketball. I'm like, I can't do it right now. And I'm listening to a voice. He came home, heard the basketball, went out with his mom. I'm like, I can't do it right now. And I'm listening to a voice. He came home, heard the basketball, went out with his mom. I'm like, yo, my son, 29 years old,

is spending time with his mom as an adult male. He could be anywhere doing anything. He's with his mom, her first born. They got this bond that I don't have and they're out here hooping. And as I look at the property, I'm like, yo, what if the 16 year old Eric Thomas would have stayed the 16 year old Eric Thomas?

So I'm saying for those who are listening, get a reward for it and then do me a favor. Don't just think about you. Do you know that my son and his mind, this is where you start. He got the son of the pool to work he started somewhere I never started the cars the rome's royce the escalate like he started somewhere I didn't start why because I didn't stop where I started I didn't stop

I was like okay this is where we started but this is not about to be my end and so his his beginnings looked so my man went to Michigan State and was a general manager for Izzo. He traveled the world. He's got a Final Four win and an Elite Eight win. He's got the jack. He sat under Coach Izzo, Hall of Fame coach for four years.

Coach OG. He sat under these guys. Like his boys, some of his boys went to the league. There's some of them still in the league. Like he got that because I didn't go. I quit because my mom, my dad did. So I quit. I give up. This is worst thing ever happened. I was like, you get a reward for it. And so to see my son, I'm coming to a concert tonight with my daughter. Listen to me like I didn't give up. And so I'm saying to everybody, we all go through pain. Some

of us go through pain and it becomes our tombstone. Some of us go through pain and it's a scar. And we live a life of rewards. So I'm just gonna say, again, 2025, do me a favor. Check you. So you're in the ballot box and you're looking at all these options, doctor, lawyer, teacher, whatever you see, president, mayor, governor, do me a favor.

Before you check off any of that SMP 500, real estate, before you check any of that, check you. Before you check anything, check you and go look yourself in the mirror and go, yo, I'm my lottery ticket. I'm my ticket out of the neighborhood or I'm the broken curse. Like whatever you wanna call yourself.

But the day I stopped saying my mom, my dad, this person, the police, the cop, the day I stopped doing that, the day I said, you, do you think anyone can have a beautiful, amazing life if they live in a blaming mindset? No, no. You know why? Because what I didn't realize as a young adult

is that when you say it's somebody else, whether you mean to do it or not, you give them the keys to your life. You give them power over you. They got your whole life in their hands because you said it. You said it. They didn't do this because they didn't. Because they got the keys. Now, I'll be honest, the reason why we don't want to take the keys because we got to drive. We got to drive.

And I told you today, I was like, I got too much to do. I normally drive. I'm like, I got too much to do, I know we driving. I'm like, I got too much to do. And it felt good to be in the car driven. It felt good. Like I'm on the phone talking to my wife, we having worship doing our thing, making a couple of business calls. Like I don't have the responsibility of the traffic.

Paying attention. I got paid attention. He moved over and I was like, why is he stopping in the middle of the crowd? But it was a fire truck was coming. So he had of the crowd? But it was a truck was going. So you had to move up. I didn't know what was going on because it was the first time in my life that I wasn't really like responsible because I normally drive.

And that's why people don't want to drive in their lives. They don't want to be responsible. It's so much easier to say my life is messed up because you did this. Why you did that once you take the the keys, now you gotta go anything. But I'm gonna tell you this, this is why I like it. While it's more responsibility, it's more freedom. It's more independence, it's more control. Opportunities.

Opportunities, they limit it. But the limit is when you take the keys. And so I took the keys to my life and said, my thanks, dad, thanks for not being there for me. You gave me a dog. You gave me a passion. You gave me resilience. You taught me how to make it when the very thing that's supposed to be there

for you isn't there for you. And I tell people what I want. Some kid asked me the other day, he's like, man, when you say your son is lucky because you're in his life and his mom is in his life, I said, yes and no. I said, yes, he's blessed to have his mom and dad, but he ain't got that dog. He doesn't have the hunger. He ain't got that dog. Oh man.

My son is a great kid, but he doesn't have the drive. He ain't got the same drive I got. And that drive came without some stuff that I... Lack. That stuff came from lack. And so I say to anybody, you got to understand, it could go either way. But when you take the...

It's like I walk into a school and I ask, how many of y'all? 50 kids. How many of your kids in here? 1,000 kids. How many of your dads, one in your life, was not living in a house? 90% raised their hand. And guess what? I automatically can relate to them. That's the Jenna Sequa that my daddy wasn't there. That's the it factor.

If my father had been there, I might not be able to go in here and relate or my videos that go viral. People are like, OK, maybe if I just had aired voice or if I just scream and I just look at you. Bro, that's not what that's not what it is. It's when I speak, you hear it because I've been through what you've been through. And so you recognize that voice. You recognize the pain.

You recognize the struggle, but you recognize I overcame it. And that's why you're like, I want to rock with this dude. Cause this one ain't, some kind of way, Eric ain't the one that's making us feel like, oh, it's okay that you went through this and it's okay that this, and it's okay if you don't want to grow, and it's okay if you don't wanna grow

and it's okay if you don't want, no. What you hear from me is a coach that's saying, Jordan, you got six rings in you, but you got to stop playing this way and you gotta start playing this way. Kobe, you got great, but you gotta do it this way. Serena, you gotta, Venus, you gotta, that, Richard Williams is saying, he's not out there just.

Good job, man. He's teaching, training, but he's also correcting. And so for me, they hear my voice. I'm not letting you get away with murder because greatness is in you. The greatness is in you and now it's time to go to school. It's time to go to work and bring that greatness out of you. So yes, anybody, anybody could be successful. But as long as you're playing the blame game, you have given permission, the license, registration,

the keys, you give it all over to somebody else. And the day you take it is the day that you can start deciding which direction you wanna go. Wow. So that sounds like step one, take the keys back to your life. Take the keys back. What life. Take the keys back. What would steps two and three be for setting people up for their ultimate life? What would that beginning process is it?

Is it get clear on a goal? Is it start with motivation? Start with discipline? Like change your habits? What would the next couple steps be to set up the mindset for success? I would say step two. And I don't know why they don't teach this in school. Like be your first best friend. You know like get to know you. We're so busy wanting to be in a community that we don't realize we are a community. Right and look I'm

not trying to be deep you know people could you know you believe this you don't believe in this I'm not trying to be deep, you know, people could, you know, you believe this, you don't believe this. But what I was taught, you know, in school, especially Catholic school, it seemed like Adam was by himself first. It doesn't seem like it was like somebody, it's like Adam was first and then whatever happened after that. So the first man was by himself. And I think that's important for those of us who study that. Why? Because all of us think we have to have somebody to be somebody. And this guy started on his he started a journey on his own before he connected with somebody, whatever he knew his purpose. You know, he he walked

his confidence. He walked and a lot of us are going I hear people all the time. Well, I'm not doing good like why not? I don't have nobody. I'm not in a relationship. I'm saying, you're telling me, no, listen to me very closely. Do you think for one minute that getting in a relationship with somebody is, it can't be the key

because so many people have gotten in relationships and gotten out of it. So that can't be the key. Now, two healthy people, not perfect, but two healthy people coming together. Oh no, that's different. It's expansive. But guess what has to happen?

That person is healthy with you. You gotta be healthy with you. You healthy with your partner, you can be with this. So we even messing each other up when we have two dysfunctional people trying to connect with each other because we think two functional people don't come together and make each other happy. It's not gonna work.

So I just think the first step after the first step is you gotta figure out who you are and love you and feel good about you and show up in the ring, you and not care when nobody think about you. And that's why this relationship has worked so well for me over the years because when we're together, it's never been a thing of E, why you do that? E, why you do that?

Or E, why you do that? It's always been like E, you have a unique set of skills that make you great, you have a unique set. And so we've always focused on what's our unique skills and what do you know that I don't know and how can you help me get there. And so a lot of these young kids are joining things they shouldn't join and being with people

because they think their happiness is going to come from being with somebody else. And I just think if you be, if eagles aren't trying to, they just are, they're not trying, lions aren't, what do you think about me? What do you think about my roar? You think I'm too loud when I roar? They're not concerned. And so I think step two, figure out who you are, love you. And step three, figure out your North Star and wake up every single day going after your North Star. Because when you have a North Star, you know,

and the people that you love and you spend time with have a North Star, have a purpose, and look, their purpose might be, we both have people whose purposes are to help us with our purpose. They don't necessarily have an individual purpose. Like they felt like they were called to help us with their purpose.

To serve our mission. That's it. So we need a North Star so they can know what their North Star is. So that would be my third one. It's like you got to figure out what makes you happy. And again, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with, first time I did a behind the scenes coming in here. Just because I was like to my Patreon community, like yo, y'all need to understand where I am and what's going on. But I don't, if you follow me on Instagram or TikTok, wherever I'm on, you don't see behind the scenes.

I think that's a phenomenal tool to show other people what, but my wife is private. So for us, that does not work. She does not want to be seen in the spotlight. She doesn't want to be in Dubai and stop and go let's take a let's document what she doesn't like that So for some people it works, but I don't have to do that to still find a space, right? There's some people, you know, they do tours, right? I don't do tours. That's not my thing I used to do them. I don't do them now

There's some people that write books some people don't write books like it doesn't matter But what matters is you have to find a thing that wakes you up? Yes It's three o'clock or six o'clock or ten o'clock like you got to find the thing that Brings the life out of you the joy out of you the happiness out of you and you can't do that following somebody else's north style So my last one will be met figure out what you was put on this earth to do and I mean Every single chance you have to do it. Do it and when you're not doing it, enjoy your life.

My son was like, I'm tired. I say you tired. You burnt out for what? Look at your mom and dad. You work for the family. What are you doing? Well, I've been up the last six days working 10, 12 hours. I said, for what?

What would you be doing that for? Like, why wouldn't you take advantage of the, you said, what should I be doing? I said, you should figure out what it is you do. He's a designer, right? You should be designing clothes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, whatever, five, six hours a day. And then Saturday, Sunday or Friday, Saturday, because of your family, you should get a trip somewhere and go spend it with a friend. You should go see the world. You should go to Italy. You should go to Rome.

So you should go to South Africa. So you should go to the Gold Coast in Australia, son. What are you like? You should. What are you doing? Like you should work. But a part of work also is where's your play? You should play.

We worked hard so you could be back. So don't be like us. We grew up in a working class home. We grew up in Detroit. We grew up blue collar. You're not blue collar. So go enjoy your life. Be balanced.

So I'm not just saying find your no star in terms of what you've been called to do for others, but there should be a healthy amount of time that you spend enjoying your life, you know, and enjoying a little time that you have here. We both know, we won't be doing this podcast 100 years from now. Sure. We don't know how much longer we have. But I won't be 154 sitting down talking to you. So however much time I have left, I need to work hard and I need to enjoy that time. Absolutely. Those are beautiful, man I've heard you talk about a

concept I want to share in a second but I feel like There's a group of people we've been talking to you've been talking to that are the people that have maybe Don't have the opportunities they want. They don't have a life. They want they feel like people are holding them down That's one group then there's another group of, which I feel like is a majority of people that have a good life. It's OK. It's good. But they don't. They're not living a great life for themselves.

And they got a good job and they're pretty healthy, got a decent relationship, but something there's like something missing. I think if you can, if that resonates with anyone listening or watching, comment below or leave a like if you feel like, yeah, my life is good, but I feel like something's off. You have this great concept called creating a mental rock bottom to push yourself towards your goals. Can you share more about kind of some practical steps of creating

your own mental rock bottom so that you can go to the next level in your life. Okay, I want to use the term that you use and you said create. And I just think so many of us have stepped into careers that group. We have worshiped career careers more than we worship create. So the first thing I would say to that group is what would life look like if you did it on your terms? Because right now you're really not doing it on your terms. What you've done is say, yo, if I want to survive,

if I want to strive, this is what I have to do. And you have allowed people to tell you, okay, you need to be an engineer, or you need to be a, and you need to move it. So you've done a phenomenal job in being obedient. You've done a phenomenal job in complying. Yes. Like you've done a phenomenal job. You followed the rules.

Yes. Congratulations. You know what I'm saying? Like you didn't rob a bank. You know what I'm saying? Like you haven't done anything illegal. You did exactly what a good child should do. And I have a daughter that I have to get on her sometimes because she's that child that's like, yo, dad, what do you guys want me to do? And I said, do me a favor.

Don't always be obedient. Like you need to sit down and ask yourself if you weren't thinking about the family's name, if you didn't, if Eric Thomas, ET, hip hop, was not your father, what would you be doing? What would you be doing if you didn't have to worry about honoring the dynasty? What would you, and you you didn't have to worry about honoring the dynasty?

And you're doing a phenomenal job honoring this dynasty. I'm not taking anything. Went to school, handled your business. You've never been in trouble before. We've never had to spend money doing things. You've been a phenomenal child. But what would you do if you lived life on your terms and you were able to go where you were going to do?

And so that's the first thing I would ask them to do. I want you to think about your life instead of the life. Because that's what you've been thinking about, the life. Now think about your life, and I want you to start putting it everywhere. Now, the next thing I want you to do is I want you to know that if you have the ability, like I'll never forget, CJ was like,

"'Okay, E, you know what you're missing that, "'the big boy, all the big boy speakers, "'you know what you're missing.'" I was like, no. He was like, the New York Times bestseller. Now I'm not telling you you got to do it, but I'm saying that's one of the, that's one of the, you know.

You got it, you got it. So he was like, first of all, do you want it? Do you want it? Don't do it because I'm saying you need it. But do you want it? And he could elevate you, but do you want it? And I was like, yeah, I want it. The next question becomes, what does it take to want it? And he could elevate you, but do you want it? And I was like, yeah, I want it. The next question becomes, what does it take to do it?

And then am I willing to do what it takes to get it? Yeah, that's it. Because it's a lot. It's a lot. But here's the thing. I believe if you think about it, it is only because somewhere inside of you, you have what it takes.

Now, capacity is there. Willingness is something totally different. Yes. That's different, but I want every human to know, you wouldn't be watching the school of, you wouldn't be watching or listening to the school of greatness if you didn't believe you were great.

I'm just, for real. You wouldn't be spending time with this man on a regular basis. I'm telling you, I wouldn't be going to Columbus. Bruh, I drove to Columbus. Bruh, it's not a, trust me I'm telling you, I wouldn't be going to Columbus. Bro, I drove to Columbus. Bro, it's not a... Trust me when I tell you, it's not a... You don't get off the freeway. It's not 65, you get up. Why did I go? Because this man is great and greats want to hang with greats. I need y'all to understand. Look, y'all may not know. Listen to me. I've got

Nomad suitcases that I still carry to this day because he gave them to me. Like I didn't buy a new one. I've carried the exact same ones that he gave me. And my son bought a set because I had a set because it reminds me of him when I travel. It's like greatness, great. So you wouldn't be watching, you wouldn't be locked in, something in your spirit has you tuned into this man

because you know you're great. Now you gotta say to yourself, am I willing to cooperate with the greatness that's in me? And then once you're due and you start consistently operating in that, you're gonna feel good about it. Here's what you have to do. You have to understand,

Andre DeShields, I think, said, the top of one mountain is the bottom of the next. Wow. So you get to the top of the mountain, but you understand the GED was just one, the four degree was just one, the math was just, after the PhD was the New York top, after that is the assessments,

is the training, is the coaching. I'm in masterminds. I get coached. Yeah, right. And so it's this idea of yesterday's greatness can't be enough because I'm alive today. So if I'm alive today, it must be some more greatness in me. And it's my job like the toothpaste is my job not to just look I don't know about you, but I will just use a little bit of it. Get

another one. He in the last drop. I'm squeezing, I got money. I'm squeezing that toothpaste. Why? Because I'm trying to get everything out the tube before I go to another one. And with my life, before I get out of here, which is why I could murder myself, that I didn't realize at 12 that I was great. And that's why I say you got to check in 2025, you 2025, right? Because I didn't know I was great. And once I checked it and realized how great I was, I was like, bruh, we're going to keep doing this. And to the day we die.

And so I would just say to you, you're watching, you're in this space, you're reading his books, you're going to his conferences because you know it's in you. And it's time to stop being lazy. And it's time to activate. I love that, man. Well, here's the thing why I think a lot of people might stay stuck is they allow their feelings to keep them in place of frustration. You have this great example that you say execution should be fact based,

not feeling-based, but people feel the overwhelm of the economy or the government or their parents or their partner or whatever the responsibilities of the world. They feel anxious, avoiding, overwhelmed, burnt out, like doubtful, insecure, and they allow feelings to consume their inaction. So how what's an example of how someone can shift from being driven by emotions into fact-based actions towards their goals? It was what you teach me in the meditation thing. People don't take it seriously. This is the time to get control of your mind. And for most of us, our mind is in control of us.

So when you talk about meditating, it's like, this is a habit of the greats. And one of the habits of those individuals who are not where they wanna be is, I'm not trying to be funny, but it's like lazy. To actually meditate regularly is a discipline. It is, man. It's not easy.

It's not easy to get control of your... I'm like, where did that thought come from? Right, so guys, let's go back to the 12-year-old that found the birth certificate. Right? We found the birth certificate. We found the birth certificate in the emotional state. Oh, yeah.

We found it in the emotional state. Oh, yeah. We found it in an emotional state. Listen to me. I'm not the first kid who has ever gone through this experience. And you know what I had to ask myself in that mirror at 16, 17, 18? I had to keep asking myself, when you saw it, why did you see it that way? Why did you not call your mom and say, mom, you wouldn't talk about this? Why didn't you go, hey, mom, the counselor, can we go sit down and talk to the counselor?

Hey, mom, call dad. Can we just sit down and listen to me. I went from, I can't believe that you would do me like this. I went from a ball of emotions to living in abandoned buildings. It was the most, it was the stupidest decision I had probably ever made. I put myself in so much danger as a 12 year old, 13 years old, homeless based on emotions.

So the same document, nothing changed about it. But if I could go back as this adult and look at that, I would look at his facts and go, wow, your mother protected you. Wow, your mom loved you so much that she didn't want you with your biological father because she thought he could be a threat. Right, one were indifferent. Your mom didn't do this because she was trying to hurt you. Your mom did this because she was trying to protect you. Your mom brought you into a family.

Your mom didn't try to hide the identity. She wanted this man to be your father. He changed your name and gave you his last name. try to hide the identity. She wanted this man to be your father. He didn't he changed your name and gave you his last name. Wow. He treated me as if I was his own. Wow. He didn't lie. He made his family treat me as if I was and don't ever say anything about my past because my past has nothing to do with him making a decision at the courthouse to be my dad. It's the same document. What? Emotional. The other one same document. What you emotional

the other one is factual your mother loves you your mother cares for you your mother's trying to put you in a healthy environment your mother has a job your mother married somebody who was a former GM he has a job he has a college degree he played basketball he's a responsible man he protected from taking emotion would let me be rational rational. Emotional wouldn't let me think rationally. It had me irrational. So I would say when you make emotional decisions, you get emotional consequences,

but it takes meditation. It takes controlling of the mind to say how should I behave? How should I think in this situation and what's gonna give me the best outcomes and I'm gonna be honest I've learned we can save the emotions for when I'm looking at the Nomad bag and going man that's my boy thank you why would you even buy me like what would make you think of and this is a perfect gift you know I'm saying like I didn't think to buy suitcases for myself that's where the emotion should be. Me coming in, seeing you, hugging you,

what's up fam? But when it comes to business, when it comes to being a leader and a decision maker, we not doing emotions. We're doing empirical evidence. We're doing facts. What does the fact say? What does the research say?

What does the evidence say? Okay, and based on the research and the evidence, this is the game plan. Let's go. It doesn't matter how you feel. Yeah. Yeah, don't matter. You feel man. I love this. Yeah. Again, if we're we're talking about really developing developing kind of a bulletproof mindset when the last five years for a lot of people has been a lot of stress and overwhelming anxiety as we move into 2025.

As we move into 2025. In order to have a more powerful, resilient mindset, how important is it for not just me and you, because I already know the answer for me and you. How important is it for everyone to have mentors in their life? Say everything, man. Listen to me. I never even thought about being a multimillionaire or billionaire until I was in the room with Warren Buffett. I didn't even know how much it was worth

when I was in the room with him afterwards. And then this all started making sense. Okay, now that I know who I am, you, 2025, like check, I know who I am. Now it's, oh, oh, real estate is away? Oh, so you mean to tell me that being a blue collar, okay, that's what my parents knew, but you don't make a whole bunch of money work. You make more money when you put your money to work. Oh, that's real estate. Oh, helping kids who

are talented, figure out their talent, taking a percentage. Oh, okay. I didn't even know this stuff exists. Got it. And so it is important. Bob Proctor pulling me to the side. How much do you charge? You should be charging. Les Brown calling me and said, I'll meet you in Orlando. Les Brown sitting me down, talking to him. Listen to me, coaching is everything. Why? Because I just said, think of Michael Jordan without Phil Jackson. Right. Think of Venus and Serita without Richard Williams.

Like, yo, I just want you to picture Kobe without Phil Jackson. Think about Tim Brooke without Mike without, you know what I'm saying? Tim Brokaw. Come on, not Tim. Why would he? So coaching is critical.

Here's what's going to blow your mind. When you get to our level, you really need more coaching. Cause we didn't exhaust it all and stuff. You really need coaching. After Jordan won his first championship, he didn't say, I think I've got it figured out on my own. I don't need a coach. He said, let me find Tim to train me.

Let me find the mindset coach, the recovery coach, make sure we're getting to the next level. They said, I read it, but it's research. I'm almost sure it's true that LeBron, look at LeBron, what he's doing right now. It's amazing, man. Bro, 40, a 40 chicken dunking on 20 year olds. Whoever had the arguments, you know what I'm saying? Because there were those of us who was alive. Yeah. We watched Jordan do his thing. But bro, when LeBron is doing right now, but when I do my research and not emotional about, oh, how is he doing this?

No, when I do my research, he's spending 1.5 million on his body. Recovery coaches, meaning dietary coaches. Meaning mental and emotional coaches, acting coaches. Like he got on, and so you see the decision he made, and you see, okay, yeah, he was great. But that investment that he made in himself and now look at his son is in, and then he got another son as part. These are decisions that he's making. He's not emotional. These decisions are based on facts of experts.

And then we're seeing the outcomes of it. We're seeing the numbers they putting up at this age versus the, and nobody's ever put these kinds of numbers up at this particular age. So we all need coaches, you know? And so that's why I've made the decision that E, the one area that you need to step up in, speaking is good, traveling the world, but you gotta, the same way people open up doors for you

and walk you through, you have got to do the same thing. And I've literally, the last two years, have had a small group of people that every morning I wake up with, and I train them for an hour every single morning. It's amazing. And what's amazing about that is to see the difference between people I coach and people who watch me online.

Wow. It's a difference. You watching me online, you getting the motivation a difference. You're watching me online. You're getting the motivation, but you're not getting the daily schedule. You're not getting the things to do list. You're not getting the mindset. You're not getting the analytics. You're not getting the blueprint.

So it's like you're watching and then you're interpreting. And this is why I think audio books are good, but I think training with our books are good because people will read our books and interpret them in a way that we didn't intend for them to interpret it. So when we do the training or they get to come to a conference where they get to watch the podcast, they're really investing more to what was he really saying? And if they can do what you're saying, that habit, they can get the outcomes of me and you get. Yeah.

And it's also being around other people who are in that mindset, who are pushing and you're seeing them grow and it's influencing you to grow. And you're, yeah. So the community aspect of we're getting, we're getting coached together. We're growing together. We're working our goals together. All that stuff. You've got an amazing challenge coming up.

It's a you 2025.com where you're going to put people through a lot of what we've been talking about and more 21 days 21 days every day coaching teaching mentoring schedule what I actually do not just the passion and stuff you hear it online but the actual and for free but you I'm gonna walk you through how many steps I take a day, what I'm drinking, why do I, why did I decide to wake up at this time? Why am I doing this so that you can start the year off? And I used to do it in like January-ish

and I'm like, E you from Detroit, the 2025 come out in such a rocked over. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of 2024. Yeah. They don't wait to bring, Sure. They don't bring 2025 out in January.

They bring it out. And so I was like, E don't do that. Let's start in November. Let's take it into December. And let's give them the energy and the strategy to go into the new year. That's right. Knowing that they are their greatest asset

and they need to tap into their greatest. There should be like in class, especially you go to college, it should be like you owe you 101, you owe you 215, you owe you 312. Literally, you get to sit down and go, who am I, what are my skills, what are the things that I'm challenged with,

what industries would I be best in? We spend so much time trying to get that we, I don't think we spent us a submit us a Nick fit in enough time who we are, like who should we become? Yeah. That's beautiful, man. So they can go to you2025.com to register for that. That's powerful, man. I feel like I could talk to you for a long time on this,

but I wanted to ask you a couple more questions before I wrap up. Again, we're going back to the 12 year old you who's down and out figuring about your dad's not your biological dad in your life, your mom lied, you know, challenges in life. And we're talking about where you're at now. And we're talking about where you're at now. Where do you think you'd be without a spiritual relationship with God in your life over the last 30 plus years with all the ups and downs? Where would you be in life right now? The ETU with no spiritual relationship? I'd say the day I say dead really because I was an extremist.

You know everything I did I did it to the fullest. You know, so I think I would be dead, honestly. I would say this to simplify for people, because sometimes when you talk spirituality, it's just, for some people, it's just too deep. I would say to you, what happened when I made a commitment to God is that I connected with the person that made me, that knew me like nobody else knew me.

And he coached me from the 12-year-old to now. He coached me. Wow. He old to now. He coached me. He's like, bro, I know you, I made you. I know what's the best environments for you. I know who's good for you, who's not good for you. I know your temptations. I know your vices. I know your good habits, your bad habits.

And just let me teach you. And so it was maybe five, six years of fighting. Resisting. Resisting, you know, and because he introduced himself to me at eight, and I guess maybe it was too young, but homeless, I was like at 16, like, okay, I'm ready to get coached. Where's the coaching program you sent you? I'm ready for that coach. And so from 16 to maybe 25, you know, it was like, okay, I'm gonna come to coaching some days, some days I'm not,

some days I'm going in, some days I'm not. And then my son was born. I was almost 25 years old, Jalen was born. And Jalen was born in 1995. I turned 25 in September, he was born July 20th. And when Jalen was born, it was the day Coach said to me, this is why I've been trying to train you.

Because I wanted you to be the best father you could be. And so you miss him, you miss him classes. You miss him lessons. Your son is here now. He needs the best version of you. We can't repeat the mistakes of the past. And so I need you to hurry up. And so when Jalen was born, from that day forward, I remember when he was born, I held him and it was kind of like he lifted me, like you're the person that's going to take

care of me. And that was the day, and this is what a lot of you are running from, it's the R word, and I get it because it's tough, responsibility. That was the day where it was like, oh, you got to be responsible for somebody else. Yeah. You cannot, you got, I've never played a video game since Jalen was born. Wow. I've read more books since Jalen was born. That first year or two that I ever read in my life,

I took my career seriously speaking. I start, you know, Zig Ziglar, you know, Nightingale, you know, Og Mendino. Yeah, Bob Proctor, all these books. Oh, bruh, you know, Zig Ziglar, you know, Nightingale, you know, Ogmendino, you know. I proctor all these. Oh, bruh, you name them. Dennis Kimbrough, like I went, I went deep, I went heavy. You know, Arthur Ashe, you know, Days of Grey. Man, I read everything.

I was in the library, like, I added, just studying and studying and studying. And it was because I didn't want the, I didn't want some of the consequences of the past to come in this generation, you know. And so for me, it was like, yo, your son's here. You got to handle your business. And I just heard, I was more attentive.

I started getting up at six and then I played this game. Daylight saving times would come. I would, okay, say don't follow it. Stay up at five is the new. And then the next year to four, and then I got started getting up at three and then I start getting up at three, and I start getting up at three o'clock in the morning because it was still. There was no dogs outside. Nobody was driving around.

The family was asleep. And I was like, okay, coach, I'm sorry. Let's go back over the lessons I didn't get, and let's go over the new lessons. Coach me. Show me. Show me. Nobody knows me. And I tell people I had a brand new Cadillac, man. It had 10,000 miles and the engine blew. And I immediately took it back to Cadillac. I didn't take it to BMW.

I didn't take it to Honda. I took it straight to Cadillac. And I went right back to the creator. It's like, yo, you made me and I'm tearing this car up. I'm not putting oil in it. I'm not changing the rotating the tires. I'm not putting fluid in it. Show me how to take care of this.

And he began to show me how to do it. And it's just like amazing to see when we're on one accord and I'm following the... He told me, he's like, yo, it's time. I think I called you maybe last year. I'm like, yo, I need to... And he was like, no, no, you're just supposed to call and say, what's up? You know, and then this time it was like, yep, you need to do it. You know, I was like, all right, I got it, Brandon.

I think I was like, all right, you know what I'm saying? So just listen to him doing what he's you need to do it. You know, I was like, all right, I got it, Brandon. I think, I was like, all right, you know what I'm saying? So just listening to him, doing what he's telling me to do and let him coach me. So I would say, you know, don't spiritualize it and make it too, it's the coach. And just get a relationship with the coach. Let the coach get a relationship with you and just do what he tells you to do

and you're gonna love the results. You alluded a little bit about, you know, this version of you is kind of speaking to your 16 year old self and saying like, here's what you need to do. Stop doing that. Start doing this. Like, whether that was you in the future or God speaking to you in the future, like, hey, this is what your higher self needs you to do right now. Yeah. What do you feel like God is speaking to

you now or your future self is saying to you now? The wisdom you need to hear to take you to the next step. This, this, this, this, this is what God is saying. You spent all of your mature life pouring into people who can't do a whole lot for you. You spent some kind of way in your soul, you feel like, because of where you were and all these people that helped you get to where you are. So it's like you, like you feel like you owe people to not be in mutual relationships. Like you feel like you're so blessed and you have so much.

It's almost a survivor of guilt. And now you just gotta be with people who you gotta pull. And you gotta be with people that you got to beg to. And you gotta be with people who you just gotta bless and you may not get none back like no no no no in this season, these relationships have always been there for you. But you haven't taken advantage of them because it's like I got to help and I got to fix and I got to be a

survive us. Savior's complex got to help you help you help you because somebody help me and I would be a very slight and CJ said to me Eric snow. no, the only reason it worked is because you wanted it to work. Those mentors didn't do nothing for you. They did, but you had to want it. You're helping people that don't even wanna be helped. They wanna hand out.

They don't wanna be helped. Now, the rest of your life, son, be in relationships where it's mutual. Just, bro, this might seem insignificant to you, but they called me and was like, yo, let us know when you get here. And I was like, all right, I'll be there, you know, whatever, and they was like, no, no, no,

tell us when you pull up. I'm like, tell you when I pull up, I can get upstairs on my own. They're like, no, no, no, tell us when you get there with a bitch downstairs. Oh, and you want anything from Starbucks? I'm like, no, I'm good. I didn't say anything until I was like, nah, I'm good.

I can get my own Starbucks. And he said, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm trying to teach you something. She didn't ask you if you had money to buy Starbucks. You want something. She asked you if you want something from Starbucks. And I said, you know what? I even texted her and said, you know, I, I, I normally say no. I don't say yes to this kind of stuff.

But you know what? Yes. I'd like a grande medicine ball with no honey, but three agave. Wow. You know? And she was like, okay, you want to get, you need to use the restroom. And he was like, yo, this is the season. You pour it out so much. Receive. Get something.

Receive. Get in these mutual relationships and get something. So that's what I'm hearing him say, you know, as I come today, it's like, you, these relationships have been there for you and you've done your part to make sure you stay alive, but you don't always allow people to reciprocate, you know? So that's the season for me. It's like, hey, bless the world. And hey, if you don't ever allow people to reciprocate. So that's the season for me is like, hey, bless the world. And hey, if you don't ever put out another video,

there's enough videos and all kinds of content for people to now look out for Eric Thomas. Now put Eric Thomas, now go to the weddings. Stop working all the time. Now go to the events. Stop just working all the time. And stop just you and your wife, when you look, no, no, there are other communities that are waiting to bless you in the way

you've blessed others. And it's time for you to enjoy that. Yeah, so that's what he's telling me. You deserve to receive, man. I want to acknowledge you, Eric, for being in this season of life. Because I've known you for 10 years, but you put so much focus on giving in a big way,

which is a beautiful blessing. But I think you can also give and receive at the same time. It doesn't have to be mutually one way. Just give, give, give, give and like exhaust yourself to like serve, serve, serve, serve, serve and then they can give nothing back to self. So I really acknowledge you for being in a season of like, how can I give and receive that? How can I deepen these relationships with people who, because I know people try to pour into you, but you're always too busy or you're trying to give, give, give or you're traveling nonstop.

I gotta help save the kids and teenagers. Ah! Of course, dude. And so I acknowledge it for, you know, acknowledging the season of life for you and saying like it's time to like, and I can even see it in your face, in your chest, even just energetically when I saw you today.

I was like, man, you look healthy, healthy you're, and I think it's because you're allowing yourself no recourse to that. And so it's really beautiful, man. I'm glad you're in that space. You and me both. You look younger too. You and me both.

You know what I mean? And you know what? I've got people in my life who have, you know, my guy Chuck at church. E, what do you need? I have people who've been there and I haven't even allowed. And so it's like, no, there are a few people already in your circle who've tried. You got to let them fully. And then there are other people not in your circle of influence who are, who've been trying to.

Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Receive, trying to sure. And you got to receive. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Receive, receive, man. I love this, man. So you can by email. Yeah, exactly. Well, people want to learn more. They can go to you. Twenty twenty five dot com. They can also go to I think it's Eric Thomas dot com or E.T.

the hip hop preacher on Instagram, YouTube. Obviously lots of great free content. If you're not able to sign up for the challenge right now, but it is free. Yeah, yeah, all the challenges is free. There you go. U2020.com. Make sure you guys check that out.

Leave a comment of the thing that spoke to you and resonated the most with you below on YouTube as well. And I'll always make sure to share it for the friend that you think would empower them to step up in their life in a powerful way. Two final questions for you, Eric. I appreciate your time. Me too.

I appreciate this opportunity. I think I asked you this seven years ago, last time you were on, but I'm gonna ask it again and see where you're at. You keep evolving as a human. This is a question called the three truths. So it's a hypothetical scenario. Say you get to live to 150.

You get to live as long as you want. We gotta come back and do it. Right, yeah, yeah. And before then, you get to live as long as you want, but it's the last day on Earth for you. You know, you're as old as you want to be. You get to create and accomplish and give and receive all the things you want, but it's the last day. Very far in the future. And for whatever reason on this hypothetical scenario, you've got

to take all of your content with you. So the world has no more access to E.T.'s content, books, challenges, YouTube. It's all for whatever reason, hypothetically, gone. It's called. Oh, I know, right? It's all hypothetical. It's not going to happen, but let's just say it is. But on the last day, God says, you know what? I'm going to let you leave three things behind, three lessons from all the wisdom you've gained and all the content you've created and all your experiences. You get to say three final things, three truths,

and this would stay forever for people to watch. What would those three truths be? So the first one is unplug. It's unplug, man. Unplug from everybody, you know, unplug from everybody. I don't know if this is one, but unplug from everybody and plug with the creator, man. Like plug with the person that brought you into this space, knows you, loves you. You know, unplug. Number two.

Man, find love, you know, unplugged. Number two. And fine love, you know, Didi, man, Didi, it's just been so rich being in a healthy relationship. Beautiful, you know, because it shows you who you're not. Like, it's not what you think. It's not just this warm fuzzy, you know, but Didi has been like, hey, you're a great human, but you got to work on this, you know. And then the last one, man, love, you know, love is so easy to see our differences.

It's so easy to, you know, the things that are polar opposite. You grew up here, you grew up, I believe in this, I believe in that. You vote this way, you vote this way. I believe this, I believe it. It's so easy to let one or two things separate you when it's about a hundred things that you guys have in common, because you're human. You know? And so it's just like love.

And I think of a lot of my friends who've never gotten to go out of our community, never meet anybody outside of our little world, and to be in Dubai or New Zealand or wherever. Travel and love. See, that's the last one, love. But don't love in your little pocket. Like, get out and meet different people

who come from different spaces and places and just see how dope the creator is by being around the people who he created. Absolutely. Because he created you and not like me. And so there's so much dopeness, you know, around you that I can get into. But I do, you know, I have a lot of I have a lot of friends. You know, the thing I love about you is I've done podcasts with people I just dope because people were energetic. But I always know when I'm with you,

it's not about energy, it's about inward. And you make me go inward in a way that I don't have to do with a lot of people. So many people are surface, they don't make you go inward. Whenever I'm with you, it's like, no, E, let's have a meaningful, we may only be together for an hour,

but let's make it meaningful and deep. So when I walk out of here, my wife is about to get a new version of me. So I say love with travel and meet all the different people from all the different walks of life, eat different food, see the world different, live in different spaces and just see how good the creator is by introducing yourself to the ones he created.

Wow, that's beautiful. I love those. Final question, what's your definition of greatness? Man, I'll just say this verse. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few, I make you rule over many. To me, greatness is. F is fulfilling the purpose of the manufacturer. So if I made this cup, I want to put whatever I want to put in the cup, I don't want the cup telling me, I don't want to do that.

And so for me, it's like, what is it that you want me to do? And there was a time you wanted me to save the world. Now you want me to save myself. Oh my gosh. So if that's what you want me to do? And there was a time you wanted me to save the world. Now you want me to save myself. Oh, my gosh. So that's what you that's what you want now. If that's the new thing you're asking me to do, I just want to make the manufacturer go. I created this for this use.

And I am I am utilizing it in the way that it should be used. And that's, you know, of course, you got to evolve and grow and do all the stuff you have to do. But yeah, that's to me, that's what be used. And that's, you know, of course you gotta evolve and grow and do all the stuff you have to do. But yeah, that's to me, that's what greatness is. The creator getting everything out of you. Not just you, cause I feel like, yo, if the creator get everything out of me,

I'm gonna have a great life too. But it doesn't necessarily mean I've been married for a while, I've been happy. And my wife was like, I'm not as happy as you are. And I'm like, what? We happy. She said, no, no, you're happy. But there's some things I need you to do

that you're not doing. I'm like, well, you're doing everything. It's like that two things could be true. But you're not. And so I don't wanna just be happy. I want the creator to go, yeah, I'm grateful that I created you. And I see you're doing in the world

what it was that I wanted you to do. And now also for yourself, what I wanted you to do, cause I wanted you to be happy too. I didn't want your life to just be about work and being a blessing. I wanted you to be blessed as well. So that's it. My man, ET, my brother.

Appreciate you, man. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our greatness plus channel exclusively on Apple podcasts.

Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I wanna remind you of no one has told you lately

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