The School of Greatness - The Greatness Mindset - AUDIOBOOK [Chapters 1 & 2] w/ Lewis Howes EP 1421

Episode Date: April 10, 2023

DOWNLOAD THE FULL AUDIOBOOK TODAY - greatness.com/bookThe Greatness Mindset is NOW available on Audible! Many of the lessons in The Greatness Mindset came directly from my 1,400+ episodes of The School of Greatness, which is why I’m SO excited for you to listen to the condensed version of all those conversations with this new audiobook.Kinda like you’re listening to the podcast – I can’t wait for you to hear this my friends.Head to greatness.com/book to download your copy!In this episode you will learn,What FINALLY motivated me to get off of my sister's couch and start chasing my dreams.Why most of us struggle to identify our life’s mission.How to take massive, imperfect action TODAY.For more information go to www.lewishowes.com/1421

Welcome back, my friend. Thank you so much for being here and thank you for your support. I am going to do something today that I don't think we've ever done on the School of Greatness show in the past 10 years. Again, over 1400 episodes. I'm almost positive we've never done this thing we're about to do today. And I'll let you know what that is here in a second. But I want to thank you for all of your support because our new book, The Greatness Mindset, hit back-to-back weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. It hit the monthly New York Times bestseller list. It continues to be up there on the charts on Amazon. And so many of you, I'm blown away by how many of you have bought the book, have been devouring it, telling me you're reading the book within a couple of days, filling out all the exercises, and getting incredible insights to support you in breakthroughs and advances in your career, in your life, in your dreams, in your goals, and in your inner world, and creating that inner peace, which I believe is the key to creating greatness in your life and your dreams and your goals and your inner world and creating that inner peace, which I believe is the key to creating greatness in your life. And so I just want to say thank you for all your help. This book was for you. I wrote this book for myself, you know, 10 years ago when

I was struggling. I wish I had this book. And so I wrote this because I didn't think there was anything like it in the world. And I wanted to bring something in the world that could give you a step-by-step roadmap. And so thank you all for just getting it, being so excited about it. I've been sharing so many of your posts over on social media. A lot of you have been posting it on your stories and Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter. I see it everywhere.

So thank you, thank you, thank you for all your support and making it a massive hit around the world. It's been impacting so many people. And today, I'm very excited to announce the release of the very anticipated and highly request audio book. That's right. Probably the most common comment that I got on every social media platform was, Lewis, when is this coming out on audio? And today it's out. And another question, a lot of you said, are you going to be narrating this book? Yes, I narrated it. It took me almost five days in between all these interviews I was doing. And it was a lot.

I was doing it on the weekends. But I wanted to make sure that you heard it in my voice. And I share some extra insights and perspectives that I hope you're going to love. So make sure to go and check it out and get your copy right now. If you go to the link in the description, wherever you're listening to this podcast, whether it be Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you're listening to it, there should be a link right in the description. Just click on that. It'll take you right to the audiobook.

You can download it or you can go to greatness.com book and that'll take you right there as well. And again, it's narrated by me and we've worked really, really hard to make it unique, special and great. by me and we've worked really, really hard to make it unique, special, and great. And I wanted to give you a sneak peek into the first chapter of the Greatness Mindset audiobook here. So you can get the full thing over on Audible right now, but you're going to get the first chapter for free right here, right now. So again, go pick up your copy, take a screenshot of it when you do, So again, go pick up your copy, take a screenshot of it when you do, post it over on your Instagram story or over on LinkedIn or Twitter, and make sure to tag me so I can reshare some of these and engage with you as well. And if you're not able to pick up a copy on audio right now, but you still want to support, make sure to follow the School of Greatness podcast wherever you listen to your podcast and share this episode with a friend so others can get access to this book as well. Again, click the follow button over on Spotify or Apple Podcasts right now and share this episode with a friend because I'm giving you the first chapter of our

audiobook for free. Again, thank you all for your support with The Greatness Mindset. Make sure to tag me at Lewis Howes on social media if you do pick up the audio book. And again, I hope you enjoy this first chapter. Chapter one, chasing greatness. I was 23 years old, sleeping on my sister's couch in Columbus, Ohio, and freaking broke as a joke. in Columbus, Ohio, and freaking broke as a joke. But it wasn't a joke. It was my life. And it was anything but great. Up to that point, my life had been defined by sports. I had achieved All-American status in the decathlon, but my real passion was football, where I was also an All-American athlete. I held the world record for the most receiving yards in a single football game,

all divisions at every level. I had finally realized my dream of playing professional football in the Arena Football League as I was pursuing my chance to go to the NFL. But then, in the middle of a game, I broke my wrist. The prognosis? Surgery. They cracked open my hip to take a piece of bone and fused it to my wrist. Six months in a cast and another year to heal. I was only in the first month of that cast-wearing stage in September of 2007 when I found myself

wondering if I would ever be able to step on the field again. To make it even worse, my dad had been in an accident the previous year while traveling on the other side of the world in New Zealand. He had suffered severe brain trauma. After being in a coma for months, he had finally regained consciousness, but it was clear his healing journey would be a long one. After he returned to the U.S., I was able to go visit him weekly, but he could only remember very little of everyone who had meant so much to him prior to the accident and showed no signs of

improving. My nights were haunted by so many fearful questions. What if my wrist doesn't heal? What if I can't play football again? What if my dream is over? Who will I be then? And what if my dad never remembers me? What if I can't figure out what to do next? And what if no one will ever love me?

What if I try and I fail? What will people think? Even worse, what if I can't live up to my own expectations? It felt like all I could do during those dark days was flip through TV reruns and infomercials with the remote as I felt my chance at greatness, not just slipping away, but sprinting as fast as it could go. I didn't know what to think, how to feel, or how to process my own emotions. And on top of that, I hadn't even finished college at the time. I was financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually broken. I wondered what to do next. And from my perspective, I was now very much alone. But I knew this couldn't be how the story of my life went. I knew there had to be more to my story, that there had to be greatness inside of me. But I didn't know where or how

to get started. Yet deep down, I knew I would eventually figure it all out. Mindset matters. Maybe you've had one of those moments when you realized the awful truth. You're just trying to survive, running out the clock, hoping someday something magical will happen that changes everything for you. You may actually have a dream that has remained just that, a dream, something to be done someday. But someday never seems to come. And as I write these words, the COVID pandemic has left a lot of people paralyzed, stressed out, and depressed. But of course, it doesn't take a pandemic to produce stress as who knows what comes our way next. There will always be something.

Life happens. Maybe something unexpected happened to you in recent years. You lost your job, experienced a divorce or heartbreak, lost a loved one, or had a career ending surgery. And you just feel stunned and dazed, uncertain about what to do next. Or maybe you got off the couch of life a long time ago. You've been busy getting things done, chasing your dreams, and looking good doing it. Perhaps you've grown a side hustle or a successful dream-chasing business or career, but inside, you feel like it's just not enough. Even though you may be pretty good at getting results,

you feel like there is something missing and you are meant for more. It's good, but not great. meant for more. It's good, but not great. One reason many people struggle is that they feel their identity is tied to the results they achieve. Maybe that's you. I've certainly been there. I've done that. The old adage in golf is that you're only as good as your next shot, but that mindset can leave you feeling pretty unfulfilled, as if you could never quite do or be enough. One of the hardest things to break free from is a good, but not great, life. I hear it so often from people who make what most would consider good money and have what seems to be a good career with kids and family, but they still have an underlying sense of pain or unfulfillment.

There's an ache for something more. Does that resonate with you? Now, don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with living a good life. No doubt millions of people in the world would happily trade places with you. But the question is this. is it the life you want? Is it the story you want your future self to tell? These are the intentional questions high performers ask.

And if that's you, I don't want to leave you out of this conversation. Maybe you're already chasing and achieving your dreams, pursuing greatness at the highest level in business, sports, the arts, politics, charitable work, you name it. You've put a lot of effort into intentionally developing your mindset, but you know no one ever truly arrives. You want that extra edge and are always looking for ways to harness the power of your mind. I get it. So whether you're feeling stuck in neutral or broken down and barely surviving life right now, or you're living what most would call a good life but still feel unfulfilled inside,

or you just want to break through to that next level and find any edge you can, you've come to the right place. The greatness mindset will help you unlock the power of your mind by showing you how to find your very own meaningful mission, overcoming your fears and self-doubt, and finally accomplishing those goals and dreams that may have felt so elusive for so long. You can rewrite the story of your past to propel you forward into a brighter

future rather than becoming a story that replays endlessly in your mind and hold you back. But how do you want to write that future story? Who do you want to be? Where do you want to go? Do you even know? And then how can you exercise the courage to overcome the fears and self-doubt and develop a game plan to pursue your dreams with greater clarity about who you are and who you want to become? Whatever dreams you may have or even forgot that you had, I ask you this simple question. Would you feel happy or fulfilled if your dream died with you? If not, what are you going to do about it? Massive imperfect action. Fortunately, my story didn't end on my sister's couch, and my sister had made it clear I wouldn't be living with her for the rest of my life. In fact, one of the greatest

gifts she gave me was eventually telling me I needed to help pay for rent or find another place to go. So after wallowing in self-pity for a month or two, I got up off the couch and stumbled forward. My first move was to call Stuart Jenkins, a mentor of mine that I looked up to, who was the headmaster of my old high school, and just ask the obvious question, what can I do? He said he had heard people who were finding jobs on some startup digital platform called LinkedIn at the time. It was the first time I had heard of it, but I figured if he thought it was a good idea, I would check it out. So I went all in, obsessing about it and learning everything I could. Then at Christmas time, my brother gave me a gift. And our family had a tradition of drawing names to decide who

gave a gift to whom. And he had drawn my name. Now, his gift was a book. But he didn't even wrap the book. He handed it to me, still in a plastic bag. But the book was The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris. And the subtitle definitely got my attention. Escape 9 to 5, live anywhere, and join the new rich. I devoured that book in a few days at Christmastime, holding it awkwardly, flipping pages with my one cast-free hand. The book opened me up to a world of possibilities about things like digital business, online marketing, and launching something new. Then I just went deep, reading blogs by all the

top leaders at that time, and reaching out to everyone I could think of on LinkedIn to develop relationships over that next year. Two things really helped me during this time. One was getting serious about learning salsa dancing, and yes, a story I'll tell you later about. The other was choosing to master the skill of public speaking, a fear that had held me back my entire life that I felt I needed to overcome. And I met a guy who was a professional speaker, and I told him I wanted to learn how to do what he did. But I couldn't speak in front of anyone to save my life. I was terrified.

He treated me to a cup of coffee. No, I still couldn't afford my own cup of coffee at that time, and gave me his best advice. He said, you've got to join Toastmasters and give a speech every week for a year. Well, I thought, this guy clearly knows what he is doing, so I'm in. At a Toastmasters event that I went to in Columbus, Ohio, this one guy gave an amazing speech. And after the event, I cruised to the back of the room.

As I was stuffing snacks in my mouth while wrapping more in napkins, I heard a man ask, what are you doing? I froze, then turned to see who had asked the question. It was the speaker who had just delivered the incredible speech. Now I gulped and tried to swallow, acting like it was the most natural thing in the world to be cramming free food into every empty pocket I had with only one hand. Well, I really don't have a lot of money, so I'm taking some of this home for later, I said. If I could have crawled under that snack table, I would have, but I doubted I could have fit my six-foot, four-inch body underneath the tablecloth without him noticing. And besides, I would have crushed the food in my pockets.

Let me buy you lunch, he replied, and turned toward the door as if he encountered hungry, pocket-stuffing people after every speech. His name was Frank Hagen, and he began to mentor me in public speaking. But he also had a local business networking company. And as our relationship grew, I told him about all the work I've been doing learning about LinkedIn. And I helped him upgrade his profile there. He gave me a check for $100 and told me this was going to be a game changer for his business. And I was stunned. Do you mean people will pay money for me to do this? With his encouragement, I started helping more people who also paid me.

And they paid me real money. But he didn't let me stop there. Before long, he had another challenge for me. You should write a book about LinkedIn. What? I had no idea how to write a book. I was only 24 years old, and who would listen to me? And besides, I almost flunked out of English class in high school.

He wasn't deterred. I'll help you write it. He had written a few books before, so we decided he would write a section about offline networking, and I would write about using LinkedIn to network online. Now, it wasn't a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, but we had done it, and it was offering value to people. Before I knew it, I was an author, making money and moving forward. Then I went to a Twitter meetup and thought, maybe I could do this on LinkedIn. As far as I knew, no one had ever done

a LinkedIn networking event. So I did 20 LinkedIn networking events over the next year, all over the country, using my network, which led to my doing more consulting and ultimately to my first webinar, which launched me into the online and digital business world, and I haven't looked back since. Fast forward 14 years, and not only did I return to playing sports, but I also played on the USA Men's National Handball Team for nine

years at the Olympic competitive level. Meanwhile, in the business world, I built a growing business with a seven-figure annual revenue stream. Out of millions of podcasts in the world, my podcast, The School of Greatness, is consistently near the top of the list and features some of the most successful people in the world, with more than 1,400 episodes and over half a billion downloads. Plus, I have the number one personal development show on YouTube and have written multiple books, including a New York Times bestseller. I've been featured on shows such as Ellen, The Today Show, and Good Morning America, and I've been able to build a following of more than 8 million people

on social media. All of this has made it possible to make a bigger impact in the world by serving on many nonprofit advisory boards and serving causes that I care about for the last decade. I've been able to leverage my personal network to bring in many millions in donations to help Pencils of Promise and other causes like Charity Water and Operation Underground Railroad, freeing children from sex slavery. I've been able to figure out a lot on this journey and I've learned directly from some of the greatest minds in the world, people who have devoted themselves to the pursuit of greatness in their respective fields. But at the end of the day, I knew I needed to write this book about finding meaning, overcoming fears, and creating a game plan for significance and fulfillment in life

because of what I feel inside on a daily basis. The path ahead. As we journey together, I'll share more about how I've grown, even in recent years. Greatness is what I've been studying and trying to apply my entire adult life. Across different seasons, I've had to overcome physical, emotional, and mental challenges in the three big areas of life, health, relationships, and in my businesses and finances. And it has not been easy. I've encountered fears and insecurities at all levels, but I have overcome so many of them with the help of some of the greatest minds in the world. As an interviewer of and learner from these great minds, I've been able to tap into their expertise

to see how they've overcome their pain, challenges, and traumas to accomplish the most incredible things. But you may be asking, what do I mean when I say greatness? From the time I took that initial massive, imperfect action to today, I've developed a working definition

of what greatness is. Greatness is discovering your unique gifts and talents to pursue your meaningful mission and to make the maximum positive impact on the people around you. It's not complicated. It's all about figuring out who you are and how you can make an authentic and unique contribution that makes the people around you better and the world a better place.

It sounds simple, so what keeps so many of us from living it out? So what keeps so many of us from living it out? One key reason people do not pursue greatness is that they quickly encounter the enemy of greatness, the lack of a clear, meaningful mission. When you don't know what you really want to do, it's pretty difficult to do it. So step one is figuring out your purpose. As Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and author of Man's Search for Meaning, said, the first thing that gives life meaning is a project that demands your attention.

Apart from that, you're simply wandering aimlessly. I'll equip you with the practical guidance on how to get clear on your mission. Not having direction or purpose creates a vacuum in your soul, a vacuum that fears, sadness, and mental health challenges rush to fill. That's why step two is critical. I'll show you how to overcome the most common barriers to greatness. I'll walk you through each one of the debilitating fears, fear of failure, fear of success, and the fear of what others think about you. And finally, the fear of what you think about yourself. The truth is that, left unaddressed, these fears These fears all lead you to the same place, self-doubt and the belief that you are not

enough. The only way to overcome and convert those fears is to tackle them head on. In these chapters, I'll show you how and give you a practical fear conversion toolkit. Step three is where you will actually learn how to develop the greatness mindset. At the heart of this mindset is the unwavering belief that I am enough. That doesn't mean you have arrived, achieved perfection, or done all the good you could possibly do in the world. It means you are still a work in progress, for sure, but you're still moving forward, trying, failing, learning, and growing while helping other people do the same.

The greatness mindset begins to take shape when you begin the journey to heal the pain and trauma in your past. And until you do that, you may often find yourself at the mercy of past pain without ever realizing how or why. We'll explore the psychology and brain science behind how our past shapes our present responses and how to choose to listen to your inner coach rather than your inner critic. Only when you have begun the journey to heal your past can you engage in an authentic evaluation of the four key elements of the greatness mindset in what I call the mindset in motion cycle. One, identity. You are the hero of your own adventure, but heroes are only made by confronting and overcoming challenges. Two, thoughts.

Your thoughts shape your reality, especially the chatter inside your own head. We'll take a closer look at how the latest brain science can help us understand what goes on inside our heads. Three, emotions. Your feelings are intimately connected to your thoughts and your body. Once again, the latest brain science and psychology offer critical insights. Paul Conti, the author of the excellent book, Trauma, the Invisible Epidemic, warns us to invest time in healing the pains in our past because trauma changes our emotions. Changed emotions determine our decisions.

Four, behaviors. Your actions bring the internal mindset to life as you live it out in the physical universe. We'll examine the role habits and routines play in fueling the greatness mindset. Finally, step four, you need a game plan for greatness. These seven actions give you a proven plan drawn from my own experience and the considerable expertise of so many experts from whom I've had the privilege of learning. One, ask courageous questions. When you dare to ask yourself courageous questions, you begin to make the impossible possible. Two, give yourself permission. Once the door is open, you must give yourself permission to wake up every single day and walk through it.

Three, accept the challenge. If you want to become fearless, you need to go all in on your fears until they disappear. And I'll show you how to use a 30, 60, or 90-day challenge to make this happen. Four, define your greatness goals. I'll share my own proven process for goal setting and achievement that will empower but not overwhelm you. Five, enlist support.

You cannot get there by yourself. You'll need internal help via habits and routines as well as external support from peers, coaches, and other voices to help you stay the course. Six, get stuff done. Now it's time for action. I'll share the keys for actually getting stuff done and engaging in meaningful activity to keep moving forward no matter what. Seven, celebrate. It all comes down to resting in the reality that you are enough, being your authentic self, no matter the results.

Do you really want this? In the pages ahead, I'll draw from the many experts who've been my teachers over the last decade and share insights of my own. I don't have all the answers. None of us do. But together, we can achieve something more, something greater, hopefully even greatness itself. I'm not saying I've arrived. not at all. The journey continues, but I am enough. I've learned to love and accept myself, and every day I'm learning and I'm growing. I have come to realize there is a path forward to a place where I can live out my meaningful

mission and feel deep fulfillment and life significance. Now, chasing greatness may mean you'll stumble and fall a few times along the way. Are you willing to take that risk? Well, you were once, back in the day, when you were first learning to walk. You fell fell and you fell a lot. But you kept getting back up and trying again and again and again until you did it. Now you don't even think about it. That's the attitude you'll need now. You'll need to become comfortable with trying, failing, and learning, knowing that failure is the only path to success. It will mean tuning out the critics and the opinions of all the people who choose to sit in the stands instead of taking

the field, including tuning out the loudest critic in your head. One thing I've learned on this journey, criticism happens no matter what. It's the price of admission to life, and you can't let that decide how your story will be told. It will mean finding and listening to coaches who can help you see past your fears and raise your vision of what's possible in your life. It may mean enlisting the help of trained professionals or therapists who can help you heal your past so you can move forward. I don't claim to know the details of the particular support that you will need, but I know leadership expert John C. Maxwell is right. One is too small a number to achieve greatness.

It will mean giving it your all, taking courageous action, but then letting go of the results. The results may not be what you expect them to be. They may be better, or they may just be different, and that's okay. If you continue to act on your meaningful mission, the things you know you will one day be proud to have done, the results will take care of themselves. So my question to you is this, and be gut level honest with yourself here because no one else's opinion matters. Are you ready to discover your unique gifts and talents? Going all in on pursuing those gifts and talents and in that pursuit, making the maximum impact on the people around you? If you are, you can master the greatness mindset and adjust your life story so that instead of you chasing greatness,

Chapter 2, The Greatness Alternative. On September 13, 2007, Lieutenant Jason Redman, a U.S. Navy SEAL, was nearing the end of his deployment in the Anbar province in Iraq. Nearly every night, he and his brothers-in-arms conducted missions, engaging in life-or-death gunfights in what had been the most intense deployment of his 15-year career. One week more, and he would be headed home to his wife and three young children to enjoy a fun Halloween celebration. That night, intelligence indicated they might have finally located the top leader of al-Qaeda for the Ambar province, who surrounded himself with a security team known to choose suicide bombing rather than surrender. That leader was also responsible for the death of a fellow Navy

SEAL. As Jason geared up for the mission that night, he set his body armor side plates aside, thinking he would need to move quickly in the coming conflict. He didn't want any extra weight holding him back. Yet something gnawed at him, urging him to put the plates back on. So he did, without another thought, boarded the helicopter for the flight deep into enemy territory. But when they landed and entered the house where the leader was thought to be hiding, whoever had been there was gone, although they did find weapons and bomb-making materials. As Jason sat on the porch with his team waiting for the explosives to be destroyed, word came in that five individuals had just been spotted running from a house about 150 yards away

and were hiding in thick vegetation. His nine-member team was tasked with tracking them down to find out what they knew. As they advanced in the darkness, they checked with air surveillance. Any weapons? No. What are these guys doing? Can't see them. As they made their way through the dense brush, Jason's spidey sense alerted him that something was off. He chalked it up to stress and pushed forward, following what they had been trained to do. And then it happened. The medic on the team found one of the guys they were searching for by literally stepping right on him. The shadowy figure on the ground rolled up and reached for the medic, who promptly shot him while getting shot himself in the process. What none of them knew at the time

was that the five men they had been tracking were the last of the Al-Qaeda leader's suicidal security detail of about 15 people and that the enemy had set up an ambush line in that field. To make it worse, the medic had been bringing up the rear of the SEAL team, which meant Jason and the rest of the group were already in the middle of the hornet's nest. As they dragged the medic to a large John Deere tractor tire lying in the field, other team members got shot. Out in front, Jason found himself less than 45 feet from two belt-fed machine guns firing massive bullets that punched through the air around him with supersonic force, with tracer rounds lighting up the area like explosive fireflies.

Jason was immediately stitched, riddled with bullets across his body armor. As he fell, he felt like an 800-pound gorilla hit him with a baseball bat as he took two rounds in his right elbow, then a lightning bolt shot up his arm and slammed him in the back of his head. A quick reach with his left hand found nothing. He presumed his arm had been shot off. Jason kept returning fire and shouting orders to his team, a move that caused the enemy to focus both guns on his position. Bullets slammed into his team, a move that caused the enemy to focus both guns on his position. Bullets slammed into his helmet, off his gun, and shattered his night vision device on his head. Then a single bullet

struck just in front of his right ear, traveled through his face, and exited the right side of his nose. The force shattered his jaw all the way through the chin, broke all the bones around his eye, blew off his nose, and knocked him out. When Jason came back to consciousness, he tried to make sense of what had happened. My arm is gone. His left hand explored the place where the side of his face used to be. My face is gone. Tracer rounds straight by, just inches above him. Don't move. Unable to reach his tourniquet to stop the bleeding, he called to his team for help. For the first time, they realized he was still alive.

Another round slammed into his body armor side plate he had almost left at base. As painful as the impact was, it kept the round from hitting his kidney and demolishing his spine. Somehow, his team leader dragged Jason back to the cover of the tire. They called in a close airstrike, and by the time the blur of helicopter transports and medical personnel working frantically to save his life had passed, Jason had lost about 40% of his blood. Shortly after he arrived at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland, doctors performed a CAT scan and created a 3D model of his skull to figure out possible reconstruction options. The image looked as if someone had hit Jason in the face with an axe. His right arm was still attached, but doctors discussed the need to amputate it. The reality of his situation still hadn't completely kicked in.

He had planned to attend his sister's wedding in the Virgin Islands in October of that year. So at one point, he wrote a note to the nurse asking how long it was going to take to put him back together so he could go. She gave him an incredulous look and simply said, it's going to take years to put you back together. As he lay there one night with nothing to do but wrestle with his own thoughts, a voice began speaking. Someone had come into his room and, thinking he was sleeping, said how overwhelming the hospital experience was. They droned on about how terrible it must be for all those wounded warriors

who were broken and never going to be the same. And Jason realized they were talking about him. When the Enemy Wins If anyone had an excuse to stand down at that moment and settle for a life that was less than great. It was Jason Redman. But as you'll see, Jason chose a different, more intentional path. So many great people live lives absent of greatness because they live by default and not by design. They let themselves be limited by fears, anxieties, and pain from the past instead of embracing a limitless, abundant mindset. That doesn't mean they never deal with tough stuff. Of course not.

It comes to all of us in different ways. But you don't have to run from it when it comes. You can choose to accept the challenges and face the fears and enjoy the journey. When people live in the darkness of fear and uncertainty, they don't have what I call a meaningful mission, an underlying purpose that gives their lives a greater significance. As a result, they don't feel freedom within or peace on their journey. They unknowingly let fear control their decisions and shape their perceptions of what their choices might be. As a result, they feel stuck where they are, even trapped, which can cause them to feel lost or resentful and angry at themselves and others. This internal uncertainty can produce tremendous anxiety.

As their body reacts to those emotions, they may even experience physiological responses or panic attacks. We're seeing this anxiety manifest itself more and more. Anxiety is the most common mental disorder in the US, affecting 40 million adults. According to the Cleveland Clinic, every year, up to 30 million Americans experience some sort of panic attack. And it is often people who are in what most would consider to be the prime of their life who face the greatest struggle. According to the National

Institute of Mental Health, over 31% of adolescents experience an anxiety disorder, followed by 18 to 44-year-olds at around 22%, and 45 to 59-year-olds at a little over 20%. In other words, no one is exempt. This rise in anxiety can be attributed to a number of factors, but the bottom line is a growing sense of uncertainty. And as Dr. Wendy Suzuki told me on my show, uncertainty is the key driver for a lot of our anxieties. I'm curious, have you ever felt dissatisfied in your own life? With your career or business experience? With your intimate relationships, family, or friends? Or most of all, with yourself? A general sense of blah can become the rule rather than the exception.

Perhaps that is why we have seen a significant decline in happiness in U.S. adults. In a general social survey over more than 40 years, 1973 to 2016, the trends have been toward people saying they are less happy, especially in the past 20 years. Some turn to coping mechanisms for temporary relief from the stress, like eating more but exercising less. That may explain why, according to the National Institute of Health, nearly one in three adults are overweight. More than two in five adults have obesity. And about one in 11 adults have severe obesity. severe obesity. All of these behaviors, unfortunately, are self-sabotaging moves that exacerbate the problem instead of leading to the solutions. And we are here to get the root

cause and find healthy solutions for your growth, abundance, and greatness. Some make poor financial decisions in the hopes that spending more in the short term or buying that one magical thing will somehow produce a sense of fulfillment. And when that doesn't work, they try again and again. This pattern can be especially destructive for someone already living paycheck to paycheck. It digs a debt hole that makes everything else in life more challenging and only multiplies the already overwhelming stress load. We see this trend in the increased debt levels. For example, the median U.S. household income was $79,900 in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That is an increase of almost $35,000 from 2000.

However, the typical American household now carries an average debt of $145,000, an increase of over $94,000 during that same time. I'm not saying all this debt is bad, but this level of extra debt burden only contributes to the stress load. Instead of helping people feel better, it amplifies the problem. Some turn to busyness in the hope of feeling better and finding clarity. If I only could do more, they think, then I'll finally feel like I have value and I'm making a real difference. Yet it feels like there's never enough time to get done what needs to get done now, let alone do

more. As the minutes tick by, the sense of overwhelm kicks in. They feel that familiar tightness in the chest, the weight of the monster sitting on top of them, making it difficult to breathe or even think. They just feel drained, like butter spread too thin over toast, exhausted, never caught up on rest, on sleep, on relationships, on working out, on living up to the expectations of friends or family, co-workers, and society, drowning in responsibilities. And then physical pain follows, headaches and migraines, tightness in the throat, heart palpitations, stomach sickness, back pain. Take your pick. The body sounds the alarm. Something is off. And the more intense this downward spiral becomes, the more isolated and alone they can begin to feel. No one understands how I feel. I can't talk to anyone about this

because everyone else has it all figured out but me. Then, of course, if that is true, the stage is set for bitterness to sink in. Why me? Why am I the only one who feels emotionally, financially, relationally, spiritually, and every other kind of Ali broken? And why is everyone and everything out to get me? I don't think it's a coincidence that nearly 20% of all Americans experienced mental health issues. And that was before the COVID pandemic. Can I be really transparent with you?

I just described all that pain and anxiety in the third person. They feel, they experience, they fear. But I felt almost all those things myself at many points. And maybe you have too. I've already shared some of my own struggles and will share even more about them in the pages to come. So can I challenge you to reread the description above and change they to you? You feel, you experience, you fear. Or if you're really serious about pursuing greatness, can I change it to I? I feel drained.

I experience overwhelm. I fear not doing or being enough. I feel the painful consequences of it every day. I'm not trying to create more problems for you, but I want to challenge you to be honest with yourself. Because you can't change your life direction if you don't know where you are right now. You can't have any hope of reaching a new destination unless you get real about your current situation and your location. If you want to scale the highest mountain, it helps to know if you are already halfway to the summit or stuck in the mud in the lowest valley or a thousand miles from nowhere. If any of those descriptions sound familiar to you, you are not alone. You're anything but that. You are normal.

That's not to trivialize the intensity of the challenges or the reality that some people face more painful paths, higher barriers, and deeper biases than others. But as I've interviewed so many experts from around the world, studied the insights of countless others, and engaged people just trying to live better lives, I've learned that the struggle for greatness is part of what makes us human. To struggle is to live. This doesn't mean, however, that you have to suffer. It matters how we respond to the struggle because each of us has the potential for something more, greatness. You will have fears. You will have challenges. The difference is in what you choose to do about it. Other people see signs of the enemy of greatness manifesting itself in unpredictable outbursts

of rage. Often these outward manifestations of an internal reality seem to come out of nowhere, triggered by who knows what. It can be easy to dismiss them when they are small, but over time, they may increase in frequency and intensity. They usually stem from some unresolved trauma or pain in the past. Now, I love this analogy of a juicy orange. Squeeze it, and you find out what's inside of the orange is juice. When you look at a human being and you apply pressure to them, what comes out all depends on what's inside of them. If you have peace and

love and patience inside of you, then that's what will come out when life happens. If you have anger, resentment, shame, and stress inside of you and you haven't learned to process that pain, then that's what will come out of you when everything doesn't go according to plan. Some people have learned how to keep it all bottled up inside. They've learned not to verbalize their anger or frustrations, but keeping it all inside only causes them to manifest in other ways. No matter what we do, the pain within will manifest itself somehow. I used to have a lot of fear and anger within me. When I was poked by life in certain ways, it would all come out. It wasn't pretty. But the healing journey I have

undertaken has moved me to a very different place, a place of peace and contentment. The opposite of not bad, not good. Several years after I had gotten off my sister's couch and stepped out into the world of LinkedIn, I had managed to build a seven-figure digital business. It was making me a lot of money and helping a lot of people, and for a while, that was enough. But I slowly began to realize that if I had to talk one more time about how to maximize your LinkedIn profile, I would, well, I'd probably have one of those outbursts I mentioned earlier. It wasn't the first time I had been passionate about something for a season. For example, I loved playing baseball from the time I was five years old until I just decided it wasn't a fit for me anymore when I was 17

in my senior year of high school. And I was good at it. I was one of the best players on the team, but I wasn't that fond of it and didn't see where it would take me in terms of my life direction and my future. So I quit baseball and I focused on football, track, and basketball. The move gave me more time to develop the skills to go to the next level in college and become a two-time All-American in football and as a decathlete. Like baseball, the business was something I had been really excited about until I wasn't anymore. I wasn't using my inner genius to the max in the business, even though I wasn't sure what else I could do. It did feel good to have built a successful business, and it felt even better to have my own money in the bank.

But when I told some friends that I was thinking about making a change, they were shocked. What are you doing? You already have this business that's making all this money and helping a lot of people. Why would you change anything? I just knew I wasn't in my sweet spot. Something we'll explore more of in the next chapter. Like most people, my mission was evolving. I had the sense that what I had set out to do

was no longer my focus. It was time to make a change. So with a multi-million dollar business that was growing year after year, I told my business partner I wasn't doing it anymore. It had become apparent to me for a while that he and I had different visions for the company. But I just put my head down and continued killing myself by working until 3 a.m. to keep the business going. by working until 3 a.m. to keep the business going. Despite the fact that we had a 50-50 split on the company, I was doing three to four more times of the work.

I was the sales and marketing guy, as well as the content creator, while my partner handled the backend operations. And when I stopped working, everything slowed down. When I said I wanted to step back, he said he would pick up some of the sales load. He ran a webinar that I had been delivering and produced zero sales, nothing at all. Same product, same content, no sales. And I knew it was time to change the direction. Once again, just being transparent with you here, we didn't really have the maturity or the skills to communicate about the situation in a healthy way.

I suspect we were both frustrated with each other and, speaking for myself, young and egocentric. There was a lot of blaming on both sides, so we pretty much just didn't speak for several months. several months. Now, it was only after I began to find my way toward my own meaningful mission and take steps to begin healing my own past that I was able to come back to him with a radically different perspective. And when I reached out to my business partner again, I was able to do it with gratitude and peace. I think he was a little shocked. What happened to you? I simply told him I was grateful for him and all we had built together. I came from a place of appreciation rather than frustration. The program we had built was still producing significant revenue, and I sold my shares to him for seven figures and turned my full focus to getting clear on the next evolution of my meaningful

mission. What if you settle? The more Jason Redman thought about the negative voice he had overheard in the hospital, the angrier he got. He awoke and wrote a note to his wife with his good hand, letting her know that nobody would be allowed to come into his room and feel sorry for him. Never again. He asked her to post the following notice with a big sign on his door. Attention to all who enter here. If you are coming into this room with sorrow or to feel sorry for my wounds, go elsewhere. The wounds I received, I got in a job I love.

Doing it for people I love. Supporting the freedom of a country I deeply love. I am incredibly tough and will make a full recovery. What is full? That is the absolute, utmost, physically my body has the ability to recover. Then I will push that about 20% further through sheer mental tenacity. This room you're about to enter is a room of fun, optimism, and intense, rapid regrowth. If you are not prepared for that, go elsewhere.

From the management. As Jason chose to embrace a positive mindset, he began the slow, painful healing process. Meanwhile, the manifesto he had posted on the door went viral. Eventually, President George W. Bush invited him to the White House. And First Lady Michelle Obama mentioned the note in two of her own written books. It was also highlighted in a book by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. More importantly, it inspired millions of people facing overwhelming challenges to embrace the same positive mindset. embrace the same positive mindset. The note was signed by President Bush and now hangs in the halls of the Wounded Warrior Wing at Bethesda and inspiring more people as a recovered Redman

continues to pursue his own meaningful mission. Here's what he told me. We need to build more resilient people and help them get this idea that sometimes nobody's going to come save you but you. It starts with you. You have to be the one that gets up and starts to drive forward. There's a level of resiliency that comes with choosing to drive forward. In other words, greatness won't happen by accident. No one ever accidentally slipped and fell into it. Dr. Jordan Peterson, a Canadian professor of psychology,

even cautions parents not to make their children's lives too easy because doing so can cause them not to be resilient. A lack of challenges in life can actually hurt their development. And if you choose not to pursue greatness and embrace this positive mindset, what might life look like for you then? It could be a range of outcomes with all of them circling around suffering and sadness or feeling alone or like a victim. On the surface, you may look like you're living a great life, family, kids, cars, boats, travel, or however you might define outworked success. But a truly meaningful life will pass you by. John Glenn, one of the

first Americans to go into outer space and orbit Earth, served as a senator for many terms and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 by President Barack Obama. He was also the oldest person to go into space at the age of 77. If there's one thing I've learned in my years on this planet, he said, it's that the happiest and most fulfilled people I've known are those who devoted themselves to something bigger and more profound than merely their own self-interests. You may follow a life path that fits what you think you're supposed to do, but it's not what you were meant to do. Or maybe it was the right path for a season, but now your story has evolved, leaving you stuck in a place that feels a little off.

You can choose to stay stuck doing what you think other people want you to do, but you'll never fully discover your highest, most significant contribution to the world. Even worse, you may get frustrated by it all and become bitter and angry, rather than responding to the challenge like Redmond did. The world is full of people who choose to become a villain instead of the hero of their own story after encountering challenges. They then begin to hurt other people. And none of us sets out to be that person, but it happens nonetheless. I want something much, much better for you.

Something great. And if you're still listening, I better for you. Something great. And if you're still listening, I'm assuming you do too. So let's invest a little time together, figuring out where you are before you get intentional about discovering your own meaningful mission. Greatness, performance, assessment. Achieving a life of greatness is possible when you focus on three different areas of your life. And I like to call them the three players.

Business, relationships, wellness. It may be tempting to focus on one or two of them, but it's important to develop all three players. As part of our greatness coaching program, we help people assess how well they are living out each aspect of these three players. This simple assessment will help you understand your strengths and weaknesses and show you where you need to improve to achieve greatness. Here is a condensed version of the assessment we use in greatness coaching. Here is a condensed version of the assessment we use in greatness coaching. Give each following statement a score of 1 to 10.

1 equals I completely disagree. 10 equals I strongly agree. To what extent do the following statements accurately describe where you are right now? Business and career. One, I am doing what I love and want to do professionally. Two, I am earning the revenue or income I want based on my ability. Three, my business and professional efforts make an impact on others in a positive way. Four, I make steady, measurable progress towards achieving my business goals. Five, I have an intentional plan to grow professionally and financially for the next three years. Now add your total points from one through five for business

and career total score. Then divide the total score by five and you'll get your business GPA. Next, we have relationships. One, my family and or partner relationships are healthy, fulfilling, and where I want them to be. Two, I often engage in social connection, Two, I often engage in social connection, meetups, happy hour events, etc. Three, I invest time and energy in relationships with my family, partner, friends, and colleagues. Four, I practice honest communication even when the topic is uncomfortable or difficult. Five, I have an intentional plan to grow in my relationships for the next three years. Again, add your total points from one through five for your relationship's total score,

then divide the total score by five, and you get your relationship's GPA. Next, we go into wellness. One, I am physically healthy and exercise often. Two, I make mindful nutrition choices regularly. Three, I am a great sleeper and make it a priority in my life. Four, I frequently practice self-care and strategies to optimize my mental health. Five, I have an intentional plan to better my health for the next three years. Again, add up your total points from one through five for your wellness total score. Then divide the total score by five for your wellness GPA. Your results are your cumulative GPA. Add your total business plus relationships plus wellness GPA, and then divide the total by three. So when you complete that, how did you do?

Use this scale that I'm about to share to assess where you are right now. If your GPA is from 2.0 to 4.4, you are rebuilding. If it's 4.5 to 5.9, you are accelerating. If it's 6.0 to 7.4, you are winning. If it's 7.5 to 8.9, you are playoff bound. And if you are 9.0 to 10.0, then you are championship level. 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 want to remind you, if 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.