How To Rewire Your Beliefs To Manifest Abundance

Summary

Podcast Summary: The School of Greatness Episode: How To Rewire Your Beliefs To Manifest Abundance
Host: Lewis Howes
Release Date: June 2, 2025

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Introduction: A Deep Dive into Personal Transformation

In this compelling episode of The School of Greatness, Lewis Howes steps away from his usual interview format to deliver a heartfelt and transformative live speech. Drawing from over twelve years of personal experiences and insights gathered through his podcast journey, Howes delves into the profound connection between our beliefs and our ability to manifest abundance in various aspects of life, particularly finances.

Personal Journey: Overcoming Past Trauma and Emotional Wounds

Childhood Trauma and Its Lasting Impact
Howes begins by sharing deeply personal stories from his childhood, highlighting the enduring effects of trauma and emotional pain. He recounts the distressing experience of his brother being incarcerated for drug offenses, which not only devastated his family but also instilled a pervasive sense of unworthiness and insecurity within him.

“One of my first childhood memories was being sexually abused by a man I did not know when I was five years old. It implanted a wound within me that stuck with me for 25 years...” ([00:05:30])

The shame and isolation resulting from his brother's imprisonment further compounded these feelings, leading to social ostracization and self-doubt. Howes reflects on how these experiences shaped his early beliefs about success, love, and money, setting the stage for his later quest to rewrite these narratives.

The Four Phases of Relationship with Money

1. Scarcity and Financial Struggle
Howes describes the initial phase of his relationship with money as one marked by scarcity and financial instability. During his early twenties, he pursued a dream of playing professional football, which ended abruptly due to an injury. This setback left him financially broke, living on his sister's couch, and engulfed in a victim mentality filled with anger, resentment, and fear.

“When I got injured playing football, my whole world collapsed and my dream of being a professional athlete was gone. I was broke, sleeping on my sister's couch...” ([00:18:21])

2. Inner Abundance Amidst Financial Hardship
Despite his financial woes, Howes experienced a paradoxical sense of inner richness. He engaged in personal development activities such as public speaking, reading, and salsa dancing, which fostered a sense of fulfillment and personal growth even in the absence of financial prosperity.

“I was financially broke, but man, did I feel rich inside. I felt like I was meeting people, like opportunities were coming to me...” ([00:26:00])

3. Financial Success Without Emotional Fulfillment
As Howes began to climb the financial ladder, he accumulated significant wealth. However, this external success did not translate into emotional well-being. The newfound money amplified his insecurities and emotional wounds, leading to strained relationships and persistent feelings of inadequacy.

“I started making money, but I felt emotionally broke and scarce inside because I was afraid to go back to the couch.” ([00:29:45])

4. Striving for Financial Independence and Internal Abundance
The culmination of his journey centers on achieving financial freedom while cultivating an abundant mindset. Howes emphasizes the importance of aligning financial success with emotional and spiritual well-being, advocating for a holistic approach to abundance that transcends mere monetary gain.

“The fourth way to live, I think, is what we're all trying to get to, which is how can we create financial independence... and have a rich, abundant life.” ([00:30:50])

Healing Past Wounds: Rewriting Beliefs for Abundance

Connecting Emotional Healing to Financial Reality
Howes explores the intrinsic link between emotional healing and financial success. He posits that unresolved emotional wounds can sabotage our financial endeavors by fostering limiting beliefs and negative self-perceptions.

“Our beliefs influence our behaviors. If I don't believe I'm capable of doing something, I'm probably not going to act in accordance with that competence.” ([00:37:00])

Overcoming Personal Fears and Building Self-Belief
To overcome his fears—ranging from public speaking to salsa dancing—Howes engaged in consistent personal development practices. Joining Toastmasters to conquer his fear of speaking and finding mentors to improve his writing skills were pivotal steps in rebuilding his self-confidence and belief in his capabilities.

“I started overcoming that fear by going all in on learning how to do public speaking by going to Toastmasters every single week.” ([00:18:46])

Real-Life Examples: The Power of Belief in Action

Athletes Demonstrating Manifestation Through Belief
Howes shares inspiring clips of UFC fighters and other athletes who embody the principle of speaking their success into existence. These examples illustrate how unwavering belief and positive affirmations can drive individuals to achieve remarkable feats.

“This is what's inside of you. When someone takes advantage of you, what comes out is whatever is inside of you...” ([00:38:30])

Sinbad’s Stroke: A Cautionary Tale on Negative Beliefs
Referencing comedian Sinbad’s stroke, Howes underscores the peril of harboring negative beliefs. Sinbad’s joke about overworking himself literally manifested into a severe health issue, highlighting how detrimental thoughts can become reality.

“Be careful what you talk about because you bring it into fruition.” ([00:40:40])

The Role of Memories and Meaning in Shaping Beliefs

Wayne Dyer’s Orange Analogy
Howes echoes Wayne Dyer's analogy that just as an orange produces orange juice, our actions and reactions stem from our internal state. He emphasizes that our beliefs, shaped by memories and their meanings, directly influence our behaviors and outcomes.

“When you have a belief inside of you, your behavior reflects that belief.” ([00:42:00])

Creating a Positive Internal Environment
By healing his emotional wounds and fostering a sense of self-worth, Howes learned to create a rich, abundant internal environment. This transformation allowed him to receive and manage wealth without the accompanying emotional turmoil.

“When I started to heal in that journey, I started to remember that I am whole, I am abundant, I am love.” ([00:48:00])

Conclusion: Embracing Abundance Through Healing and Belief

Lewis Howes concludes the episode by reinforcing the interconnectedness of emotional well-being and financial abundance. He urges listeners to confront and heal their past wounds to rewrite their money and success stories. By aligning positive beliefs with consistent, empowered actions, individuals can manifest a life of true abundance and fulfillment.

“You have to heal your past to create a positive financial future.” ([00:49:00])

Key Takeaways

1. Understand the Link Between Emotions and Finances: Emotional wounds and past traumas significantly impact our financial realities and beliefs about money.
2. Heal to Manifest Abundance: Healing past emotional pain is crucial for rewriting limiting beliefs and fostering an abundant mindset.
3. Align Beliefs with Actions: Consistent, positive actions aligned with empowering beliefs can manifest desired outcomes.
4. Cultivate Internal Richness: True abundance stems from an internal sense of worth, love, and completeness, independent of external financial status.
5. Seek Continuous Personal Growth: Engaging in personal development practices can transform fears into strengths, enabling greater financial and emotional success.

Notable Quotes

• “When I got injured playing football, my whole world collapsed and my dream of being a professional athlete was gone. I was broke, sleeping on my sister's couch...” ([00:18:21])
• “I started making money, but I felt emotionally broke and scarce inside because I was afraid to go back to the couch.” ([00:29:45])
• “Be careful what you talk about because you bring it into fruition.” ([00:40:40])
• “When you have a belief inside of you, your behavior reflects that belief.” ([00:42:00])
• “You have to heal your past to create a positive financial future.” ([00:49:00])

Final Thoughts

This episode serves as a powerful reminder that true abundance is a holistic state encompassing emotional, spiritual, and financial well-being. Lewis Howes’ candid sharing of his personal struggles and triumphs provides invaluable insights for anyone seeking to transform their beliefs and manifest a life of greatness.

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Transcript

[Lewis Howes]

My friend, welcome back to the School of Greatness. I'm excited about today because I'm sharing something a little bit different than I've ever shared. I think here in over 12 years of the School of Greatness, I'm sharing a live speech that I gave. Now, for those of you who've been on this journey with me for a while, you saw that I had a book come out a couple of months ago called Make Money Easy. And I went on a book tour and maybe some of you were there. We had an amazing time. It was seven cities in like 10 days all around the country. It was, I think, maybe two weeks or three weeks after I just gotten married. So I've had all these amazing life moments happening at the same time. From a wedding, getting married, to traveling back to Los Angeles to launching the book, then going on tour for a few weeks and getting to meet so many people in person was just such a beautiful season of life. And I wanted to share this speech that I gave while I was on tour, and this is from my New York City stop, because I realized that it resonated with so many people. A lot of the times on this show, I interview other people and I ask them about their life story and about their lessons and what, what greatness means to them and how they overcame challenges and all these things. But so many people come up to me and say, Louis, please share more of your lessons and your stories from your personal life, but also from all the wisdom that you've learned from the last 12 and a half plus years on the School of Greatness. So in this convers, and you're going to hear me sharing some of my most personal stories from this stop in New York City about childhood trauma, the pain of watching my, my brother go to prison and what that did for us. The invisible story of unworthiness that I carried for so many years, and these wounds that shaped my belief about success, money, love, and relationships until I made the conscious choice to start rewriting and rewiring these stories and these beliefs. And in this conversation, this speech that I shared today, this episode, it's going to show you what's possible when you stop hiding from your past and start healing it. And I'm going to share the unconscious connection between emotional wounds and your financial reality. So if you feel like you're not where you want to be financially, there's a few different areas right now for people. People feel stuck. Like they're, they've hit a ceiling of their financial opportunities. They feel like they're only making a certain amount every year. And they also feel like they have a stressful relationship with money. So there's a couple of challenges that people have. It's one, they want to learn how to earn more, and two, they want to learn how to have a better relationship with it. So they want to feel more in harmony with money when they spend it, when they receive it, when they earn earn it when they have to pay it for the things they love buying, when they have to pay for the things they don't enjoy, like taxes or interest or insurance or things like this. And how can we really have a different relationship with money? And all these things are tied to our money story and our past wounds. And this is some of the research that I've been doing over the last few years that I just found was fascinating because I always had an interesting relationship with money, where early in my life I was afraid of it, I was scared of it, I didn't know how to make it, I didn't know how to receive it, all these things, but I knew I wanted it. And then as I started to learn how to make money, I was excited about it. It was thrilling. And I felt like, wow, this rush every time I'd make it. But I also had some underlying wounds tied to it that made me feel like people were taking advantage of me or that if I wasn't making as much money after a few months, then something was wrong with me. So I had this negative relationship with it also. And so you could be really good at making money, but also not feel good about yourself. And I wanted to understand why. And I wanted to dive deeper into my journey, studying this with others and really starting to heal because I realized that these triggers were still coming up for me even in the last couple of years as I was writing this book. And so we're going to talk about this, why healing your past is essential to rewriting your money story, how this trauma can create a false identity and how to break free from it. And really what I discovered about worthiness after years of chasing success. So it's going to be an amazing episode. I really hope you enjoy because this was a fun experience for me to start opening up and sharing on stage for audiences around the country about how to make money easy. So I hope you enjoy it. Let me know your thoughts about this. Make sure to share it with a friend or two and get their feedback, get their insights and ask them what opened up for them. And again, if you haven't left a review yet over on Apple or Spotify. Please leave a review. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode. I'm so grateful for you and let's go ahead and dive in.

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[Lewis Howes]

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[Guest Speaker]

I'm excited to be here. I'm grateful for you guys and I want to share a story with you. I want to share a story with you and I'm curious if anyone can resonate with this story. When I was a young boy, I'm going to make sure this slides back there. Yeah, When I was a young boy, I had many memories that created wounds within me that kind of shaped my Belief that shaped my story about who I thought I was, where I thought I lacked worthiness. And I had a lot of insecurity and self doubt growing up. Now this is a photo probably around the time when I was 7 or 8 years old. And by this time, one of my first memories as a child, not to get, you know, not to bring the energy too far down, but one of my first childhood memories was being sexually abused by a man that I did not know when I was five years old. And it implanted a wound within me that stuck with me for 25 years of my life until I started the school of greatness and started kind of going down this healing, healing journey and really reflecting, looking at my ego, allowing myself to heal and grow beyond the pains of the past. And that was one of my first memories. It created an implant, implanted into me this idea that I'm abusable, that I'm unworthy, that I'm not enough. And I don't know if anyone can relate to that feeling. I'm not talking about the abuse side of things, but. But just the feeling of feeling unlovable, unworthy or not enough. I'm not sure if anyone can relate to that ever. Growing up. They just didn't feel loved or worthy or not enough. Am I the only one putting my hand up, just making sure? Am I the only one who's ever felt that way? Okay, checking if you guys are still with me. All right. That happened at 5 and around 8, my brother goes to prison for selling drugs to an undercover cop. And he went to prison for four and a half years. Coming from a small town in Ohio, this didn't really happen in the neighborhood. It was the first person that I ever heard of that went to prison that I knew in the neighborhood. Right. It was a very challenging time, as you could imagine, for my parents. My parents felt a lot of shame, a lot of sadness, a lot of loss and grief. He was sentenced 6 to 25 years and he was 19 years old. And so it was like this devastation. It was like he was one of the top classical violinists in the world growing up. He was a child prodigy. And then he got into some trouble at Ohio State. He was like just doing weed or whatever, selling a little weed to friends. And then someone got in an undercover situation and asked him, hey, can you get lsd? So he's like, no, I can't. But they kept pushing and it happened to be an undercover cop trying to just figure out how to get people, I guess. And it was six to 25 years because it was the war against drugs back in the 90s. I don't know if anyone remembers that. And he got out in four and a half years and he's gone on to have a beautiful life since then. But the pain and the sadness that was in the energy within our home was evident every single day. My parents didn't have a lot of money anyways, but all the money they did have went to legal fees, went to trying to figure out how to navigate this whole world. Every weekend we would drive to a prison in Ohio and go visit my brother and sit in a room with other inmates and their families. And it was just a lot of sadness, right? So there was these memories that created wounds within me and really kind of started shaping my belief system. Growing up in a small town, if you have a brother that goes to prison, all the parents in the neighborhood wouldn't let their other kids hang out with me by association, right? So I wasn't allowed to really have any friends. I mean, my parents wanted me to have friends, but no one wanted to hang out with me through association. And so I had a lot of insecurity, a lot of self doubt around that and just kind of asking myself, why is this happening? Do I even matter? Am I supposed to be here? Why am I alive? Just kind of all these questions that I had around this time. And there were these kids after school one day that said, hey, we're starting a club, a secret club. And in order to be in the club, you either have to pay money or answer some questions. And at the time I was like, I don't have any money. So what's the questions? They asked me them. I didn't know the answers. And so I felt insignificant. I felt not enough by not being smart enough to answer these questions. And so I go home to my mom and I say, mom, I want to join this club. I want to have some friends, because I didn't have any friends, but I need $5 in order to join the club. And she looked at me a little sad because not probably because I didn't have any friends, but sad because she didn't have the money. And so she said, okay, let's play a game. I want you to go over to the couch, I want you to open up the cushions, I want you to see if you can find some loose change. We did that for a little bit. We went into her, you know, her sock drawer and tried to find change, loose change everywhere. And she. And I found enough change that was $5, which was the entry fee to this club. This is pre Soho house, this is the entry fee, $5. And I get a shoebox that she gives me and it's all the change in there. And I go back to this kid's house with the shoebox, like kind of proud that I got this $5. And I hand it to these two kids. And the club was in the basement of the parents house. So we go to the basement and then they're just kind of playing with their games by themselves for the. And I'm just sitting in the corner by myself. And I remember feeling very like the lowest of low. I'm not smart enough to have friends through association with my brother going to prison, I'm not allowed to have friends. Paying for friends didn't work because they still didn't hang out with me. So I'm just a complete loser. And what's the point of my life? It's just kind of like what the feeling, the energy that I had as a 78 year old, it just felt like hopeless. And my whole goal essentially is my teen years growing up was like how do I just fit in? How do I belong? How do I get friends? How do I learn about myself? How do I believe I'm worthy of this? How do I believe I'm worthy of receiving love? All these things kind of shaped my beliefs and. And it drove me to be the person that I was until I was about 30 years old when I realized that wasn't working either. And my goal for you guys today is to really assess what is blocking you from feeling free and feeling abundant in your life. That's my intention and my goal for you today. To figure out what is blocking you from feeling free and abundant in your life. And for many years I was driven by, to receive, to get, to accomplish in order to feel worthy. And no matter how much success I accomplished, I still didn't feel worthy, I still didn't feel lovable, I still didn't feel enough. And I have realized that there are four different ways that you can live life around the idea of money. The first way is to be broke and live with scarcity. And this is the bottom of the bottom. No one wants to live like this. Let me give an example. When I was 24, I was pursuing my dream of playing professional football and I went to play arena football. I got injured and then I had to go live on my sister's couch. This is in 2000, end of 2007 through 2009, I was living on my sister's couch. And in the beginning of that first kind of year and a half, I was broke financially. I had no money. I had about 24 grand in college debt, living on three credit cards, no money, financially broke and living with scarcity inside of me. So I was emotionally defeated. I was a victim. I was frustrated, I was angry, I was resentful, I was scared. And I was scarce emotionally, spiritually, mentally. And I was living from that place of financial brokeness and also emotional brokeness. And those two things are not a good place to be in. Then something started to shift. I started to get out of this victim mentality. I said, okay, I've got to figure out something with my life. I started reaching out to mentors. I started learning about things in online marketing. I started, I started reading books. I started developing certain skill sets and overcoming certain fears. One of the fears was learning how to speak on stage. I had no clue how to do it. And I was terrified to get in front of a room of a few people and speak because when I was in school in eighth grade, I got tested at a second grade reading level.

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[Guest Speaker]

So again, I was just in confirmation confirmation that I was not good enough and not smart enough through school. And I struggled. I was in special education all the way through graduating high school. And so that was a fear of mine. The humiliation, the embarrassment of standing in front of a room and someone not liking me or judging me or laughing at me or whatever. And I started overcoming that fear by going all in on learning how to do public speaking by going to Toastmasters every single week. All right, clap it up. You guys know what Toastmasters is? Every single week for a year. I started going to Toastmasters and I started to develop more belief in myself through the consistency, through the coaching and the accountability process that I had another fear was literally reading and writing. Because my senior year in high school, my teacher was like, you're failing English halfway through. And she goes, just to let you know, Louis, if you flunk out of English senior year of high school, you can't go to college. And for me, I was just like, mind blown that I had to pass in order to go to college. That's supposed to be a joke, I guess, but it didn't land here. And she was like, no, if you get a F in English, you have to retake senior year. And I'll go Okay, this can't happen. I need to go and pursue my dream and play college football. And she worked with me every day after class to help me do basic vocabulary. So reading and writing was another fear, huge fear of mine. Fear of embarrassment. And I found a mentor who was a writer of books, and he coached me on how to write more effectively. And I started practicing weekly with blogs and content online. And that practice over that next kind of year gave me more confidence. Right. And the third thing, believe it or not, all the Latinos will love this, was I was terrified of salsa dancing. You laugh, but it's true. Imagine a tall gringo like me, six' four, going into a salsa club just like, ah, what am I doing here? I don't understand the language. I don't understand the music. I don't understand the culture. I don't understand how beautiful these women are. All these things were intimidating to me. And funny enough, there was a period of time where I lived above a jazz club because my brother was a jazz musician. He's a jazz musician and got me, like, a little apartment to live above a jazz club. And every week, there would be a salsa band that would come and play, and I would go downstairs because I'd hear this music, and I'd go downstairs, and I was just. I was mesmerized by what I was watching on the dance floor. So every week for three months, I would go and just sit in the corner like that creepy guy, just watching all these amazing dancers. And I would just sit there, so intimidated. But the music just, like, made my heart sing, made me feel alive. And I was just like, man, wouldn't it be amazing if one day I could just do just a little bit of what they're doing? And women would always try to invite me to come out on the dance floor? And I was just like, no, I don't want to make you look bad. It was like, the first fear of humiliation was strong for me in so many areas of life. But eventually, I went out on the dance floor. This one woman just dragged me out there, and I was dancing with her, just, like, so intimidated and so worried about being in the middle of this dance floor. And I was stepping on her feet, and I was bumping into people, and I was just like, man, I am, like, sweating. I was just like, this is not good. And after, like, a minute, she's like, louis. She hits my chin. She goes, louis, look at me. She goes, look around. No one is looking at you. No one cares that you're a tall gringo bumping into people. Maybe they did for the first 30 seconds, but then they got over it and they went back to dancing and having fun. No one cares. Just enjoy the music, have fun. You don't have to look perfect. And I went through this obsession for the next few years of going salsa dancing three, four, five nights a week and going all in on this fear until the point where now I could go anywhere in the world, any country or any language is. I can go into a salsa club. I can find the best dancer in a second. I need a dancer to do that with. I need, like. I need, like, someone who can actually dance to do that. But. So I started going around the world and salsa dancing as a challenge to myself, as a way to, like, say, okay, I need to put myself through this fear over and over again in order to really embrace this level of belief in myself. And so the whole point of this second way of living is I was extremely financially broke still. I still had no money, but man, did I feel rich inside. I felt like I was meeting people, like opportunities were coming to me. I was dancing, I was creating content, I was speaking and building this belief inside of myself. And it just felt like I am living a rich, abundant life, even though I really don't have any money. I don't know if anyone can relate to that. Having no money but feeling rich inside. Okay, hopefully that's not right now where you're broke, but feeling rich. Hopefully you're doing okay. And then I started to go into the third phase after that. I started to figure out money. Eventually. It took a few years, but something clicked inside of me. After having mentors kind of teach me and coaching me where I was just willing to obsess over it, I was like, I'll do whatever it takes. I finally started making money. And then in a sense, it was just like I went all in and obsessed about how can I make more, how can I get off my sister's couch, how can I save more? And it just became an obsession for a couple of years to the point where I had millions of dollars in the bank. But I felt emotionally broke and scarce inside because I was afraid to go back to the couch. So I was taking Greyhound buses around the country when I had a million dollars in the bank. I you not. I was taking like, you know, southwest, middle seat, three connections anywhere I could. When I was like, I've got money, but I was afraid to spend it and I would just be exhausted. I would stay on friends, couches for years anywhere. I traveled Because I didn't want to pay on a hotel room. I had this, you know, I learned how to make money, but I didn't remember how to feel abundant and rich with the money. And so it was almost, almost as bad as being a number one broke with scarcity. And here's why. It's almost as bad. And I don't know if anyone here can relate to this. I'm sure a few people will. The idea of having money in the bank, say I have six months of expenses, a year of expenses, a few years of savings, whatever it is, but feeling insecure, feeling like my relationships are broken, feeling like my health is out of whack. For me, that's not an abundant life, having money, but feeling broke inside and, and it almost breaks your mind even more. Because when you're broke and you have nothing, you think, when I have money, I'll feel better. But when I had money, I was like, why are all my relationships failing? Why am I getting in fights? Why am I still angry? Why am I resentful? Why am I holding on to grudges? Like, why am I starting to get sick? All these different things started to show up and I was like, but I'm making money, I should be happy, right? But I lost that abundance energy because as the scale started to improve in the financial success category, I started to see the insecurity come inside of me. Now, how do I manage this money? How do I navigate this money? Am I really deserving of this money? I can't spend it on myself for comfort, can I? No. Because what if I go broke again? So I have to make sure I save enough. And if I give it to someone else and if they don't respond in a certain way, then I feel taken advantage of and abused again like I was was when I was a child. So all these things were coming up in my nervous system that made me confused around money. And I was just like, I just have to make more and then I'll feel more secure. I don't know if anyone can relate to that at all. In any area where you had money but you didn't feel abundant. Few people, okay, all the broke people were like, teach me how to make money. I don't care. You know, I'll take that money instead of being broke all day long. Give me that third way, you know, I'll take it. But I'm telling you, I'm going to tell you a story right now. A few years ago, I was living in an apartment building in Los Angeles. Before I met Martha. I was living in an apartment building. And here's another thing. I was living in a two bedroom apartment until I was 40 years old. And I was happy with it. I didn't need a lot of space. But I also wasn't willing to invest in creating a sanctuary for myself to expand emotionally, if that makes sense. So I had a lot of learning. But I was living in an apartment building four and a half, five years ago and I was on a road trip and I came back one day and there was a white tent in the valet. There was a white tent and the valet attendant was taking my car and I kind of just made this kind of quick joke, which wasn't a joke after all. And I said, someone didn't jump, did they? And he looked at me and said, yeah, that just happened like 30 minutes ago. And I go, this is the most expensive apartment building. Even though it was only a two bedroom, it was an expensive building and billionaires would live there, famous actors lived there, like it was the building to be in la. And I go, this doesn't make sense that someone would jump from this building. I see these people every day in the common space. There's a nice gym there. I see people and it's like wealthy individuals. And I was like, why would someone jump? I don't want to assume I understand this whole person's life, but the person was worth a half a billion dollars and was a very well known person in Los Angeles in the entertainment world. But it was the day after Father's Day and as I learned more about the situation, he didn't have a relationship with his son, who was a teenage son, he wasn't married. And there were other things that came out about his life. And again, I don't know what he was thinking or how he was feeling, but I can only imagine that he wasn't living an abundant life. Inside.

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[Lewis Howes]

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[Guest Speaker]

And all the money in the world and all the accolades that this person had didn't make him feel worthy of staying alive for whatever reason. And for me, it's scary and sad to see when you think you have it all, but you have nothing. That's why number three is kind of a scary place to be in. You see this where people get into addictions and alcohol and drugs when they have a lot of money. It's like trying to escape from not feeling good enough still. So you have more to play with, which can be scary. The fourth way to live, I think, is what we're all trying to get to, which is how can we create financial independence, financial freedom, whatever that looks like for you, and have a rich, abundant life. And that's what I want us to be exploring, to be unpacking this evening. And it's what we go through in the book as well. Make money easy about creating that richness of life inside of you so that you can have the health, the relationships, the purpose, the vision, the career, whatever it is you're working on, and feel abundant, feel peaceful, feel whole, feel like you're home. And I left home at 13 because I didn't feel safe in my home. I literally left home and went to a private boarding school, begged my parents to send me away. They did not want to send me away, but I didn't feel safe in the environment with them because they didn't love each other. They yelled at each other a lot, silent treatment a lot. I was never afraid for my life, but it never felt safe emotionally being home. And I don't know if any of you can relate to that growing up. The feeling of it doesn't feel safe because mom and dad don't feel safe. Even though I know they loved me, they didn't love each other, so we didn't have a richness there. They did their best with the tools they had. I don't hold a grudge. I love my parents. But I ran away because I didn't feel safe. And it took me another 20 years until I started to learn how to be a safe home inside of me. And I know we're in New York, so hopefully it isn't too woo woo to say this stuff because I know, I know Gabby Bernstein comes here and other people come here, so hopefully you guys can resonate with this a little bit and it's resonating in some way. But the memories that we have and the meaning we give, those memories shape our beliefs. You guys know this. How many of you have listened to the School of Greatness podcast before? Just show of hands. So you guys know this. I'm not saying anything new. You guys have heard all this before. Just question how many of you have met? How many of you brought some. Like, how many of you brought a friend who doesn't know who I am? Just so I'm aware. Okay, a few people, a lot of hands up. I like it. You guys got good friends. You got good friends. Your wife. Yeah, it's always a guy that's like, ah, I got dragged by my wife. I was in Austin last night and this guy came up afterwards in the meet and greet area. He's like, gosh, I hated you at first. Cause my wife was just always smiling when she listened to you. And I was like, my. My bad, man. I swear to God, I'm just trying to help people. And he was like. But then I hated it because I started liking what you were saying and I was like, sorry, man. So hopefully whoever's wife brought you out here, hopefully you appreciate it and it's been good for you. But thanks to everyone who brought someone who has no clue who I am. I appreciate you coming out here and hopefully this isn't too weird for you and you appreciate the person who brought you here. But our memories, plus the meaning we give, those memories create a belief inside of us. You guys, again, most of you, the people who have listened, not the friends who are here, but everyone else, you've heard me say that a lot on the podcast or you've heard the guests I've had on talk about that these memories and the meaning shape the beliefs and the beliefs influence our behaviors. If I don't believe I'm capable of doing something, I'm probably not going to act in Accordance with, of this competence, right? If I don't have that belief inside of me, I'm probably not going to behave and act and consistently show up to go generate and manifest and create whatever I'm thinking and imagining in my life, of the life that I want. And so when I had a lack of belief in myself, my behavior reflected that. And when I had a lack of emotional regulation, my behavior reflected that. And when I was able to learn how to make money from a wounded place, it only expanded my frustration, my resentment, my angers in life because the money revealed more of who I was and really the wounded part of my nervous system, who that was and what that was, what that was feeling. And when I started to heal in that journey, I started to remember that I am whole, I am abundant, I am love. And the more I receive, the more loved I can be and the more I can contain that wealth, abundance, birthday song, whatever it is, any generosity, I can receive it and be grateful. I don't have to reject or be against something. And so I want to share with you guys a few examples. There's a few videos and the audio may be a little loud for a second, they might bring it down or two, adjust it for a second. So be mindful the audio. There's a few videos. As an athlete, I relate to sports related videos. These are a couple short clips. The first one really quickly is of a video clip of a UFC fighter who loses a fight and it's his interview after he loses, and then he wins a fight and it's his interview after he wins. It's a quick clip, I'm gonna play it and then I'll talk about the next one, see if this plays.

[UFC Fighter]

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, and maybe not the next month. Pero only one thing is true. I will be champion one day. I promise. I promise.

[Guest Speaker]

Brandon, can you believe this?

[UFC Fighter]

Joe? This moment, man, this moment is so amazing, brother. Man, but watch, watch me now. Talking with you holding this hand, man, I'm so, I feel so amazing, bro. I feel amazing, bro.

[Guest Speaker]

Brandon, it seemed like after you submitted him, you walked around the octagon almost like as if you didn't believe it.

[UFC Fighter]

And then it sunk in, man, I worked so hard for this man, man, you know, and watch me now, man, watch me now holding this, man. This is unbelievable.

[Guest Speaker]

This clip it up for it. So I want to, I want you to watch this second clip. It's another short clip and it's of a fighter speaking into existence what she believes. So watch this. Introducing first fighting out of the blue corner, a mixed martial artist. Holy national record 10 wins, four losses. She stands 5ft, 5 inches tall. Rose, you shook up the world again.

[UFC Fighter]

I did it again. But God did it, man. I, I really just had to have faith in him and that's, that's what got me through.

[Guest Speaker]

You were so focused before the fight started. You were standing over there and as Bruce Buffer was saying your name, you were saying to yourself, I'm the best. I'm the best.

[UFC Fighter]

I am the best.

[Guest Speaker]

So this is. I love these examples. For me, I love watching these and seeing these examples and just reminding us visually. Using sports as the analogy of speaking something into existence. And it doesn't mean you're going to get the result you want. By saying, I'm going to be a millionaire tomorrow doesn't mean it's going to happen. Right. This is. All of them are saying, you know, I'm the best. Sprint down the track, you can do this. One day I will become. And then it's the actions, the behaviors, matching the belief of this is going to happen. I'm already believing it. I just need to see it now. I believe it will happen and so it will happen soon. It's just a matter of time. And in this three dimensional world, we get to dictate when that time happens, either sooner or later in life based on our belief and our behaviors that match in alignment with each other and our ability to pursue that. This is the opposite. This clip is a clip of Sinbad. I don't know if anyone remembers Sinbad in here. Amazing comedian. And he, he had a stroke. Sinbad had a stroke. I don't know if you guys knew that, but this is him coming on stage. We cut this clip down to like 20 seconds. It took him a few minutes to walk from here to hear on stage. So that's the context of this clip. And listen to the words that he says in this quick 20 second clip.

[UFC Fighter]

Such a blessing. I'm gonna tell you something. It is a miracle for me to go out tonight. Even people walk with that staff. I feel good that I can do that because the left side of my body was affected. My left hand, my left leg, left. Just quit. Be careful what you talk about. Remember I did my joke about having a stroke? Yeah. Be careful what you talk about because you're bringing to fruition.

[Guest Speaker]

Be careful what you talk about because you bring it into fruition.

[Lewis Howes]

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[Guest Speaker]

I don't know if anyone can relate to the idea of clap it up. I don't know if anyone can relate to the idea of something bad happening and you remembering oh I really thought thought of myself and not a positive way. I spoke about this in certain ways. Maybe I joked about it. Sinbad used to tell that joke all the time. God, I'm going on tour non stop and I'm gonna give myself a stroke one day just by coming out here constantly working so hard. I work like a dog, I don't get any days off. I'm working so hard, I'm gonna give myself a stroke. It might be a joke, but his body started to believe it, his nervous system felt it, and his behaviors matched the belief, and he brought it into to fruition. He said it himself and where the athletes that were there, and I'm not saying they're like perfect human beings and they don't have some wounds, but their belief system matched their behaviors. And it was a positive belief system which allowed them the opportunity to create something magical in the external world. And it doesn't matter if you create that in the external world as well. You could still be living a scarce life in internally and not feel you're deserving and worthy of the success. And there's an amazing documentary called the Weight of Gold, and it's about Olympic gold medalists who go through extreme depression or even commit suicide after they win the gold medal because they were driven out of a wound to achieve and then weren't ready to handle the emotional weight of the success. And a lot of people want success, but we're not prepared emotionally to be the container of all the emotions that come our way. That happens with money as well. When I was broke, no one called me and asked for money. No one said, louis, can you bum me 20 bucks? Because I knew I didn't have it. I started making money. People started knowing who I am. People see, oh, oh, you're on this show or this thing, and oh, people were calling me from 10, 15 years back in like middle school, saying, hey, can I. Can you invest in me? Can you do this? And when you have a wound of abuse, abandonment, it feels like you're getting taken advantage of. Like, oh, now you call me after 10 years, now you want something from me. And when you also are a big giver and people pleaser and you want to please everyone because you want people to like you. Any people pleasers or recovering people pleasers here. When you just want to give and give and give and be generous but have zero boundaries in life. Speaking from all my past relationships, you feel resentful. I don't know if anyone can relate to that. You feel resentful, you feel frustrated. You feel like, oh, these people aren't understanding me. No one's appreciating me. I don't know if anyone can relate to that. It doesn't have to be around money also. And These beliefs can shape us into acting in a certain way, and it's interesting. How do we know what our belief is? There's an amazing author that I loved. His name is Wayne Dyer. I don't know if anyone followed Wayne Dyer, and I never got to meet Wayne. I never got to see him speak. But I listened to his audiobooks a lot and I love his content. I was a big fan of the Power of Intention, one of his books, but he used to give this speech and I saw it in a video one time. So I'm just going to share quickly what he said. There's a photo of an orange up here, and let's see if anyone can get this. When you have an orange and you squeeze it, what comes out of the orange? Anyone? Orange juice. Orange juice, right. Does apple juice come out of it? No. Grape juice? Lemon juice? It's orange juice, right? And he would say it's orange juice because that's what's inside of the orange. And what's inside of you? What's inside of all of us. When someone cuts you off in the street, when someone takes advantage of you, when someone is ungrateful for your generosity, when whatever someone cheats on you, lies to you, whatever it might be, what comes out of you is whatever is inside of you. Do you have anger, resentment, frustration, jealousy? Or do you have love, peace, harmony? Do you have a rainforest inside of you that's flourishing with abundance? Or is there a desert of emotions inside of you? What's inside of you? For a long time inside of me, I had a little bit of both. I had joy and passion and excitement, but I had these deep wounds of resentment, anger, frustration, and I had a lot of shame. You know, I'm not here to have anyone raise their hand for this question or this statement, but, you know, I opened up about being sexually abused 12, 13 years ago, and when I started doing the research on sexual abuse, it's one in four in women who are sexually abused and one in six in men. And so no one needs to raise their hand here if you've experienced that, but a fraction of this room has experienced that. And when you have been violated sexually by someone, you know, a stranger, anyone, they take your innocence. And I had a lot of shame associated with that, especially being a man in sports. I didn't see any men talking about going through sexual abuse growing up. I didn't have any role models. No one was on TV saying, this happened to me. So I thought I was the only one in the world. I literally thought, no other boy had been sexually abused because I didn't hear about it. And so it was terrifying to really kind of open up and process that. And I didn't tell anyone for 25 years. And there's people in this room I know who have not told a soul what's happened to them, big or small. And you don't need to tell anyone. I'm not telling you what to do here, but what I can tell you is that there's incredible peace and freedom on the other hand side when you allow yourself to heal and when you remember you are fully loved. So I want to remind you of that.

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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.

[Guest Speaker]

Well as ad free listening, then make.

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[Lewis Howes]

Exclusively on Apple Podcasts.

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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.

[Guest Speaker]

And now it's time to go out.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Lewis Howes]

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