YOU Are Your Greatest Asset | Eric Thomas

Summary

Podcast Summary: The School of Greatness – "YOU Are Your Greatest Asset" with Eric Thomas

Host: Lewis Howes
Guest: Dr. Eric Thomas (ET, The Hip Hop Preacher)
Date: January 2, 2026
Episode Theme:
A deeply personal and motivational conversation with Eric Thomas about owning your value, overcoming the victim mindset, taking full responsibility for your growth, and how to activate your inner greatness—regardless of where you’re starting from.

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Episode Overview

This episode reintroduces Eric Thomas (“ET the hip hop preacher”) to audiences new and old. Lewis and Eric discuss the power of shifting from blaming external circumstances to taking radical responsibility for your life. ET shares his journey from homelessness and family turmoil to becoming an internationally recognized motivational speaker and author, highlighting the practical strategies, mindset shifts, and hard-won wisdom required for true transformation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Shift from Victim to Owner (04:10–10:09)

• Eric’s Story:
  Eric recounts his early life—growing up in Detroit, learning at 12 years old that the man raising him wasn’t his biological father, feeling betrayed by his mother’s secrecy, running away from home, and living in abandoned buildings.
• Victim Mindset:
  “Everything was about somebody else...it was like, the outside-inside theory. Everything that’s supposed to blow me up and take me to the next level is somebody else’s responsibility.” (Eric Thomas, 04:27)
• Turning Point:
  The hardest moment: looking in the mirror, owning his decisions, and realizing he was the common denominator.
  • “The hardest thing I’ve ever done was look in the mirror and tell myself I was sorry.” (06:31)

2. The Power of Radical Responsibility (10:09–14:36)

• Future Self Wisdom:
  Eric describes how his older, wiser self had to “wake up” the younger version, urging him to take control, stop running from pain, and seek change.
• Rock Bottom and Hope:
  Rock bottom led to hope through a supportive relationship (with his now-wife DeeDee), who challenged him to better himself and follow her to college:
  • “She said, when I go to college, if you don’t come with me, I’m breaking up with you.” (11:40)
  • Their relationship gave him a reason to strive, even though it took him 12 years to finish college.

3. Dismantling the Outside-Inside Theory (14:04–17:04)

• Comparison is Dangerous:
  Eric warns against comparing your journey to others—your unique development may take longer because your purpose is different.
  • “You don’t even have the right context to do that.” (14:04)
  • Pulling back a “slingshot:” The further you’re pulled back, the farther you launch.

4. The Ultimate Obstacle: Yourself (16:52–22:17)

• Not External Forces, But Internal Permission:
  Even when circumstances are against you, the main barrier is yourself.

  • “The greatest problem was I was against me.” (17:04)

• You Are Your Greatest Asset:

  • “Nobody ever told me I was my greatest asset.” (17:55)
  • The key is activating yourself—not passively waiting for systems, teachers, or circumstances.

• Examples for Young People:
  The same kids failing in school teach themselves TikTok, gaming, etc.—proving they have the capacity.

  “Anything you activate... it’s going to blow out. But you waiting for some teacher to teach you, when you can pick up a book, you can go online and learn on your own.” (19:55)

5. Consistency, Vision, and Investing In Yourself (24:56–27:52)

• Long-Term Growth:
  Lewis and Eric reflect on maintaining consistency over 10+ years, watching others burn out while they stayed the course through vision and personal investment.

  • “We have to hold ourselves to that standard, otherwise it could all go away if we don’t.” (26:24)

• Breakthroughs Are NOT Just for Outliers:
  ET emphasizes that overcoming immense odds is possible for anyone—not just exceptions like him or Oprah.

6. Motivation vs. Discipline (28:18–32:38)

• The Role of Pain:
  “You’re already in pain. Get a reward for it.” (28:27)
  • Don’t let your suffering be pointless; turn it into motivation for growth, not a lifelong excuse.
• Taking Back the Keys:
  Blaming others gives them “the keys to your life.” When you reclaim the keys, you gain responsibility and true freedom—even if it’s harder.

7. Transformative Steps for Lasting Change (36:48–43:12)

Step 1: Take Back the Keys (Responsibility)
Step 2: Become Your Own Best Friend

• Get to know yourself, love yourself, and stop defining your happiness by a relationship or community.

Step 3: Find Your North Star

• Discover your purpose and organize your life around it, including enjoyment and balance.
  • “You have to find the thing that wakes you up at 3 o’clock or 6 o’clock or 10 o'clock...” (40:06)

8. From "Good" to "Great": Creating a Mental Rock Bottom (44:15–50:38)

• Good is the Enemy of Great:
  ET addresses those living “good” but not “great” lives by encouraging them to create their own rock bottom—a place where they demand more for themselves.

  • “What would life look like if you did it on your terms?” (45:15)

  • Don’t just be obedient or compliant. Invest in what you want, not what’s expected.

    “You have to understand…the top of one mountain is the bottom of the next.” (48:50)

9. Execution: Fact-Based Action vs. Feeling-Based Inaction (50:38–55:16)

• Control Your Mind:
  Regular meditation is key for the greats—it helps shift decisions from emotional to logical.
  • “When you make emotional decisions, you get emotional consequences.” (54:25)
• Practical Reframe:
  ET reframes his painful childhood discovery of his birth certificate—from an emotional “betrayal” to a rational act of protection and love by his mother, if viewed without emotion.

10. Mentors & Coaching—A Non-Negotiable (55:16–59:47)

• Mentorship Is Everything:
  Being around big thinkers (Warren Buffett, Les Brown, Bob Proctor) changed ET’s perception of possibility.

  • “Think of Michael Jordan without Phil Jackson.” (56:05)

  • At higher levels, you need even more coaching to continue growing—the difference between casual followers and those being actively coached is vast.

    • “You watching me online, you getting the motivation...but you’re not getting the daily schedule, you’re not getting the analytics, you’re not getting the blueprint.” (59:23)

11. Faith, Responsibility, and Evolving Purpose (60:02–77:22)

• Spiritual Foundation:
  Without faith and a relationship with God (“the ultimate coach”), ET says he’d be dead; his spiritual life gave him guidance, direction, and a sense of responsibility for future generations.

• Receiving as Well as Giving:
  ET reveals his next evolution: after a life of serving, he’s learning to receive—letting others pour into him and being present in mutual relationships.

  “Now the rest of your life, son, be in relationships where it’s mutual...There are other communities that are waiting to bless you in the way you’ve blessed others.” (68:43)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Accountability:

  “The hardest thing I’ve ever done was look in the mirror and tell myself I was sorry.”
  (Eric Thomas, 06:31)

• On Self-Activation:

  “I’m my greatest asset...If you don’t activate you, the environment doesn’t matter anyway.”
  (18:00)

• On Victim Mindset:

  “The greatest problem was I was against me.”
  (17:04)

• On Turning Pain Into Purpose:

  “You’re already in pain. Get a reward for it.”
  (28:27)

• On Motivation vs. Action:

  “When you make emotional decisions, you get emotional consequences.”
  (54:25)

• On Mentorship:

  “Think of Michael Jordan without Phil Jackson...Coaching is everything.”
  (56:05)

• On Evolving into Receiving:

  “You pour it out so much. Receive. Get in these mutual relationships and get something. So that’s what I’m hearing him say.”
  (68:43)

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Essential Timestamps

| Segment | Time | |---------------------------------------|-----------| | Early struggles & the victim mindset | 04:10–10:09 | | Accountability and apologizing to self| 06:35–07:03 | | Finding hope through DeeDee | 10:42–13:21 | | Dangers of comparison | 14:04–14:36 | | You are your greatest asset | 17:55–18:38 | | Turning pain into reward | 28:27–30:04 | | Taking back the keys to your life | 32:38–34:37 | | Three-pronged approach to growth | 36:48–43:12 | | Achieving greatness, not just goodness| 44:15–50:38 | | Emotional vs. fact-based execution | 51:26–55:16 | | The necessity of mentorship | 55:16–59:47 | | Spiritual guidance & responsibility | 60:02–64:04 | | Learning to receive | 68:13–71:00 | | Three Truths and definition of greatness | 73:00–77:22 |

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Eric Thomas’s Three Truths (73:00–75:41)

1. Unplug from everyone and connect with your creator.
2. Find and honor love, especially healthy relationships.
3. Love beyond your “little pocket”—travel, meet people different from you, recognize the richness of the human experience.

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Definition of Greatness (75:47–77:32)

“Greatness is fulfilling the purpose of the manufacturer...The Creator getting everything out of you, not just you.”

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Overall Tone & Takeaway

Eric Thomas is both deeply introspective and direct—combining fiery motivation with lived humility. The conversation is raw, vulnerable, and peppered with memorable storytelling. The central message: no matter your circumstances, you can only become great by taking ownership of yourself and your future—with faith, consistency, mentorship, and a relentless commitment to growing the version of yourself the world needs now.

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Listen if you

• Need a push to take responsibility for your life
• Struggle with comparing yourself to others
• Want actionable wisdom on motivation, discipline, and long-term consistency
• Are seeking inspiration to turn pain into purpose

Key takeaway: “You are your greatest asset. Invest in you first, and everything else can change.”

Transcript

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[Lewis Howes]

Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful. We've got ET the hip hop preacher in the house. My man, welcome back. It's in a while.

[Eric Thomas]

It's been a minute. I gotta say this. Congratulations, man. You know I was saying when I was talking to you, it's like 10 years ago, you know, and I, I remember because you were like, e, I want you on the show. And I hadn't really started doing podcasts then, so that was like one of the first podcasts. And I was like, but my mother, my godmother was dying of cancer. And so I was like, man, I can't leave and go, but I definitely wanna. And you were gracious enough, like, where you at? Eat? I was like, embassy Suites.

[Lewis Howes]

I, like, drove out there. Yeah. I was like, let's do this.

[Eric Thomas]

Get it. And, man, just to see your evolution, you know, over the years. And like I said, it was a lot of us that started during that time frame and to see kind of where you are today and you survived the resilience.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah, man.

[Eric Thomas]

Bouncing back, getting bigger, stronger, better, right? Like, you ready to go back to sports?

[Lewis Howes]

Let's go, baby. Let's go.

[Eric Thomas]

Yeah. So Congrats, bro. I've seen it. I mean, I. I can't name all the people, but, Kobe, I seen my girl tab on the show, you know, just to see all the people you had. Of course I watch the show and learn from it. So, man, congratulations.

[Lewis Howes]

Thankfully. Appreciate it.

[Eric Thomas]

Congratulations.

[Lewis Howes]

Appreciate it. I'm excited about this because I feel like you haven't been out there a lot. You've been doing a lot of your own stuff for a while. So I'm excited because there's probably a lot of people who don't know your full story because you used to tell it a lot 10, five years ago. So I kind of want to reintroduce you to the world. And I feel like the world is at such a unique place right now as we go into 2025, and it almost feels like there needs to be a massive mindset shift for everyone to take back ownership of their life.

[Eric Thomas]

Absolutely.

[Lewis Howes]

To take the full responsibility of their life, to not rely on other people to give them opportunities, but to go own their own opportunities by creating and having a clear vision. And there's a few things that I want to talk about that you would have that I've seen you share some incredible strategies around mindset I'm going to dive into in a second. But for those who don't know, you were at one point living homeless, you know, a long time ago, people probably don't even know this about you because you used to talk about it. But it's like you had a season of life where you didn't have any money, you had no education, you had no opportunities, essentially living homeless, struggling, trying to figure out what you're going to do with your life. And I don't think people remember this about you because they see the success. They see the coaching, the speaking, the massive following, the New York Times bestseller. They see all these things now. But 20 years ago, you weren't in this space.

[Eric Thomas]

No, definitely wasn't this space.

[Lewis Howes]

What was the space you were in back in the day when you were living, you know, without the opportunities you have now? And what was the moment you switched your mindset that allowed you to take different actions to start creating your own opportunities?

[Eric Thomas]

Yeah. So I'd say it's the mindset, like, I had a victim mindset. You know, it was my mom got pregnant at 17. You know, my biological father wasn't in my life. You know, I didn't go to the best schools in Detroit. You know, I wasn't in this environment. I didn't have, like, everything was about somebody else. You know, it was like the outside inside theory. You know what I'm saying? Which is terrible. It's like everything that's supposed to blow me up and take me to the next level is somebody else's responsibility. Like, it's something that is going to happen or somebody, and it's going to. And it was like, yo, E. Like, why are you in this abandoned building? Like, your mom's not here. Your biological father, no, he's not in your life, but he didn't get pulled over by the police officer. And the police officer doesn't know the counselor or the principal that kick you out. It's like. But there's a common denominator here. There's a common denominator. And you homeless. Your mom's not homeless. Your biological father's probably married with a family somewhere. Like, yo, is that right or wrong? Who cares? You are living in this abandoned building. High school dropout, you're on your way to. And so when I look back, all the anger and the frustration and the hurt, it was all blaming. Everything was about this person or that person or this person. Nothing had anything. I never even realized I was where I was because of who I was. And I was actually getting the physical manifestations of my thoughts, of my feelings, my emotions. Like, I was creating this and didn't even realize. I thought my mom created it. I thought my father created it. It was like, no, E, you created this. And I'm gonna tell you the moment I realized, you are the greatest common denominator. You probably the least greatest. Like you, the common denominator. Once that realization hit me, it was like, oh, okay, you got some confessing to do, bro. And I'm gonna tell you the hardest thing that I've ever done. Somebody asked me the other day, like, that's one of the hardest things you ever done. The hardest thing I've ever done was look in the mirror and tell myself I was sorry. That was the hardest thing.

[Lewis Howes]

Sorry for what?

[Eric Thomas]

I was sorry for what I got myself into, the choices that I made. You know? Okay, yeah. You 12 years old, and you find out that the person that's raising you is not your biological father, and your mother lied. Absolutely, bro. That's not necessarily best circumstances for a child to be born in. Like, your mom lied about who your father is, and you know your father and don't even know you know your father. Wow. Like, you've been around your father, but.

[Lewis Howes]

You didn't know he was your father.

[Eric Thomas]

Didn't even know he was My father, I'm with his mother, my grandma and me like this. I'm with his sisters, I'm with his brothers, my aunts and uncles. I'm hanging out with them every day. And so the realization of, like, yo, not only did you get lied to, like, it's been manipulative, it's been deceitful, but what do I do? House. I run away from home at 12, and I'm living in garages and living in my friends homes. And this vicious cycle of every time something goes wrong or every time, you know, I'm confronted by this reality that's not. Your father is run away from home. Is run away from home. And at 16, it's like, okay, Ma, you just flat out lied to me. Everybody told me you lied. You keep telling me you didn't lie. You go tell me, when I got older, I'm like, I'm out. But it's like, e, when I looked in the mirror, it's like, why did you have to take. Why did you have to leave your mom? You had counselors. Why? When you sat down with a counselor and they tried to walk you through the tools and the strategies to get on the other side of this, why were you in. Don't talk to me. You ain't my mom. Don't talk to me. You ain't my daddy. Don't talk to me. I don't want to talk to y'. All. These are professional counselors who are saying, yo, we get it. You're going through a lot, but we're here to help. I don't want counselors at school. Principals, teachers. I'm just now insubordinate. I'm evil, rude, mean man. And I looked at myself in the mirror, was like, why was that the choice? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You got to talk to me. I know why you made the choice, but why did you make that choice? We know what the choice was. You run away from home, you always were from conflict. You always blame somebody. But why? And the reason why is because it was easier to put it on my mom and my dad than for me to have to do the work. And so then. So the Eric Thomas that. You've seen the NFL, NBA commercials, whatever that dude is, the dude that looked himself in the mirror was like, yo, you owe yourself an apology. And not only that, you owe yourself. Correction. You owe yourself change. Wow. You need to be taught. You need to be trained. You need to become a better human. And that was one of the most difficult days of my life. Was looking at myself, correcting myself, telling myself I was sorry, and then moving forward, saying, now what are we going to do from this point? So the growth you said is the response to, are you repentful, meaning you're about to change or are you sorry? And I'm like, no, I'm not sorry. I want to repent and I want a better version of me because I should. What 16 year old should be living in abandoned buildings, eating out of trash cans? Like, that's not. It's not healthy. 1. It's not safe in Detroit to be in abandoned buildings, walking. It's not safe. And I put myself in so many situations where guns were pulled out on me, you know, people would break into the abandoned building and take my belongings from me. It's like, e, what are you doing? Like, come on, bro. This version of me had gone all the way and was like, if you don't. If you don't stop. Wow. And so, yeah, that's. I'm glad you did, because like I said, I don't talk about that anymore.

[Lewis Howes]

So you're essentially. You just said that because the, the future you.

[Eric Thomas]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

Had to have wisdom and kind of speak to the younger you. This version of you at this age, you know, 2010, 20, 30, 40 years later, or whatever, is speaking to the younger you and saying, wake up, wake.

[Eric Thomas]

Up, wake up, wake up. Greatness is in you.

[Lewis Howes]

Dang, man, this is fascinating, man. What was it like an intuition that got you to wake up or was it like just rock bottom? That was like, okay, I can't go any lower in my life now. I need to wake up.

[Eric Thomas]

Okay. So I always think it's a combination, right? So it is, it is a rock bottom. But. But this is, this is a blessing because rock bottom turned into go to church with my boy, right? And go to church with my boy turned into. I start dating this girl, right? And I fall in love with this girl, you know, and this girl becomes almost like my first coach, you know, and she's saying to me, man, I'll never forget, she called me to her home. She's like, my mom's not here. I'm like, praise God. She's like, can you come to the house? I was like, well, sure, yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

I'm 16, 17, real.

[Eric Thomas]

Like, finally, like, you been this church girl and finally, you know, so it's like, yo, come to the house now. You was payphone day. I get to the house and she comes outside and I'm confused. Like, why are you coming outside? And she's Like, I want to talk to you. I was like, okay, we could talk, but can we talk inside in the bedroom? You know? And so she's like, no, no, I'm serious. I'm like, I'm serious. She said, do you love me? And I was like, whoa. Like, we kids, I'm like 17, almost 18. Like, do I love you? Like, I don't have no other girlfriends, if that's what you asking me, but I don't. Do you love. She said, no, no, no. Do you love me? Like, is this serious? And I was like, yeah, serious. She said, well, I just got my acceptance letter. And she showed me. And she said, when I go to college, if you don't come up, come with me. I'm breaking up with you. And so it was twofold. It was. I was rock bottom. But this relationship was like, hope. Like, when I was with Dede, it was almost like I wasn't homeless for that time frame that we were together.

[Lewis Howes]

Wow.

[Eric Thomas]

You know, we were in church together. You know, I got a job because she made me get a job. It was just, you know, we would do stuff together, concerts, we would do stuff together as kids. We were downtown Detroit. It's a restaurant called Nicky's. Right. Greek Town. So we were in Greek Town on the weekends. Like, I was living life.

[Lewis Howes]

And I was like, whoa, she's elevating your life.

[Eric Thomas]

I'm like, bro, you rock bottom. And the only light you have in your life is saying, they gone and they're not. And look, look, bro, I'm just being real. I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm not. I'm not stupid. She's not going to go away and get a degree and come back looking for a homeless kid four years from now. It's not going to happen.

[Lewis Howes]

No.

[Eric Thomas]

You know, and so it was. It was rock.

[Lewis Howes]

She saw greatness in you, bruh.

[Eric Thomas]

But you had to do the work. I had to do the work, and I did the work. I went to night school, I got the ged. I followed her to Oakwood. And we've been married over 34 years.

[Lewis Howes]

Crazy, man.

[Eric Thomas]

You feel me? And so it was like it was a combination of rock, rock bottom and hope. And when you put those two together, it was like I had something to wake up to, something to look forward to. So I'm gonna be real. That's why it took me 12 years to get a four year degree. Cause I never went to college for college. I went to college for Dee Dee.

[Lewis Howes]

Wow.

[Eric Thomas]

That's why I went to college. And so once I got to college and we got married, I was like, yo, I got what I wanted. And she was like, okay, we're gonna have to do this again.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Eric Thomas]

I can't be with you if you don't finish what you start. Wow. So I had to go handle this business and get started, and I started the speaking career, you know, in the middle of that as well.

[Lewis Howes]

This is. There's a lot of, like, pressure for people to accomplish certain. Certain things by certain agents. But it took you 12 years to graduate college. Right. So you're in your 30s or whatever.

[Eric Thomas]

30. Absolutely.

[Lewis Howes]

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

[Eric Thomas]

So here's where I went with that. One of the dangerous things is the outside, inside theory. It's dangerous because what you're doing, whether you know it or not, you are comparing your journey and your life to somebody else's journey and somebody else's life. Like, you don't even have. Let's just be honest, you don't even have the right context to do that. You don't know why they're doing what they're doing. You don't know, like, what their strengths and weaknesses are. So you comparing yourself to somebody that. That may have stress that you don't have, like, they. They're nowhere near who you are.

[Lewis Howes]

Yes.

[Eric Thomas]

And so you're comparing yourself. So this is why, I believe for those of us who finally get it, it's the inside out. Like, everything we do starts from the inside. And then from there, we kind of say, oh, okay, I see my boy Lou, he doing X, Y, and Z. But I'm not doing it because you're doing it. But I'm calling you. You're kind of saying E in the industry, this. So I'm using the information you're giving me to build my journey, not I'm trying to be you. And so what I realized was, yeah, there's some kids that can come and graduate in four years because they took K12 series. Or not to be disrespectful, there's some kids that can come and graduate for four years because they're going to get a job. You can't come and graduate in four years one because you didn't take K through 12. Serious. And you're about to be one of the greatest speakers ever. It's going to take a little longer, right? It's going to take a little bit longer to develop you. So my man on a four year plan. But he might. No disrespect, but he may settle into a traditional life. And so for the four year, that's all it takes. But if you are about to be Eric Thomas that I didn't even know I had the capacity. Do you talk about the school of greatness? God was like, you have to be in the school of greatness a little bit longer. You have to be in the school of greatness a little. Why? I always say, you know, and everybody knows it, but when you're doing a swing shot, the further you pull it back, when you let it go, boom. So for me it was like, I was like, it's gonna take 12. Not because you're behind, it's gonna take 12 because that's how much time it's gonna take to develop you. So once I release you into the world now, you're gonna be able to do phenomenal stuff.

[Lewis Howes]

Let's go.

[Eric Thomas]

So, so, so, so I can't compare myself to the dude that's just gonna get a job somewhere who's just gonna settle and all he's caring about is his life. You know, he's not necessarily creating content or writing books that are going to change the world. He's just trying to take care of his family. So 40 years works for him. So now I'm comparing my life to, To a person who is not even trying to accomplish what I'm trying to accomplish. That's dangerous. Dangerous. Wow.

[Lewis Howes]

But I mean, what about the people going back to kind of your story of the victim mindset?

[Eric Thomas]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

You know, your, your mom lies to you about your dad. You don't see your dad. You know, Dan and warehouses, you know, all the problems. Inner city kids struggle, getting kicked out of school, struggling. You had everything against you. Right. And.

[Eric Thomas]

Ah, hold on. See? Yeah, I'm glad you said that. Okay, so I got you. So that's the outside inside. So that's the. You had everything against you. No, the greatest problem was I was against me.

[Lewis Howes]

Oh.

[Eric Thomas]

That was the challenge.

[Lewis Howes]

But most people, most people have both of that. I wouldn't say most people, but a lot of people might be listening or watching who might feel like the outside has been holding them down.

[Eric Thomas]

No question.

[Lewis Howes]

Right. Their parents have been holding them down, their school, their teachers, their coach doesn't give them the opportunity.

[Eric Thomas]

No question.

[Lewis Howes]

Their boss is holding them to whatever it might be. The economy is holding them down 1000%.

[Eric Thomas]

The.

[Lewis Howes]

Where I live is holding me down. The president, the whole. The president, the government, it's all holding me down.

[Eric Thomas]

It's holding you down.

[Lewis Howes]

How does someone get to a place? And maybe it's true that things are holding them down.

[Eric Thomas]

They're absolutely true. Right?

[Lewis Howes]

Maybe it's true. Yeah, but what I'm hearing you say that living in a victim mindset or living in an outside, inside theory will not help you get to where you want to be.

[Eric Thomas]

All I'm saying is this. They have the potential only to hold you down because you're allowing them to hold you down, and you're seeing that they're holding down. Let me tell you the one thing I wish I can go back. All my mentors, everybody. Everybody told me, and they were right. Look, bro, I'm not saying that they were wrong. You need to get a degree. You need to make some money. You need to do whatever. But what they taught me was that my greatest assets were real estate. My greatest asset was a degree or a career. Nobody ever told me I was my greatest asset. I'm my greatest asset. It doesn't matter. Look, people act as if. If you grow up in a house where your parents are rich, you're automatically. Bro. We can look at people who grew.

[Lewis Howes]

Up in wealth and are messed up.

[Eric Thomas]

They messed up. They own drugs, too. They make bad decisions, too. Unfortunately, they take their lives as well. They check out, bruh. It does not. So people think money, environment, or you have both your parents in there and you get. So you think your story is. It doesn't matter where you come from. If you don't activate you. The environment doesn't matter anyway. Great environment, bad environment. If you're not activated. If you. I sit here sometimes and I could whip myself. My grandma used to whip. I could whip myself. And why do I say that? Right? I'm sending the school of greatness. Like, no, we were together 10 years ago. I'm still standing. I'm mad at me, because like you said, I got a PhD at 44. I could have got one when I was 34. I just didn't. I thought, you know, and when I go into the schools, I tell all this, Everybody leave. Principals, counselors, everybody leave. Listen to me, kids. This is 2024. Y' all got the Internet. Y' all on TikTok. Y' all blew TikTok up. And I knew it. Because adults are on LinkedIn and LinkedIn.

[Lewis Howes]

Instagram, LinkedIn made no money.

[Eric Thomas]

TikTok, billionaire instagram why? Cause these young people are there. I said when you show up to anything, it blows up. Here's my problem. You're in the school and you're failing.

[Lewis Howes]

Why?

[Eric Thomas]

Because you're waiting for the teacher to teach you. The teacher didn't teach you TikTok. The teacher didn't teach you how to play YouTube.

[Lewis Howes]

Call of Duty, they didn't teach you.

[Eric Thomas]

How to do that. You did it on your own. Why? Because you wanted to do it. And anything you activate, anything you do for you, it's going to blow out. But you waiting for some teacher to teach you when you can pick up a book, you can go online and learn on your own. So in this environment, you are absolutely. You're not reaching your fullest potential because you're sitting back. Oh, it's the teacher's job. It's the counselor's job to tell me when I'm supposed to graduate and what classes I'm supposed to take and then.

[Lewis Howes]

What degree to get and then what. What job to get and put me in the right job.

[Eric Thomas]

But she not Call of Duty. There's no school counsel. There's no teacher, there's no principal. And you on there with people from all over the world and y' all playing and communicating and what's dominant. These kids are so dope, and they don't realize how dope they are. They did something with video games that we never did. They turned it into a career. You can make money without playing video games. I hate to date myself, but joysticks, I know it's back to us now, but when it was joysticks, you couldn't make millions doing it now because of these kids, and they're taking this thing and giving it a life that it never had before. Anything you touch when you know who you are, believe who you are could have PhD. I don't say that like on the bragging. I say that because if I got a PhD, that means I could have finished high school. But I wasn't in school. I was just there because my mother dropped me off. Like, I wasn't immersed in it. I wasn't excited about it. I wasn't enthused about it. And so it's like, now I'm enthused about life and my life, and now I realize, yo, your mama don't got no whatever. She did that was just to get you started. It's like on the swing when somebody push you and get out the way. They don't. The swing doesn't work if that person keeps pushing you back and forth. It only works if they push you, they get out the way and you do your feet. And so it's like when I showed up and said, eric, the government where you come from, your dad not being in your mind, your mom being young, that has absolutely nothing to do with why you can't read. You can't read because you are lazy. You can't read because you don't take it as serious as you take playing intermental football. You shouldn't be playing football. He should be studying. And so when I started taking my life serious. Wow. Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

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[Podcast Host/Announcer]

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[Eric Thomas]

Quince.com Louis again, I mean, I say this with all, you know, sincerity. I'm, I'm. I'm in one of the best podcasts in the world. And not only that, when people were asking about, I was like, oh, no, I got a relationship. Like, this ain't what you think it is. This is not to your point. I don't do podcasts. Like, I don't have that media schedule where I. You don't see Eric Thomas on different shows. And I remind people, don't get it twisted. I can't be on shows. That's just not my thing. So I'm not here today just on some. I'm gonna, I'm gonna hit Luke by then. I got this podcast. That's not what this is about. This is about a friendship that I'm tapping into and saying, man, it's good to see you alive. It's good to see that we made it. And it's good. I still remember the red shoes with the red shorts, and we're in there just kicking it. And now I'm like, yo, this is, this, this is an enterprise now. This is on a whole nother level. Not saying what you did 10 years ago with me was nothing. I'm saying this, and it'll still be alive and it'll still be welcome. Yeah, man, it's like, yeah, it's beautiful, man. This is what happens when you realize you're your greatest asset and you tap into you. Nothing wrong with real estate. Nothing wrong with investing the s and P500. But at the end of the day, you have to be the first, first thing that you invest in. And if you invest in you, I just believe there's nothing that can stop.

[Lewis Howes]

You 100% and investing in you and being willing to stay consistent.

[Eric Thomas]

Absolutely.

[Lewis Howes]

In the long run.

[Eric Thomas]

Absolutely.

[Lewis Howes]

Because we were just talking beforehand. It's, you know, we. We met 10 years ago. We've done a lot of stuff together. You've been on the show a few times. I've been to your events. You've spoken at my events. We've helped each other with book launches, all that stuff, and just been fans of each other over 10 years. And we've seen a lot of people in this space come and go. We've seen people try to come and they get a big hit and then they fall off and they don't stay consistent. And we've continued to stay consistent. And I think what both of us do really well is we have a vision of our. Of a future that for ourselves in the world that we live into, we speak into that, and we constantly invest in our own personal growth. You know, you're always growing, evolving, transforming, changing, whatever you want to call it. And I feel like we have to hold ourselves to that standard, otherwise it could all go away if we don't. And so it's. And. And I'm curious, you know, for those that are listening or watching, that are still thinking, you know what? It's just too hard for me. The world's against me. Like, I hear what you're saying, E.T. i know you did it. I know people like Oprah did it, like, all these kind of outliers. It's like, that's only for a few people who can really break through and create the life they want. My parents really didn't show up for me, or I was abandoned, or I got cheated on and abused and sexual abuse and physical abuse. And I know what you went through was pretty hard, and it was tough in inner city, but what I'm going through is even harder.

[Eric Thomas]

And it's just.

[Lewis Howes]

It's too much of a weight. It's too hard. It's too much friction to eat, healthier to get up earlier to be consistent. It's just too hard to hit, man. Do people need to think about motivation in order to overcome themselves and their problems and their challenges, or do they need to think about being more disciplined to overcome the weight of the world they're feeling?

[Eric Thomas]

Yeah, I say both. And. But to your point on the discipline, you need to be more disciplined about your mindset.

[Lewis Howes]

What do people need to be thinking about with their minds?

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

So.

[Eric Thomas]

So here's the deal. You already in pain, get a reward for it. It's just like, look, do me a favor. Everything you say, you right. But why go through life with whatever people did to you when you were younger or a young adult, and then you have to live with it for the next 40, 50 years? Like, why would you sit here? And all the stuff that you said was absolutely Right. My daddy wasn't there. My mama did this, this person did to me. Why would you let them destroy your life?

[Lewis Howes]

Let's go.

[Eric Thomas]

Why would you let them own you? Why would you allow that thing they did to hurt you? Now define the rest of your life. It's like, no, I was in pain. It's real, but get a reward for it. So for me, walking into, first of all, driving here in a car service, getting to la, walking in this beautiful facility, seeing the other businesses that are here, I'm like, e, I'm proud of you, bro. You made it. Either you could have stopped. That's the homeless boy, and nobody would have tripped. Your daddy wasn't there. Your mom was 17 when she got pregnant. All the negative that happened to you, Eric, we understand, Bump, understand. Let me tell you one of the things that just blew my mind the other day. So, you know, we were fortunate to own a home in California on the hill, right? So we got this property, we got the basketball court with the logo, all the companies that whatever. And I go outside yesterday and I see my wife and my son playing basketball. And I'm thinking to myself, in California, on the hill, looking at all these beautiful properties. Yeah, man. My wife and my son are outside hooping.

[Lewis Howes]

Dream life, proud.

[Eric Thomas]

My wife was like, I want to work out. My son was like, I didn't even know. She was like, I'm going to play basketball. I'm like, I can't do it right now. And I'm listening to a voice. He came home, heard the basketball, went out with his mom. I'm like, yo, my son, 29 years old, is spending time with his mom. As an adult male, he could be anywhere, doing anything. He's with his mom, her firstborn. They got this bond that I don't have. And they're out here hoping. And as I look at the property, I'm like, yo, what if the 16 year old Eric Thomas would have stayed the 16 year old Eric Thomas? So I'm saying for those who are listening, get a reward for it. And then do me a favor, don't just think about you. Like, do you know that my son, in his mind, this is where you. Like this where you start. Like, he got the sauna, the pool, the whirlpool. He's starting somewhere I never started. The cars, the Rolls Royce, the Escalade. Like he started somewhere I didn't start. Why? Because I didn't stop where I started. I didn't stop. I was like, okay, this is where we started. But this not about to be my end. And so his. His beginnings look to my man. Went to Michigan State and was a general manager for Izzo. He traveled the world. He's got a Final Four ring, an Elite 8 ring. He's got the. He got the jack. He sat under Coach Izzo, hall of Fame coach for four years. Coach OG he sat under these guys. Like, his boys. Some of his boys went to the league. There's some of them still in the league. Like, he got that. Because I didn't go. I quit. Cause my mom, my dad did. So I quit. I give up. This is worst thing ever happened. I was like, you get a reward for it. And so to see my son. I'm coming to a concert tonight with my daughter. Listen to me. Like, I didn't give up. And so I'm saying to everybody, we all go through pain. Some of us go through pain, and it becomes our tombstone. Some of us go through pain, and it's a scar, and we live a life of reward. So I'm just going to say again, 20, 25, do me a favor. Check you. So you're in the ballot box and you looking at all these options. Doctor, lawyer, teacher, whatever you see president, mayor, governor. Do me a favor. Before you check off any of that S&P 500 real estate. Before you check any of that. Check you. Yeah, before you check anything, check you. And go look yourself in the mirror and go, yo, I'm my lottery ticket. I'm my ticket out of the neighborhood. Or, you know, I'm the broken curse. Like, whatever you want to call yourself. But the day I stopped saying my mom, my dad, this person, the police, the. The day I stopped doing that, the day I said you.

[Lewis Howes]

Do you think anyone can have a beautiful, amazing life if they live in a blaming mindset?

[Eric Thomas]

No. No. You know why? Because what I didn't realize as a young adult is, is that when you say it's somebody else, whether you mean to do it or not, you give them the keys to your life. You give them power over. They got your whole life in their hand. Because you said it. You said it. They didn't do this. And because they didn't, they got the keys. Now, I'll be honest. The reason why we don't want to take the keys, because we got to drive. We got to drive. And I told you today, I was like, I got too much to do. I normally drive. I'm like, I got too much to do. And it felt good to be in the car. Driven.

[Lewis Howes]

It felt good. Yeah.

[Eric Thomas]

Like I'M on the phone, talking to my wife. We having worship, doing our thing, making a couple business calls. Like, I don't have the responsibility of.

[Lewis Howes]

The traffic paying attention.

[Eric Thomas]

I got pay attention. He moved over and got. I was like, why is he stopping in the middle of. But it was. A truck was coming, so he had to move over. I didn't know what was going on because it was the first time in my life that I wasn't really, like, responsible because I normally drive. And that's why people don't want to drive in their lives. They don't want to be responsible. It's so, so much easier to say, my life is messed up because you did this and you did that. Once you take the keys, now you gotta go anything. But I'm gonna tell you this, this is why I like it. While it's more responsibility, it's more freedom, it's more independence, it's more control opportunities, they limit it limitless. When you take the keys. And so I took the keys in my life. I said, ma, thanks, Dan. Thanks for not being there for me. You gave me a dog. You gave me a passion. You gave me resilience. You taught me how to make it when the very thing that's supposed to be there for you isn't there for you. And I tell people what I want. Some kid asked me the other day, he's like, man, wouldn't you say your son is lucky because you're in his life and his mom is in his life? I said, yes and no. I said, yes, he's blessed to have his mom and dad, but he ain't got that dog.

[Lewis Howes]

He doesn't have the hunger.

[Eric Thomas]

He ain't got the. Oh, man, my son is a great.

[Lewis Howes]

Kid, but he doesn't have the drive.

[Eric Thomas]

He ain't got the same drive I got. And that drive came without some stuff that I lack. That stuff came from lack. And so I say to anybody, you gotta. You gotta understand, it could go either way. But when you take the. You take the. It's like I walk into a school and I ask, how many of y' all 50 kids? How many kids in here, A thousand kids? How many of your dads weren't in your life, was not living in a house? 90% raised their hand, and guess what? I automatically can relate to them. That's the je ne sais quoi that my daddy wasn't there. That's the it factor. If my father had been there, I might not be able to go in here and relate or my videos that Go viral. People are like, okay, maybe if I just had Eric voice or if I just scream and I just look at it. Yeah, yeah, bro. That's not what it is. It's when I speak, you hear it. Because I've been through what you've been through. And so you recognize that voice. You recognize the pain, you recognize the struggle, but you recognize I overcame it. And that's why you, like, I want to rock with this dude, because this one ain't some kind of way. Eric ain't the one that's making us feel like, oh, it's okay that you went through this, and it's okay that this. And it's okay if you don't want to grow, and it's okay, and you don't want. No. What you hear from me is a coach that's saying, jordan, you got six rings in you, but you got to stop playing this way, and you got to start playing this way. Kobe, you got great, but you gotta. You gotta do it this way. Serena, you gotta. Venus, you gotta. Richard Williams is saying he not out there, Just good job. He's teaching training, but he's also correcting. And so for me, they hear my voice. I'm not letting you get away with murder, because greatness is in you. The greatness is in you. And now it's time to go to school, it's time to go to work and bring that greatness out of you. So, yes, anybody, anybody could be successful. But as long as you're playing the blame game, you have. You have given permission, the license, registration, the keys, you give it all over to somebody else. And the day you take it is the day that you can start deciding which direction you want to go. Wow.

[Lewis Howes]

So it sounds like, step one, take the keys back to your life.

[Eric Thomas]

Take the keys back.

[Lewis Howes]

What would steps two and three be for setting people up for their ultimate life with that beginning process? Is it. Is it get clear on a goal? Is it start with motivation, Start with discipline. Like, change your habits. What would the next couple steps be to set up the mindset for success?

[Eric Thomas]

I would say step two. And I don't know why they don't teach this in school. Like, be your first best friend, you know, like, get to know you. We're so busy wanting to be in a community that we don't realize we are a community. Right. And look, I'm not trying to be deep, you know, people could, you know, you believe this. You don't believe in this. But what I was taught, you know, in school, especially Catholic school, It seemed like Adam was by himself first. It doesn't seem like it was like somebody else. It's like Adam was first and then whatever happened after that. So the first man was by himself. And I think that's important for those of us who study that.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

Why?

[Eric Thomas]

Because all of us think we have to have somebody to be somebody. And this guy started on his. He started his journey on his own before he connected with somebody, whatever. He knew his purpose. You know, he. He walked in his confidence, he walked his. And a lot of us are going. I hear people say all the time, well, I'm not doing good. Like, why not? I don't have nobody. I'm not in a relationship. I'm saying, you're telling me no. Listen to me very closely. Do you think for one minute that getting in a relationship with somebody, it can't be the key? Because so many people have gotten in relationships and gotten out of it. So that can't be the key. Now two healthy people, not perfect, but two healthy people coming together. Oh, no, that's different.

[Lewis Howes]

It's expansive.

[Eric Thomas]

But guess what has to happen.

[Lewis Howes]

You gotta be healthy with you before.

[Eric Thomas]

You can be with them. So we even messing each other up when we have two dysfunctional people trying to connect with each other because we think two functional people gonna come together and make each other. It's not gonna work. So I just think the first step after the first step is you gotta figure out who you are and love you and feel good about you and show up in the ring you and not care what nobody think about you. And that's why this relationship has worked so well for me over the years. Because when we're together, it's never been a thing of E, why you do that, or E, why you do that, or E, why you do that. It's always been like, E, you have a unique set of skills that make you great. You have a unique set. And so we've always focused on what's our unique skills and what do you know that I don't know and how can you help me get to. And so a lot of these young kids are joining things they shouldn't join and being with people because they think their happiness is going to come from being with somebody else. And I just think if you. If you be. Eagles aren't trying to. They just are eating. They not trying. Lions aren't. What do you think about me? What do you think about my roar? You think I'm too loud when I roar? That's not concerned. And so I think Step two, figure out who you are, love you. And step three, figure out your North Star. And wake up every single day going after your North Star. Because when you have a North Star, you know, and the people that you love and you spend time with have a North Star, have a purpose. And look, their purpose might be we both have people whose purposes are help us with our purpose.

[Lewis Howes]

Yes.

[Eric Thomas]

They don't necessarily have a individual purpose. Like they felt like they were called to help us with, serve our mission. That's it. So we need the North Star so they can know what their North Star is. So that would be my third one. It's like, you gotta figure out what makes you happy. And again, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with first time. I did a behind the scenes coming in here just because I was like, to my Patreon community, like, yo, y' all need to understand where I am and what's going on. But I don't. If you follow me on Instagram or TikTok, wherever I'm on, you don't see behind the scenes. I think that's a phenomenal tool to show other people what. But my wife is private. So for us, that does not work. She does not want to be seen in the landline. She doesn't want to be in Dubai and stop and go, let's take a. Let's document what we're doing. She doesn't like that. So for some people, it works. But I don't have to do that to still find a space, right? There's some people, they do tours, right? I don't do tours. That's not my thing. I used to do them, I don't do them now. There's some people that write books, some people don't write books. Like, it doesn't matter. But what matters is you have to find a thing that wakes you up at 3 o' clock or 6 o' clock or 10 o'. Clock. Like, you gotta find the thing that brings the life out of you, the joy out of you, the happiness out of you. And you can't do that following somebody else's North Star. So my last one would be, man, figure out what you was put on this earth to do. And I mean, every single chance you have to do it, do it. And when you're not doing it, enjoy your life. My son was like, damn, I'm tired. I say, you tired? You burnt out for what? Look at your mom and dad. You work for the family company. What are you doing? Well, I've been up the last six days working 10, 12 hours. I said, for once, what would you be doing that for? Why wouldn't you take advantage of the. You said, what should I be doing? I said, you should figure out what it is you do. He's a designer. You should be designing clothes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, whenever, five, six hours a day. And then Saturday, Sunday, or Friday, Saturday, because of your family. You should get a trip somewhere and go spend it with a friend. You should go see the. You should go to Italy. You should go to Rome, son. You should go to South Africa, son. You should go to the Gold coast in Australia, son. What are you. Like you should. What are you doing? Like, you should work. But a part of work also is, where's your play? You should play. We worked hard so you could be balanced. So don't be like us. We grew up in a working class home. We grew up in Detroit. We grew up blue collar. You're not blue collar. So go enjoy your life. Be balanced. So I'm not just saying find your North Star in terms of what you've been called to do for others, but there should be a healthy amount of time that you spend enjoying your life and enjoying a little time that you have here. Because we both know we won't be doing this podcast 100 years from now.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

Sure.

[Eric Thomas]

We don't know how much longer we have, but I won't be 154 sitting down talking to you. So however much time I have left, I need to work hard and I need to enjoy that time.

[Lewis Howes]

Absolutely. Those are beautiful, man.

[Eric Thomas]

You know, Donald, I just want to scream out into this canyon and tell the whole world, T Mobile's got home Internet.

[Lewis Howes]

Do it, Zach.

[Eric Thomas]

T Mobile's got home Internet. Home Internet.

[Lewis Howes]

Let me try.

[Eric Thomas]

T Mobile's got home Internet. How much is it? Just 35 bucks a month and it's guaranteed for five years. I'm switching. T Mobile's got home Internet. Just 35 bucks a month with autopay and any voice line and it's guaranteed for five years. Taxes will be supplied.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

Ctmobile.com isp for details and exclusions.

[Eric Thomas]

Amazon Pharmacy presents Painful Thoughts. 20 more minutes to kill in the pharmacy before my prescription is ready. Maybe I'll grab some deeply discounted out of season Halloween candy. I never had a chocolate pumpkin with raisins before. Those were raisins, right? Next time, use Amazon Pharmacy. We deliver. And no, those were not raisins. Amazon Pharmacy Healthcare just got less painful.

[Lewis Howes]

I. I've heard you talk about a concept I want to share in a Second, but I feel like there's a group of people we've been talking to, you've been talking to that are the people that have maybe don't have the opportunities they want, they don't have a life they want. They feel like people are holding them down. That's one group. Then there's another group of people, which I feel like is a majority of people that have a good life, it's okay, it's good. But they don't. They're not living a great life for themselves. Maybe they got a good job and they're pretty healthy, got a decent relationships, but something. There's like something missing. I think. If you can. If that resonates with anyone listening or watching, comment below. Or leave a. Like, if you feel like, yeah, my life is good, but I feel like something's off. You have this great concept called creating a mental rock bottom to push yourself towards your goals. Can you share more about kind of some practical steps of creating your own mental rock bottom so that you can go to the next level in your life?

[Eric Thomas]

I want to use the term, though, that you use. And you said create. And I just think so many of us have stepped into careers. That group, we have worship careers more than we worship create. And so the first thing I was head of that group is what would life look like if you did it on your terms? Because right now you're really not doing on your terms. What you've done is say, yo, if I want to survive, if I want to strive, this is what I have to do. And you have allowed people to tell you, okay, you need to be an engineer or you need to be a. And you need to move it. So you've done a phenomenal job. And being obedient, you've done a phenomenal job in complying.

[Lewis Howes]

Yes.

[Eric Thomas]

Like, you've done a phenomenal job. You follow the rules.

[Lewis Howes]

Yes.

[Eric Thomas]

Congratulations. You know what I'm saying? You didn't rob a bank. You know what I'm saying? Like, you haven't done anything illegal. You did exactly what a good child should do. And I have a daughter that I have to get on her sometimes because she's that child that's like, yo, dad, what do you guys want me to do? And I. And I said, do me a favor. Don't always be obedient. Like, you need to sit down and ask yourself, if you weren't thinking about the family's name, if you didn't, if Eric Thomas et The Hip Hop Preacher was not your father, what would you be Doing? What would you be doing if you didn't have to worry about honoring the dynasty? And you do a phenomenal job of honoring this dynasty. I'm not taking anything. Went to school, handled your business. You've never been in trouble before. We've never had to spend money doing anything. You've been a phenomenal child. But what would you do if you live life on your terms and you were able to go where you want to do? And so that's the first thing I would ask them to do. I want you to think about your life instead of the life. Because that's what you've been thinking about, the life. Now think about your life. And I want you to start putting it everywhere. Now, the next thing I want you to do is I want you to know that if you have the ability, like, I'll never forget. C.J. was like, okay, E, you know what you missing? That. The big boy. All the big boy speakers. You know what you're missing? I was like, no. He was like the New York Times bestseller. Now, I'm not telling you gotta do it, but I'm saying that's what's missing. You got it. You got it. So he was like, first of all, do you want it? Do you want it?

[Lewis Howes]

Don't do it, because I'm saying you.

[Eric Thomas]

But do you want it? And it could elevate you, but do you want it? I was like, yeah, I want it. The next question becomes, what does it take to do it? And then am I willing to do.

[Lewis Howes]

What it takes to get it? Yeah, that's it. Because it's a lot.

[Eric Thomas]

It's a lot. But here's the thing. I believe if you think about it, it is only because somewhere inside of you, you have what it takes to. Now, capacity is there. Willingness is something totally different. Yes, that's different. But I want every human to know. You wouldn't be watching the school of. You wouldn't be watching or listening to the school of greatness if you didn't believe you were great. I'm just. For real. You wouldn't be spending time with this man on a regular basis. I'm telling you, I wouldn't be going to Columbus. I drove to Columbus, bruh. It's not a. Trust me when I tell you it's not a. You don't get off the freeway. It's not 65. You get up. Why did I go? Because this man is great, and greats want to hang with greats. I need you to understand. Look, y' all may not know. Listen to me, I've got Nomad suitcases that I still carry this day because he gave them to me. Like I, I didn't buy a new one. I carry the exact same ones that he gave me. And my son bought a set because I had a set, because it reminds me of him. When I travel, it's like greatness, great. So you wouldn't be watching, you wouldn't be locked in something. Your spirit has you tuned into this man because you know you're great. Now you got to say to yourself, am I willing to cooperate with the greatness that's in me? And then once you do and you start consistently operating in that, you're going to feel good about it. Here's what you have to do. You have to understand. Andre de Shields, I think, said, the top of one mountain is the bottom of the mix. Wow. So, so, so you get to the top of the mountain, but you understand the, The G. The GED was just one. The, the four year degree was just one. The master just after the Ph.D. was the new York Times after that. It's the assessments, it's the training, it's the coaching I have. I'm, I'm in masterminds, I get coached. Yeah, right. And so it's this idea of yesterday's greatness can't be enough because I'm alive today. So if I'm alive today, it must be some more greatness in me. And it's my job, like the toothpaste. It's my job not to just lose. I don't know about you, but I would just use a little bit of it and get another one. I'm squeezing and I got money and I'm squeezing that toothpaste. Why? Because I'm trying to get everything out the tube before I go to another one and with my life before I get out of here, which is why I could murder myself, that I didn't realize at 12 that I was great. And that's why I say, you gotta check in 2025, you 2025. Why? Because I didn't know I was great. And once I checked it and realized how great I was, I was like, bruh, we gonna keep doing this until the day we die. And so I would just say to you, you're watching, you're in this space, you're reading his books, you're going to his conferences because you. No, it's in you. And it's time to stop being lazy. And it's time to, it's time to activate it.

[Lewis Howes]

I love that.

[Eric Thomas]

Man.

[Lewis Howes]

Well, here's the thing, why I think a lot of people might stay stuck is they. They allow their feelings to keep them in a place of frustration. You have this great example that you say execution should be fact based, not feeling based. But people feel the overwhelm of the economy or the government or their parents or their partner or whatever the responsibilities of the world. They feel anxious, avoidant, overwhelmed, burnt out, like doubtful, insecure. And they allow feelings to consume their inaction. So how, what's an example of how someone can shift from being driven by emotions into fact based actions towards their goals?

[Eric Thomas]

It was what you teach man, the meditation thing. People don't take it areas. This is the time to get control of your mind. And for most of us, our mind is in control of us. So when you talk about meditating, it's like this is a habit of the grades. And one of the, and one of the habits of those individuals who are not where they want to be is, I'm not trying to be funny, but it's like lazy. To actually meditate regularly is a difficult.

[Lewis Howes]

It is man. It's not easy.

[Eric Thomas]

It's not easy to get control of your. I'm like, where did that thought come from? Right? So guys, let's go back to the 12 year old that found the birth certificate, right? We found the birth certificate. We found the birth certificate in the emotional state. Oh yeah, we found it in an emotional state. Listen to me, I'm not the first kid who has ever gone through this experience. And you know what I had to ask myself in that mirror at 16, 17, 18, I had to keep asking myself, when you saw it, why did you see it that way? Why did you not call your mom and say, mom, you would talk about this? Why didn't you go, hey ma, the counselor, can we go sit down and talk to the counselor? Hey mom, call dad, can we just sit down and listen to me. I went from I can't believe that you would do me like this. I went from a ball of emotions to living in abandoned buildings. It was the stupidest decision I have probably ever made. I put myself in so much danger as a 12 year old, 13 years old, homeless, based on emotions, on emotions. So the same document, nothing changed about it. But if I could go back as this adult and look at that, I would look at it as facts and go, wow, your mother protected you. Wow, your mom loved you so much that she didn't want you with your biological father because she thought he could be a threat, right, wrong or indifferent. Your mom didn't do this because she was trying to hurt you. Your mom did this because she was trying to protect you. Your mom brought you into a family. Your mom didn't try to hide the identity she wanted this man to be. Your father. He changed your name and gave you his last name. Wow. He treated me as if I was his own. Wow. He didn't lie. He made his family treat me as if I was. And don't ever say anything about my past, because my past has nothing to do with him making a decision at the courthouse to be my dad. Wow. It's the same document. One emotional, the other one is factual. Your mother loves you. Your mother cares for you. Your mother's trying to put you in a healthy environment. Your mother has a job. Your mother married somebody who was a Foreman, a gm, and he has a job. He has a college degree. He played basketball. He's a responsible man. He protected from take care. But emotion wouldn't let me be rational. Emotional wouldn't let me think rationally. It had me irrational. So I would say, when you make emotional decisions, you get emotional consequences. But it takes meditation, it takes controlling of the mind to say, how should I behave? How should I think in this situation? And what's going to give me the best outcomes? And I'm going to be honest. I've learned we can save the emotions for when I'm looking at the Nomad bag and going, man, that's my boy. Thank you. Why would you even buy me? Like, what would make you think of. And this is a perfect gift. You know what I'm saying? Like, I didn't think to buy suitcases for myself. That's where the emotion should be. Me coming in, seeing you, hugging you. What's up, fam? But when it comes to business, when it comes to being a leader and a decision maker, we not doing emotions. We're doing empirical evidence. Wow. We're doing facts. What does the fact say? What does the research say? What does the evidence say? Okay. And based on the research and the evidence, this is the game plan. Let's go. It doesn't matter how you feel. Yeah. Yeah. It don't matter how you feel.

[Lewis Howes]

Man, I love this.

[Eric Thomas]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

Again, if we're. We're talking about really developing. Developing kind of a bulletproof mindset, when the last five years for a lot of people has been a lot of stress, overwhelming anxiety, in order to have a more powerful, resilient mindset, how important is it for not just me and you? Because I already know the answer for Me and you. How important is it for everyone to have mentors in their life?

[Eric Thomas]

It's everything, man. Listen to me. I never even thought about being a multimillionaire or billionaire until I was in a room with Warren Buffett. I never even. I didn't even know how much it was worth when I was in the ruins afterwards. And then it's all started making sense, okay? Now that I know who I am. You 20, 25, like, check. I know who I am now.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

It's.

[Eric Thomas]

Oh, oh, real estate is away. Oh, so you mean to tell me that being a blue collar, okay, that's what my parents knew. But you don't make a whole bunch of money working. You make more money when you put your money to work. Oh, that's real estate. Oh, Helping kids who are talented figure out their talent, taking up a percentage. Oh, okay. I didn't even know this stuff exists. Got it. And so it is important. Bob Proctor pulling me to the side. How much do you charge? You should be charging. Les Brown calling me and said, I'll meet you in Orlando. Les Brown, sit me down, talking to me. Listen to me. Coaching is everything. Why? Because I just said, think of Michael Jordan without Phil Jackson, right? Think of Venus and Cerulean. Venus in Serena without Richard Williams. Like, yo, I just want you to picture Kobe without Phil Jackson. Think about Tim Brook without Mike, without. You know what I'm saying?

[Lewis Howes]

Tim Grauer, Come on.

[Eric Thomas]

Without Tim, where would he. So coaching is critical. And here's what's going to blow your mind when you get to our level. You really need more coaching because we done exhausted all the stuff. You really need coaching.

[Lewis Howes]

After Joiner won its first championship. He didn't say, I think I've got it figured out on my own. I don't need a coach. He said, let me find Tim to train me. Let me find the mindset, coach, the recovery coach, you know, make sure we're getting to the next level.

[Eric Thomas]

They said. They said. I. I read it, but it's research. I. I'm almost sure it's true that LeBron. Look at LeBron.

[Lewis Howes]

What he's doing right now, it's amazing, man.

[Eric Thomas]

Bro. 40.

[Lewis Howes]

A 40. Checking Duncan, whoever had the.

[Eric Thomas]

The arguments, you know what I'm saying? Because there were those of us who was alive. Yeah, we watched Jordan do his thing. But, bro, what LeBron is doing right now, but when I do my research and not emotional about, oh, how is he doing this? No, when I do my research, he's spending 1.5 million on his body Recovery coaches, meaning dietary coaches, everything meaning mental and emotional coaches, acting coaches, like he got on. And so you see the decision he made and you see, okay, yeah, he was great. But that investment that he made in himself and now look, his son is in. And then he got another son. These are decisions that he's making. He's not emotional. These decisions are based on facts of experts. And then we're seeing the outcomes of it. We're seeing the numbers that he putting up at this age versus the. And nobody's ever put these kind of numbers up at this particular age. So we all need coaches, you know, and so that's why I've made the decision that e. The one area that you need to step up in speaking is good, traveling the world, talk. But you got to the same way people open up doors for you and walk you through, you have got to.

[Lewis Howes]

Do the same thing.

[Eric Thomas]

And I've literally, the last two years have had a small group of people that every morning I wake up with and I train them for an hour every single morning.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

It's amazing.

[Eric Thomas]

And what's amazing about that is to see the difference between people I coach and people who watch me online. Wow. It's a difference. You watching me online, you getting the motivation, but you're not getting the daily schedule, you're not getting the things to do list, you're not getting the mindset, you're not getting the analytics, you're not getting the blueprint. So it's like you're watching and then you inter. And this is why I think audiobooks are good, but I think training with our books are good because people will read our books and interpret them in a way that we didn't intend for.

[Lewis Howes]

To interpret it. Yeah.

[Eric Thomas]

So when we do the training or they get to come to a conference where they get to watch the podcast, they're really investing more to. What was. What was he really saying? And if they can do what you're saying, that habit, they can get the outcomes of me and you get.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah. And it's also being around other people who are in that mindset who are pushing and you're seeing them grow, grow. And it's influencing you to grow and you're.

[Eric Thomas]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

So the community aspect of.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

We're getting.

[Lewis Howes]

We're getting coached together, we're growing together, we're working our goals together, all that stuff.

[Eric Thomas]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

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

[Eric Thomas]

I'd say either. Dead. I'd say dead.

[Lewis Howes]

Really?

[Eric Thomas]

Yeah, because I was an extremist. You know, everything I did, I did it to the fullest, you know, so I think I would be dead. Honestly, I would say this to simplify for people because sometimes when you talk spirituality, it just, for some people, it's just too deep. I would say to you what happened when I, you know, made a commitment to God is that I connected with the person that made me, that knew me like nobody else knew me. And he coached me from that 12 year old to God.

[Lewis Howes]

He.

[Eric Thomas]

He coached me. Wow. He's like, bro, I know you. I made you inside out. I know, I know what's the best environments for you. I know who's good for you, who's not good for you. I. I know your temptations, I know your vices, I know your good habits, your bad habits. And just let me teach you, you know, and so it was maybe five, six years of fighting, resisting, resisting, you know, and then because he introduced himself to me at 8 and I guess maybe it was too young, but homeless, I was like at 16, like, okay, I'm ready to get coached. Where's that coaching program you said you had? I'm ready, ready for that coach. And so from 16 to maybe 25, you know, it was like, okay, I'm going to come to coaching some days. Some days I'm not. Some days I'm going in, some days I'm not. And then my son was born. I was almost 25 years old. Jaylen was born. And Jaylen was born in 1995. I turned 25 in September. He was born July 20th. And when Jalen was born, it was the day coach said to me, this is why I've been trying to train you, because I wanted you to be the best father you could be. And so you miss him. You miss some classes, you miss some lessons. Your son is here now. He needs the best version of you. Wow. We can't repeat the mistakes of the past. And so I need you to hurry up. Amazon Pharmacy Pre presents painful thoughts 20 more minutes to kill in the pharmacy before my prescription is ready Maybe I'll grab some deeply discounted out of season Halloween candy. I never had a chocolate pumpkin with raisins before. Those were raisins, right? Next time use Amazon pharmacy. We deliver. And no, those were not raisins. Amazon Pharmacies healthcare just got less painful.

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[Eric Thomas]

And so when Jalen was born, from that day forward, you know, I remember when he was born, I held him. It was kind of like he looked at me like, you, the person that's going to take care of me. Wow. You know, and that was the day. And this is what a lot of you are running from is the R word. And I get it because it's tough responsibility. That was the day where it's like, oh, you got to be responsible for somebody else. Yeah, you cannot. You got. I've never played a video game since Jalen was born. Wow. I've read more books since Jalen was born. That first year or two that I ever read in my life. I took my career seriously, speaking. I start, you know, Zig Ziglar, you know, Nightingale, you know, Og Mendino, Bob.

[Lewis Howes]

Proctor, all these bruh, you name them.

[Eric Thomas]

Dennis Kimbrough. Like, I went deep, I went heavy, you know, Arthur Ashe, you know, days of great. And I read everything. I was in the library like an addict, just studying and studying and studying. And it was because I didn't want the. I didn't want some of the consequences of the past to come in this generation, you know. And so for me, it was like, yo, your son's here. You got to handle your business. And I just heard I was more attentive. I started getting up at 6. And then I'd play this game. Daylight saving times would come. I would, okay, say, don't follow it, Stay up at five is the new. And then the next year, the four. And then I got started getting up at three and I started getting up at three o' clock in the morning because it was still. There was no dogs outside. Nobody was driving around. The family was sleep. And I was like, okay, coach, I'm sorry. Let's go back over the lessons I didn't get. And let's go over the new lessons. Coach me. Show me. Nobody knows me, man. I tell people I had a brand new Cadillac, man. They had 10,000 miles in it. Engine blew and I immediately took it back to Cadillac. I didn't take it to BMW, I didn't take it to Honda. I took it straight to Cadillac and I went right back to the creator, like, yo, you made me. And I'm tearing this car up. I'm not putting oil in it, I'm not changing the rotating the tires, I'm not putting fluid in it. Show me how to take care of this. And he began to show me how to do it. And it's just like amazing to see when we're on one Accord and I'm following the. He told me, he's like, yo, it's time. I think I called you maybe last year. I'm like, yo, I need to. And it was like, no, no, you just supposed to call and say what's up? You know? And then this time it was like, yep, you need to do it. You know, I was like, all right, I got it, Brandon. I think I was like, all right, you know what I'm saying? So just listen to him doing what he's telling me to do and let him coach me. So I would say, you know, don't spiritualize it and make it too. It's the coach. And just get a relationship with the coach. Let the coach get a relationship with you and just do what he tells you to do and you're going to love the results.

[Lewis Howes]

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

[Eric Thomas]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

What do you feel like God is speaking to you now or your future self is saying to you now for the wisdom you need to hear year to take you to the next level.

[Eric Thomas]

This, this, this, this is what God is saying. You spent all of your mature life pouring into people who can't do a whole lot for you. You spent some kind of way in your soul. You feel like because of where you were and all these people that help you get to where. So it's like you like, you feel like you owe people to not be in mutual relationships. Like you feel like you're so blessed. And you have so much. It's almost a survivor of guilt, that now you just got to be with people who you got to pull, and you got to be with people that you got to beg to. And you got to be with people who you just got to bless, and you may not get nothing back. He like, no, no, no, no. In this season, these relationships have always been there for you, but you haven't taken advantage of them, because it's like, I got to help, and I got to fix, and I got to be a. I got a savior's complex. I got to help people. You help you and help you, because somebody helped me, and I wouldn't be here. And it's like. And C.J. said to me, eric, no, the only reason it worked is because you wanted it to work. Those mentors didn't do nothing for you. They did, but you had to want it. You're helping people that don't even want to be helped. They want a handout. Yeah. They don't want to be helped. Now the rest of your life, son, be in relationships where it's mutual. Just, bro, this might seem insignificant to you, but I, you know, they called me and was like, yo, let us know when you get here. Yeah, yeah. And I was like, all right, I'll be there. You know, whatever. And it was like, no, no, tell us. You know when you pull up. I'm like, tell you when I pull up, like, I can get upstairs on my own. They're like, no, no, no. Tell us when you get there. We're gonna meet you downstairs. Oh, and you want anything from Starbucks? No, I'm like, nah, I'm good. I didn't say anything to her. I was like, nah, I'm just in the car. I'm good. I can get my own Starbucks. He said, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm trying to teach you something. She didn't ask you if you had money to buy Starbucks.

[Lewis Howes]

Do you want something?

[Eric Thomas]

She asked you, did you want something from Starbucks? And I said, you know what? I even text her and say, you know, I, I. I normally say, no, I don't say yes to this kind of stuff, but you know what? Yes. I'd like a grande medicine ball with no honey, but three agave. Wow. You know, and she was like, okay, you want to get. You need to use the rest. You need whatever. And he was like, yo, this is the season. Ah, you pour it out so much. Receive, get something.

[Lewis Howes]

Receive.

[Eric Thomas]

Get in these mutual relationships and get something. So that's what I'm hearing him say, you know, as I come today, it's like you, these relationships have been there for you and you've done your part to make sure you stay alive, but you don't always, you don't always allow people to reciprocate, you know, so that's the season for me. It's like, hey, bless the world. And hey, if you don't ever put out another video, there's enough videos and all kind of content for people to now look out for Eric Thomas. Now put Eric, now go to the weddings, stop working all the time, not go to the events, stop just working all the time and stop just you and your wife or your little. No, no. There are other communities that are waiting to bless you in the way you've blessed others. And it's time for you to enjoy that. Wow. Yeah. So that's, man, that's what he's telling me.

[Lewis Howes]

You deserve to receive, man. I would acknowledge you, Eric, for being in this season of life because I've known you for 10 years. But you put so much focus on giving in a big way, which is a beautiful blessing. But I think you can also give and receive at the same time. It doesn't have to be mutually one way of just give, give, give, give, and like these exhaust yourself to like, serve, serve, serve, serve, and then they can give nothing back to self. So I really acknowledge you for being in a season of like, how can I give and receive? How can I deepen these relationships with people who. Because I know people try to pour into you.

[Eric Thomas]

Absolutely.

[Lewis Howes]

But you're always too busy or you're trying to give, give, give, or you're traveling non stop. I got to help save the kids and teenagers.

[Eric Thomas]

Of course, dude.

[Lewis Howes]

And so I acknowledge it for, you know, being, acknowledging this season of life for you and saying like, it's time to like. And I can even see it in your face and your chest even. I just energetically when I, when I saw you today, yeah, I was like, man, you look healthy. Yeah, healthier. And I think it's because you're allowing yourself to receive it. And so it's really beautiful, man. I'm glad you're in that space.

[Eric Thomas]

You and me both.

[Lewis Howes]

You look younger too.

[Eric Thomas]

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

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah.

[Eric Thomas]

Who are. Who've been trying to.

[Lewis Howes]

Sure.

[Eric Thomas]

And you got them in, too.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Receive, receive, man. I love this, man.

[Eric Thomas]

Okay, so you can buy email.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah, exactly. Well, people want to learn more. They can go to u2025. They can also go to. I think it's Eric Thomas.com or ET the Hip Hop Preacher on Instagram. YouTube, obviously, lots of great free content. If you're not able to sign up for the challenge right now.

[Eric Thomas]

But it is free.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah, yeah. You25.com make sure you guys check that out. Leave a comment of the thing that spoke to you and resonated the most with you below on YouTube as well. And I'll. And always make sure to share this with a friend that you think will. Would empower them to step up in their life in a. In a powerful way. Two final questions for you, Eric. I appreciate your time, man.

[Eric Thomas]

Me too. I appreciate this opportunity.

[Lewis Howes]

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

[Eric Thomas]

We got to come back and do it.

[Lewis Howes]

And before then, you get to live.

[Eric Thomas]

As long as you want.

[Lewis Howes]

But it's the last day on earth for you. You know, you're as old as you want to be. You get to create and accomplish and give and receive all the things you want. But it's the last day very far in the future. And for whatever reason, on this hypothetical scenario, you've got to take all of your content with you so the world has no more access to ET's content. Books, challenges, YouTube. It's all, for whatever reason, hypothetically gone.

[Eric Thomas]

It's called.

[Lewis Howes]

Oh, I know, right? It's all hypothetical. It's not going to happen. But let's just say. Let's just say it is. But on the last day, God says, you know what? I'm going to let you leave three things behind. Three lessons from all the wisdom you've gained and all the content you've created and all your experiences, you get to say three final things. Three truths. And this would stay forever for people to watch. What would those three truths be?

[Eric Thomas]

So the first one is unplug. Unplug from everybody. You know, unplug from everybody. I don't know if this is one, but unplugged from everybody. And plug with the creator, man. Like, plug with. The person that brought you into this space knows you, loves you, you know, Unplugged. Number two, man. Find love, you know, Dee Dee, man, Dee Dee, it's just been so rich being in a healthy relationship. That's beautiful, you know, because it shows you who you're not. Like, it's not what you think. It's not just this warm, fuzzy, you know, but Dee Dee has been like, hey, you're a great human, but you gotta work on this, you know? And then the last one, man. Love, you know, Love. It's so easy to see our differences. It's so easy to, you know, the things that are, you know, polar opposite. You grew up here. You grew up here. I believe in this. I believe in that. You vote this way, you vote this way. I believe this. I believe it. It's so easy to let one or two things separate you when it's about a hundred things that you guys have in common because you're human, you know? And so it's just like, love. And I think of a lot of my friends who never gotten to grow out of our community, never meet anybody outside of our little world, and to be in Dubai or New Zealand or, you know, wherever, travel in love, you know, so that's the last one.

[Lewis Howes]

Love.

[Eric Thomas]

But don't love in your little, little pocket. Like, get out and meet different people who come from different spaces and places and just see how dope the creator is by. By. By being around the people who he created. Absolutely. Because he created you and not like me. And so there's so much dopeness, you know, around you that I can get into. But I do, you know, I have a lot of. I have a lot of friends, you know? The thing I love about you is I've done podcasts with people like it's dope because people are energetic. But I always know when I'm with you, it's not about energy, it's about inward. And you make me go inward in a way that I don't have to do with a lot of people. So many people are surface. They don't make you go inward. Whenever I'm with you, it's like, no, E. Let's have a meaningful. We may only be together for an hour, but let's make it meaningful and deep. So when I walk out of here, my wife is about to get a new version of me, so I say love. Would travel and meet all the different people from all the different walks of life, eat different food, see the world different, live in different, different spaces, and just see how good the Creator is by introducing yourself to. To the ones he created.

[Lewis Howes]

Wow. That's beautiful. I love those.

[Eric Thomas]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

Final question. What's your definition of greatness?

[Eric Thomas]

Man, I'll just say this verse, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few. I make you rule over many. To me, greatness is fulfilling the purpose of the manufacturer. So if I made this cup, I want to put whatever I want to put in the cup. I don't want the cup telling me I don't want to do that. And so for me, it's like, what is it that you want me to do? And there was a time you wanted me to save the world. Now you want me to save myself.

[Lewis Howes]

Oh, my gosh.

[Eric Thomas]

So if that's what you want now, if that's the new thing you're asking me to do, I just want to make the manufacturer go, I created this for this use, and I am. I am utilizing it in the way that it should be used. And that's. You know, of course, you got to evolve and grow and do all the stuff you have to do. But, yeah, that's. To me, that's what greatness is. The Creator getting everything out of you, not just you. Because I feel like, yo, if the Creator get everything out of me, I'm gonna have a great life too. But it doesn't necessarily mean I've been married for. For a while. I've been happy. And my wife was like, I'm not as happy as you are. And I'm like, what? We happy? She said, no, no, you're happy. But there's some things I need you to do that you're not doing. I'm like, well, you're doing everything. It's like that two things could be true, but you're not. And so I don't want to just be happy. I want the Creator to go, yeah, I'm grateful that I created you. And I see you're doing in the world what it was that I wanted you to do do. And now also for yourself, what I wanted you to do. Because I wanted you to be happy too. I didn't want your life to just be about work and being a blessing. I wanted you to be blessed as well. So that's. That's it.

[Lewis Howes]

My man ET My brother. Appreciate, man. Thank you, brother. I hope you enjoyed today's episode, and.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

It inspired you on your journey towards greatness.

[Lewis Howes]

Make sure to check out the show.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

Notes in the description for a full rundown of today 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+channel.

[Lewis Howes]

Exclusively on Apple Podcasts.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well.

[Eric Thomas]

Let me know what you enjoyed about.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

This episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure out out.

[Lewis Howes]

How we can support and serve you moving forward.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

And I want to remind you if no one has told you lately that.

[Lewis Howes]

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

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