The School of Greatness

4.8 (21K)
Mental Health
Updated Weekly

Lewis Howes is a New York Times best-selling author, 2x All-American athlete, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur. The School of Greatness shares inspiring interviews from the most successful people on the planet—world-renowned leaders in business, entertainment, sports, science, health, mental health and literature—to inspire YOU to unlock your inner greatness and live your best life.

1d ago

You Win When You Fail | Jo Koy

Every stage you never took is the only real failure. The rest is just data. Jo Koy, the comedian who has sold out SoFi Stadium and won Showtime at the Apollo, sat down with Lewis and told the story of driving Vegas to LA with a broken taillight for a $40 set, getting a ticket both ways. He rode a Greyhound nine hours home from an unpaid audition. He walked to the front of a line wrapped around a building with a fake resume and a headshot his dad took, and asked a promoter for five minutes she did not have to give him. She gave it to him anyway. Three weeks after crawling through a curtain as an unannounced warm-up act at Def Comedy Jam, he won the Apollo. Years later, when Netflix passed on him, he paid for the special himself, shot it, and brought it back to them. They bought it, and then he broke Mariah Carey's attendance record in Hawaii with 22,000 tickets. He still prints flyers. Ten thousand of them, for sold-out shows, put on windshields by hand. He talks about his mom rolling lumpia to sell at work during her divorce, about his stepdad teaching him that a messy bed is a messy head, about hugging his son on stage in the same arena where he watched Eddie Murphy at fifteen. This one will make you uncomfortable in the best way, because you will start counting the lines you did not walk to the front of. Jo's definition of greatness is doing what you love for absolutely nothing, and he says he is still asleep, still dreaming the thing he dreamed at nine. Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo Jo's Website Jo's Instagram Jo's YouTube Watch Jo Koy: Blue in the Face In this episode you will: Hear how Jo Koy talked his way backstage with a fake resume and turned one stolen set into a careerReframe bombing as proof you showed up, because you win the moment you accept the challenge and failOvercome the insecurity of broken teeth and hair loss that shadowed him for decadesBet on yourself the way Jo Koy did when Netflix passed and he funded his own special anywayRedefine greatness as doing what you love when nobody is paying you a dime for itFor more information go to https://lewishowes.com/1986 More SOG episodes we think you’ll love! Get More From Lewis! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
4d ago • GREATNESS+ Only

You're Not Unprepared, You're Afraid to Start | Lewis Howes

Lewis Howes, host of The School of Greatness, examines the fear of starting before the feeling of readiness arrives. The episode argues that preparation can become a sophisticated form of procrastination, and that confidence follows action rather than preceding it. Examples include his interview with Tony Robbins, a Kobe Bryant interview booked the night before, and the launch of The School of Greatness.
4d ago

You're Not Unprepared, You're Afraid to Start | Lewis Howes

You already know where to start. What scares you is finding out you might not be good enough once you do. Lewis goes solo here on the fear that hides inside preparation. He read every page of a 500-page book before his first Tony Robbins interview and still walked in nervous, and that nervousness never actually went away. Then there was Kobe Bryant. A 5pm phone call the night before, an interview the next morning, 20 minutes, a publicist handing over a list of banned topics, other crews waiting in the hallway. With almost no prep time, it became one of the best conversations Lewis has ever recorded, because he stopped performing his homework and just stayed present and curious. He gets honest about launching The School of Greatness with an iPhone and no idea what he was doing, asking questions he thought were basic and dumb. Confidence came after the action, never before it. Perfectionism and procrastination wear the same costume, and self-trust only gets built by surviving the attempt. Ask yourself the uncomfortable question: are you still preparing because the work requires it, or because preparing feels safer than beginning? Whatever you have been circling for months, you will want to take one real step on it today. Make Money Easy The School of Greatness The Greatness Mindset The Mask of Masculinity In this episode you will: Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects.Spot the moment preparation quietly turns into a sophisticated form of procrastinationMove through the terror of not feeling ready by understanding that confidence arrives after the action, not before itSteal the mindset that let Lewis turn a Kobe Bryant interview booked the night before into one of his best conversations everAnswer the question underneath your stalling: what are you actually waiting forBuild real self trust by proving to yourself that failure never gets the final wordMore SOG episodes we think you’ll love! Get More From Lewis! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
5d ago

Burnout Is a Sign You're Doing the Wrong Work | Jonathan Fields

What if your body is already telling you the work you do every day is wrong for you? Jonathan Fields, founder of Good Life Project and a former securities lawyer, sat down with Lewis to answer the question so many of us carry around: what should I do with my life? He shares how 100 hour weeks at a big law firm ended with an infection eating a hole through his intestine and a trip to emergency surgery. From there you hear why burnout keeps climbing, why an existential crisis is really a crisis of meaning, and how collapsed boundaries between home and work make it worse. Lewis opens up about eczema that cleared within days once he stopped abandoning himself in his relationships and career. Jonathan walks through the ideas in his book Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work That Makes You Come Alive, and Lewis learns he is a Maven who hates Essentialist work. You also get Jonathan’s blunt question for finding purpose: what should I just stop doing entirely? You will finish this one ready to take the free Sparketype assessment and finally chase the work that makes you feel alive. Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work that Makes You Come Alive How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science, and Practical Wisdom Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love Jonathan's Website Take the Sparktype test In this episode you will: Discover your Sparketype to uncover the unique imprint for work that makes you come aliveRecognize the physical warning signs your body sends when your work or relationships fall out of alignmentBreak free from burnout by rebuilding the boundaries between work and home that have collapsedQuestion the hidden assumptions that keep you stuck in a rut using Katie Byron's The WorkEliminate the tasks that drain you so you can focus on what truly mattersClose the gap between your felt and expressed potential without sabotaging yourself once you finally alignFor more information go to https://lewishowes.com/1985 More SOG episodes we think you’ll love! Get More From Lewis! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
6d ago

7 Signs You're About to Get Rich | Lewis Howes

There are seven quiet signals that show up in your life long before the money does, and most of them feel like losing. In this solo episode, Lewis walks you through the money mindset shifts he lived from his sister's couch to a life where his investing runs on autopilot. He tells you about the networking event where he stuffed cheese and crackers into his pockets with a full arm cast on, because he had no idea where his next meal was coming from. Then comes the number that stops you cold: 48% of people earning over $250,000 a year are still living paycheck to paycheck. A raise was never the answer. Lewis walks through why rich is a number and free is a length of time, and why saying no to a $20,000 sponsorship or a $10,000 coaching call felt like losing his mind right up until it felt like peace. You will hear how one conversation at a salsa club sent him to Toastmasters and rewired what he could charge, and how he bought a life insurance policy in his twenties for a wife and kids who did not exist yet. By the end you will have one small assignment: take what you have, divide it by what you spend in a month, and look at the number without flinching. Then start adding months. Make Money Easy The School of Greatness The Greatness Mindset The Mask of Masculinity In this episode you will: Spot the seven quiet signs that wealth is already arriving before anyone else confirms itClimb Myron Golden's Four Levels of Value so you get paid for deciding and imagining instead of grinding harderDismantle the scarcity habits that keep hardworking people stuck, including judging the rich and hoarding out of fearReclaim your peace by saying no to real money that violates your values, the way Lewis Howes turned down millions in sponsorshipsMeasure your runway in months rather than chasing a net worth number, so freedom becomes something you can countBreak the paycheck to paycheck trap that still swallows nearly half of people earning over $250,000 a yearFor more information go to https://lewishowes.com/1984 More SOG episodes we think you’ll love! Get More From Lewis! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Sep 21

Stop Grinding: Build a Business You Don't Hate | Codie Sanchez

What if the grind you think makes you successful is the very thing keeping you broke and exhausted? Codie Sanchez, a former Goldman Sachs employee who has run 1,621 businesses through her company’s systems, sat down with Lewis to talk about money, freedom, and why most entrepreneurs across the US earn less than California’s $78,000 minimum wage. Her book Own or Be Owned is built on one uncomfortable question: do you own a business, or does it own you? She tells the story of walking into a bank for a loan and finding the account she thought held a million dollars almost empty. That night she sat in the dark and called her dad, who told her you are not really in the game until you have had a night like that. She never ran a business without systems again. The fixes she shares are simpler than you expect. Most businesses are underpriced by 30 to 300 percent, fewer than a third have recurring revenue, and hard work has almost nothing to do with how much money you make. She also explains why more than 80 percent of kids want nothing to do with their parents’ business. You will finish this one ready to raise your prices and build a life where work fits around the people you love. Pre-Order: Own or Be Owned: Build a Business So Good It Doesn't Need You Main Street Millionaire: How to Make Extraordinary Wealth Buying Ordinary Businesses Codie's Instagram Codie's YouTube Big Deal Podcast Codie's Website In this episode you will: Learn the OWN system of 12 profit levers Codie Sanchez uses to build a business that runs without youRaise your prices with confidence once you see why most businesses are underpriced by 30 to 300%Escape key man risk by building systems and hiring people who can outperform youTest real market demand before you build, so your next venture doesn’t start from your painBreak the money beliefs that keep you living paycheck to paycheckPay yourself first and add recurring revenue so your profits turn into lasting freedomFor more information go to https://lewishowes.com/1983 More SOG episodes we think you’ll love! Get More From Lewis! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Sep 18

Your Phone Is Stealing the Life You Actually Want | Cal Newport

You have been trained to reach for your phone the second you get bored, and it is quietly costing you the ability to think. Cal Newport, a computer science professor and the author of Deep Work, sat down with Lewis and explained why he has never once had a social media account. He also wrote Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, and to test the idea he ran a 30-day declutter with about 1,600 readers who sent back reports on what happened when they stepped away. The results are hard to shake. Roughly half found no real value in social media and dropped it for good. Of the half who did find value, like visual artists who needed Instagram to see other people's work, about 95% moved it off their phones entirely and onto a scheduled desktop session, sometimes twenty minutes on a Sunday night. Cal also points to college mental health centers that saw anxiety cases jump around fivefold the same year students started arriving on campus with smartphones. Lewis tells his own story here too. Fifteen straight years with a phone on him every single day, then a trip to Hawaii where he left it at home. He got lost, asked strangers for directions at a gas station, and by day two he was floating in the ocean with zero anxiety. Cal calls that the baseline, not a breakthrough. Listen and you will start noticing the small reach for your pocket at dinner, in line, on a walk. Then you will try leaving the thing at home once, and find out what your own thoughts sound like again. Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love Cal's YouTube In this episode you will: Reclaim the ability to focus deeply at a moment when concentration is becoming rare and therefore economically valuableConfront the hard personal questions your phone lets you escape, instead of numbing boredom with a constant digital companionUnderstand why campus anxiety disorders spiked once students arrived carrying smartphones, and what that means for your own mental healthPractice productive meditation, the walking based cognitive pull ups that train your brain to think through problems without a screenRebuild real connection by trading likes for sacrificed time and attention, the only currency that makes relationships deepenFor more information go to https://lewishowes.com/1982 More SOG episodes we think you’ll love! Get More From Lewis! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Sep 16

Rebuild Your Identity in 3 Steps and Finally Make Habits Last | Dr. Kim Foster

You can have every fact, every plan, and still quit by Thursday, because the story underneath never changed. Dr. Kim Foster, a family physician who practiced for twenty years, sat down with Lewis after a patient with rising blood pressure told her, “I'm just not an exercise person.” That one line reframed everything: behavior change is an identity problem wearing an information costume. Her book, Redesigning You, turns that into a three-step method of recognizing the old story, redesigning it, and then going out to collect proof. She talks about the bridge identity, the small believable stretch your brain will actually accept instead of a mirror affirmation it answers with, “Interesting. Based on what?” Habit stacking is the app. Identity is the operating system, and glitchy apps on an old system crash on the hard days. Then she tells on herself. She walked into the woods behind her clinic after stitching a patient's hand, realized she never wanted to go back, wrote her resignation letter, and then stayed through an entire pandemic wave anyway rather than leave at the worst moment. Her last day came in her birthday month, and she sat in her car and cried for fifteen minutes before driving home with the windows down, free. Listen for the moment a senior resident nodded at her to keep going while ribs cracked under her hands, and for what that taught her about self-doubt. You'll start catching your own identity statement, about money, sleep, confidence, relationships, the ones you say like they're just facts. Then you get to argue back. Redesigning You: Change Your Inner Story, Transform Your Health Dr. Kim's Website Dr. Kim's YouTube Dr. Kim's Instagram In this episode you will: Discover with Dr. Kim Foster why lasting change fails as an identity problem rather than an information problemApply the Recognize, Redesign, Ritualize framework to build an identity your brain actually believesBuild a bridge identity that gives your mind proof instead of forcing affirmations you secretly rejectOvercome the fear that keeps you loyal to a role you have outgrown, even a prestigious oneReframe self doubt as useful data and stop letting shame drive your attempts to improveBecome genuinely magnetic in conversation without slipping into performanceFor more information go to https://lewishowes.com/1981 More SOG episodes we think you’ll love! Get More From Lewis! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Trailer

Welcome to the School of Greatness Podcast!

Welcome to the School of Greatness podcast! This is my introductory "trailer" episode if you are new to the show. Get More From Lewis! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Trailer

Welcome to the School of Greatness

Welcome to the School of Greatness! Check out the full archive of episodes at http://lewishowes.com. Get More From Lewis! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The stories you tell yourself on a daily basis determines the person you will become.The good, the bad, the negative, the positive, the uplifting, the draining – they’re all part of the equation. But YOU are the author of your life story – so, what story are you writing? Top Podcaster & Best-selling Author Lewis Howes brings you the The Daily Motivation Show, where you’ll hear from industry-leading experts, you’ll learn proven principles, and you’ll discover life-changing ideas that will help you get motivated and STAY motivated.

4.8 (905)

Self-Improvement
Your mindset can be a shield against negativity, or it can be the door that lets it in. And with so much negativity out in the world, if we don’t actively shift our focus toward optimism, we run the risk of letting it consume us. So where and how do you start? How can you develop an abundance mindset that will help you attract the life of your dreams? What steps can you take today to begin manifesting a more fulfilled life? In Manifestation & The Law of Attraction, host Lewis Howes and top experts will show you how to do exactly that. The episodes from this curated feed can be found on The School of Greatness podcast feed or can be accessed ad-free here when you become a GREATNESS+ subscriber.

4.5 (29)

Self-Improvement
No matter how ambitious, talented or intelligent you are, you’ll only go as far as your habits will take you. And by prioritizing your happiness and emotional well-being in the habits you develop, you’ll equip yourself with the tools you need to thrive through anything. But how do we get there? With all the curveballs life throws at us, how can we create positive habits that will bring us peace in times of chaos? In Happy Habits, host Lewis Howes and top experts will show you how to do exactly that. The episodes from this curated feed can be found on The School of Greatness podcast feed or can be accessed ad-free here when you become a GREATNESS+ subscriber.

3.8 (33)

Mental Health
When you decide to learn the language of money, you begin to unlock abundance in all the areas of your life. Most of us have been taught to approach money from a place of fear – fear of losing it, fear of making too much, fear that we won’t ever make enough. So how do we turn things around? How can we begin to shift our scarcity mindset to one of abundance? How can we stop being afraid to approach our finances head on instead of avoiding them? In Money Mindset, host Lewis Howes and top experts will show you how to do exactly that. The episodes from this curated feed can be found on The School of Greatness podcast feed or can be accessed ad-free here when you become a GREATNESS+ subscriber.

3.3 (24)

Investing
When you learn to master your mindset, your entire life starts to change. Your relationships, your career, your health & wellness all begin with taking control of your mind – and not letting your mind control you. But how do you get there? With all of the content and endless tips out in the world, how can you determine what works and what doesn’t? How can you continue to try new mindset strategies without getting overwhelmed? In Unlock The Power of Your Mind, host Lewis Howes and top experts will show you how to do exactly that. The episodes from this curated feed can be found on The School of Greatness podcast feed or can be accessed ad-free here when you become a GREATNESS+ subscriber.

4.1 (12)

Mental Health
The quality of your relationships determine the quality of your life. You could have everything in the world, but if you have no one to share it with, then what’s the point? But we can’t just snap our fingers and create high-quality, meaningful relationships. It takes consistent, intentional, and dedicated work. It takes us developing valuable skills that will help us become more vulnerable and love deeper. In Lasting Love: Intimacy & Relationships, host Lewis Howes and top experts will show you how to do exactly that. The episodes from this curated feed can be found on The School of Greatness podcast feed or can be accessed ad-free here when you become a GREATNESS+ subscriber.

4.3 (19)

Self-Improvement

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Lewis Howes

Host
Jonathan Fields

Guest
Cal Newport

Guest
Kim Foster

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Michael Beckwith

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Kier Gaines

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Angela Duckworth

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Katherine Milkman

Guest
Sharran Srivatsaa

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Dr. Bradley Nelson

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4.8

out of 5

20,615 Ratings

Most amazing podcast

Sep 4

chandageorge

Absolutely love your podcast. Mindset is everything and I’m reminded of it when listen to you. You ask great questions and I cannot get enough. Thank you for bringing amazing content
Learned so much from David Bayer

Jul 18

Ren Annette

Great episode. Thank you. And great to hear someone mention Florence Scovil Shinn. Her books helped me so much.
Great guests, narrow lens

Aug 28

Leelanola

I have a complicated relationship with The School of Greatness… I really enjoy many of the guests and often appreciate the questions Lewis Howes asks, but I increasingly find him difficult to listen to because he redirects nearly every subject through the lens of his own experience. Relating personally can make a conversation more accessible yes, but here it feels excessive. His experience doesn’t just add to the discussion, it repeatedly becomes the standard which he evaluates what the expert is saying. That becomes especially frustrating when his guest has clearly established credentials and has carefully explained something, yet he continues returning to the same assumptions as though their answer didn’t meaningfully challenge those perspectives. This was especially noticeable in the episode with Dr. Sasha Hamdani about ADHD. She repeatedly distinguished ADHD (a highly heritable neurodevelopmental condition) from attention difficulties that may be caused or intensified by trauma, stress, poor sleep, other mental health conditions, or environmental overstimulation. But he continued suggesting that ADHD might be something people develop from modern technology or overcome simply by learning the right tools, using his own experience as evidence. Those are reasonable questions to ask once because many listeners probably have them. But after the expert has explained the distinction, continuing to say the same premise stops sounding like curiosity and starts sounding like resistance to the answer. And she’s so patient. His experience may show that tools helped him manage certain symptoms; it does not disprove her explanation that someone whose symptoms disappear may have been experiencing something that resembled ADHD rather than ADHD itself. The same underlying bias seemed especially apparent whenever medication came up. His tone and comments felt noticeably more judgmental, despite her explaining that medication can be genuinely life-changing. ADHD medication is not a shortcut or a substitute for developing skills. For many people, it is what makes them sufficiently able to access and consistently use those skills. The medications affect dopamine and norepinephrine signaling in brain systems involved in attention, motivation, impulse control, and executive function. I appreciate that he asks challenging questions and raises the doubts an ordinary listener might have. But there is a difference between thoughtfully challenging an expert and repeatedly filtering the expert’s answers througb his own anecdotal experience. I wish he would leave more room for his guests’ expertise to shape the conversation instead of continually pulling it back toward himself. His personal lens is valuable, but it is also narrow.. and he often seems unable to recognize where its limits are.
6.5 FREAKIN Minutes of SELF PROMO before the cast even started. UNREAL

Aug 13

soulangiana

Thanks for Turning me OFF so badly that I saved the rest of the hour and 45 minutes and left to write this review. And that will be the only time you’ll be getting from me from here on out, that’s how ridiculous that was. A waste.