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Lewis HowesLewis Howes

Eric Thomas: The Key to Success with Lewis Howes

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Lewis HoweshostEric Thomasguest
Jan 5, 201549mWatch on YouTube

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Transcript

  1. 0:00 – 0:04

    Intro

    1. LH

      [upbeat music]

  2. 0:04 – 2:33

    Eric Thomas’s origin story: homelessness, dropping out, and the turnaround through education

    1. LH

      Thanks for coming on the School of Greatness.

    2. ET

      Man, thanks for having me.

    3. LH

      I got Eric Thomas on. Thanks so much my man.

    4. ET

      Yeah.

    5. LH

      I appreciate it.

    6. ET

      Good to be here, baby. Good to be here.

    7. LH

      I've been trying, trying to make it happen for a while.

    8. ET

      Yeah.

    9. LH

      We finally connected.

    10. ET

      Absolutely.

    11. LH

      Made the drive out here. You flew out to Cali.

    12. ET

      Yeah.

    13. LH

      I made the drive out here, so very excited, man.

    14. ET

      Absolutely. It's like good wine-

    15. LH

      [laughs]

    16. ET

      ... like fine wine. It takes time to mature.

    17. LH

      But we made it happen.

    18. ET

      Yeah, we made it happen.

    19. LH

      But I appreciate you. And for those that don't know, uh, about you, Eric, you have a pretty inspiring story in my mind.

    20. ET

      Mm-hmm.

    21. LH

      But I wanna hear you just kind of share your story briefly about how you got into what you're doing now. You just finished your, uh, PhD, is that right?

    22. ET

      Absolutely. Absolutely.

    23. LH

      Like, yesterday on the flight.

    24. ET

      Absolutely.

    25. LH

      But I wanna hear about how you kinda got to where you are now, uh, in your words.

    26. ET

      Man, it's the American dream, you know? [laughs] They say nowhere else, you know, but in America. And I was ... It was funny, I was, uh, just recently in an interview or had an opportunity to do a luncheon with Warren Buffett.

    27. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    28. ET

      You know, he was just saying that, you know, this is the greatest country to be born in. This is the greatest time, you know, to be born, you know, in this particular, uh, country. You know, social media, you know, economics, just opportunity.

    29. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    30. ET

      So, you know, I'm the American dream. Um, I represent, you know, what so many, uh, people from my community represent. Um, you know, mom who had me out of wedlock, pregnant at 17 years old. Uh, my grandmother kicked her out, not because she didn't love her, uh, but my grandmother kicked her out because she had 14 kids-

  3. 2:33 – 3:37

    Finding purpose: mentoring influences, college challenges, and building his speaking gift

    1. LH

      But what was happening during those couple years?

    2. ET

      Um, you know, just trying to find myself, you know. Didn't know who my biological father was at the time. Had never really excelled academically. Um, I was a good athlete, but because I didn't keep my grades up, you know, I couldn't play regularly. So I was just trying to find myself, and I was fortunate enough, you know, to get in a good church, uh, with some good people who helped mentor me, sent me to college. Started dating a young lady at the time who challenged me to go to school with her or she was gonna break up with me.

    3. LH

      Mm.

    4. ET

      You know, so just some real good things happened at the right time.

    5. LH

      [laughs]

    6. ET

      End up going to college. Took me 12 long years, and I think the challenge was I didn't know the code, the rules. You know, I didn't know the language of academia.

    7. LH

      Mm.

    8. ET

      And I really had to humble myself, you know, and really buckle down. Um, and that's what I did. I started working on my oratorical skills. Most people won't believe it, but I got a C minus, you know, in Fundamentals of Speech, you know.

    9. LH

      [laughs]

    10. ET

      Um, you know, but I ... You know, o- over time, you know, I always tell people I got average skill, but I have phenomenal will.

    11. LH

      Wow.

  4. 3:37 – 5:31

    From teaching to viral fame: passion, craft-honing, and turning it into a business

    1. ET

      You know, and so I just had to buckle down and, and really ask myself what do I wanna do with the rest of my life. And so I think it was the GED program I did, and this may sound real simple to people, but I think the GED gave me purpose, you know? And in that purpose, I found my passion. Like, I finally found something that nobody had to force me to do, uh, something that I woke up to every day.

    2. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    3. ET

      I loved it. I loved studying the books. I loved the information. I loved working with students. You know, I would spend the first 5, 10 minutes reading a motivational piece and then, like, kinda elaborating on that piece, and I just fell in love with teaching. I fell in love with that environment. I found that I had a way to connect with people that was, you know, that was rare.

    4. LH

      Mm.

    5. ET

      Uh, and so from there, I went back to school. Took the 12 years but got a degree in business.

    6. LH

      Wow.

    7. ET

      Then went to Michigan State, masters and PhD in education, and just really worked on my gift. I realized that all of us are born with a gift-

    8. LH

      Mm

    9. ET

      ... but you gotta hone it, you know? It, it's just not ... You're not gonna become great, and we talk about the school of greatness, you know?

    10. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    11. ET

      We talk about, um, you know, greatness is upon you, and I realized that my gift wasn't going to create itself. My gift wasn't going to nurture itself. My gift wasn't going to perfect itself. That was something-

    12. LH

      Mm

    13. ET

      ... I had to do. And so, man, before you know it, we did a video that went viral. I think it's got over 50 million hits now, and we turned our passion into a profit.

    14. LH

      Mm.

    15. ET

      [laughs] Yeah, we-

    16. LH

      You turned it, man.

    17. ET

      Yeah. [laughs]

    18. LH

      I love it.

    19. ET

      Turned our passion into profit, man.

    20. LH

      Exactly. If you s- if you wanna succeed-

    21. ET

      As bad as you wanna breathe

    22. LH

      ... then you'll be successful.

    23. ET

      Then you'll be successful. Absolutely, yep.

    24. LH

      That's a good one.

    25. ET

      Yep.

    26. LH

      And that's been used ... You know, the audio of that-

    27. ET

      Oh

    28. LH

      ... has been used in, like, hundreds of videos that get, you know, 20, 50 million views alone.

    29. ET

      Alone.

    30. LH

      I love the football-

  5. 5:31 – 6:57

    “Play the game” vs. “scoreboard watching”: why the viral moment wasn’t planned

    1. LH

      So is it that ... Would you say that one speech ... When was that speech?

    2. ET

      Uh, that speech was back in, like, 2008.

    3. LH

      Wow.

    4. ET

      2009. Yeah.

    5. LH

      Would you say that was a big game changer for you?

    6. ET

      I mean, I wouldn't say it. The world has said it, you know.

    7. LH

      Wow.

    8. ET

      I, I ... And you know what's so funny? And this is why I tell people, you know, just do what you do, you know? So many people are, uh, what I call, uh, they're, they're game watching. They're scoreboard watching.

    9. LH

      Mm.

    10. ET

      Like, every play they're looking up to see where they are. You know, and I mean, you can't, you, you can't scoreboard watch and play the game at the same time.

    11. LH

      That's hard.

    12. ET

      You know, you gotta play the game. You know, they're so worried about, all right, is this gonna be my year? Is this gon- ... Like, they spend so much time concentrating on when the big one is gonna happen-

    13. LH

      Mm

    14. ET

      ... that the big one never happens because you can't, you can't chase two rabbits. If you chase two rabbits, you're not gonna catch either one.

    15. LH

      Mm.

    16. ET

      So for us, it was an accident. It, uh, we didn't, we didn't plan on doing it. I was in a room going off on a group of students because they had a opportunity of a lifetime and they weren't taking advantage of it. Some guy just happened to have a video camera-

    17. LH

      Wow

    18. ET

      ... just happened to put the mic on me, just happened to use it for his thesis. And let me say this, he never, ever used it for his thesis.

    19. LH

      Wow.

    20. ET

      He never used it. Friend of mine was like, "Yo, what'd you do with that video you did two years ago?" He was like, "Well, I still have it." He's like, "Well, okay, give it to me. I'ma put it up on YouTube."

    21. LH

      No way.

    22. ET

      Uh, there, and not YouTube for the world, YouTube because that was a, a, a place to house-

    23. LH

      Your videos

    24. ET

      ... content.

    25. LH

      Back in 2007

    26. ET

      That was it.

    27. LH

      Yeah, yeah. [laughs]

    28. ET

      That was the only reason you, you, you just wanted

  6. 6:57 – 8:23

    The football audio remix story and why elite levels are so hard to reach

    1. ET

      to, you just wanted to house content, you know? And I end up leaving my job at Michigan State. I felt it was time to go do, you know, my own thing. And I promise you, two or three months after I left, it went viral. It was literally online for years and didn't have-

    2. LH

      Wow

    3. ET

      ... any real traction. And then when I left my job and I said, "This is it," I can't explain it, but it began to go viral. The one in the classroom, and then a year or so later, Giovanni's also started to go viral. And he told me, Giovanni said he-

    4. LH

      The football, the football one

    5. ET

      Yeah, the football guy said he just did it so scouts in the NFL could see it.

    6. LH

      Right.

    7. ET

      And so somebody stole it from off of the internet, and they put it up.

    8. LH

      Put the audio over it.

    9. ET

      Yep, put the au- and boom. Yeah.

    10. LH

      Wow.

    11. ET

      Unbelievable.

    12. LH

      Is he playing in the league right now?

    13. ET

      He, he didn't make it to the league. So, so, hey, what does that tell you about the league, right?

    14. LH

      [laughs]

    15. ET

      This guy, to me, I thought he could play in the league.

    16. LH

      Yeah.

    17. ET

      He went to Canada and played for a minute.

    18. LH

      Yeah, yeah.

    19. ET

      And, uh, but for whatever reason, you know, he hasn't given up on his dreams-

    20. LH

      Sure

    21. ET

      ... of playing in the league, but it just goes to show you that the league is 1% of the greatest talent in the world.

    22. LH

      It's the greatest, man.

    23. ET

      Yeah, yeah, yeah.

    24. LH

      It's, it's tough to get there. I mean-

    25. ET

      Yeah, absolutely

    26. LH

      ... I was trying to get there and-

    27. ET

      Yeah, yeah [laughs]

    28. LH

      ... I played arena ball, but that's, uh-

    29. ET

      Yeah, yeah

    30. LH

      ... you know.

  7. 8:23 – 11:29

    Grinding for its own sake: focusing on the 24 hours instead of lifestyle fantasies

    1. ET

      Yeah. A- a- and I think that's greatness. I think what people get confused is, you know, they're grinding with a goal. And I'm not saying you shouldn't have goals, but you should be grinding for grinding's sake.

    2. LH

      Mm.

    3. ET

      You know, you should grind because that's what you do. You're passionate about what you do, you know, and so you're waking up every day with this concept of I have 24 hours and they're mine. This 24 hours belongs to me.

    4. LH

      Right.

    5. ET

      And whatever I do in this 24 hours will determine where I'll be tomorrow and the next day. And I think that's what people need to focus on. Like, get off of this I wanna make six figures, I wanna drive this car, I wanna live in this house. I think what people should be focusing on is I have 24 hours. Like, Oprah only has 24.

    6. LH

      Yeah.

    7. ET

      Bill Gates only has 24. Like, Warren Buffett only has 24 hours, and in that 24-hour period, I can either break my life or make my life.

    8. LH

      Mm.

    9. ET

      And I think, and I'm not saying you shouldn't have goals. Don't, don't, that ... I just think that goals for people is too high on the priority list, and I think what should be on the priority list is going to bed so you can wake up the next day and you can grind it out.

    10. LH

      Mm.

    11. ET

      And I'm just a dude that believes you reap what you sow. So if you're grinding on Monday, grinding on Tuesday, grinding on Wednesday, if you're grinding six, seven days a week for, for a span of five or six years, something's gotta come out of that.

    12. LH

      Sure.

    13. ET

      But if you're only grinding, you know, on Monday you fired up, Wednesday you back to sleeping in, Thursday you got e- the funk of the world is on. Like, I've heard people say-

    14. LH

      Hump day

    15. ET

      ... hump day. What is hump ... Every day is hump day.

    16. LH

      [laughs]

    17. ET

      Like, what's ... Wednesday is hump day. Like, Monday hump day, Tuesday is hump day. Like, every day is hump day.

    18. LH

      [laughs]

    19. ET

      And I think if we would spend more time on what's my goal, you know, and meaning what do I need to accomplish in this day to live this lifestyle, and you go after it, then I think, I think more people-

    20. LH

      Mm

    21. ET

      ... would be successful.

    22. LH

      Interesting.

    23. ET

      Yeah, but they spend too much time, like, scoreboard watching. They spend too much time on their I want this car and this house and live this lifestyle. No, that's, that's the wrong focus.

    24. LH

      You can think about the goal-

    25. ET

      Yeah

    26. LH

      ... and have that in your mind-

    27. ET

      Yeah

    28. LH

      ... but then think, "Okay, I'm gonna hustle every day-

    29. ET

      Yeah

    30. LH

      ... to make it happen," not just focus on-

  8. 11:29 – 14:59

    Time blocking and the 3:00 AM habit: why bedtime matters more than wake-up time

    1. ET

      Now, n- n- now here, here's the challenge. A lot of people ask me what time I wake up in the morning, and I, I think that so many young people, just because they've never been exposed to greatness, they're asking a good question.

    2. LH

      Mm.

    3. ET

      The great question should be, what time do you go to bed at night?

    4. LH

      Mm.

    5. ET

      That's, that's the question you should be asking.

    6. LH

      Mm.

    7. ET

      The question is, what time do you go to sleep? And so every night I try to go to bed, like, like, literally in the bed 8:30, 9:00.

    8. LH

      Wow.

    9. ET

      Asleep-

    10. LH

      That's like some-

    11. ET

      ... by 9:30.

    12. LH

      That's like some two-year-old stuff.

    13. ET

      Oh, man. I'm talking about like-

    14. LH

      That's like some baby stuff right there

    15. ET

      ... kindergarten

    16. LH

      ... you know what I'm saying? [laughs]

    17. ET

      That's like kindergarten. Like, math.

    18. LH

      [laughs]

    19. ET

      And I, and, and, and, and I, and I do that routinely. Now, I tell people, of course, I travel the world, so of course I'm not going to bed-

    20. LH

      Right

    21. ET

      ... every day at 9:30, but, but here's the deal, when I can, what happens is I create this habit that my body Believes that all right, 9:30, all right you wake up at 3:00, which means I'm getting five to six hours of sleep, which is pretty good, right? But here's the trick. When I came to California my body still woke up-

    22. LH

      Wow

    23. ET

      ... at 3:00 something because it's accustomed to going to bed at a certain time.

    24. LH

      Wow.

    25. ET

      My body doesn't really know what time it is. Like my body's not, it- it's not knowledgeable of time zones, right?

    26. LH

      Right, right.

    27. ET

      My body just knows that this is the time we normally wake up. So I go to bed consistently early. I wake up early. Now, this is why I wake up. Now if you're listening to me, you're an entrepreneur, you have to hear this. There are people who graduated magna cum laude, sum- I didn't. There are people who were born into wealth, there are people who were born into a certain network. I wasn't. But here's the trick. Even though I don't have what they have, I can outwork you.

    28. LH

      Mm.

    29. ET

      So if I'm getting up at 3:00 o'clock in the morning, and as sweet as you are, networks, parents, wealth, opportunities, and you're getting up at 8:00, I've got a five-hour jumpstart on you. Like I don't care who you are. If- if- if- if- if we're traveling to the same city and I take off five hours before you, nine out of 10 I'm gonna get there before you get there.

    30. LH

      Right.

  9. 14:59 – 17:50

    Creating space: faith, workouts, accountability calls, family time, and strict boundaries

    1. ET

      So it doesn't mean you have to stay up the entire day, but it does mean you have to get to the spot before everybody else. So it kinda looks like the first hour, um, I'm- I'm really a dude of faith, so the first hour-

    2. LH

      Wow

    3. ET

      ... I really spend, you know, um, reading my Bible, praying. After that I work out for about a good hour. I've got accountability group that I talk to for an hour.

    4. LH

      Mm.

    5. ET

      Spend time with my wife.

    6. LH

      Every morning, accountability group?

    7. ET

      Every morning. Spend every morning, accountability group, hour, two hours. We're kinda just talking about our day, what we gonna do. Spend time with my wife. My wife is, they say iron sharpens iron, but my wife is like titanium sharpening titanium.

    8. LH

      [laughs]

    9. ET

      You know? Uh, and my wife is constantly telling me, "You need to improve in this area. You need to do better in this area." Um, and then 8:00 o'clock in the morning CJ and I get on the phone-

    10. LH

      Wow

    11. ET

      ... and we spend the rest of the day going after it.

    12. LH

      Wow.

    13. ET

      So we've got a list of call Australia, a list of you got four videos, two voiceovers. Um, and- and let me say this to my entrepreneurs. I have a ritual where even if it, you're my closest friend, I have boundaries.

    14. LH

      Mm.

    15. ET

      So just because it's my company, it doesn't mean I can take calls all day.

    16. LH

      Right.

    17. ET

      I have boundaries. So you can't call me at a certain time. Why? I'm working. So if I'm on the phone all day just be- and- and I'm saying this to entrepreneurs because one of the gaps, and w- we'll talk about this later in the show, but you gotta find the gaps. And one of the gaps with entrepreneurs is that they feel like because they own their day, they can spend it like they want to. You cannot spend it like you want to. You, so if you were working for IBM or you're working for Ford, whoever you're working for, you couldn't be on the phone all day at a major corporation talking on the phone. So, so why do you allow yourself to talk on the phone when it's your business? Matter of fact, it's yours. You should probably, you should make sure there's no phone calls going on-

    18. LH

      [laughs]

    19. ET

      ... 'cause it's your business. So one of my rituals is when I get started, there are no interruptions.

    20. LH

      Wow.

    21. ET

      When I get started, I don't care if it's my wife, my children, they know that from a certain timeframe I'm going all in, and I can't go all in answering the phone. I can't go all in watching TV.

    22. LH

      Mm. The distraction, right.

    23. ET

      I can't, I can't go in with the distraction. And so some entrepreneurs are like, w- why am I not blowing up? Because you don't, you're not in a distraction. You don't have that, that, that moment of your day, I don't care if it's two hours, four hours, where you shut the entire world out. No Twitter, no Facebook.

    24. LH

      Mm.

    25. ET

      No y- nothing.

    26. LH

      No, no Instagram, which we love the most. [laughs]

    27. ET

      No Instagram. No Instagram.

    28. LH

      We love that Instagram.

    29. ET

      Oh. So but just for two hours-

    30. LH

      [laughs]

  10. 17:50 – 24:12

    Accountability and execution: defining success as doing what you said you’d do

    1. LH

      I like that. What would you say... I wanna, I first I wanna get to accountability.

    2. ET

      Okay.

    3. LH

      Why is accountability so important for you and so many other people? Why does it, why is it a game changer for you?

    4. ET

      I- I, you know, I- I learned this from Dan Gilbert, um, in Quick and Long. He has like 19 isms that, you know, his company lives by. And- and the, and the one I love the most says, "Innovation is rewarded, execution is worshiped."

    5. LH

      Mm.

    6. ET

      So what I learned of, of being around-

    7. LH

      Sure

    8. ET

      ... Dan Gilbert is like Your money changes when you execute

    9. LH

      Mm.

    10. ET

      I, I, I, I realized I didn't know ... I didn't have a r- right concept of success. Now I understand success is accomplishing what you say you're going to accomplish.

    11. LH

      Mm.

    12. ET

      It's getting done what you say you're gonna get done. And let's be honest, if you were to sit back and do a percentage on what you said you were gonna do-

    13. LH

      Mm

    14. ET

      ... in a time span, like what, how would you grade yourself? If you're saying 70, you're a C. If you're saying 80, you're a B. 90, you're a A. 100% ... And so I said if I could execute every single time. So as I began to look at my life, I realized, and this is for Eric Thomas, if I say I'm gonna work out 21 days in a row and nobody knows about it [laughs]

    15. LH

      [laughs]

    16. ET

      Nobody knows I'm gonna work out for 21 days-

    17. LH

      [laughs]

    18. ET

      ... I can kinda sneak away with-

    19. LH

      Yeah, yeah

    20. ET

      ... I'll do 30.

    21. LH

      Take a cheat day. [laughs]

    22. ET

      I'll do 10. Cheat here, cheat there. But when I call somebody and say, "Hey-

    23. LH

      Yeah, right

    24. ET

      ... I'm gonna work out for 21 days. I need you to hold me accountable," a part of my working out has absolutely nothing to do with working out.

    25. LH

      Mm.

    26. ET

      It has absolutely nothing to do with my health. It has absolutely nothing to do with me caring about my body. It has everything to do with I told you I was going to do it, and I don't want you to call me and ask me did I do it, and I have to tell you I didn't do it. So I realized that every man is where he is because when he says he's going to do something, not only does he d- do it, but he does it in a certain timeframe and with a certain quality.

    27. LH

      Mm.

    28. ET

      And if I have a group of people who can call me every day and say to me, "Did you, you say you're gonna do that. You say you're gonna do that." Listen to me, I, my first book took me 10 years to finish.

    29. LH

      [laughs]

    30. ET

      And I did not finish my book until a good friend of mine, Skagira, within a span of about a year or two, kept calling me every week and say, "Did you finish yet? What chapter are you on?"

  11. 24:12 – 29:16

    His “why”: opportunity, breaking generational cycles, and expanding access for others

    1. LH

      So what is your, what's your why? You're so passionate.

    2. ET

      Yeah.

    3. LH

      You're so, you're so committed.

    4. ET

      Yeah.

    5. LH

      Why are you so committed to excellence and greatness in your own life?

    6. ET

      Well, it-

    7. LH

      You talked about family, but I'm, I'm assuming that's part of it.

    8. ET

      Absolutely.

    9. LH

      But why specifically?

    10. ET

      But, you know, to me bigger than that, 'cause family is important, but if you live in a third world country, let's-

    11. LH

      Yeah

    12. ET

      ... let's be honest. Y- you're limited to what you can do for your family. So while family is important, listen to me, opportunity is the biggest thing. Like, people ask me, "Why'd you wake up at 3:00 in the morning?" If I could be a millionaire in America and live wherever I want to live-

    13. LH

      [laughs]

    14. ET

      ... just all I have is get up at 3:00 in the morning-

    15. LH

      That's pretty sweet

    16. ET

      ... like, that's it? That's a sweet deal. Like, I just... And I can go to bed whenever I want to go to bed and I can buy a good bed.

    17. LH

      [laughs]

    18. ET

      I can have a good mattress, right? That I can sleep in when I go to bed, right? So for me, it's opportunity that in this great country, and, you know, um, this country has had, you know, uh, its dark past, uh, you know, but I, I'm fortunate-

    19. LH

      It's not perfect

    20. ET

      ... yeah, I'm fortunate enough not to live, have lived in that dark past.

    21. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    22. ET

      So there was an, there was a time in this c- this, this country's history where Eric Thomas would not have had some of the opportunities-

    23. LH

      Right

    24. ET

      ... that I have now. So I have opportunities that Dr. Martin Luther King didn't have. I have opportunities that just 50, 60 years ago they didn't have. So in my, my generation, it doesn't make a difference what your race is, it doesn't make a difference what your ethnic background is, I can be an entrepreneur.

    25. LH

      Mm.

    26. ET

      Like, 100 years ago, somebody from my background couldn't have been an entrepreneur. I, I can be a CEO of a company.

    27. LH

      Right.

    28. ET

      I, I... The two of us can get together, you know, and work together. Like, I live the dream.

    29. LH

      Yeah.

    30. ET

      I have an opportunity to live Dr. Martin Luther King's dream.

  12. 29:16 – 34:16

    Mentors and exposure: learning through leaders, books, and getting out of your environment

    1. LH

      Who are your mentors right now, and how important do you think it is for people to have mentors/coaches throughout their entire journey of their life, whether they're in school, playing a sport, uh, running a business, you know, trying to be married? You know-

    2. ET

      Yeah

    3. LH

      ... how important is it to have key mentors and coaches?

    4. ET

      Oh, everything, man. I mean-

    5. LH

      And who are yours?

    6. ET

      Yeah, I mean, it's everything because, you know, my mother calls it triple darkness. You don't know that you don't know that you don't know.

    7. LH

      Mm.

    8. ET

      You know, it's triple darkness for the kid that's growing up in a certain neighborhood without his father. You know, he hasn't had... He never left his city, he's never been a 10, 20-mile radius outside of his city. There are kids in Los Angeles who've never been to a beach.

    9. LH

      Yeah.

    10. ET

      You know? It's unbelievable. [laughs] You know what I'm saying?

    11. LH

      Yeah.

    12. ET

      There are kids in Chicago who never been downtown at the pier or never walked the Magnificent Mile. You know, there are kids in San Francisco who've never been to the Golden Gate Bridge. I mean, can you imagine?

    13. LH

      Mm.

    14. ET

      Kids in Huntsville, Alabama, who've-

    15. LH

      Yeah

    16. ET

      ... never gone to the Space and Rocket Center.

    17. LH

      Yep.

    18. ET

      You know? So I think it's everything. I'm not where I am because of who I am. I am where I am because of the, the information that individuals gave me.

    19. LH

      Mm.

    20. ET

      You know? And so, uh, my mentors, and we're fortunate in this generation, through books, uh, through social media, anybody could be your mentor.

    21. LH

      Anyone, yeah.

    22. ET

      You know, you can follow whoever you want. But of recent, Dan Gilbert has been, you know, of course owns Quicken Loans, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

    23. LH

      Yeah.

    24. ET

      You know, he's been a mentor to me. He shared with me, you know, the 19 principles that he uses, um, to revolutionize not only his company, but bring back Detroit, and I think that's why my relationship ... uh, with Dan Gilbert is so important, Bill Emerson, who's also with Quicken Loans, Tony Nuckles, is because I'm watching these guys build Detroit back up.

    25. LH

      Yeah.

    26. ET

      I, I get to see the, the, the, the, the, the, the millionaires, billionaires who are building the city back up.

    27. LH

      [clears throat]

    28. ET

      I know them. I get to call them. I get to do lunch with them.

    29. LH

      Wow.

    30. ET

      I get to ask them questions. So Dan Gilbert is one. Tom Izzo definitely.

  13. 34:16 – 42:23

    Three entrepreneur mistakes: starting uninformed, weak infrastructure, and lack of discipline to wait

    1. LH

      Sure, sure, yeah. What would you say are the three biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make that don't make them successful?

    2. ET

      Yeah.

    3. LH

      Or three big mistakes that someone who's not an entrepreneur, but someone just trying to get what they want, what are those three big things that they do that, that are mistakes?

    4. ET

      Yeah. For me, I think most people move without knowing.

    5. LH

      Mm.

    6. ET

      You know?

    7. LH

      No vision.

    8. ET

      Yeah. I, I just think, man, you know, for a lot of people, um, they have not literally sat down and thought through what will this take?

    9. LH

      Yeah.

    10. ET

      You know? Okay, so I wanna be a real estate... Yeah, okay. Real estate is great, but have you spent months and years asking yourself what are the qualities-

    11. LH

      Yeah

    12. ET

      ... of a great real estate, you know, um, individual? What are the great, um, uh, books that we need to read? What's the knowledge that you need to know? Like, I think people get started from feelings.

    13. LH

      Mm.

    14. ET

      They get started from these great ideas, but they don't get started from facts.

    15. LH

      Yeah.

    16. ET

      And I'm telling you, one of the things Warren Buffett said that blew my mind, when they asked him his routine, he said he s- he spends the first... Well, he didn't say first, but he just said six hours a day he's reading.

    17. LH

      Wow.

    18. ET

      And I'm like, okay.

    19. LH

      [laughs]

    20. ET

      So just in case you missed that, 'cause I don't want you to go and just buy a whole bunch of books and start reading for six hours a day. What I heard was his decision-making process is so much stronger than mine's because it's based off of six hours of information.

    21. LH

      Wow.

    22. ET

      That's incredible. So you spent six hours. So a lot of basketball players that I meet, D1 ballers, they spend more time playing the game than they do studying the game.

    23. LH

      Mm.

    24. ET

      So they don't like watching film. They don't like practicing. And so I would say to the entrepreneur out there, it's not about what you know that's going to create success in your life. It's what you don't know. It's the gaps that's gonna break your company.

    25. LH

      Mm.

    26. ET

      It's those little things that you don't do that you didn't know you were supposed to do that will break the back of your company, that, that would allow the other guy to get breaks that you don't get, you know? So for me, I started this company, and there was just little things that I, I just didn't know, that going to conferences and meeting people, like, I did not know that Eric, whether you like meetings or not, you need to have meetings. And, and, and, and not just have meetings for meetings sake. There needs to be measurements. There need, there, there, there needs to be accountability. There, there needs to be, uh, uh, uh, immediate goals-

    27. LH

      Mm

    28. ET

      ... and long-term goals. There needs to be, look at the threats, look at the opportunities. So the first thing I think is that most people are- Starting a business without truly being informed

    29. LH

      Mm

    30. ET

      You may have 70% knowledge or 60%, but you're not operating on 100% information, and you're so eager, and you're so, you're so desperate to make money, you're so desperate, you know, to, to move forward, that you haven't spent the quality time building a solid foundation

  14. 42:23 – 49:25

    Gratitude, grace, and defining greatness as leaving things better

    1. LH

      Um, but I wanted to get you to your family. What are you most grateful for recently and overall this entire year? Now that we're wrapping up the year, what are you most grateful for in your life?

    2. ET

      I, I, I would say I'm most grateful, uh, for second and third opportunities.

    3. LH

      Mm.

    4. ET

      You know, I'm getting my PhD at 44 You know, and the way the structure is designed, they give you 10 years, you know, to complete that process, and I think I would've done it in eight. Now, from start to finish, it probably was only four and a half, five, but I'm grateful for that grace period.

    5. LH

      Mm.

    6. ET

      You know, that while I was doing some other things that I thought were a priority, uh, that had to be taken care of before I could take care of this. Uh, so I'm grateful for grace. I'm grateful for-

    7. LH

      Mm

    8. ET

      ... um, while my wife has, you know, been, been diagnosed, uh, you know, with a chronic illness, I'm grateful, um, that it has, it hasn't debilitated her.

    9. LH

      Mm.

    10. ET

      You know? Um, that while she does need, you know, her rest and she's changed her diet, of course, she's still able to go to work, she's still able to travel, and we've had to make some great consensus, but, um... And some adjustments, you know, and we've had to, um, you know, we have, we had to alter our lifestyle to some extent. I'm, I'm grateful that it has not, she's not in a wheelchair, she hasn't been hospitalized. You know, a lot of people with her illness have, you know, experienced blindness and, and, and had some other, you know, not been able to walk, and some other sensory issues, and my wife hasn't had anything other than, uh, issues of fatigue. And while I won't minimize fatigue, I'm just saying that's not the worst thing, you know, that could happen.

    11. LH

      Yeah.

    12. ET

      So I think this year, I, I've just been so grateful, um, you know, just for grace.

    13. LH

      Mm.

    14. ET

      That the grace that has been extended to my family, uh, and traveling mercies. I'm on the road [laughs] quite a bit.

    15. LH

      [laughs]

    16. ET

      You know, and, uh, there are planes that have crashed. You know, there are people who got into accidents, and I've been able to make it home every, um-

    17. LH

      Mm

    18. ET

      ... after every trip, you know, and so it's been great. And then finally, like I said, you know, seeing my son, you know, do what he's dreamed of, seeing him, you know, on ESPN, he's been on Sports Illustrated, you know, uh, a couple times. And, you know, just seeing, like I said, seeing him enjoy his life.

    19. LH

      Mm.

    20. ET

      I was homeless at his age, you know? Um, I was a high school dropout, and so seeing my son get a better start than I had-

    21. LH

      Mm

    22. ET

      ... has been, um, phenomenal. So, uh, and just seeing all the emails and, you know, different things we get from people who say, "Hey, I had cancer, you got me through it. You know, I had to take my, um, bar exam three times, but I passed it."

    23. LH

      Mm.

    24. ET

      You know, "I had to take my medical exam a few times, but I got it, so thanks for, you know, almost being transparent. You know, thank you for sharing your weaknesses-"

    25. LH

      Yeah

    26. ET

      ... you know, to give us strength." So, uh, it's been a phenomenal, phenomenal, phenomenal year, and I would say I'm grateful for my fans who've turned into my family.

    27. LH

      Mm.

    28. ET

      You know, 'cause they go to bat for me. You know, it's funny, sometimes on [laughs] these different sites, people will make, uh, comments, you know, out of ignorance, they haven't studied me as long as other people, and my fans will jump right on it. [laughs]

    29. LH

      [laughs]

    30. ET

      They're like, "Hey, you don't know ET. Don't say that about ET. ET put in the work. You know, he's not that type of guy." You know, so, um-

Episode duration: 49:25

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