Michael Beckwith Leave Mediocrity Behind You with Lewis Howes

Michael Bernard Beckwith 0:00 The ego does not know the difference between transformation and annihilation. It doesn't know that outside of the known, in the realm of the unknown, there's so much good and so much power and so much abundance. It tries to eke its joy out of what's known, whereas our good is actually outside of the known. [upbeat music]

Lewis Howes 0:40 Welcome everyone back to the School of Greatness Podcast. We have Michael Beckwith in the house. Good to see you, sir.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 0:45 Good to see you, Lewis.

Lewis Howes 0:46 Very excited about this. I've heard your name for probably, I don't know, 10 years, uh, since I kinda got in the, uh, online business space and personal growth, uh, area, and I've been doing this podcast for six years, and I'm glad we finally got you on. Uh, you were, uh, officiating a wedding, uh-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:03 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 1:03 ... of a good friend of ours, uh, Preston Smiles-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:05 Right, right

Lewis Howes 1:05 ... a few years ago, and I got to watch you there, and I'm excited to go to Agape soon, since you moved closer to me.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:11 Please.

Lewis Howes 1:12 And where is Agape now?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:13 It's at the Saban Theater.

Lewis Howes 1:15 S-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:15 Right there on Wilshire, right near La Cienega.

Lewis Howes 1:17 Okay, and you-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:17 Every Sunday, we're, we're, we're, we're kicking it there.

Lewis Howes 1:20 And, and Agape, for those that don't know what Agape is, you started it when, and what is it exactly?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:25 Our first Sunday service was November the 30th, 1986.

Lewis Howes 1:29 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:30 So we're just completing 32 years-

Lewis Howes 1:32 Wow

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:33 ... of, of, of, uh, of service, of, um, actually being a strong represent- representation of diversity, inclusivity-

Lewis Howes 1:43 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:44 ... a spiritual community. Uh, I can't believe 32 years for myself. I mean, it's-

Lewis Howes 1:48 It's crazy

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:48 ... I don't know.

Lewis Howes 1:49 I was a baby then. I was-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:50 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 1:50 ... I was four years old when you started, so-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:52 Yeah

Lewis Howes 1:52 ... that's crazy. What, um... Now, you were in, you grew up in a church, Methodist church, right? And then you left when you were a teenager?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 2:00 Yeah. Actually, uh, I was attending Holmes Methodist Church as a child, and also another church, and Holmes Methodist Church where, is where I actually met Martin Luther King Jr.

Lewis Howes 2:10 No way.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 2:10 Yeah. And my mother introduced me to him. I shook his hand, and I said, "Mom, he has, uh, such soft hands." And my mother said, uh, "Baby, he does a different kind of work."

Lewis Howes 2:22 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 2:24 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 2:24 He's not building buildings and, uh-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 2:25 No, no, no. So yeah.

Lewis Howes 2:27 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 2:27 I grew up there. As a teenager I left that. I, I, the paradigm was a little bit small for me, and, um, the teachings were a little dogmatic. Not, not at Holmes necessarily-

Lewis Howes 2:36 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 2:36 ... uh, but I went to a congregational church after that. So as a teenager I left. It was too much politics.

Lewis Howes 2:41 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 2:42 And, and I was kind of agnostic.

Lewis Howes 2:44 Okay.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 2:44 I, I was pretty much agnostic, atheistic, and, and, uh, I remember when I was attending Morehouse College, me and a friend of mine, who's now an attorney, we used to go out and convert Christians to atheism.

Lewis Howes 2:56 Really? Why?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 2:56 Yeah. Because we knew that, uh, religion, as it was being espoused, was not the real deal. And we would break it down and show people how, uh, Jesus had nothing to do with this.

Lewis Howes 3:11 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 3:11 You know what I mean? That, that Christianity came a couple of hundred years after Jesus came and left, and that-

Lewis Howes 3:17 Made by other men or-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 3:18 Yeah

Lewis Howes 3:18 ... women or whatever. Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 3:19 And so it was, uh, shocking to me that a, a few years later when I was attending USC, I had a spiritual awakening in which I could see the presence everywhere, in everything. And again, I didn't relegate it to religiosity. I moved more into a much more of a spiritual outlook.

Lewis Howes 3:38 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 3:39 And began to realize what Jesus was talking about and what Buddha was talking about, and what all the great teachers were talking about. It wasn't about religion. It was about freedom. It was about spirituality. It was about awakened consciousness. It was about the greatness and the beauty and the light that's within us all, you know, of which many people who go down a religious path suffer from a paradigm blindness. They can't see outside of that particular box, you know?

Lewis Howes 4:02 They have a fixed mindset.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:04 Right. Right.

Lewis Howes 4:04 It's a fixed set of rules and beliefs, and you can't expand beyond that.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:08 Can't go beyond it, yeah.

Lewis Howes 4:08 Otherwise you're wrong or you're judging yourself, or you're-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:11 Or you think you're the only one.

Lewis Howes 4:12 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:13 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 4:13 Right, right, right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:14 Right.

Lewis Howes 4:15 Wow. And community is such a big part of religion, right?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:18 Yeah. Uh, the, you know, there's, there's, there's a lot of good to say about community. Uh-

Lewis Howes 4:22 Of course

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:23 ... of course. Uh, there's the whole social interaction. There's the service. There's the inspiration. Um, community assist each other. People that are in some kind of community have a tendency to live longer-

Lewis Howes 4:34 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:35 ... than other people. There's a stronger support system. So, uh, spiritual community is, is extremely powerful.

Lewis Howes 4:42 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:43 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 4:43 So when you started Agape, was it... What was the foundation that was based on the principles?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:49 Well, first of all, Agape means unconditional love.

Lewis Howes 4:52 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:52 Again, I heard that in a speech from Dr. King when I was a little boy.

Lewis Howes 4:56 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 4:56 'Cause he's describing in the Greek languages the different kinds of love, and Agape is the love of, uh, God operating in the human heart. It's an unconditional, all-conditional, non-agenda love. It's a total givingness of the spirit. And so, um, having studied in, in, in, uh, in metaphysics, I combined the metaphysics teachings with the spirit of Agape love.

Lewis Howes 5:21 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 5:21 And then that became the foundation of the rise of our community. Uh-

Lewis Howes 5:25 And has it been kinda the same principles for the last 32 years, or has it evolved as you've evolved and learned new things or...?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 5:33 Well, it, it evolves because I'm always on the verge of new insights and new revelations. But the principles you can't really change.

Lewis Howes 5:39 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 5:39 You know, the principles of oneness, the princ- principles of inclusivity, the principles that we have infinite potential that's within us, within everyone, and that we're here to unlock that, to unleash that, to set that free. And to make a mighty difference on the planet while we're here. You know, uh, the principles that a thought is a unit of mental energy that transmutes itself into perception, speech, behavior, ultimately experience. I mean, these are spiritual principles that no one has a monopoly on.

Lewis Howes 6:10 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 6:11 So I think with, uh, spiritual practice, you just have greater insight into the principles, and you teach them more and more in a much more beautiful and elegant way.

Lewis Howes 6:20 What's been the biggest challenge for you as a, a human being living a spiritual path over the last, you know, 30-plus years? Um, what's been your greatest human challenge?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 6:31 I think just, uh, just dealing with human beings. [laughs]

Lewis Howes 6:35 We're complicated people, aren't we?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 6:36 I mean, the, the... it's, it's, it's, it's, uh, the best and the worst in the same package.

Lewis Howes 6:41 Yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 6:41 I mean, you see, um, human beings that are on the verge of great discovery.

Lewis Howes 6:46 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 6:46 You see miracles. You see people coming out of the depths of despair and depression and illness and sickness and, uh, addiction, rising.

Lewis Howes 6:56 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 6:56 And then you see, uh, human beings who will criticize and complain and gossip and, and attack, you know, all in the same day. You may get the same deal. [laughs] You may... You know. And so I've learned to not embrace either one of the imposters-

Lewis Howes 7:12 Right

Michael Bernard Beckwith 7:12 ... which is praise or criticism. You know? I, I, I don't run towards praise. I don't run from criticism, and I just don't deal in that area.

Lewis Howes 7:20 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 7:20 You know, I just keep my attention on that which is real and keep moving forward. But as far as, uh, just being, being human, you know, we suffer everything anybody suffers from. You know.

Lewis Howes 7:29 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 7:29 There's loss. People die. You know. Uh, all, all of that is-

Lewis Howes 7:34 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 7:34 ... is in the human condition.

Lewis Howes 7:35 What's been, um, you know, with all the, the lessons you've learned and the principles you've, you know, been studying for years, what's been the hardest thing for you to overcome in terms of, like, maybe a loss or a struggle or a breakup when you were younger or a, a death of someone? Was there something specific where you're like, "Man, I know how to get through this-"

Michael Bernard Beckwith 7:53 Yeah

Lewis Howes 7:53 ... "but it took me months or years to, like, fully heal or fully process this?"

Michael Bernard Beckwith 7:58 I, I would say two things. One, my mother passed-

Lewis Howes 8:01 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 8:01 ... about six years ago, and it's not that people don't pass, but it happened suddenly.

Lewis Howes 8:08 Really?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 8:08 I mean, it happened within-

Lewis Howes 8:08 She was good, and then-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 8:10 Within a couple of weeks. And, and she didn't tell us.

Lewis Howes 8:13 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 8:14 What... You know, we knew she was a cancer survivor, but she didn't tell us that it had come back. Intuitively, I went over her house every night after, after I got off of work. I just started going by there all the time, and she would say, "Why, why you come by every night?" I said, "I don't know. I just wanna hang out with you." I didn't know that it was close.

Lewis Howes 8:32 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 8:33 And then we, we... when I was called to the hospital to see her, and it was like, "What? You're leaving?" And, and she was, like, in the bed, and she started talking to her ancestors that were invisible. And I remember her saying, "No, no, not yet. Not yet. I, I'm gonna go home first, and then I'm gonna leave." I'm like, "You're gonna leave?" So she went home. Within a couple of weeks, she had passed over.

Lewis Howes 8:53 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 8:54 And it, it, it, it, it shook my entire family because as the matriarch, she held everything together, you know? So it took a moment to, like, adjust. My father is still adjusting.

Lewis Howes 9:07 Really? Six years later.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 9:08 Six years later, man. He went into a, kind of a reclusive kinda vibe, and-

Lewis Howes 9:12 Wow

Michael Bernard Beckwith 9:13 ... I've been going over there a lot lately, helping him do a lot of things that he's been resistant to 'cause he's such a independent guy. He was a judge, you know. And, and, uh, so we're just... the family's just now, like, breathing, you know. And then, uh, right this moment, um, I'm- we're... I, I've been separated, uh, fr- from my wife-

Lewis Howes 9:34 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 9:34 ... for the last couple of years, and we're just now moving through the legal stuff, and that's been kinda difficult.

Lewis Howes 9:38 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 9:38 You know?

Lewis Howes 9:38 How long were you married for?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 9:40 Got married in 2000. End of 2000.

Lewis Howes 9:42 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 9:43 So, um, but, you know, there's a lot of, um, friendship, a lot of love.

Lewis Howes 9:48 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 9:48 A lot of, um, really good stuff we did together.

Lewis Howes 9:51 Sure.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 9:52 So I'm not, uh, naive to think that, uh, people are supposed to stay together forever-

Lewis Howes 9:56 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 9:56 ... particularly with the longevity rate going up and with- particularly with people, um, learning their lessons faster.

Lewis Howes 10:02 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:03 You know, there's, there's a lot of people that are staying together that should be apart.

Lewis Howes 10:08 For too long.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:08 [laughs] For too long.

Lewis Howes 10:09 Decades, right?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:10 You know. And, uh, so I'm not naive in that sense.

Lewis Howes 10:14 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:14 But it's, it's a, it's a, it's an interesting lesson.

Lewis Howes 10:17 Do you ever feel, um, a sense of shame or insecurity around teaching certain principles if you're going through certain challenges like this yourself? Like-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:27 No, no, no. There's, there's no shame

Lewis Howes 10:27 ... if people are looking to you for counsel or-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:30 Yeah

Lewis Howes 10:30 ... advice on relationships, and it might look like yours is failing or didn't work out-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:35 Yeah

Lewis Howes 10:35 ... do you ever feel any-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:37 No, because, you know, you never let anybody else, uh, define your narrative or your life.

Lewis Howes 10:41 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:42 So I've been married twice.

Lewis Howes 10:44 So-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:44 I, I haven't had two failed marriages. I've had two successful marriages.

Lewis Howes 10:47 Mm, that's great.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:47 First marriage, I have two beautiful children from it, grandchildren from, from one of the kids, and, um, it was my high school sweetheart.

Lewis Howes 10:58 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 10:59 Friendship is deep. I, I mean, I, I was with her on Christmas with her husband.

Lewis Howes 11:02 Oh, man. Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 11:02 You know, so it's all family. It's all celebratory. Second marriage, very successful. We produced a lot of music, a lot of programs, a lot of people. So I don't look at those as failed relationships. I look at those as successful relationships, and when that particular form is over, it's over. Now, some people try to hang on to the form, [laughs] you know what I mean? And they cause themself a lot of, a lot of issues.

Lewis Howes 11:27 Yeah. A failed relationship is one that stays together too long without either shifting or reinventing it-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 11:33 Right

Lewis Howes 11:33 ... or bringing that sense of peace and love together when you stay miserable.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 11:37 Right.

Lewis Howes 11:37 I feel, I feel like that's more of a failure.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 11:39 It's a deep failure.

Lewis Howes 11:40 Even though you stayed together, if there's not love and real respect and-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 11:43 You know, you know, you're not growing together anymore.

Lewis Howes 11:45 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 11:46 You know, I have a... I had a friend of mine that, uh, you know, him and his wife were together for... since high school. It was like it was obvious- After a while that they were just to be friends and move forward

Lewis Howes 11:56 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 11:57 You know what I mean? And they would never do it. And he ended up dying. I'm not saying he died from that, but I- I often thought that, you know, you didn't go for your life.

Lewis Howes 12:06 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 12:07 You ended up wanting to live with an image that we were together for X amount of years and all of that. [laughs]

Lewis Howes 12:13 Why do we hold onto that so much, that image of, like, we're gonna make it work or it has to look a certain way for us to be respected in our communities or...

Michael Bernard Beckwith 12:21 Because people have a tendency to care more about what other people are thinking about them than what their soul wants. And so they live from, uh-

Lewis Howes 12:31 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 12:31 ... what is so and so gonna think of me, and what's my mother gonna think of me, and what's the so- society's gonna think of me. And inside, everyone has a destiny, bright, beautiful destiny. The soul is calling us to, to greatness, your name of your show.

Lewis Howes 12:45 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 12:45 You know, uh, to be great beings, to be great lights, to live fully. And oftentimes people will dim their light-

Lewis Howes 12:52 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 12:52 ... in order to fit into someone else's paradigm and end up with crisis, end up with disease, end up with prolonged sadness.

Lewis Howes 13:02 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 13:03 When if you just step out of that, there's so much life to live, you see. So I think a lot of people are just run by what others are thinking about them rather than what their soul wants.

Lewis Howes 13:14 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 13:14 You see.

Lewis Howes 13:16 Powerful. I think, um, when we shine our light, the challenge is sometimes there are people that try to take us down.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 13:23 Oh, yeah.

Lewis Howes 13:23 Right?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 13:24 Listen-

Lewis Howes 13:25 So how do we handle that when-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 13:26 Yeah

Lewis Howes 13:26 ... you know, it doesn't matter how much positivity you try to put in the world-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 13:30 Yeah

Lewis Howes 13:30 ... how much good you try to do, someone's always gonna try to take you down. How should we handle that?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 13:34 Well, first of all, we have to be aware that, that mediocrity always attacks excellence.

Lewis Howes 13:39 Ooh.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 13:39 You know, it, it's ki- it's kind of a rule. No one's attacking a couch potato.

Lewis Howes 13:44 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 13:44 You know?

Lewis Howes 13:45 No one cares. [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 13:45 No one cares. If you're sitting on the couch eating potato chips and getting fat and, and doing nothing, no one says anything.

Lewis Howes 13:50 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 13:51 But the moment you start to walk toward your dream, and you start to break habits, you start to change relationships that no longer serve that dream, you start, uh, you start to be talked about. Now, many people, um, are afraid of failure, which really means that they're afraid of being ridiculed.

Lewis Howes 14:08 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 14:08 But once you become aware that you're gonna be ridiculed if you fail, and you're gonna be talked about if you succeed, then you're able to put that aside 'cause you know you're gonna be talked about either way.

Lewis Howes 14:19 No matter what, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 14:19 You know, if you go forward and you fall, "Oh, he, he went for it and he didn't make it." Or if you go for it and succeed, they'll say, "Oh, it was luck." You know, you know, whatever they say about you. So once you get out of your mind or b- become aware that people are gonna talk about you either way, then you go for it, you see. And, and at the end of the day, you are different because you went for it. That you going for it actually brings out latent powers and gifts and talents within you-

Lewis Howes 14:52 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 14:52 ... that can't come to bloom unless you go for it. So then when you reach your next mountaintop, and mountaintops are endless-

Lewis Howes 14:58 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 14:59 ... when you meet, when you reach your next peak, who's with you are the people that are supposed to be with you or could be with you based on what you have become. Now you go for another peak, and then the people that are supposed to be with you there are with you, and all the naysayers-

Lewis Howes 15:14 You mi- you might shed some people who came with you from the first peak

Michael Bernard Beckwith 15:16 ... shed your ballast. Yeah.

Lewis Howes 15:17 Yeah. Some people might come with you to the next mountain-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 15:19 Yeah

Lewis Howes 15:20 ... but some people might be left behind, right?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 15:22 Absolutely. You keep your heart open. You never just-

Lewis Howes 15:24 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 15:24 ... jettison people out of your life. Your heart is open, but you're constantly growing and unfolding. So I think that, uh, when you're, when you're going for a goal, it's not just achieving the goal. It's actually who are you becoming on the way to be, to, to, to bringing that goal into manifestation. And then your new becoming, you have a different vibration.

Lewis Howes 15:45 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 15:46 And now the people at that vibration are hanging with you. They support, they love.

Lewis Howes 15:50 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 15:50 They appreciate you. They cheer you on, you know, rather than tear you down. It's, it's a... If you're living in a paradigm of scarcity and lack, you tear people down.

Lewis Howes 16:01 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:01 If you're living in a paradigm of abundance and opulence, there's enough for everybody, you cheer people on. So your success makes me happy.

Lewis Howes 16:08 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:09 You know, "Oh, look what Lewis did." Oh, that's great.

Lewis Howes 16:11 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:11 That's fantastic.

Lewis Howes 16:12 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:13 I'm not in the paradigm of thinking that because you succeed, there's less for me.

Lewis Howes 16:16 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:17 I'm in the paradigm of thinking, if you succeed, it's a shining example.

Lewis Howes 16:21 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:21 What he did is possible.

Lewis Howes 16:23 I can go do that or something else. Yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:24 I can do what I can do-

Lewis Howes 16:25 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:25 ... in my life.

Lewis Howes 16:26 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:26 You know, so.

Lewis Howes 16:27 What's the thing that you're most proud of, of who you've become on all the mountaintops you've reached?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:33 I think I have a, just a, a deep sense of, uh, compassion for, for people. I have a, a very, um, deep well of forgiveness.

Lewis Howes 16:42 You do?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:42 Yeah, where people are concerned. I, I just-

Lewis Howes 16:44 You forgive quickly or-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 16:45 Quickly. Nothing sticks. It, it, it, you know, nothing sticks to me. I was just recently with, um, a good friend of mine, uh, you know, Cicely Tyson. She, she comes to Agape when she comes in town. And we're having a, a conversation, and she was indicating... There were some things that had been done to her recently.

Lewis Howes 17:03 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:04 She had no bitterness about it.

Lewis Howes 17:05 Really?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:06 And she's 94.

Lewis Howes 17:07 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:08 And I said-

Lewis Howes 17:08 Like, someone attacked her or did something wrong by her.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:09 Somebody stole some stuff from her.

Lewis Howes 17:11 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:11 They preyed on her because she's a senior citizen.

Lewis Howes 17:13 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:14 And, and she said, "I don't have time to let that burden me."

Lewis Howes 17:19 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:20 "I, I have too much life to live." She's 94 years old.

Lewis Howes 17:22 Yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:23 You know, I wanna be like that. You know what I mean? I don't, I don't have time to hold the burden of rancor or resentment, you know, if somebody says something or whatever the case may be, and I think I've always had a deep well of that.

Lewis Howes 17:35 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:35 But being with her recently made me know that could go a little deeper.

Lewis Howes 17:39 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:39 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 17:40 Is there ever a time to be angry in life?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:43 Yeah, I think there's, there's a difference between just anger and righteous indignation. Righteous indignation, we should be indignant when we live in a country and there are people that can't eat.

Lewis Howes 17:54 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 17:54 You know, we live in a country of so-called wealth. And we still have, uh, people that don't have universal healthcare-

Lewis Howes 18:00 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 18:01 ... or just the basic needs that could be provided by our society. I think there's a... Or, or, or the way we treat women-

Lewis Howes 18:07 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 18:07 ... or things of that particular nature. I think that there's a righteous indignation, you know, uh, that's different from just being angry or living at a high level of pissosity [laughs] all the time that only, um, sends toxic chemicals through our body temple. So sometimes anger can be a masking emotion for fear.

Lewis Howes 18:29 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 18:29 People can actually be afraid, and they mask it with anger. So no, I think there- there's righteous indignation.

Lewis Howes 18:34 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 18:34 You know? The time that we need to act, time that we need to make a difference.

Lewis Howes 18:38 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 18:38 Need to let our voice speak about things that need to be changed.

Lewis Howes 18:42 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 18:42 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 18:43 And what about the ego? You've been... We were talking off-camera how you've been... You're a doctor. You've been knighted, sirred, I don't know, chief.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 18:50 Yeah. [laughs]

Lewis Howes 18:50 You've got like 500 titles of, like, the highest praise. How does someone manage their ego as they continue to climb in the world?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 18:58 Yeah. Well, we have to understand the evolutionary, uh, context of ego. Ego is what protects us as we are evolving as a human species. It what, uh, protects you so that you're able to survive.

Lewis Howes 19:11 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 19:12 So you're able to tell the difference between you and a saber-toothed tiger. Uh, you, back during tribalism, you know, you had to be able to have a level of differentiation-

Lewis Howes 19:19 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 19:20 ... for your safety. But now we're at the point where we have to transcend the ego's perception of separation because right now it's run amok. You know, we're separate from our environment. We're separate from the oceans. We're separate from the rainforest. We're separate-

Lewis Howes 19:33 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 19:33 ... from each other because of the color of the skin or nationality or where we were born. So we have to be aware that the ego's first job is to protect, but when that protection starts going to making us feel separate from everybody, then we have to keep it in check, and we have to transcend it. And that's where meditation comes in.

Lewis Howes 19:52 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 19:52 That's where prayer, and that's where study, that's where fellowship. We're able to transcend the ego, so I can see you and I are the same. We may come from different parts of the world-

Lewis Howes 20:02 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 20:02 ... different skin colors, but at the bottom, we're both human.

Lewis Howes 20:05 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 20:06 You know? Um, so once... With spiritual practice, you don't let the r- ego go crazy, you know? And it, and it becomes not about me. It becomes about we. You know, it becomes about us, you know? Uh, not just my family, but where does my family end, you know?

Lewis Howes 20:26 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 20:27 Does it end with just people who are Black? Does it end with people just in the United States, or does my family end just with people in North Am- You know, after a while you realize humanity's your family.

Lewis Howes 20:38 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 20:39 You know? And, and you don't wanna do anything that's going to be detrimental to anyone on the family, even if it's the rainforest.

Lewis Howes 20:47 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 20:47 Even if it's the ocean water, you know? And so, again, it's difficult for people if they don't have some modicum of spiritual practice because the ego will just come in, me, me, my, my, greed, stinginess.

Lewis Howes 21:03 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 21:03 You know, I'm gonna protect mine. That becomes the frequency. But when you start to grow, you realize it's really a we vibe here.

Lewis Howes 21:12 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 21:12 It's not just a me vibe.

Lewis Howes 21:13 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 21:16 You know?

Lewis Howes 21:16 Two questions. One, why do you think we are here, and why do you think you are here?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 21:22 I believe that everyone has the same purpose. We all have different missions. We all have the same purpose, and I'll say it in different ways.

Lewis Howes 21:30 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 21:31 Uh, we can say we're all here to, to reflect the face of divinity, or we're here to reflect the cosmos in a way that only we can. Everyone is here for that same purpose, and we all have different missions. Some people's mission is to teach-

Lewis Howes 21:47 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 21:47 ... heal, inspire, uplift, to create some level of art that's gonna inspire, choreography. Um, you know, and we all have different missions, but every mission carries that larger purpose. How is my life reflecting the entire cosmos? Because I believe all of us have the entirety of the cosmos in us, and we're here to discover it-

Lewis Howes 22:10 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 22:10 ... activate it, cultivate it, and set it free. So we're all here to reflect the, the face of God.

Lewis Howes 22:16 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 22:16 For lack of a... Just to bring it down. Not God, not a man in the sky.

Lewis Howes 22:21 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 22:21 I'm not... We're not that naive. [laughs]

Lewis Howes 22:22 Right, right, right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 22:22 You know?

Lewis Howes 22:23 Sure.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 22:23 But, uh, the presence that is never an absence. So everyone has the same purpose. Some people know their purpose. Some people don't.

Lewis Howes 22:32 How do you suggest people discover it if they don't know what it is?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 22:36 People grow into their purpose two ways: crisis or insight. [laughs]

Lewis Howes 22:42 Right. Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 22:43 You know, 'cause sometimes when your back is against the wall, you get a crisis, then you begin to ask different kind of questions. You know, why am I here? What is my-

Lewis Howes 22:50 What am I doing this for? What's the reason why?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 22:51 Why do I keep doing the same thing over and over? Uh, and then you start to open up, that there's something bigger that's, that has your name on it, that's calling you. And sometimes people grow through... They have an insight. They get inspired. Something happens, and they're able to see, wow, my life is more than what I thought it was.

Lewis Howes 23:10 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 23:10 So I think we grow pain inside. One of my statements is, um, your, your pain pushes you until your vision pulls you.

Lewis Howes 23:20 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 23:21 So we're actually pushed by pain until we're pulled by a larger vision. And so unless an individual-

Lewis Howes 23:27 Interesting.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 23:28 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 23:29 So what if we're in the middle? What if we're like, "Well, I'm not pulled by anything. I'm not pushed by anything. I just kinda feel blah."

Michael Bernard Beckwith 23:36 Yes. [laughs]

Lewis Howes 23:36 Is it like eventually you're gonna feel pain-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 23:38 Yeah

Lewis Howes 23:39 ... so bad you're gonna be like, "Okay, I need to step up and do something."

Michael Bernard Beckwith 23:42 I need to change.

Lewis Howes 23:42 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 23:42 Yeah. Because the universe, which is the out-picturing of the intelligence of the presence, is progressive.

Lewis Howes 23:48 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 23:49 You know, i- if you... We're here on planet Earth. The Earth is circling the Sun. The Sun is moving through its solar system. Every heavenly body has a rotation. Now, every time there's a complete rotation- The frequency of those heavenly bodies are a little higher. The Earth is vibrating higher today than it was 10 years ago.

Lewis Howes 24:07 Interesting.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 24:07 So everything is progressing. So if you're the same person that you were 365 days ago, you're not really the same person. You've actually gone backwards.

Lewis Howes 24:16 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 24:17 'Cause everything is going forward. So since everything is progressive, it's creating a level of tension to create a level of uncomfortability and pain for you to grow.

Lewis Howes 24:27 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 24:28 So that blah will become a mess. [laughs]

Lewis Howes 24:31 Yeah, yeah, yeah. It'll eventually turn into pain at some point, where you're gonna say, "Enough is enough."

Michael Bernard Beckwith 24:37 You know.

Lewis Howes 24:37 "I gotta end this relationship, get out of the marriage. I gotta lose the weight. I gotta do something to change."

Michael Bernard Beckwith 24:41 The body temple re- re- will, will, will, uh, betray you.

Lewis Howes 24:44 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 24:45 Your emotional body will betray you. Something will happen that'll make you say, "Ooh, what's going on? I, I, I better, I better read a book." [laughs]

Lewis Howes 24:54 Yeah. Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 24:55 "I better, I better be still. I better go talk to somebody."

Lewis Howes 24:57 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 24:57 You know?

Lewis Howes 24:58 What would you say is your mission, then?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 25:00 Uh, basically to help people wake up-

Lewis Howes 25:03 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 25:03 ... to the, uh, gift of divinity that's within them, and to set it free.

Lewis Howes 25:07 How do we set ourselves free?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 25:10 Uh, first of all, you have to break the practices, the habits of, of mediocrity, the practices of mediocrity.

Lewis Howes 25:16 What are some of those?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 25:17 Uh, uh, mediocrity is, means I'm just living a life in which I'm protecting myself.

Lewis Howes 25:23 Scarcity, protection.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 25:25 Scarcity, protective, protectiveness, fear. Worry drives my life.

Lewis Howes 25:30 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 25:31 Um, and we move into practices in which we ask ourselves, you know, "How can I, how can I give today?" You know?

Lewis Howes 25:40 Serve.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 25:41 "How can I serve today? How can I share today?" I- w- w- if you ask the question, the universe will answer it. This i- this is a, uh, this is a, a principle, that the universe... Again, the universe is just the outpicturing of the intelligence of, of the mind of the infinite. If you ask a question, you'll get an answer.

Lewis Howes 26:02 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 26:02 So if you ask, "How can I give?" Rather than, "How can I get?" Then you're gonna, then the universe is gonna provide not only answers, but ways that you have something to give, you see? And many people are still within the reptilian brain of, "I don't have enough." So they're trying to get, so they end up creating a very small package of themselves, rather than a larger package of, "How can I be of service? How can I give?" Um.

Lewis Howes 26:29 What happens when we give more in our, in our living in service with every action we take? Obviously, we're gonna do things for us-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 26:36 Of course

Lewis Howes 26:36 ... and protect ourselves, and pay our rent-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 26:38 Yes

Lewis Howes 26:38 ... and, you know, have nice things.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 26:40 Yes.

Lewis Howes 26:40 But when we have the intention of, "I'm here to serve in my career, my business, my team, my family. My mission is service," what unlocks for us?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 26:50 Now you've opened yourself up, that the, the, the presence through the universe, which is always giving, it doesn't compromise its nature, it doesn't contradict itself, now finds you worthy. I mean vibrationally worthy. We're all worthy intrinsically.

Lewis Howes 27:06 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 27:06 Vibrationally worthy to express more through you. Doors open you didn't even know were there.

Lewis Howes 27:12 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 27:13 You meet people that you never even heard about. Things begin to open up for you. It, it seems as if it's magic, but it's not magic. You've come into a vibrational alignment with the way things work.

Lewis Howes 27:25 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 27:26 You know? So suddenly, you know, you're, you're, you're, you're in a meeting with somebody, you're meeting somebody as a chance meeting, and, and something opens up for you, and you're able to give your gift. You're able to, uh, share something. You're able to bring more prosperity into your life, more joy, more happiness, because you're in alignment. How can I serve? How c- how can I be more giving? How can I unleash the power that's within me, you see? Now, most people, when they're living in this, in the, in the mediocrity, they ask disempowering questions.

Lewis Howes 27:58 Like what?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 27:59 Why me? What's wrong? Who's to blame? Those questions keep you very narrowly focused. Everybody's looking for a scapegoat. "It's their fault. It's my parents' fault. They shouldn't have gotten a divorce. They should've got a divorce. Uh, this happened. My teacher did this to me when I was little." Whatever.

Lewis Howes 28:17 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 28:18 They'll look for a very limiting... They have a very limiting scope of perception. But if you begin to ask an empowering question, you know, "How can I share? What's trying to emerge in my life?"

Lewis Howes 28:31 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 28:31 "What gift do I have to give? How can I cultivate that gift?" The universe would love to answer that question.

Lewis Howes 28:39 [laughs] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 28:40 Because the universe, the universal presence, wants you healthy, wants you prosperous, wants you happy. Why? Because it gets to express more through you if you are.

Lewis Howes 28:52 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 28:52 It gets to come into its own as you. Now, when you, when you're, you've limited yourself, then it uses... Then you're wasting energy. That means you're constantly going to the doctor 'cause you're sick.

Lewis Howes 29:03 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 29:03 Y- y- you'll constantly be moaning your fate because you can't have friendships in your life. You're, you're constantly worried about... All of that's wasted energy that can be used for creativity, you see? So when you ask the right questions, as you indicated, you stabilize your structures first. You have a structure of prosperity, structure of good health.

Lewis Howes 29:23 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 29:24 Structure of ego management, so you can have good friendships.

Lewis Howes 29:27 You mean structure, you mean habits, or...?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 29:29 Uh, you know, we live in life structures. There's a, there's a life structure of health, body temple.

Lewis Howes 29:34 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 29:34 There's a life structure of relationships, you see? Is, is a, is a li- life structure of community-

Lewis Howes 29:39 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 29:39 ... how you, how you work with others. You know, these are all structures that we stabilize, which means they're no longer liabilities, they're assets. So if you know how to be with other people without tearing people down-

Lewis Howes 29:52 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 29:52 ... and gossiping about them, and stealing from them, you have a good foundation of friendships. It's part of your community. You take care of your body temple. You're not going to the doctor all the time 'cause you're sick. You're able to, uh, as you say, pay your rent. You're able to-

Lewis Howes 30:05 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 30:06 ... have a level of prosperity. Now, you're not here. Just to stabilize those structures, those structures are strong enough so that you can now give your gift.

Lewis Howes 30:16 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 30:16 You know?

Lewis Howes 30:17 'Cause if you're always focused on stabilizing structures or your structures are in breakdown, you're never able to create-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 30:22 Right

Lewis Howes 30:22 ... and give your gift.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 30:23 Right.

Lewis Howes 30:24 So you've gotta be able to have the structures down first, take care of your business I guess, let's say.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 30:28 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 30:29 And then you can go beyond it.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 30:31 Yes. Now you're strong enough.

Lewis Howes 30:33 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 30:33 You're strong enough to d- to do things that people would say are impossible.

Lewis Howes 30:38 If someone's got one of those structures that are broken or they, maybe they've been struggling with it for decades.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 30:44 Mm-hmm.

Lewis Howes 30:44 Maybe it's the relationships, maybe it's the, the prosperity, maybe it's their health. How can they overcome that to fix it or to stabilize it?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 30:54 You know what, two, two ways. One, you look at the area of your life that's working first. 'Cause most of the time our focus is on what's not working and the vibration of that. So you take one area of your life that, that works, and you feel into that vibration, and then you begin to what I call shape-shift. You begin to take that energy and begin to feel that way about the area that's not working.

Lewis Howes 31:19 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 31:19 Okay?

Lewis Howes 31:20 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 31:20 And then you combine that with an articulation of a vision. What would it look like if this area of my life worked? You begin to describe it. Now, the law says that you don't describe what you see, you see what you describe.

Lewis Howes 31:39 Huh.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 31:39 So as you begin to describe what that area looks like along with the feeling of an area of your life that does work, now you have the feeling and the description both working, and you have... It's practice.

Lewis Howes 31:51 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 31:51 You have to do that every day.

Lewis Howes 31:52 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 31:52 You have to feel it, describe it, feel it, describe it, feel it, describe it. And then that begins to be a new baseline for you, and now you begin to manifest-

Lewis Howes 32:01 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 32:01 ... at that area.

Lewis Howes 32:02 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 32:02 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 32:03 Obviously, you gotta take a lot of action probably in changing certain things, but you've gotta do those, uh, the foundation first and the vision.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 32:09 You do the foundational piece.

Lewis Howes 32:10 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 32:10 And then what happens is you're kinda compelled to, to do different kind of action. Instead of, uh, procrastinating-

Lewis Howes 32:16 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 32:16 ... you realize, oh, I can do this. I can do this one little thing, and that shifts the whole fulcrum of being.

Lewis Howes 32:24 Yeah. What's something in your life you feel like you procrastinated too long on? Maybe some- something in your life at some point. Was there anything where you're like, ah, I waited too long to-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 32:34 Well, uh, you know, I, when I started Agape, I procrastinated.

Lewis Howes 32:37 You should've done it 10 years ago or something, right? Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 32:39 Oh, man, I, I, I just, I did not want to be a public person.

Lewis Howes 32:43 Really?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 32:43 I didn't. I liked my lifestyle. I was a, I, I was a, a spiritual therapist, so I had private practice. I taught at, at the university, faculty member.

Lewis Howes 32:54 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 32:54 And I ran a prayer ministry, so I had these things going on. And I would do seminars. That wa- I thought that was enough.

Lewis Howes 33:01 Yeah, yeah. [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 33:02 So I kept being pulled into starting a community, and it was like, oh, I don't wanna start a community. And so many things began to happen in my life that breakdown, that-

Lewis Howes 33:13 Really?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 33:13 Yeah. Just that forced me to say, "Okay, I'm going against the energy here."

Lewis Howes 33:18 Huh.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 33:18 And then I called some people together, some of my students, some of my clients, some of my friends. I said, "Okay, I, I got, I'm compelled to start a community." And I started a vision group-

Lewis Howes 33:31 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 33:31 ... to start that. So i- interestingly enough, when that happened, I'll always remember this, I used to have a crook in my neck-

Lewis Howes 33:37 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 33:37 ... in which I couldn't turn my neck all the way to the right. I had, like, partial rotation.

Lewis Howes 33:43 Really?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 33:43 Yeah. I could go all the way to the left, but I couldn't go to the right, and I'd go to a chiropractor.

Lewis Howes 33:47 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 33:48 They'd fix it. It'd be temporarily fixed.

Lewis Howes 33:50 For a day or two, and then, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 33:51 The moment I said yes to the vision, my neck went pop.

Lewis Howes 33:55 Really?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 33:55 I had full rotation.

Lewis Howes 33:57 You were like an owl.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 33:58 Yeah. I was like, "What?"

Lewis Howes 33:59 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 33:59 And I realized that this-

Lewis Howes 34:01 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 34:01 ... was a physical manifestation of my resistance.

Lewis Howes 34:04 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 34:04 You know? And so I look at that at times in my life and I might, if I'm resisting something, you know, let me just jump into the fire of it.

Lewis Howes 34:11 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 34:13 And, and eventually things are gonna work out. Don't be afraid to jump into the fire.

Lewis Howes 34:18 What questions should we be asking ourselves every morning w- when we wake up?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 34:24 First of all, when I wake up in the morning and when I, when I, when I turn and get out of the bed, I generally get out of the bed on my left side, I stand up, I put my hands up, and I just go into a sense of gratitude for being alive-

Lewis Howes 34:36 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 34:36 ... and awake. I just, I'm just thankful that I exist, and that gratitude is not attached to anything. I'm not, not grateful that I have money. I'm grateful that I have health. Just grateful.

Lewis Howes 34:44 Just being. Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 34:44 Just being.

Lewis Howes 34:45 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 34:46 And then I surrender to life. You know, I just surrender my life to life. Now, some people, can you call that God. You can call it love. You can call it whatever you wanna call it. I just call it life. And then I say, "What's my assignment?" I ask, "What's my assignment?" And then I ask for the strength to do whatever my assignment is. So then that's how I wake up.

Lewis Howes 35:09 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 35:09 Then I go sit, and I, and I meditate, and then I'll go to the gym. Then I'll come back and have a longer meditation. And then w- I'll ask, the question is determined by whatever I'm working on that day.

Lewis Howes 35:20 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 35:21 So I knew I was coming to see you today, you know. Got in the shower, and I was just saying, you know, "How can I be a bright presence-

Lewis Howes 35:29 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 35:29 ... on Lewis's show today?" You know? How can I be an instrument of articulation and fluency and love and harmony? Let that happen, you know. So I just live in that question, and then I let the question, um, answer itself-

Lewis Howes 35:44 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 35:44 ... through me as we met at the door.

Lewis Howes 35:46 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 35:46 You know, "Hey, what's going on, man?"

Lewis Howes 35:48 Nice hug. Yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 35:48 Like we knew each other for a long time.

Lewis Howes 35:49 Yeah, exactly.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 35:50 You know? And, uh, so there'll be a larger question, and then there's a question that's more pertinent for whatever's on my calendar that day. You know, the larger question is always somewhere in the, in the, in the, a, a vantage point of, um, how can I serve? How can I be an instrument of peace or love? Or how can I reveal more prosperity in my life?

Lewis Howes 36:10 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:11 You know?

Lewis Howes 36:12 When we are in flow and like, man, just everything's working, just like manifesting magic everywhere-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:18 Right

Lewis Howes 36:18 ... what questions should we be asking at that time?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:22 [clears throat] Um, it's, it's, it's, it's, um, you wanna stay in the awareness of, how can ... does it get better than this?

Lewis Howes 36:33 Right. [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:34 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 36:35 When it feels like this is too good to be true.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:36 Yeah. With the-

Lewis Howes 36:37 Everything is coming my way.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:38 Yeah. But listen, life is infinite.

Lewis Howes 36:40 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:40 So wherever you are is a new starting point.

Lewis Howes 36:42 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:43 So-

Lewis Howes 36:43 That's how it becomes the, the ground floor-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:44 Yes

Lewis Howes 36:44 ... now, right?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:45 So you, you don't wanna, like, relegate yourself and protect that, that particular spot. It's like ... And you can ask that question whether things are going good or bad-

Lewis Howes 36:54 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:54 ... in your perception.

Lewis Howes 36:55 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 36:56 You know, if things are ... If, ugh, things aren't working out, this plan isn't coming together, you can ask, "How does it get better than this?"

Lewis Howes 37:03 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 37:04 You'll get an answer. If you're in flow, "How does it get better than this?" And then you stay on the edge of becoming. So you're walking in, you're walking in the, in the state of being and becoming. You're very happy about who you are. The state of being, I'm, I'm grateful. I'm in love with the state of being that I am right now. I appreciate it. And I'm becoming.

Lewis Howes 37:27 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 37:27 There's more to me, you see. So if we ask the question, you know, "How does it get better than this?" The universe will answer it.

Lewis Howes 37:35 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 37:35 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 37:36 I feel like, you know, there's definitely some moments where I have breakdowns and challenges and struggles and things like that. But over the last 15, 17 years, I just feel like magic occurs.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 37:47 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 37:47 Magic occurs.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 37:48 But you feel that way.

Lewis Howes 37:49 I feel ... I, I just-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 37:49 I mean, your energy field is very-

Lewis Howes 37:51 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 37:52 ... very big and it's very beautiful.

Lewis Howes 37:53 And I feel like there's ... When I reflect back and think on it, like, what's, what are the things that I've been doing, it's the things you're talking about. Every day I'm expressing gratitude, all the time.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 38:03 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 38:03 When I wake up, I do a gratitude practice.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 38:06 Yes.

Lewis Howes 38:06 When someone calls my cellphone and they get my voice message, I ask them, uh, what they're most grateful for and to share first with me before they ask what they want on the voicemail.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 38:16 That's beautiful.

Lewis Howes 38:17 I'm just trying to evoke it out of people constantly.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 38:19 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 38:19 And, uh, at night I'm always sharing what I'm most grateful for.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 38:22 Right.

Lewis Howes 38:22 Whether I'm writing it down or I'm sharing it with someone. So gratitude has always been a part of my life, just because I came from a small town in Ohio. And, like, when things would happen, I was like, "Oh, man, I'm so grateful for this," you know?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 38:33 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 38:34 Um, the next thing I would focus on is, is really, like, the vision of what I wanna be, what I wanna become. I'd focus on that vision, kind of what you were talking about before.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 38:44 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 38:44 Just like, where am I heading? Where am I going? At least where do I wanna go? If something, if there's a different plan for me, okay.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 38:51 Mm-hmm.

Lewis Howes 38:51 But where am I going? And focusing on the direction as opposed to where I'm stuck.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 38:55 Right.

Lewis Howes 38:56 What I'm lacking. Um, and then the third thing that I really focus on is just joy.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:01 Yes.

Lewis Howes 39:02 Like, being joy. Just when you came in, I was just like-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:04 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 39:05 ... opened my arms.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:06 Right, right, right.

Lewis Howes 39:06 Like, "Hey, good to see you." And I think when you, when we reflect on those three, three, three things, gratitude, a vision of where we're going-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:13 Right

Lewis Howes 39:13 ... who we wanna become, and being joyful, we start to attract and, and-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:17 That's the pocket

Lewis Howes 39:17 ... and create ma- magic, right?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:19 That's it.

Lewis Howes 39:20 But sometimes we, we forget those things, and we're stuck in our head, or we're stuck in fear and anxiety, and it's hard to create.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:26 That's why we call it a practice.

Lewis Howes 39:28 Yeah. [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:28 You know, you, you practice, and when you get off, you come back to the fundamentals. Just like an Olympic athlete.

Lewis Howes 39:33 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:33 They get off, they come back to the fundamentals.

Lewis Howes 39:35 The warm-ups, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:36 The warm-ups.

Lewis Howes 39:37 The basics.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:37 The, the, the steps or whatever it is, whatever your particular-

Lewis Howes 39:39 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:40 ... you know, area is, you, you come back to the fundamentals, and then you find yourself in flow. When you're not in flow, you come back to the fundamentals. Now, we've all heard the statement, uh, from certain parents, you know, "If you don't stop crying, I'm gonna give you something to cry about."

Lewis Howes 39:55 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 39:55 You know? But the universe says, "If you don't stop being grateful, I'm gonna give you something to be grateful for."

Lewis Howes 40:00 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 40:01 You know? So it, it, it operates the same way. So you staying in that vibration of gratitude, the universe is looking for something to give you. Oh, my God, if he doesn't stop being grateful, I'm gonna give him something really to be grateful for.

Lewis Howes 40:14 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 40:14 You know? And it comes out of the blue. It comes out of your present paradigm. Like, wow, you didn't even see that coming, you know.

Lewis Howes 40:21 Wow. Um, so, so let me get this clear. When you were a teenager, you, you changed churches. You, you left church for a while. Is that right?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 40:32 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 40:32 Or were you always religious?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 40:33 From the age of 16 to I was a senior at USC, so somewhere in my ear- early 20s.

Lewis Howes 40:40 And so you ... Is there ... There was a stage where you didn't believe in God?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 40:44 I, I wouldn't use the word God because the way people taught God was like a man in the sky.

Lewis Howes 40:48 Yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 40:49 Checking the list twice.

Lewis Howes 40:50 You didn't believe in that-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 40:51 No

Lewis Howes 40:51 ... version of God. Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 40:53 No. And I d- uh, my thing was more, um, affirmative values.

Lewis Howes 40:57 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 40:58 You know, be a kind person. Uh-

Lewis Howes 40:59 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 41:00 ... d- d- don't, don't, don't mess with people. [laughs]

Lewis Howes 41:02 Be loving.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 41:02 Don't steal.

Lewis Howes 41:03 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 41:03 Be loving.

Lewis Howes 41:03 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 41:03 You know, I didn't put that on any kind of religion.

Lewis Howes 41:06 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 41:06 You know? And it, it wasn't until I had that ... I tell you, I, I was, um ... When I moved back to LA from Atlanta, where I ... Attending Morehouse College, I was a part of an organization that wanted to change the world by any means necessary. [laughs] You know, it was a very revolutionary organization. And I was the propaganda commissioner for this organization.

Lewis Howes 41:25 Really?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 41:26 Yeah. [laughs] So I'm sitting ... And we were closely aligned with the Black Panther Party, you know. And so I was sitting in this meeting-

Lewis Howes 41:32 Was this in the '70s, or ...

Michael Bernard Beckwith 41:33 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 41:33 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 41:33 Mm-hmm, '70s. So I'm sitting in this meeting, and someone behind me said, "If you were to take over the world tomorrow, would it be any different?" So I turned around to see who said it.

Lewis Howes 41:43 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 41:44 But there was nobody there.

Lewis Howes 41:45 Hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 41:47 I know I heard it. So I'm in the meeting, and it says it again. "If you, if you were to take over the world tomorrow, would it be any different?" But it was coming from inside of me. And I said, "Oh, my God."

Lewis Howes 41:57 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 41:58 So I looked around the room. This guy sitting next to me, I said, "This guy has a big ego. He always thinks he's right. This person is very territorial. This person is always contentious. This per- " You know, I started looking around the room, then I realized if we were to take over the world tomorrow, there'd be no change.

Lewis Howes 42:18 Hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 42:19 So I left the meeting-

Lewis Howes 42:21 In the middle of the meeting or afterwards?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 42:23 No, after the meeting, I left

Lewis Howes 42:24 Yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 42:24 Never came back. The next week at that meeting, somebody in that meeting shot somebody.

Lewis Howes 42:31 No way. In the meeting?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 42:32 In the meeting.

Lewis Howes 42:33 No way.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 42:34 They got into an argument. A guy pulled out a gun and shot somebody.

Lewis Howes 42:36 No way.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 42:37 But I wasn't there-

Lewis Howes 42:38 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 42:39 ... to be a part of that legal, you know, situation.

Lewis Howes 42:42 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 42:43 I enrolled into USC three, s- shortly after that, 'cause I'd taken a break from... And, um, and I, I remember g- g- uh, going to USC and, um, but I wasn't, I hadn't had the awakening. That was the beginning of the awakening.

Lewis Howes 43:02 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 43:03 And then things began to happen. Started having visions. I started seeing things. I thought I was, thought I was losing my mind. This was be- this was right at the beginning of transpersonal psychology.

Lewis Howes 43:13 Sure.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 43:13 It wasn't popular the way it is now.

Lewis Howes 43:15 You're 21, 22.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 43:17 Yeah, yeah.

Lewis Howes 43:17 Uh.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 43:18 23 years old.

Lewis Howes 43:19 23.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 43:19 22, 23. And, uh, and then I be- I had a, um, a lot of experience. I would leave my body all the time.

Lewis Howes 43:26 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 43:27 And, but I didn't know what that was. And now we know it's astral traveling or lucid dreaming, you know. But back in those days it was like, this is very new.

Lewis Howes 43:34 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 43:36 And so, um, I started having this dream, and in this dream, these men were chasing me, three men. And every night I would wake up right before they would get me. But they, every night they were a little bit closer. So one of the things I did, I stopped smoking weed, as a good college student [laughs] .

Lewis Howes 43:56 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 43:57 And, uh, I said, "This must be cannabis sativa-"

Lewis Howes 44:01 Uh-huh

Michael Bernard Beckwith 44:01 ... "s, all these experiences and dreams and visions I..." But they intensified. Everything got more-

Lewis Howes 44:06 When you stopped?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 44:07 Yeah. More, more, more brilliant dreams, more visions. And, and I di- I didn't tell anybody 'cause I, I, I'm the psych- I was a psychobiology major, so I'm in the psychology department. There's no way I'm gonna tell my professor-

Lewis Howes 44:20 No

Michael Bernard Beckwith 44:20 ... "I'm, I'm leaving my body." [laughs]

Lewis Howes 44:23 [laughs] They'll put you in a mental hospital.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 44:25 Yeah. But I'll tell you a story about that. But I, I, I, um, matter of fact, I had an internship program, I'll get back to the dream, and we had to go into the mental hospitals as a part of our internship program to work with the people there.

Lewis Howes 44:37 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 44:38 Write up, you know, our diagnosis and give it to our professor, all of that. So I'm playing ping pong with this guy, he's in the mental institution. And we're talking and I'm asking why he's there, and he's saying, "Well, I've had these visions and dreams," and he's describing some of the stuff I'm going through.

Lewis Howes 44:55 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 44:56 We're playing ping pong, and then I realize for the last five minutes we haven't been talking. It was all telepathy.

Lewis Howes 45:01 No way.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 45:02 Yeah. I put the ping pong paddle down-

Lewis Howes 45:04 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 45:04 ... checked myself out of there. I said, "I don't know what's going on with me." So fast-forward, I'm in this dream. Three men are chasing me, and I say to myself, "This is a dream. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna force myself to wake up." I turned around, there was a small tent with all these people lined up to go into this tent. I mean, thousands of people, and I knew every single person in line. And I said, "Oh, these guys can't h- hurt me. They, my friends are with me." One by one, they turned their back on me.

Lewis Howes 45:37 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 45:38 Two men held me down, and another one plunged a knife in my heart.

Lewis Howes 45:42 Holy cow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 45:43 The pain was excruciating, physically and emotionally. I, and I screamed out, " [gasps] " I mean, like a blood-curdling scream. And I died. And when I woke up, I could see this, the presence was everywhere. The beauty that's here is beyond description. The love that penetrated every cell of my being, [clears throat] was beyond any love... I, I get emotional.

Lewis Howes 46:13 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 46:14 Any love that you'll ever experience. The love of God just poured through my body. The light and the brilliance was everywhere, and everything was different. And from that moment on, I went on a path of discovery as to what had happened to me, and, and the process of integrating that into my life.

Lewis Howes 46:33 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 46:34 And then that's led me step by step by step into where I'm at today. It was, it's, it's... If people could only see what's really here. But we have paradigm blindness. The perception is so small, most people only see a fraction of reality.

Lewis Howes 46:52 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 46:52 And it's their beliefs, it's their perceptions, it's what they've inherited from their parents, societal fantasies. When all of this is available, we only see this.

Lewis Howes 47:01 What is really here?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 47:03 Is the presence of abundance, infinite joy, beauty, love. Wah. Sometimes a sound effect we have to do.

Lewis Howes 47:13 [laughs] To experience it, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 47:15 It's just, it's just all here, and we're using so much energy to block it.

Lewis Howes 47:20 Why do we block this abundance of love and joy and...

Michael Bernard Beckwith 47:23 The, the ego does not know the difference between transformation and annihilation. It doesn't know that outside of the known, in the realm of the unknown, there's so much good and so much power and so much abundance. It tries to eke its joy out of what's known, whereas our good is actually outside of the known, you know? Matter of fact, I th- it was Krishnamurti that had a book called Freedom From the Known.

Lewis Howes 47:54 Hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 47:54 And he would, I used to go see him live at Ojai every year, 'cause he was one that I could listen to, and I realized he was authentic. He-

Lewis Howes 48:02 Yeah, yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 48:02 ... I could just listen. I could look at him. And I, you know, I could go to, to any spiritual community, and I can tell you in five minutes if they know.

Lewis Howes 48:10 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 48:10 Or if they know about it. There's a difference between knowing it and knowing about it. Knowing about it can motivate. Knowing it, it's different.

Lewis Howes 48:16 Different feeling. Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 48:17 Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Krishnamurti, he, I said, "Ooh, he knows." [laughs]

Lewis Howes 48:21 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 48:22 Yeah. But so, you know, I don't know what question you asked me, but-

Lewis Howes 48:25 What is it, what, why do we block-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 48:27 Yeah

Lewis Howes 48:28 ... the abundance of love?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 48:29 Yeah. It's just, it's fear.

Lewis Howes 48:30 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 48:30 We wanna liv- we wanna basically-

Lewis Howes 48:32 'Cause it's uncertain, right?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 48:33 It's uncertain.

Lewis Howes 48:34 Yeah. We live in the certain.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 48:35 We wanna control our life within the realm of the known. The good is in the unknown. If I, if I hadn't said yes to Agape, I wouldn't have known all the beautiful people I've met and the things I've got to experience. I've got to... I had a chance to facilitate the synthesis dialogues with the Dalai Lama four times, you know.

Lewis Howes 48:56 Crazy.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 48:56 I got a chance to, to meet and give, um, Nelson Mandela the Season for Nonviolence Award. I, I got a chance to-

Lewis Howes 49:02 Wow

Michael Bernard Beckwith 49:03 ... to, to, to hang out with Bishop Tutu as we were inducted into the Martin Luther King Order of, of Preachers. I, I got a chance to, to run with and hang with Dick Gregory, you know what I mean? And, and, and, uh, so many beautiful people that have been a part of my life. Um, I wouldn't have known of any of that, you know. I got, I got, got a chance to go to the United Nations to speak at special assemblies m- many times. And, and, um, but all of that would've been locked into potential, you know. And I don't share those things as, as a brag. I just like, they're just part of my woo.

Lewis Howes 49:36 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 49:36 Got the chance to meet... It wasn't about me. It was about the people I got a chance to meet-

Lewis Howes 49:39 Yeah, yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 49:39 ... and hang out with. I wouldn't have met you.

Lewis Howes 49:42 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 49:42 You know, we wouldn't have been here. I'd have been on my couch.

Lewis Howes 49:45 Sure.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 49:45 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 49:47 You know, I grew up, uh, in a small town in Ohio, predominantly white neighborhood, but my, my parents had, they had seven exchange students when I was a kid.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 49:58 Ah.

Lewis Howes 49:58 So I had people from Japan and Brazil and France and Philippines living with us, teenagers, you know, for six months at a time.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 50:06 Wow.

Lewis Howes 50:06 That would kind of, like, bring the culture and, and, and country to me.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 50:11 Right.

Lewis Howes 50:12 And then as I started to, you know, expand outside of my neighborhood and play sports, I was, you know, more of the minority as one of the only white people, right?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 50:23 Yeah, right.

Lewis Howes 50:23 In that, in that, in that context. So for me, I never really understood racism.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 50:28 Right.

Lewis Howes 50:28 Like, now, I'm sure there's moments where I'm judgmental or racist in some ways. I don't even know if I'm aware of it, but everyone to me is a brother or sister.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 50:37 Right.

Lewis Howes 50:38 Right? It doesn't matter what color-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 50:39 Right

Lewis Howes 50:40 ... or where you're from, just 'cause I grew up with these older brothers and sisters from all over the world.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 50:44 Right.

Lewis Howes 50:46 Where does the root of racism come from for us, and why is it so hard for us to get past seeing color?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 50:55 Yeah. Well, a lot of it's, obviously it's learned.

Lewis Howes 50:59 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 50:59 I mean, you don't see a racist or homophobic baby. [laughs]

Lewis Howes 51:02 Right. [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 51:04 You know?

Lewis Howes 51:04 True.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 51:04 So it's actually learned.

Lewis Howes 51:06 Wow. Okay.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 51:06 And, and there are people inadvertently or on purpose that teach that because they're living in the, the perception of they are the other. You know, they're, um, they're darker, they're lighter, uh, whatever, whatever-

Lewis Howes 51:25 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 51:25 ... whatever the other is. They're from that country, you know, um-

Lewis Howes 51:28 Different language, different this, yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 51:29 ... different language, different culture, different religion, whatever the case may be. So people live in the context of other, and they haven't yet matured into realizing there really isn't any other. There's only variations on a theme.

Lewis Howes 51:43 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 51:44 You know, it's all music. [laughs] You know what I mean?

Lewis Howes 51:47 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 51:47 Some's jazz, some's classical, you know, some's R&B, whatever the case may be. Just variations on a theme. So it's not other. It's just we're, we're, we're the same inside, but we get to express. Now, why is that? Because the infinite is infinite. It doesn't repeat itself, it doesn't do do-overs, and it doesn't make mistakes. So all of us are unique expressions of the infinite. It would be boring-

Lewis Howes 52:15 If we all looked the same

Michael Bernard Beckwith 52:16 ... if we all looked the same. [laughs]

Lewis Howes 52:17 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 52:17 You know what I mean? And we were all the same. I mean, can you... First of all, can you imagine going through eternity s- being exactly as you are right now, without any growth?

Lewis Howes 52:25 No.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 52:25 It's called hell.

Lewis Howes 52:26 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 52:26 You know what I mean? So if you can imagine that if everyone was exactly like you or exactly like me, and we just stayed the same forever, that's called hell.

Lewis Howes 52:36 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 52:37 So the presence, which is infinite, recreated itself after its own image and likeness according to its infinite nature. We have such a variety of beauty and love-

Lewis Howes 52:48 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 52:48 ... and joy, and that's what we wanna celebrate. And people that are in fear, are bigoted, racist, they're, they're mainly living in fear.

Lewis Howes 52:58 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 52:58 You know? And then they promote that fear. You know, oh, the Mexicans. Oh, oh, the Arabs. Oh, the Black people, whatever. You know what I mean? They promote that fear, and they end up living in a very small world.

Lewis Howes 53:11 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 53:12 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 53:13 How much of a role does religion play in creating fear in each religious community of people that aren't in those communities?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 53:23 It depends on the maturity of the spiritual teacher. Re- religion itself mean, the word means to re- uh, re- return to the source.

Lewis Howes 53:31 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 53:31 So religion itself is supposed to be a vehicle-

Lewis Howes 53:35 Right

Michael Bernard Beckwith 53:35 ... that brings people back to the source.

Lewis Howes 53:37 Back to love.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 53:37 Back to love, back to connectedness. However, it is sometimes used as a sense of separation, depending on the maturity of the spiritual teacher. So it's supposed to bring you, it's a boat or, or, or, yeah, a boat or some kind of vehicle to bring you to an encounter with the transcendent. Once you have an encounter with the transcendent, you can celebrate the boat that brought you there.

Lewis Howes 54:02 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 54:02 But you're not trying to hang on to it, [laughs] you know what I mean? So it's like sometimes we'll say things like inadvertently, "Well, he was a Jewish mystic," or, "He was a Christian mystic." Now, actually, when a person becomes a mystic, they kinda transcend the boat that got them there. There's no such thing as a Christian mystic.

Lewis Howes 54:18 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 54:19 There's no such thing as a Buddhist mystic. There's no such thing as a, as a Is- a, a, as Islamic mystic. 'Cause once you become a mystic, that means you've transcended- The boats-

Lewis Howes 54:28 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 54:28 ... and you realize we're all one.

Lewis Howes 54:30 Right. You're sort of saying it is a religion.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 54:31 You- religiosity.

Lewis Howes 54:33 Yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 54:33 Yeah. And you can still honor.

Lewis Howes 54:35 Of course.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 54:35 You honor it.

Lewis Howes 54:36 The principles and the foundation, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 54:37 Yeah, you honor where you came from, but you're not trying to convert everybody to that-

Lewis Howes 54:40 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 54:40 ... anymore. So, so religion in its highest practice brings people together. In its lowest practice, it separates people.

Lewis Howes 54:49 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 54:49 And you have people that become fundamental, and they'll say things like, "This is the path. If you don't walk this path, you're going to hell." That's a very limited perception. Now, how does a person get there? And there's fundamentalism in every religion.

Lewis Howes 55:05 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 55:05 You know? Sim- a fundamentalist simply believes that what they believe may or may not be true, so they have to convert you because they're afraid they might be wrong.

Lewis Howes 55:17 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 55:18 You see? But once you know something, you don't convert. It's like, you know two plus two is four.

Lewis Howes 55:23 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 55:24 So, if you go into a room and your teacher is teaching and everybody's talking, "No, two plus two is five. No, two plus two is eight," you're gonna back out of that room.

Lewis Howes 55:33 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 55:33 You're not gonna get into an argument because you know two plus two is four.

Lewis Howes 55:37 You know the truth.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 55:38 You know the truth, so you just say, "Peace and blessings. You do your math, and I'll do mine." [laughs]

Lewis Howes 55:43 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 55:44 But if you're fundamental, if you just believe two plus two is four, if you don't really know two plus two is four but you just believe it and you become a, a, a, you know, a very high believer, "Two plus two is four, I'm gonna hurt you," you know, then you c- you run into trouble there.

Lewis Howes 56:01 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 56:02 So, our, our, our religions take us beyond belief, what we practice, into a deep knowing. And then you have tolerance and appreciation and compassion-

Lewis Howes 56:12 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 56:12 ... for people who are stumbling along their path.

Lewis Howes 56:15 What if it's a family member that is, has a strong belief-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 56:19 Yeah

Lewis Howes 56:20 ... and you're like, "Gosh, that just doesn't make sense"-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 56:23 Right

Lewis Howes 56:23 ... "or that's not the truth or that's not at the knowing," how do you have compassion for someone that's so aggressively... I don't have this in my life, but I'm-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 56:31 Yeah, yeah

Lewis Howes 56:32 ... just curious from listening.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 56:32 No, but it's pretty common.

Lewis Howes 56:34 Right? Where they... it's like family members or friends or partners where they're so against a different belief and they try to pull you apart. How do you have that type of compassion or what do you say to those people?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 56:46 Well, first of all, if they're so against something, that means there's fear there.

Lewis Howes 56:49 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 56:49 So, we have to understand what compassion is. Compassion, I define compassion as the understanding of the lack of understanding.

Lewis Howes 56:59 Interesting, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 56:59 It's-

Lewis Howes 56:59 The understanding of ignorance-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 57:01 Yeah

Lewis Howes 57:01 ... or the understanding of the lack, yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 57:02 You just understand it. You don't have... You don't agree, you're not in alignment with it-

Lewis Howes 57:06 Right, right

Michael Bernard Beckwith 57:06 ... but your heart stays open and you bless. And you realize that you cannot assist an unreceptive mind. You can't convince, you can't convert, you can't do anything, so you just leave them alone. You just love them, you know? One day... And you live your life so good that you're shining, you're glowing, and then one day they may ask you, "Why are you so happy all the time?"

Lewis Howes 57:33 [laughs] Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 57:33 "I just heard that this bad thing happened in your life, and you're still grateful."

Lewis Howes 57:37 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 57:37 "What, what do you have that makes you strong enough to do that?" Now, that's a receptive mind. Now, you can go back and say, "Well, you know what? I wake up every day with gratitude. I'm in appreciation for life." But if you try to teach somebody before they're receptive, they will take what you teach and use it against you.

Lewis Howes 57:56 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 57:56 You know? And so compassion means I understand the lack of understanding. I'm not gonna argue with you.

Lewis Howes 58:02 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:03 I'm just gonna let you be, you know? You know?

Lewis Howes 58:07 When have you felt the most loved in your life?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:10 Well, besides that moment-

Lewis Howes 58:11 Uh-huh

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:11 ... of the, uh, the encounter-

Lewis Howes 58:13 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:13 ... that continues to undulate through me a, a lot, you know? I, I'm, I'm very fortunate that I came from an unconditional loving family.

Lewis Howes 58:23 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:24 Uh, my brothers and I, we could have made the biggest mistake, but there was never any withhold of love.

Lewis Howes 58:30 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:31 You know, uh, I remember being arrested.

Lewis Howes 58:33 From your parents, from your parents.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:33 From my parents.

Lewis Howes 58:33 Yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:34 Yeah, I remember being arrested and, uh, my father came to see me. He kinda smiled, you know? [laughs] It was like-

Lewis Howes 58:40 Just loved you anyways. Yeah, like-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:40 Just loved me anyway. My mom was there. It was like, I'm, I'm waiting for her, you know? [laughs]

Lewis Howes 58:44 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:45 Whatever. Not that they didn't discipline or-

Lewis Howes 58:47 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:47 ... all of that, that they're supposed to do, but there was never any withhold of love. So, I come from a baseline of love, you know, uh, which I think is very fortunate. Many people don't come from that.

Lewis Howes 58:57 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:57 They, there was abuse.

Lewis Howes 58:58 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 58:58 There was neglect or whatever.

Lewis Howes 59:00 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 59:00 I didn't have that. So, I have a strong baseline of love, and I have a strong baseline of, um, inclusivity 'cause my mother was very, um, involved in the civil rights movement, so a lot of the meetings were at my house.

Lewis Howes 59:12 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 59:13 So-

Lewis Howes 59:13 That's crazy

Michael Bernard Beckwith 59:14 ... we had Mexicans, Blacks, straight, gay, Jewish peop- everybody was in my house all the time talking about the next thing we were gonna do. We were gonna picket this store or we were gonna do this or that.

Lewis Howes 59:25 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 59:25 So, I didn't really have a, a... I didn't come to a lot of places where I am now through some kind of revelation.

Lewis Howes 59:31 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 59:32 It was just part of my upbringing.

Lewis Howes 59:33 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 59:34 You know? So, when I... I remember being in junior high school and people were attacking this guy, he was gay, and I was like, "What are you guys, what are you guys doing? So what? What's that got to do with you? Are you afraid of him?"

Lewis Howes 59:42 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 59:42 "What..." You know? But that was just in my household, so it wasn't... You know, so I think I just, the, the baseline of love of my, my parents, my grandparents, you know, was just a part of the deal. So, I was always... I probably was more shocked when I went out into the world and can see brothers and sisters who don't talk to each other. You know what I mean? It's like, "You haven't talked to your brother in eight years. What happened?" [laughs] You know what I mean?

Lewis Howes 1:00:04 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:00:05 That was like-

Lewis Howes 1:00:06 Didn't make sense, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:00:07 No. Like, my, my daughter and my son are, like, um, I don't know how many years apart they are, like nine years apart. They're like best friends.

Lewis Howes 1:00:16 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:00:16 You know what I mean? It's like they just love each other. It's just... And I'm always shocked, not anymore, but it's like, "You don't talk to your brother?"

Lewis Howes 1:00:25 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:00:26 You know? You don't have to agree with him.

Lewis Howes 1:00:28 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:00:29 Just love me. Don't talk about that subject. [laughs]

Lewis Howes 1:00:30 Yeah. Talk about something else. Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:00:32 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 1:00:32 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:00:33 Yeah, so I think, I think the parental vibration. I'm very-

Lewis Howes 1:00:36 Mm-hmm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:00:36 ... and the, and the more I'm on the planet, the more I appreciate it.

Lewis Howes 1:00:39 Yeah. That's cool.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:00:40 The environment they've always created, so yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:00:41 Um, wanna ask you a few more questions. This has been really inspiring. I appreciate you opening up.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:00:46 Thank you.

Lewis Howes 1:00:46 Um, when someone is in a relationship that isn't working, an intimate relationship that isn't working, or there's some tension for a few months, and there's just seems to be s- a lot of conflict, and when someone is looking to start dating something, someone, start to get together, both instances-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:01:10 You're talking two different people here? Or you're talking the same two?

Lewis Howes 1:01:12 Uh, uh, let's just say two scenarios.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:01:14 Two scenarios. Okay.

Lewis Howes 1:01:14 You're, you're in a relationship, and you've been together for a while, but now there's, uh, a few months of conflict.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:01:20 Mm-hmm.

Lewis Howes 1:01:21 Or there's a period of time that's conflicting, and you're not sure whether or not you should stay in the relationship.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:01:25 Okay. That's one scenario.

Lewis Howes 1:01:27 One scenario. And the second scenario is two people meet, and they're about to start dating.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:01:33 Mm-hmm.

Lewis Howes 1:01:33 What should be the questions that you should ask each other when you just meet to see if it's a good fit to, to come together and-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:01:42 Yeah

Lewis Howes 1:01:42 ... be partners? And what should the questions be, you've already been together for a while-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:01:48 Yeah

Lewis Howes 1:01:48 ... but there's some conflict, and you're not sure about the future?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:01:51 Right. So in the one scenario when people are just meeting, there has to be an understanding of what the intention is. Is the intention to be in relationship, or is the intention just a booty call?

Lewis Howes 1:02:02 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:02:02 Is it just, "We just wanna have fun. We don't want..." You know, so there's... So depending on what paradigm a person is living in, we have different kind of questions.

Lewis Howes 1:02:09 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:02:09 So if you're interested in a relationship-

Lewis Howes 1:02:11 Let's say you're interested in the relation- in a relationship. Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:02:13 ... then the question is, you know, uh, first of all, what is... We have to define relationship.

Lewis Howes 1:02:18 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:02:19 You know, a relationship is a, a, what I, what we call a joint participation in the good of life.

Lewis Howes 1:02:26 Ooh.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:02:26 It's a participation in something larger.

Lewis Howes 1:02:28 I like that.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:02:28 Okay?

Lewis Howes 1:02:29 That's good.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:02:29 So it's not just... So when we understand that, then I'm not trying to get my good from you. I'm not trying to get my love from you. And you're not trying to get it from me. We're bringing it to the table.

Lewis Howes 1:02:38 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:02:39 You know? And, and, and it's like this. If, if two fish are swimming in the ocean, and, um, one fish says to the other fish, "Baby-

Lewis Howes 1:02:50 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:02:51 ... if you give me, if you give me what I want, I'll give you all the water you can handle."

Lewis Howes 1:02:55 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:02:55 [laughs] So they're swimming in water.

Lewis Howes 1:02:58 Right.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:02:58 So w- we're swimming in love.

Lewis Howes 1:03:00 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:03:00 So I can't give it to you. But, but I can participate in it, and I can bring that to the table. My loving can bring that to the table. So that means, that means when r- when people come together, they're actually coming together to grow in perfecting their loving.

Lewis Howes 1:03:15 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:03:15 You see? It's a, it's a, it's a much more mature state of being. When we're younger, we actually think, "That person can make me happy." That person can't make you happy, you know? You have to bring happy. That means you have to work on yourself, then you bring happy to the relationship. You bring peace, you bring love, you bring forgiveness, you bring compassion. You know, so when people are first coming together, we have to see are we at the same level in terms of, um, wanting to grow together.

Lewis Howes 1:03:44 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:03:44 Okay? And then we, and then we're happy. We're, we, we support each other. I'm gonna support, I'm gonna love to the best of my ability. Now, if a, if a re- ... So it's the same question. If a person's, if a relationship is in breakdown, then are we still growing?

Lewis Howes 1:03:59 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:04:00 Or has the growth stopped? Is there a chance to keep the growth going? Do we ha- Are we interested in each other? Uh, are we interested in each other's growth? You know, has the path diverged? You know, this person is really more interested in this. This person is more interested in that. Has the growth stopped? You know, if the growth has stopped, and, and we've gleaned the lessons, then we have to look at that. Now, in, in the, the, the Western culture, America, America's like a very young country. It's a couple hundred years old. You know, when you look at indigenous cultures, some of the Native American cultures, some of the other cultures thousands of years old, they have renewal. For instance, in certain Native American cultures, every seven years, you renew. And you s-

Lewis Howes 1:04:41 The relationship.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:04:42 Yeah. You see, you know, do we have more juice here, or do we not? Now, if you don't have juice, there's no fault. There's no like, "You culprit here. You don't love me anymore. You didn't do this," whatever. It's like, you know what? We've learned this, this, this, and this. We're both better people. Let's go another seven.

Lewis Howes 1:05:02 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:05:03 Or, mm, it's time to, to, to go our separate ways in this form.

Lewis Howes 1:05:09 Wow.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:05:09 You know, and then, and in, and, uh, uh, African culture, there's a, a, a space where the people will say, "Maybe, maybe this is over." And they'll come to the community, and then they gather with the elders. And the elders will do divination and say, "You guys are finished."

Lewis Howes 1:05:26 Wow. Really?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:05:27 "You guys have done your job. You can stay together if you want, but you don't have to." Or they'll say, "No, no, no, no, no. You still got a little work to do in this area." You know what I mean? So in the Western culture-

Lewis Howes 1:05:38 Wow. So there's no, like, blame or guilt or shaming-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:05:41 No. That's in Western culture

Lewis Howes 1:05:41 ... or wrongdoing.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:05:42 That's in Western culture. We're young. We're babies. People think 200 years.

Lewis Howes 1:05:47 Yeah. [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:05:47 There's been cultures on the planet thousands of years, [laughs] you know what I mean-

Lewis Howes 1:05:50 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:05:50 ... that, that have a deeper insight into the unfolding of the soul.

Lewis Howes 1:05:55 Hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:05:55 You know, not just getting your house and two kids and, you know, retiring and dying, [laughs] you know what I mean?

Lewis Howes 1:06:01 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:06:02 It's an unfoldment of the soul.

Lewis Howes 1:06:03 This is powerful.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:06:04 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:06:04 We'll have to have you come back on and do a whole thing on relationships sometime in the future. Um, I'm curious. The end of this year, let's say it's New Year's Eve this year.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:06:13 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:06:14 What would the thing that would make you the most proud of who you've been, become, or-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:06:20 Hmm

Lewis Howes 1:06:20 ... created in this, in this life?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:06:23 Well, I'm, I'm, I'm always inviting a greater insight into reality and a greater understanding of the awakening process and who I am. So I w- always wanna keep that-

Lewis Howes 1:06:32 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:06:32 ... going. In terms of my, um, so in terms of my, my personal- Um, movement. That, that w- it's always forefront, you know, just m- I wanna be more myself-

Lewis Howes 1:06:44 Yeah

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:06:44 ... at the end of the year. And when I look back at this guy sitting talking to you today, I don't want this guy to be sitting here.

Lewis Howes 1:06:50 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:06:50 I want another version-

Lewis Howes 1:06:51 Wow

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:06:51 ... uh, to be sitting here. When I look at my community, I want Agape Community to be more stable. We're in a permanent, um, permanent, temporary place. Means we can be there as long as we want. Um, but I want to be closer to actually building our legacy building-

Lewis Howes 1:07:06 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:07:06 ... and our legacy community where people come from all over the world and celebrate the divine, divine together. I wanna be closer financially where that is concerned-

Lewis Howes 1:07:14 Sure, sure

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:07:15 ... you know, in terms of a goal. Um, yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:07:18 That's cool.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:07:19 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:07:19 That's cool. This is a question-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:07:20 I wanna be finished with... I want my book to be out too [laughs]

Lewis Howes 1:07:23 Oh, okay, cool. Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:07:24 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:07:24 Well, you have three books right now that you brought here.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:07:26 I think I got-

Lewis Howes 1:07:26 Uh-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:07:26 ... I think I've written seven, but those are three

Lewis Howes 1:07:28 ... these are the three that are... Yeah, three that are here. You got seven books? Machine.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:07:31 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:07:31 One's called Life Visioning, uh, A Transformative, uh, Process For Activating Your Unique Gifts and Highest Potential. Make sure you guys check this one out. I'm gonna read this one today, The Answer is You. Um, this is gonna be a good one. I'm excited 'cause it's shorter. That's why I'm reading that one.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:07:46 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 1:07:47 And then Spiritual Liberation. So if you guys wanna feel free, make sure to get this book as well. We'll have it all linked up, um, on the show notes. This is a question, one of the final questions that I ask everyone at the end. It's called the three truths. So you've written seven books. You're gonna have an eighth one this year. I'm sure you'll have 50 books. Um, but imagine it's your last day on earth.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:07 Mm.

Lewis Howes 1:08:07 Many years from now, you can go as long as you want-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:10 Yes

Lewis Howes 1:08:10 ... but at some point you gotta go.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:11 Right.

Lewis Howes 1:08:12 Hypothetically, right?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:13 Right.

Lewis Howes 1:08:14 And... Your physical body, anyways. And, uh, you've written everything you wanna write. You've said everything you wanna say. You've met everyone. You've been knighted 50 times. You've-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:23 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 1:08:24 ... got Agape, has got, you know, a huge theater that's a-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:26 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 1:08:27 ... forever legacy. You've done it all. You've seen your-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:29 Yeah

Lewis Howes 1:08:29 ... grandkids grow. Everything has happened. Complete life, right? But for whatever reason, you gotta take everything with you when you leave.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:37 I gotta take it with me?

Lewis Howes 1:08:38 You gotta take your information, your work, your books-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:40 Uh-huh

Lewis Howes 1:08:40 ... your words, your videos, all the content you put out in the world, y- i- it's gotta go with you.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:45 Okay.

Lewis Howes 1:08:45 So no one has access to it anymore.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:47 Ah.

Lewis Howes 1:08:48 But you get to leave people with three final truths.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:50 Ah.

Lewis Howes 1:08:51 These would be the three truths or the lessons-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:08:54 Mm

Lewis Howes 1:08:54 ... that you've lived through your whole life, and if this, this was all people had to, to remember in a written form, what would you say are those three truths for you?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:09:06 One, fall in love with who you are, with what has been created. You didn't create yourself.

Lewis Howes 1:09:16 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:09:16 There's a presence.

Lewis Howes 1:09:17 Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:09:17 There's a presence that created you out of itself, so you have to fall in love with that, with that presence. Uh, two, you have to cultivate that potential that's within you. You don't want wasted potential. You know? If you have potential, you have to cultivate it.

Lewis Howes 1:09:38 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:09:38 You don't wanna, you don't wanna leave and realize, "You know what? I should've cultivated that."

Lewis Howes 1:09:43 I left it on the table. Yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:09:44 I left it on the table. I didn't go for it. I didn't even try, you see. And three, you wanna live with not how much you've got, but how much did you give away before you left. How much did you give away? I think that's the game that we're being asked to play on the planet right now. Not how much we can get, but before we leave, how much can we give away?

Lewis Howes 1:10:07 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:10:07 Now, if we fall in love with ourselves, activate potential, and give as way as much as possible, we'll be in bliss. Because bliss is the function of the activation of potential.

Lewis Howes 1:10:18 Wow. Those are great truths.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:10:20 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:10:21 I love those. Um, imagine everyone in the world is putting on headphones right now.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:10:29 Mm-hmm.

Lewis Howes 1:10:30 And everyone can understand English for a minute.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:10:33 [laughs] Or they hear it in their own language.

Lewis Howes 1:10:35 Exactly.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:10:35 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:10:35 They hear it in their own language. And you get to share one message with the world where people put their phones away.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:10:42 Mm.

Lewis Howes 1:10:42 They're not watching TV. They put on the headphones. They f- flip on a switch. Mic comes on. What is the message you would share, in under 60 seconds, for the world in what we're living through right now, in what we're going through in this time and age? What would be a, a message you would say?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:11:01 I would let people know that there's a, there's a paradigm that's dying right now. Whenever a paradigm is dying, it makes a lot of noise. So right now, we have the paradigm of greed and hate, separation, supremacy of all kinds of levels, really loud. Which means it's at its deathbed. And there's a paradigm that's emerging. The emerging paradigm is a paradigm of unity and oneness, of which now our quantum scientists are now echoing what the mystics have been teaching for thousands of years, that we're all one, that the separation is only in our mind, doesn't really exist. So I would say stay strong. Don't give into fear. Don't give into worry. Worry is mentally and emotionally rehearsing what you don't want to happen, you see. So stay out of worry and fear, and realize that we're passing through a phase of a dying of the old-

Lewis Howes 1:12:00 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:12:00 ... and a birthing of the new. Stay true to the vision of unity.

Lewis Howes 1:12:04 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:12:06 Have conversations about it. Let that be your conversation. And watch as you look back at this time in history, and the things that we were so afraid of will be in museums. People... You'll have kids in museums-

Lewis Howes 1:12:19 [laughs]

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:12:19 ... saying, "Mommy, people really hate each other 'cause they were in different religions? Mom, Grandma, you mean people didn't like each other 'cause their skin colors were different?"

Lewis Howes 1:12:27 Mm-hmm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:12:28 "Mom, did that really happen?" And Grandmama will say, "Yeah, many years ago, that was the ignorance we were living in, but not anymore, babe." [laughs]

Lewis Howes 1:12:39 Wow. Yeah. That's powerful. Um, I wanna acknowledge you for a moment, Michael, because- This is just like, for me, this is so awakening for me. You know, everything you've been sharing has been resonating deeply with me. And the fact that you've been living your life in such a level of high service for the last 30-plus years is, is a great example of what's possible for all of us. You know, we don't have to go start spiritual centers the way you have, but we can do things to live in service every single day with our families, our friends, and the people, the strangers around us.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:13:12 Absolutely.

Lewis Howes 1:13:13 And so I acknowledge you for showing up the way you did today, for your constant level of service. Everyone I talk to who knows you just says how, uh, giving of a human being you are. And, um, for showing me what's possible when all the good that comes your way, you don't have to, to, to wear a mask and think you're that much better.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:13:35 No, yes, absolutely.

Lewis Howes 1:13:36 And so I appreciate and acknowledge you for constantly showing up in service and humility and gratitude.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:13:42 Mm.

Lewis Howes 1:13:42 It's a, it's a great blessing to be with you right now.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:13:44 Man, thank you.

Lewis Howes 1:13:44 So I appreciate it. Yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:13:44 Appreciate it. Can I do, give, say one shout-out?

Lewis Howes 1:13:46 Sure.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:13:47 You know, uh, my former wife, Rickie Byars, has a new CD that just dropped. It's called My Oh My It's time to Fly. It's one of some of her greatest work. I want people to go out and get it, along with my stuff.

Lewis Howes 1:13:58 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:13:59 But, but I want-

Lewis Howes 1:14:00 My Oh My It's time to Fly.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:01 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:14:02 We'll link it up in the show notes-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:03 Yeah

Lewis Howes 1:14:03 ... and make sure it's there.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:04 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:14:04 Make sure you guys get the CD.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:05 You know, they might like, I have another book called Transcendance, and it's my CD and my music.

Lewis Howes 1:14:10 Perfect.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:11 Yeah.

Lewis Howes 1:14:11 Transcendance.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:12 Transcendance.

Lewis Howes 1:14:12 Dance.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:13 Mm-hmm.

Lewis Howes 1:14:13 We'll link that, we'll link all your books up.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:15 Very good.

Lewis Howes 1:14:15 So you guys, make sure you go to the show notes. We'll tell you where that's at in a second. Check out these books, Spiritual Liberation as well, The Answer is You, Life Visioning.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:24 And Life Visioning, this is the book that Oprah, she picked fif- out of her 30 years of being on TV-

Lewis Howes 1:14:30 Uh-huh

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:30 ... she picked 15 books that she said were the best 15 books that, to help an individual solve a problem, and Life Visioning made-

Lewis Howes 1:14:38 Wow

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:38 ... made that 15 cut.

Lewis Howes 1:14:40 Oh, maybe I'll read this one today then.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:41 [laughs]

Lewis Howes 1:14:41 This is great. I appreciate it. Life Visioning, very cool. Um, final que- And you're on, uh, social media.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:48 Oh, yeah, you know, Facebook, Instagram.

Lewis Howes 1:14:51 Just @michael-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:52 Michael Beckwith

Lewis Howes 1:14:52 ... michaelbbekwith.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:53 Twitter, the whole, the whole deal.

Lewis Howes 1:14:54 Okay, perfect.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:14:55 And they can go to agapelive.com to actually live stream my services. They can actually see me live.

Lewis Howes 1:15:01 Anywhere in the world.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:15:01 Anywhere in the world. Most of the congregation's around the world.

Lewis Howes 1:15:04 Agape Live.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:15:04 I mean, I have a few thousand every Sunday, but most of the people are in Canada, Australia, New York, and they're all around the world.

Lewis Howes 1:15:12 Great. So go to agapelive.com.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:15:14 Right.

Lewis Howes 1:15:15 You can watch it live on Sundays.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:15:16 Right.

Lewis Howes 1:15:17 If you are, are in LA, if you're visiting LA-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:15:19 You gotta come

Lewis Howes 1:15:19 ... people can show up to Agape. If they go to agape.com, is that where it's at, or-

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:15:23 Yeah, they can, they can find it. It's at the Saban Theater.

Lewis Howes 1:15:25 Okay, perfect.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:15:26 Right there on Wilshire and, and, uh, La Ciénega.

Lewis Howes 1:15:28 And when you go and you meet Michael, make sure you heard him on the show and let him know.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:15:32 Yeah, tell him to come up and say, "I heard you on Lewis' show." [laughs]

Lewis Howes 1:15:34 Let him know. Let him know. Uh, final question for you, Michael, is what's your definition of greatness?

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:15:40 Definition of greatness is constantly being superior to your former self.

Lewis Howes 1:15:46 Mm.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:15:47 So you're never in competition with someone else. You're only competing with your pr- former self so that tomorrow, next year, two years from now, you're actually releasing more life energy than you were two years ago or a year ago. So it's a, so that you're really becoming more you-

Lewis Howes 1:16:04 Mm

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:16:04 ... on a regular basis.

Lewis Howes 1:16:06 Michael Beckwith, thank you, man.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:16:07 Hey, man.

Lewis Howes 1:16:07 Appreciate it. Appreciate you very much. This is powerful, man.

Michael Bernard Beckwith 1:16:10 Absolutely. Thank you.

Lewis Howes 1:16:10 Wow.