#81: Eight Principles of Greatness with Lewis Howes

I first met Lewis Howes back in my days of working with Social Media Examiner. I liked his technique with video interviews, and wrangled up a lot of interviewees for him; he liked my Facebook trainings, and asked me to put together a book. That was not only the beginning of my career in online training courses; it was, as they say in the movies, the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
This week, Lewis and I got the chance to reconnect over the topic of "greatness." Sound a little abstract? Let Lewis persuade you otherwise.
Lewis is a true expert in lifestyle entrepreneurship--a business coach with a top-rated podcast, a huge online educational program, earnings in seven figures, and a recognition from President Obama as one of the Top 100 Entrepreneurs in the country under age 30. Truly a great example to all of us working on our online businesses!
And you'd better believe Lewis didn't get to this level by aiming for "good enough."
His recent book School of Greatness is all about the importance of striving for greatness--in our personal lives, our health, our relationships and, of course, in our businesses.
What Does "Greatness" Really Mean? As entrepreneurs, we're a little obsessed with the idea of "success." The symbols are always changing--this year it might be making a decent profit, next year maybe it's hitting six figures, and the year after that, it could be landing a book deal or paying off your house or...who knows?
This is the danger of becoming too obsessed with success--the target is always moving. Which means we run the risk of never being satisfied, no matter how much we accomplish.
But by focusing our sights on greatness, Lewis says, we're able to experience satisfaction with where we are in our business, and so much more besides.
"Greatness is discovering what your greatest gifts are, your talents, what you were born to do, maximizing those gifts, and impacting the maximum amount of people in the world with those gifts."
8 Principles of Greatness Lewis' book breaks greatness into eight simple steps:
1. Clarifying Your Vision
Before you set out on your personal quest, you have to clearly see the action steps to make it happen.
2. Embracing Adversity
Challenge and struggle are a natural part of growth.
3. Cultivating a Champion's Mindset
You can't guarantee that you'll win every time, but you can always set yourself up for the opportunity to win.
4. Committing to Hustle
A willingness to do whatever it takes will take you where mere talent can't.
5. Mastering Your Health
Your health (emotional, mental and physical) can either hold you back or drive you forward--which way do you choose?
6. Practicing Positive Habits
Without intentional habits, life turns into a nothing but a series of reactions.
7. Realizing You Can't Achieve Greatness Alone
A powerful, reliable team is the key to building something that’s bigger than yourself.
8. Being of Service to Others
The crowning moment of greatness is giving your gift to the world.
This is just a summary of Lewis' eight principles--you need to hear these in detail! So click here now to listen to the full podcast episode.
Going Deeper My chat with Lewis did more than just outline what it means to be great. It illuminated some of the finer points that past experience had "muddied up" for me.
For example...
The word "hustle" gives me a little bit of shudder, because I remember my corporate job days where I was really diving in, giving it my all, but felt like I lost myself. Fortunately, Lewis' definition of hustle doesn't mean prioritizing one aspect of your life at the expense of everything else important.
Even someone as multi-talented as Lewis feels exhausted and overwhelmed sometimes. Greatness requires a careful check-in system with yourself, to monitor your progress and where you're out of balance.
Certain aspects of achieving greatness will come easily to you, while other parts of it are going to be harder. Lewis explains how to fine-tune the process by uncovering the deeper roots of where you struggle.
You'll never accomplish the final point of greatness--being of service to the world--if you don't take care of one important thing first.
There's so much in this interview, I hope you'll take the time to listen to it today. But for now, I want to leave you with one final quote from Lewis that I thought was particularly...well, great:
"The biggest impact we can make is when we become a symbol of inspiration because we follow and chase our dreams. It is our greatest gift to follow our dreams...we are robbing ourselves and others around us when we cop out and don’t chase it out of fear."