The School of Greatness Hall of Fame

I am stoked to bring my man Aubrey Marcus back on The School of Greatness. Aubrey is one of the smartest business leaders I know, as well as a huge inspiration to me for fitness, mindset, and excellence. Since he was in LA writing his book, we decided to record a podcast about something Aubrey knows A LOT about. He has studied the champion’s mindset extensively and has incredible insight into what makes a champion from talking to his friends, who are world-class athletes. This time around, Aubrey is sharing the 8 major characteristics that create a champion – and they are gold. Get ready to take notes and be hugely inspired by my good friend Aubrey Marcus in Episode 273.

Yes, we are talking about relationships again on  The School of Greatness. Partly because I love learning as much as possible about how to create and maintain healthy, amazing relationships (and I need a lot of coaching in my love life). But partly because I heard today’s guest speak at Summit at Sea in November and I knew I had to have her on the podcast. Esther Perel is a world-renowned relationship therapist, bestselling author, and sought-after speaker who has focused her career on exploring the role of sex and eroticism in making and breaking intimate relationships. She has an incredible world-view of relationships in many different cultures, which has allowed her to see what works and what doesn’t on a bigger level. I asked her a ton of questions in our interview and she had answers. You may already have set ideas about what intimate relationships should look like, but I know you’ll get some new perspective from listening to this interview. Get ready to get vulnerable with yourself as you take a look at your relationships in Episode 285 with Esther Perel.

If I were to ask you what one characteristic makes the biggest difference in how you deal with and get through hard things, what would you answer? Maybe strength or faith or perspective? Would you have thought of resilience? I wouldn’t have, until I talked to today’s guest on The School of Greatness, the incredible Eric Greitens. Eric’s list of accolades is long, but among some of them are that he is a Navy SEAL, a PhD, a Rhodes scholar, an author, and a hopeful for Missouri governor. His newest book is all about how resilience is the characteristic that gets us through the hard stuff – how we process pain in the moment and after. Eric is no stranger to this, as he recounts in our conversation Navy SEAL training, his travels around the world photographing war torn areas, and working with veterans with PTSD. I could have talked to Eric for hours and took plenty of notes, so I expect you to do the same. Get ready to have your eyes opened and learn life-changing insight about resilience in Episode 157 with Eric Greitens.

The words “peaceful” and “warrior” don’t usually go together. In fact, they seem to be opposites. But if you’ve read the international bestselling book or seen the movie Way of the Peaceful Warrior, you know there’s something powerful about this idea. Dan Millman is the author of this (and 16 other books) and an incredibly wise teacher. He was an early guest on the podcast, back in Episode 193, and I was excited to have him back on since he just released a new book. When I watched the movie based on his hit book, it was hugely influential to me and became one of my favorites. Sitting down with him 11 years later to discuss the wisdom behind this story was powerful. Dan is the kind of guy who has a quiet way of speaking, takes pauses, and thinks about his answers. But I was hanging on every word. There were times in this conversation where I almost felt like I was in a dream, learning things that he wasn’t even saying. And that was after just an hour of talking together. I loved what Dan taught about what it means to live a good life, why greatness is apparent in every single one of us, and how life teaches us exactly what we’re ready to learn. Whether this is your first experience with the peaceful warrior mindset or you are a fan already, be prepared for some spiritual weight training during Episode 554.

Most of us have strong feelings about habits. We love the ones that help us be better and we hate the ones that hold us back. But have you ever thought about how habits affect our happiness? Today’s guest on The School of Greatness has thought a lot about this. Gretchen Rubin is a hugely successful author and blogger (and former attorney) who researches the best ways to create happy, healthy lifestyles. In her newest book, she studies how to use your personality strengths and weaknesses to mindfully create habits that work to your advantage. On a deeper level, she talks about how all of the small daily choices we make add up to our whole lives, and how we can save energy by making good choices a habit. I loved connecting with and learning from Gretchen in this conversation and can’t wait for you to as well in Episode 187 with Gretchen Rubin.

Ok. This is big. And it’s not just for parents. I got so much out of this interview and I’m not a parent yet. In fact, I believe in this message so much, I want EVERYONE to hear it, whether they are a parent, a child, or an adult child (that covers all of us). Dr. Shefali Tsabary is one of the world’s leading experts in parenting. As a clinical psychologist, she is well educated in this topic. But that isn’t what’s made her a multiple NYT bestselling author or a favorite of Oprah. Dr. Shefali has spent her life learning from both Eastern and Western philosophy about the relationships between parents and children. This includes learning about how our egos respond to creating life, why we struggle so much with trying to control our children, how we project on them all of the things we didn’t get from our parents, and so much more. In our conversation, we dove deep into why it’s so important to become a conscious parent – beginning well before you decide you are ready to have a child. I was on the edge of my seat during this whole interview because I was learning so much (that made so much sense about my own experience of being a child). I can’t wait to have Dr. Shefali back on the show, but for now, get ready to upgrade your level of consciousness in Episode 526.

Before you decide that you don’t believe in this kind of stuff, listen up. I met today’s guest, Nick Ortner, years ago in NYC during a mastermind. I have watched his career, success, and the impact he’s making (teaching people how to heal themselves from all kinds of issues) over the years since then. And I know he’s the real deal. But I was especially excited to sit down with him on the podcast to hear about the science behind the method he uses — and he explained it all. If you’ve never heard of tapping, let me introduce you to the technique. Tapping has been around for a long time. It’s a very simple method to calm the mind and body by tapping on the acupressure points around the body that are connected to our meridians. But it has as much to do with slowing down and tuning into what your mind and heart are telling you as it does with touching pressure points. What I didn’t expect during this interview, which was really amazing, was when I asked Nick to do a demo of what tapping looks like on my friend Cesar, who had been suffering from a super stiff neck for days. Cesar happens to be a pretty analytical and skeptical guy when it comes to this kind of stuff. But after spending 5 minutes with Nick (all recorded on the podcast), he was pain free and able to turn his neck freely. It was awesome. Beyond that once instance however, I truly believe that what Nick is up to is valuable, important, and powerful. Let me introduce you to tapping and the power you have to heal yourself in Episode 547.

Coach Chris Lee is a longtime podcast favorite (this is his 12th episode on the show!) and there’s no mistake about why. Not only has he had a massive impact on my life as my coach, from the first time I took his workshop through today, but he has generously shared his wisdom with us on the show for years. There’s a reason I keep bringing him back on. Chris knows the human psyche and heart really well. He understands why we do what we do and how to elevate our whole lives to the next level. That’s what he’s been coaching me on for years. So when I got the chance to sit down with him last week to record this episode, I was excited to see the topic he had ready. He was fresh off of training an intense 5 day workshop so he had a lot of insight to share around how to create a life and mindset that is unstoppable no matter what comes up. By breaking it down into 7 steps, we really got to go deep into each one. I can definitely stand by each of the steps Chris coached since I’ve seen the effectiveness of them in my own life time and again. If you’re ready to live in consistent greatness, it starts with these steps in Episode 503.

As you’ve heard me say often, I wholeheartedly believe in the power of good coaching. In fact, it’s one of the most powerful tools I’ve invested in during my athletic and business careers. So whenever I get the chance to talk to high-level coaches, I jump at it. Recently I got to talk to one of the very best. He coaches not only elite level athletes, but also top CEOs, performers, celebrities, musicians, and more. Dr. Michael Gervais has worked on some of the most ground-breaking projects in the world. So he knows a thing or two about how to get the best performance out of people. Not only is he a high-performance psychologist, he understands the power of our minds to accomplish the extraordinary firsthand. I loved learning his story, how he got into this field, and what he has discovered about our true potential over decades of coaching top performers. What especially struck me was that he acknowledged how we all struggle with the same fears — no matter what the stakes are. Regardless of what level we are starting at, we can begin to develop a high-performance mindset right now. Because life is now. There’s no reason to wait to try your best in Episode 533.

I’d seen Brendon Burchard‘s videos all over Facebook, heard his name in big circles, and seen his bestselling books at the top of the charts. But for whatever reason, I felt like there might be something fake about him. So I never bothered to find out. Until we spoke at the same event and I met him in person. And I realized there was more to the story. When he came by the studio to record a conversation about his newest book, we got to really connect. And I was amazed. Brendon is an incredibly successful high performance coach, speaker and author. He’s advised some of the top executives and performers in the world. It turns out we were totally on the same page about greatness, service, life purpose, and leadership. Brendon gave tons of awesome wisdom in our conversation — I loved talking to him so much that at the end of the interview, I asked him to come speak at the Summit of Greatness this year. And he said yes. This conversation is powerful, authentic, and a game changer in Episode 538.