Unlock Your Creative Genius by Defeating Doubt | Jason Derulo

26 Mar 2026 · 7 min · 4 chapters

Ask about this episode

Ask anything about it. ChatGPT or Claude reads this page and answers with the times it was said.

Connect VO and ask about every podcast you hear, including the moments you saved. Add to ChatGPT · Add to Claude

In short

Lewis Howes interviews Jason Derulo on maintaining inner peace and continuing to climb after success, overcoming self-doubt, and using setbacks to fuel creative momentum.

Key claims

success is “rented,” competition never stops, and self-talk/negativity can weigh you down; the “end” is when you stop pushing for the next level; leaving a negative environment and changing energy can reignite output.

Guest background

Jason Derulo is a major pop/recording artist who sold about 200 million records and later pursued independent releases.

Notable examples

Derulo describes pandemic-era self-doubt (“coast” mindset), then ramping up TikTok and releasing independent songs like “Savage Love” and “Take Your Dancing,” facing label rejection, then signing with Atlantic for a partner-style deal (50-50).

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

The Journey to Success

0:31 to 2:31

Explore how to maintain inner peace and self-love while pursuing success.

“I think people stop and smell the roses too much.”

Overcoming Self-Doubt

2:31 to 4:49

Learn about dealing with self-doubt and the importance of pushing forward.

“Was there a time that you doubted yourself the most?”

Independence in Music

4:49 to 5:34

Discover Jason Derulo's journey to becoming an independent artist.

“I was like, okay, I'm going to do this myself.”

Independence in Music

5:47 to 6:03

Discover Jason Derulo's journey to becoming an independent artist.

“I have a brand new book called Make Money Easy.”
Hear the part that matters, and keep it.Open this episode in VO. Double tap your headphones to save a moment as you listen.
Get VO free

Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00And now for a bit of breaking news between your breaking news, with me, the Geico Gecko. Here are some things you ought to know today. People who switch their car insurance to Geico save about$900 a year. Experts are calling that nice to know. Also, plants can hear when bees buzz. My ficus just heard that. And finally, animal experts have confirmed that goats have regional accents. I'm getting a hint of Irish there. It feels good to get good news. It feels good to Geico. Hi, my name is Lewis Howes and welcome to the Daily Motivation Show.

0:40I feel like there's a lot of people when they get money, fame, success, eventually they crumble or they don't know how to manage it or their ego gets too big or they start treating people poorly or just they kind of climb and then they fall. Yep. How have you learned to be like consistently climbing while also maintaining your sanity, your inner peace, your, you know, self-love and self-care, as opposed to letting it all get to you too much where you crash and burn. I think people stop and smell the roses too much. Like, we know the roses are beautiful. We know they smell great. But we're on a path.

1:18We're on a journey. Life is a journey. And it's a life journey. There's no destination because we can always be better. We can always be greater. We can always be a better version of us. and what happens is their first steps are usually the great ones right when you're hungry you don't necessarily know where your next meal is coming from you're down in the dumps you don't like how people are treating you you want to be better in life you want to have this you want to have that you want girls to look at you a different way you know you want to drive nice things boom boom but then when you arrive and you get those things even though it may be temporary when you get them And it's like, oh, I'm good.

1:54I'm lit. I made it. And then you take a deep breath and you're like, oh, yeah, this life, this is what I've been waiting on. But what you're forgetting is success is never owned. It's rented. There's somebody hungry always. There's always somebody younger, hungrier, more talented, more driven than you are. So they're not going to stop coming. That competition doesn't stop coming at you. Just because you've arrived here doesn't mean there's not millions of people just on your neck and waiting on that slot to open up. Was there a time that you doubted yourself the most? And if so, how did you overcome that doubt?

2:37Right at the tail end of the pandemic, I told myself, I talked really, really down to myself and I said, you've done so well in your life, you should probably coast. It's time to coast. Chill. Yeah, you've done so much. You've given so much. Relax, chill. And what that meant to me was like giving up. It was like, this is the end. The end to me is when you're not pushing for the next level. You're not pushing to gain something else. A couple of weeks passed and a couple of months passed. And I was really putting my energy into TikTok. It was just like, I'm not really messing with music. so I wasn't really like writing very many songs and then I was like when I was a kid I dreamed of this place that I'm in right now of getting to this place my starting point was here when my ending point was here I had to jump from here to here I have way less of a climb to be the best in the world here than from here to here right why stop right here that's like stopping at 97 push-ups.

3:47You got to hit those last three reps, bro. You have to hit those last three reps. You can't stop at 97. And that realization is when I was like, I have to get off of this record label that I'm on. I have to get a new deal and go with a team that, like, really believes in me so that, like, I'm hearing, you know, great things from other people as well. I feel like I had too much negativity in my ears. And when all of this negativity is coming your way and then you're talking down to yourself, it just weighs you down. So I needed, like, new energy. And then when I was able to get off the label, finally, after a battle, I thought the world was going to be my oyster and there was just going to be, like, open arms, just like, everybody's going to want to sign me.

4:29It was the craziest thing in the world. Again, I had sold 200 million records at that point and crickets. No one wanted to sign me. It was like, oh, he's too expensive. I mean, yeah, we don't know if we want to go in that direction, da-da-da. It was like that conversation, that put the biggest fire in my heart that you could possibly imagine. Wow. I was like, okay, I'm going to do this myself. I'm going to do it myself. So that's when I went on a run and I put out Savage Love as an independent song. That was huge. Take Your Dancing as an independent song. And I was just dropping things independently.

5:07And TikTok was blowing them up too. It was just like everywhere. Exactly. So I was the biggest independent artist on the planet. and then all those same virtual labels. I was like, hey, what's up? Yes. I was like, nah, I'm not messing with you guys. So I went with Atlantic, who I felt, you know, was aligned with my creative. They were aligned with what I wanted to do business-wise and on my masters and be a partner, not just signing. We're going to be 50-50 partners. Wow. I'm going to be the label as well. You know, sometimes it's your lowest lows that get you to your highest highs.

5:47I have a brand new book called Make Money Easy. And if you're looking to create more financial freedom in your life, you want abundance in your life, and you want to stop making money hard in your life, but you want to make it easier, you want to make it flow, you want to feel abundant, then make sure to go to makemoneyeasybook.com right now and get yourself a copy. I really think this is going to help you transform your relationship with money this moment moving forward. We have some big guests and content coming up. Make sure you're following and stay tuned to this episode of The Daily Motivation Show.

6:28Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of The Daily Motivation, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to click the link in the description. that will take you to the full episode of our main podcast on the School of Greatness. And if you are loving the daily motivation, please follow us over on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave us a review over on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you want more exclusive content and ad-free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you want to get even more inspiration from our world-class guests and learn how to improve your life and take it to the next level, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com slash newsletter.

7:18Again, have an amazing day and I'll see you tomorrow with another episode of the Daily Motivation Show.

7:32Why have we asked our contractor we found on Angie.com to be our kid's legal guardian? because he took such good care when redoing our basement that we knew we could trust him to care for our kids, all eight of them, should something happen to us. Are you my dad now? Uh, no, sorry, I do basements. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at Angie.com.

From the publisher

Leave an Amazon Rating or Review for my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy!

Check out the full episode: https://greatness.lnk.to/1460DM

Jason Derulo shares his personal journey and insights into how he harnesses his creativity to continuously innovate and succeed in the competitive music industry. Listeners will gain valuable takeaways on the power of setting clear intentions, staying focused, and embracing failure as a stepping stone to greatness.

Sign up for the Greatness newsletter: http://www.greatness.com/newsletter


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

More from The Daily Motivation

All 1,249 episodes
Unlock Your Creative Genius by Defeating DoubtThe Daily Motivation · 7 min
Listen in VO