Adam Carolla's Guide to Overcoming Adversity and Finding Your Voice

33:42It was a thing back in the day. Got paid, but I was a traffic, I was a traffic school teacher, but I, but in my mind, I was in front of an audience, even though there were just people that were cited for speeding. Right, right. And it was air conditioned, you know, getting paid. And I wasn't covered with stucco dust, you know, at the end of the day. so uh but no i didn't yeah i didn't i didn't make any money so you're doing stuff you would like to you enjoy that you were finding a talent and good at but you weren't making money until how many years until you're making well then when i was coming up on my 30th birthday was was the problem and that was the timeline for you it was like okay i got 80 years i just i could have started at 21 i could start at 22 i mean i remember the apartment i was in my first apartment so it was pretty early but i was just like look you got until you're 30 because 30 soon and old enough to like okay no more sharing futons and you know right drinking schaefer beer in the park you know ramen noodles yeah ramen noodles and you know generic captain crunch and not even the real captain crunch like that no everything was the half off captain yeah yeah i was like by the time you're 30 you gotta be doing something doing something you know and um so what did you decide to do well i was a little earlier on probably about a year maybe a year and a half earlier i i i like i always like boxing you know and i was like they were opening these gyms or like white collar boxing or whatever like you teach lawyers and doctors that could be that could be fun because I like it.

35:29I was so tired of construction that I just, I couldn't take it anymore. And I was like, I want to be around people and smart people and people have money and people that drive some of the truck and everything. And I kind of made my way into a boxing gym. It's called Bodies in Motion. It used to be right up this down Pico or something, not far is this like late 90s now or no no this is still early this is like 90 wow uh 91 maybe whatever i i went into there and like i talked to the guy and i'm like hey man i you know i could really be a good boxing coach and he's like get out here and he just told me to buzz off you know and and i was like why don't you give me a shot you know and he's like we don't We just hire ex-champions and champions.

36:26Gross, yeah. We hire real people. We've got to have credentials because this guy's a WBA, you know, welterweight. Right. You know, you idiot walked off a construction site. That's it. Those are credentials. It's a bronze medalist in the Olympics. Yeah, yeah. And they fluff them up a little, you know. But so he just went, no, you know. And I remember I was looking at the club, at the fitness place, and I saw speed bag stations with the bag in the... I saw a couple sitting on the floor against the wall, and he was shooing me out of the place. And I was like, hey, those speed bags, you need those hung?

37:13And all of a sudden he was like, yeah. yeah like well I'm a carpenter and he's like oh you are and I'm like yeah and he's like because I got some heavy bags that need to be hung too and I'm like well I know how to do that and he's like oh so let's talk and I said okay you give me 10 bucks an hour just flat out and I mean back then carpenter probably make it 15 16 bucks an hour so I was gonna just give me 10 bucks an hour uh what time does the gym close like 10 at night or whatever i said what time is it open you know six in the morning i was like i'll be here 10 at night six in the morning i'll show up at night i'll hang all this stuff just give me the keys and uh and you let me try teaching boxing mom and the guy's like yeah okay sure sure so So I taught a little bit, and then he wanted to open a place in Old Town, Pasadena.

38:19That was another place, but he needed to, like, renovate or whatever. And he was like, you build that place for$10 an hour, and you can teach there. And I was like, I'll do it. Holy cow. And so I built it, and so I taught there. But I would make$20 a class. And I was only teaching, like, five classes a week or something. but it's like in in my world i was doing something different and i was kind of enjoying myself it's fun fun to leave the class and put your mixtape on and all that stuff and so i was like all right well this feels better than you know being on a construction site but i was still building cabinets and working for myself because i couldn't cut it on 100 bucks a week you know i'd teach my morning boxing and then then go to the job and go build cabinets for somebody or something like that and then i was i was driving over the hill um driving over laurel canyon going up the hill and i was just listening to kevin and bean on k-rock and they were talking about jimmy the sports guy and michael the maintenance man and jimmy said something offensive and i got to do an argument and um they're gonna have a boxing match and they're like we need trainers you know and i was like oh my god oh my god i could i don't think it's like i could see the radio station i could like what is this like this radio station i listen to it every day i don't know where it is what's it what's it like you know and it's like i got to the customer's house and I was like, could I use your phone?

40:00And she was nice. And she's like, yeah. And I was calling the radio station. I'd just get Frank Murphy, the producer, I'd just get his answering machine. I'd be like, I'm a boxing coach and I want to train someone. And here's my home number, leave a message or whatever. And they never called that. And some days were going by and I'd be listening. They're like, we need a boxing coach. And guys were like calling in on air and stuff. And I couldn't get anything going. They wouldn't return calls. They wouldn't do anything. So I just went, I found out where the radio station was. Went before my 7 a.m.

40:42boxing class. Or maybe it was like a 6 a.m. boxing class. I can't remember. It was early, like 6.30, 7. And I went down there. I got into the building. It was like a commercial building. And then just went up to the ninth floor. but the suite was locked where the radio station was. And I knew they were in there somewhere, but they're not the receptionist. And then, you know, business hours, nine to five, you know, like if you win tickets to YouTube, you gotta pick them up, but you can't show up at seven, no one's there. And they're there, but the receptionist isn't there. You know, so I was like, ah, no.

41:21Oh, now I showed up at 5.30 in the morning one day, and I couldn't get into the building. That's what happened. Then I showed up the next day at like 6.30 or 7. I did get into the building, but I couldn't get into K-Rock. And then I was just standing on the ninth floor by the elevators, and I knew that was the K-Rock, like, sweet, but no one was going to answer. And I was just, like, standing by the elevators, like, what do I do? Do I come back? Maybe I'll come back in two hours and someone will be there. But then what if I get into the suite? I like says, the receptionist is going to go get the morning show guys.

42:02I don't think that's what they do. Like they're going to just go leave a number and I'm just going to leave. And right as I'm sort of going over the machinations in my head, I'm like, where could I, how could I work this out? Some guy just comes out of the elevator and he starts like making a a line for the back of k-rock with the key card door like the the staff door and i'm like kind of walking with him and he's going in you know and i go are you going into k-rock and he's like yeah and i don't know to this day i don't know if he's the vending machine repair guy or he's a phone screener like whenever he is he's just going in and i go hey if you're going in there just tell him the boxing there's a boxing coach and he's just i'll just be by the elevators i'll just be hanging here so just tell him someone's here and like you know i think the guy kind of just put his hand up or something like we didn't talk about it he was like doing something you know and just kind of yeah he wasn't door shut you know so i just went and stood by the elevators and i was probably out there about 10 or 15 minutes 20 minutes something like that and then And at some point, some guy just came down to the hall.

43:19This young guy. He's like, you the boxing coach? I'm like, yeah. And he goes, oh, okay. You want to teach me to box? I said, yeah. I said, who are you? You know, what's your name? He's like, my name's Jimmy. Jimmy the sports guy. I said, okay. Well, Jimmy the sports guy is going to fight Michael Aminian's man. I guess I just got Jimmy the sports guy. So I'll train you to box. And I said, when do you want to start? He said, how about today? And I was like, yeah, I'm at Bodies in Motion in Pasadena. Like, Old Town Pasadena, I'll meet you by the parking structure. Like, at noon. He said, all right, I'll see you at noon.

43:57Okay. And then that guy turned out to be Jimmy Kimmel. Wow. And I was pretty lucky that it wasn't Michael the maintenance man who came out. But Jimmy did. So you start, so Jimmy shows up that day and you start boxing. Yeah. And I'm going to be turning 30 in like three weeks. Wow. And I'm like, I've got to figure out something with this guy. So what happened with, how long were you training Jimmy Kimmel for this match? And then what evolved from that opportunity? Probably had about three weeks, probably. A few sessions a week or? well Jimmy was my meal ticket my life preserver like I'm like I gotta hang on this guy with both hands he's a dude he's in radio he's on radio he's on the radio he's making money he's making money now he's making yeah $49 ,000 a year or$44 ,000 he's living in a rented house in Reseda and driving a RX-7 that's beat you know but it's better than you but it's it's better than me and he's in radio and so i'm like i gotta figure out a way to get this guy to think i'm super funny and not just a boxing coach right not just oh i showed up to like teach you and then this is all i do no but i i don't want him to think i'm not a boxing coach because i don't want him to think I'm just trying to springboard this into that.

45:38You know, I'm some guy who just said he was a boxing guy. How many people have come up to you, you know, at a restaurant in LA and said, I'm an actor, I'm a writer, let me show you my script and let me do a set or. Yeah, yeah. There's so many. Nobody wants that. Right. So I, I was pretty much 80 % boxing and 20 % funny for the first few sessions. Right. But then I started to move more toward comedy. And as the boxing diminished, the comedy went up. And then we'd train. He'd train for 45 minutes or, I don't know, an hour or whatever, teach him a few things. And then go, they got this little cafe upstairs.

46:22They got his cold snapples. Just unwind, have a seat, drink a snapple. And he didn't want to train either. So I was like, yeah, let's go grab a sample and cool off. And next thing you know, we're sitting there for two hours. It's comedy hour. It's comedy hour. And I'm talking about ideas. This is a radio show. You're like, our conversation. Yeah. So I had him pretty convinced after about, by the time the fight came around, he said, do you have anything like tape or anything I could see on you? Like, I don't exactly know, like, what your thing is, you know. And I had a tape, VHS tape of a home improvement sort of comedy show that I did on Eagle Rock public access, you know.

47:16It's nothing. It was just a little public access, stupid Saturday thing. But it was tape. It was something. You know, it was something. and I like brought it over to his house and I was like it's just a public access thing you know it's not very professional whatever but you could kind of see what what I'm like you know on camera whatever and and he watched it and because Jimmy's you know has a good eye he he was like yeah I get it like I can see I can see this I can see what you're doing I see what you're doing I mean there's no production and there's no anything but but i get it you know i he i he was discerning enough to kind of go there's bits and pieces here or something and then um he lost the fight and then he's like you weren't that good of a trainer you're better at comedy i was not that good a trainer right well i was actually i was a good trainer that i could teach people how to box but we we weren't getting it done in three weeks yeah i was focusing on comedy and so uh when we were done with the fight on a on a friday he would have a friend you know he he loved me i loved him i mean he found somebody he could talk to and he liked comedy comedy he just liked me i liked him like immediately you know and he was like was he around the same age around 30 he's a couple years younger today yeah and and he was like he's like three and a half years or something he was he was like 27 he was like 26 and i was turning 30 like right about then and i know what his birthday is hey so he had two kids and was married at 26.

49:09before that wow right right but I'm right now. Yeah. And I was like, God, this dude's got kids and I'm living in La Crescenta in a rented house with three dudes, you know, and he's like, has a family and house and put together. Yeah. And like, I think this guy's kind of responsible as going on. It's not like my buddy from high school. And so, um, you know, now the fight's over and this kind of the end of the, of the prom for me, you know and i'm like what could i do to like with the radio like something with the morning show or something something to have like a segment or be a correspondent or do something like i'll drive the van i'll do whatever i want to get in there you know i wanted to get in there and what did he say he said uh he said what do you do and then i said i make things funnier like I shoot the breeze.

50:12I'm back and forth. I'm on my feet. You know, I'm an improv guy. You know, pow, pow, pow. I'd be in there making it funnier, you know? And he just went, that's what, having him do that. What do they need you for? You think you're going to sit, like, in between them and, like, make them funnier? That's their show, and they don't need you for that. So you got to come up with something other than that. And so he said, you got to come up with a character. And if you come up with a character and it works, and then it could be part of a reoccurring thing. And I'm like, I'm not really a character, dude.

50:53I don't really do voices. I'm not that guy. Like, I'm just not a character guy. And he's like, well, it's better start. Figure it out. And I was like, all right. That's your way in. And he said, you can call in on Monday. I won't tell them who you are because they'll think you're the boxing coach. That's not going to work. So I'll just set it up. I'll tell them I got this thing's funny. Guy's going to call in. They're not going to know anything. And just call in Monday. And, you know, they're a little moody. Like, it may not, they may, it's probably, I've been on the other end of this a lot where it's like someone goes, how do you want to have that guy back or was it funny and i'm like yeah didn't no didn't really land it didn't really work and um so i did it uh you know monday morning whatever and um i did a character and and it kind of worked like it was it was like worked enough you know and of course i called jimmy like the second how'd it go what happened yeah and and he was like yeah they thought it was pretty i was pretty good you know it was okay um like could we try it next week i try it again next week okay i think i can get them to whatever next week and so i did it the next week and then the next week and then it it blew up and it just became this super popular bit and and then and then i got loveline and i got signed by i got signed by william morris like immediately and one of the everyone in hollywood kind of listened to k-rock and this bit became so successful and the character got so popular so fast that i literally got signed from willie morris like a couple of months into it and and then i got loveline and then and and so there was no trajectory i was like making zero and i've looked at my statement it's like social security whatever they send you the mail every 10 years i was like making four thousand dollars a year and twelve thousand dollars a year zero a year because i was working under the table whatever and then it's like 36 000 a year was like my first sort of heroic thing and then the next year was like 350 000 and then two years later it's like a million dollars it was like it was like but it was nothing before then and when i started i i started for free you know and i did it for a while months probably and i would i would have a lot of my friends from the neighborhood kind of guys be like what are they paying you what are they paying you and i'd be like they're not paying me anything and they're like why is it paying you you should be paying you and i So eventually we settled on 50 bucks a bit.

53:56And I remember telling my friends, they're paying me, they're giving me 50 bucks a bit. They were like, 50 bucks a bit? Because they got, at that time, they're making 20 bucks an hour as a carbon. They were like, I thought this was show business. We're making less than I make for a day. And I just remember super clearly when they were protesting, 50 bucks. that kind of money's that that's a big station you know i just like this is a dream for me i'm on the radio i'm doing a bit i got william morris yeah i said i should be paying them oh and they didn't really understand what it meant but i got signed by william morris i took over on love line and it was just sort of rocket ship soon as you know two months later after i told him that so So I was like, and I knew instinctively this exposure is so great and people.

54:50And it was as I'd planned, not planned, but I walked in and I was funnier than everyone. And I was like, I knew it. I just needed, the reason it took off is because I was really good, but I just never had an audience or a place or a sport or whatever. A platform, yeah. And then I got in a love line and then they started syndicating and then it was like 100 and whatever markets and then the TV shows, blah, blah, blah. But I was good. Like I was ready to go. And I'd train and I'd train and I'd train and I had no matches. And all of a sudden I met Jimmy. But it wasn't just me and Jimmy. It was just being exposed.

55:34The second I got exposed, it just everything just blew up. Would you say he's one of your closest friends and colleagues over all the years? Oh, yeah, for sure. What would you say are the three lessons you've learned the most from him, from working with Jimmy and being friends with him and watching his career? And the, the number one lesson I've learned for him from him is when you make yourself of, of service for other people, you end up getting paid back sort of tenfold. And it's, and I don't mean cosmically, I just mean, you know, Jimmy stuck his neck out for me. He helped me. He would show up at four in the morning with the radio station and help edit a bit I was doing or something like that.

56:28He was very magnanimous, very magnanimous. But at some point, I took over for Howard Stern. I signed a big radio deal. Jimmy was a producer and Jimmy was making hundreds of thousands of dollars, you know, mailbox money. and it's like, oh yeah, you did get, you did make some money. I mean, we're still not even. I owe him a lot more money, but he invested this time and it wasn't, he did it because he believed in me or who, whatever he believes it, you know, he didn't do it for the money, but he put the time in and there was a payday after after that and and and it's about relationships and and the people i know who give the least have the least the people i know that are the most tight-fisted with not so much money but their time and teaching and mentorship and access and resources i think Think about the people, mostly family members of mine, who've done nothing for anybody else and have nothing.

57:45And then there's Jimmy who does everything for everyone else and has everything. Wow. And I realized, well, how's this work? Because it's not like, oh, I lend everyone$100 or I give everyone$100 so I'm rich. How does it work? And it's like, oh, it's all relationships. It's all relationships. Wow. So that's a big lesson you've learned from him. What's, what's another lesson that you've witnessed or he's taught you directly or indirectly, would you say? Um, I've learned a lot about pizza. Yes. He really, the first gift I ever got, it was a pizza stone for his oven. Okay. And he started building elaborate pizza ovens.

58:27So a lot of it's sort of pizza related. Okay. Um, I've learned that show business and in comedy is sort of part your God given sense of humor and ability, but it's mostly about whatever qualities you would need to succeed in the roofing or siding business or whatever. It's just Jimmy, Jimmy is not the most naturally gifted comedic mind I've ever met, which sounds like I'm, you know, downplaying it. I'm not. He says, Jimmy's a funny dude, but, but there's a lot of funny guys. He brings the work ethic to the comedy. Really? A lot of comedians like to, you know, rip on loads and, you know, go to brunch and sort of hang out.

59:28Like, like a lot of comedians were attracted to comedy because they didn't want to work. And they just were like, and there are a lot of those comedians, like they're hanging out during the day. Jimmy's at work. Like Jimmy was always at work. He was at the, you know, radio station at five in the morning. You know, when we're doing the man show he's bringing home a stack of writers submissions and reading every one of them and everything it's like what you can do with ability when that ability meets strong work ethic you can conquer the world um each one alone is not really going to cut it in show business or comedy, right?

1:00:18You've probably seen a ton of comedians at stand-up over the years who were probably really funny. Like, you're like, wow, that was creative. That was, you know, a genius thing. Or you really had the timing down or whatever. You were working the crowd and they were in it in the pocket, but they didn't have the work ethic to actually follow through and produce something or build the right relationships to make things happen. and you've probably seen a lot of funny people, right? Talented, funny people that didn't make it. Yeah, for sure. I mean, that's, you need, I mean, you know, it helps to be semi-sober and not, you know, go off the rails with, you know, cocaine or whatever.

1:01:00I mean, there's sort of mitigating factors and circumstances, but, you know, not pissing people off, not being flaky, doing what you said you were going to do, being kind of dutiful, showing up, like having people be able to count on you to be there. Right, not being a diva. To take care of the business, not being a diva. Not being a diva like you on Wednesday. I need a fresh coffee. So that's kind of a work ethic, which he has a very strong, he has a kind of a accountants-like work ethic with a sort of artist's mind. That's cool. You know what I mean? And if you put those together, you've got a pretty winning combination.

1:01:54That's amazing. How long were you guys working on The Man Show for? Because that was a big show for a while. uh we did four seasons maybe a hundred something episode hundred little over a hundred episodes i think something like that you've done a lot of projects together you've been so what's it been 30 years like working with him and knowing him and helping each other and just being in the business together well yeah it's it's easy for me because i was going to turn 30 so i know i have a marker where I met Jimmy because I'm always bad at, eh, what did I do? I would say to Dr. Gru, when did I start Loveline?

1:02:34Was that 95? No, 96 or whatever. I'd be like, yeah, when? I'm not a marker of time, but because I was so consumed with turning 30 and not getting anywhere, I met Jimmy right when I was turning 30 and I'm 59 now. Wow. It'll be 30 years. 30 years. Three decades. it's wow coming up where do you think you'd be if you didn't show up to that radio station that day um i mean is is kevin and bean put it as i'm working on a k-rock documentary they're like you know adam was so funny he would have ended up somewhere doing something again i'm trying to sound like a swipe but they were like he's super like the funniest guy i've ever met so he would have figured in Jimmy the same way.

1:03:24Like he wasn't going to stay there at K-Rock doing the sports for another 25 years. He would have been on to something. I would have been on to something too. God knows when, I mean, I don't know when, where, I don't know if I would have, I mean, I'm a kind of a strong believer in, I may have, I would have found my way into radio it's some way somehow because i'm so interested in it and always kind of circling around it thinking about it a lot it's interesting though because if you maybe you turn 30 and then 31 and two if you haven't had anything yet you might have been like you know what i'm just gonna go full-time into carpentry or boxing or whatever it is yeah i was i was like i just wouldn't commit to not trying to do something creative.

1:04:14I was told, I used to pull up to the job site with my crappy pickup truck, you know, and I remember periodically, like every couple of years, some guy had a new truck, you know, and if you had a new truck, that was a big deal. You'd pull it up in that new truck because everyone was driving beaters. Old stuff. And I'd buy my stuff out of the recycler, you know, old Datsuns. you know, 79, you know, miniature little Japanese trucks and stuff. And I remember a guy named Yann, spent my age, only a couple years older, he's a foreman on his job. He'd come and fold up this new Ford Ranger, you know, and V6, and it was like, oh, crew cab, you know, whatever.

1:05:03And I was like, wow, sweet. And he was like, went down to, you know, Galpin Ford, and it's, you know, 289 bucks a month. It's like, but you have to have full coverage insurance like if you're making payments and stuff. And he's like, yeah. And I was like, he's like, you should go get a truck, get a nice truck, get a new truck. And I was like, if I commit to that, then I'm not going to be able to, you know, I got to take my groundlings classes and do all my other stuff. I don't want to get, if I get to come into this payment, then I have to get my contractor's license. and you're getting your contractor's license.

1:05:40And everyone's like, get your contractor's license and start making some money and get a new truck. And I was like, I'm going to get sucked into this thing. I'm going to have bills. And then this is what I'll be doing. Right. Like full time. Wow. And I'm not going to be able to take off and go do this class or do this thing or do whatever. So I always kind of knew it. Like I just, I don't want to commit to this and I want to commit to comedy, but I know it's not a high percentage thing and I don't know what was in it, but I just feel like I'll find a way. If I just keep walking forward, I'll find something.

1:06:15This is the fascinating thing though. This is part of your story that I really like is there's a lot of talented musicians or artists or athletes or just talented, smart people at different things who don't go to the station. They take the classes. They work at 4 a.m. at the coffee shop, working with their friends on projects. They do their art in their living room. They do these things, but they don't put it out there. They don't risk it to that extent. Just that one extra step that you took. It's like, I showed up and no one was there. I showed up the next day and no one was there, but I decided to stick around.

1:06:56Then I told the guy, hey, let them know I'm outside. I'll be here. and then you waited. Like you, you took an extra step that was unconventional at that time. My girlfriend, she's done over 40 movies. She's a, she's done a ton of movies in Mexico and also in the U S but she has a similar story where she was like, I didn't know how to get into acting, but I just showed up at the casting place. And I just said, Hey, I think it'd be great for a movie. And here's my paper. Here's my headshot, whatever. And just talk to everyone and just said, Hey, do you have anything that I can do a casting for? If she didn't show up for that, she wanted to land in like her first big movie.

1:07:33And then all the other things that came from that, because she showed up to the office, the casting without unannounced. And I think a lot of people don't show up unannounced. Showing up is it's about seven or eight tenths of whatever it is you're trying to do. You just have to show up. Cause you had the talent for years. Yeah. You were the funny, you're like, yeah, he would have finally figured it out and landed somewhere, but maybe you wouldn't have if you didn't put yourself out there in that way. If you didn't show up to the station. Yeah. I was never that kind of guy. I was not, I was not proactive.

1:08:08I was kind of low self-esteem and I just kind of kept quiet and stuff. And I didn't put myself out there. Um, so I didn't do it, but I did it this time. And you met Jimmy and look what happened from there. It's amazing. yeah it's it's interesting it's just it's a journey man adam i appreciate your time here i've got a couple uh questions that ask everyone at the end before i ask them i would just want to tell people to make sure they check out your show and adamcarolla.com i think you got your tour dates on there you got your podcast information you got all the stuff you're working on there um i appreciate you having me on your show i thought it was a lot of fun it's just a funny time and everything that you guys talk about over there so thanks for having me on your show Sure.

1:08:53And I want people to follow that Adam Carolla show over on podcasts and check out your tour. If you thought this was interesting and funny and all that stuff, make sure to check out your website and check out your tour. Is there anywhere else we can send people to today to support and serve you? No. AdamCarolla.com is where all the info is. Yeah. That's great. I appreciate your honesty. I want to acknowledge you for your realness and your truth and sharing just all the lessons in the journey. You've been in this game for a long time. You've seen people come and go. You've gone through ups and downs.

1:09:29And I just appreciate your consistency. You show up. You work hard. You know, some people love you. Some people don't like you. But it sounds like you like you, which I think is good. It's like you. I'm agnostic on myself. but I just realized my strengths and my foibles. Yeah. You know, and I just, you should be realistic with yourself. Sure. Otherwise you're going to get your ass kicked. Sure. But you also realize you're like, oh, this might be a little, but this is who I am. And this is, you know, but I'm trying to be a good guy. So I just appreciate the realness of you being who you say you are.

1:10:07And I acknowledge you for that. I acknowledge you for really leading the way in an industry that I felt like I was an early adopter in podcasting, but I remember seeing you and Rogan was really in some random tech, you know, podcasts early on that were leading the way. And so I really acknowledge you for inspiring me for, you know, seeing what's possible in the world of podcasting, seeing what's possible to share my voice in my own unique way. And there was only a few people that were doing that and that was you. So I really acknowledge you for that, that model that you had. this is a question I ask everyone towards the end two final questions that I ask everyone towards the end one is called the three truths so this is a hypothetical scenario you can answer it however you like but I would like you to imagine that it's you get to live as long as you want but it's the last day in your life you get to experience and accomplish everything you want for as many years as possible but then it's the last day and for whatever reason on this last day hypothetical scenario, you've got to take all of your content with you.

1:11:12So books, podcasts, shows, there's no one has access to your content anymore or anything you've shared, but you get to leave behind three lessons to the world that you feel like, all right, this, this is all they have of my content. I'm going to share these three lessons. I call it the three truths. What would those three truths be for you? Uh, whatever damage happens in your life or negative, negative things that happen in your life, it will most likely be self-inflicted. Most everyone I know who's really had some bad times. It's, it's all been either directly or indirectly their own doing. So you do a lot of externalizing, realize when stuff happens, there's a, if not direct, indirect path right back to you and your actions.

1:12:10So understand that. Um, there's really almost no such thing as like literally just, I was just sitting in my car and a drunk driver plowed into me. There's, there's something that you could have been doing to avoid that in some way, even if it seems totally random. So kind of internalize that and use it is one. The other is the aforementioned Jimmy lesson. Just be generous and don't be generous because you're generous. be generous because you can do it because you're a narcissist. I mean, Jimmy's a narcissist. He's not magnanimous. He wants people to think of him and go, wow, I love that guy or owe that guy my career.

1:13:09I owe that guy. I want to help that guy. He likes it. It's healthy. It's fine. It's fine to go, I want to do this and don't look at it as being sort of out of pocket. It's you pay for dinner a couple of times and then your dinner gets paid for in perpetuity. So, you know, be that. And then I guess simple tests would be the phone ring identification test, which is when the phone rings. It's hard to hear. The phone literally just started ringing right when you said that. When the phone rings and your name comes up and whomever sees it, what do they think? Because we've all had that person or people where like the phone rings and you see it And you're like, I'm just not really up to this right now.

1:14:19Or what do they want? They want something. I can't deal with this person. And then there's people you go, oh, cool. Oh, good. I get to, this person's calling. I get to talk to this person. What emotion do you elicit from others? If your phone, if your name is popping up on their phone, what is their impulse going to be? And the freest anyone will be is just go, oh, that's you? Oh, okay, yeah, what's happening?

1:14:58It's a kind of interesting metaphor because we all have a scale. We have the people in our lives where they call and they go, oh, good. And then there's the people at the bottom where you're like, yes, I'm not picking the phone up. And then there are the ones like in the middle where you're like, depends on your mood. Yeah. They would. I know. I'm not up to this. I'll call them back or, or whatever. Like you got to figure out where you rank. Yeah. And then try to adjust your ranking. It's a great three truths. I appreciate it. Uh, Adam, model question. What is your definition of greatness? Um, I mean, personally for me, it's, it's, it's living up to your potential.

1:15:39I, I was, I was talking to someone about this last night. They were like, what was your plan with show business? Or what was your plan with this? Or what was your plan? I said, I just wanted to live up to my potential. And they kept talking about money or ratings or something. And I was like, no, I was a carpenter. I knew I could do comedy. And it was bothering me that I wasn't realizing it. And I wasn't living up to my potential. And that potential doesn't mean riches or accolades or Academy Awards or anything. It's just I was doing this. I thought I could be doing that. And I wasn't satisfied until I was doing that.

1:16:26And not because that was better or more noble. It was just, I knew I could do it and I was going to be horribly unsatisfied in life because I felt I had this potential and I wasn't living up to it. And to me, that's the definition of a great life. If you can live up to your potential, even if your potential is not sexy or glamorous or any of your potentials, maybe it's just being a great dad. You know what I mean? Like maybe that's your potential. That's something to aspire to.

1:17:28learned over on our social media channels at Lewis Howes. I really love hearing the feedback from you and it helps us continue to make the show better. And if you want more inspiration from our world-class guests and content to learn how to improve the quality of your life, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com slash newsletter. And if no one has told you today, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.