>> Hi.

I'm Lewis Howes, New York Times best-selling author and entrepreneur.

And welcome to "The School of Greatness", where we interview the most influential minds and leaders in the world to inspire you to live your best life today.

In this episode, we sit down with Nick Vujicic, who is one of the most inspiring individuals on this planet.

And Nick was born without arms or legs.

And today, he teaches how he pushed through adversity to live a fulfilling life as a father, best-selling author, world renowned speaker, and successful entrepreneur.

I'm so glad that you're here today, so let's dive in and let the class begin.

♪ ♪ >> First of all, my accent's a little watered down from Australia.

That's where I was born.

And my parents, they loved me, they encouraged me, they believed in me, they told me every day that I'm beautiful the way that I am.

And when I asked them what happened, why was I born this way, they said, "Well, we don't know why, but there's a greater purpose."

And I love your title, "The School of Greatness" because that's what it's all about, leveraging your full potential and not saying and wishing and hoping, "I wish I was given more," to do more.

But doing your best with what you have.

Those are the people who master full potential in their life.

And I'm never gonna be a motivational speaker to say, "Everything's possible, just dream and it's gonna come true."

Not just hard work, but your full potential.

Sometimes our dreams don't come true.

But to understand with the right attitude, hey, whatever's meant to be, I'm gonna reach my full potential, and that's what it's all about.

And I didn't know why I was born this way.

I didn't believe I would actually become independent, married, now with four kids, traveling around the world to talk about hope was really a fantasy.

I actually felt like at one stage I had no hope for myself.

>> How old were you when you had that?

>> Yeah, age 6, 7, 8 were the bigger questions that I asked myself, saying, "Why am I here?

Why did this happen to me?"

Am I defined by my previous failures and what I can or cannot do?

And so that whole understanding of who you really are and the self awareness that we all need to have and embracing who you are, embracing that you are unique, that there's not another you.

And that's why my parents always said, "Nick, there's not another you.

Do your best.

Keep going.

Don't give up."

>> I probably around 6, 7, 8, I was asking -- probably every kid's asking, "Why am I here?

What's my purpose?

Why am I here?

What is this place?"

And I remember I would get in trouble.

I was horrible in school.

Horrible.

Always at the bottom of my class.

It's the reason I created "The School of Greatness", is because I created the thing I wish I would have had and the way I could have learned something when I was a kid.

>> That's awesome.

>> And I remember I would go into the principal's office often 'cause I'd get in trouble.

And I would just tell them I wished I were dead all the time over and over again, getting into the principal's office.

Was there ever a time when you just said, "I wish I were dead, I wish I wasn't here"?

And did you get picked on a lot in school?

Or were they kind of like understanding of what was going on and friendly with you?

>> Everyone feels at times that we're our biggest bully because we will always have someone saying something negative.

But it's when we walk away, do we believe it, do we let those voices echo in our mind when no one's watching?

And that's when I realized I'm either my biggest encourager or my biggest discourager.

And that's where attitude comes in.

You know, you have people in your life where they'll keep beating you down, but if you keep on coming back up, they won't keep you down.

>> And so for me, that was the fight that I had to have within myself.

And I one day looked myself in the mirror after a big bullying day at school in Australia, and I looked myself in the eyes, I said, "There's got to be one good thing that I've got going."

And just hold on to that.

That no matter what happened and no matter what anyone else said that day, that I could hold on to deep inner strength to say, "No, but you know what, I know I could have played that sports activity, but I was watching and waiting for the first person to be eliminated out of that game, so then I could come over there by their side and look them in the eye and say good job, better luck next time, how you doing."

And all of a sudden, I couldn't participate, and I was kind of the alien, but here I am transforming that obstacle into an opportunity.

And holding on to that and holding on to a physical aspect.

Sure, we understand that body is a body.

We have a spirit, we have a soul, we have a mind, and those are the three biggest elements of really who we are as a being.

But I did look myself in the mirror and say, "Nick, your eyes are pretty good looking, and no one can ever tell you different."

>> There you go.

>> And so when I look at people, we know that the saying is, "the eyes are the windows to your soul."

And so when someone looks at me in the eye, subconsciously, it's them affirming my value.

And it's the attitude of looking you straight in the eye and saying, "I acknowledge you, I see you, I'm listening to you, and I'm speaking to your soul, and you're looking into mine."

All of a sudden, everything else goes blurry.

And now you look at them and smile and say, "You know what?

Better luck next time."

When they're telling me what they're going through, all of a sudden, I have depression, I have bullying, but if I can look and re-frame my attitude to saying this -- if I don't get a miracle, I can still be one, now all of a sudden, that attitude redefines impossible.

>> Wow.

>> And so it's not a victimization.

It's the attitude of understanding, here I am, this is who I am, this is what I have, I'm gonna be thankful for what I have, and I'm gonna do my best to make a difference in this world.

>> Yeah.

How do we let go of the bullying or the negativity?

>> One of the greatest tools that psychologists use is actually writing a letter either to yourself or writing a letter to that person telling them what they did to you, how it made you feel, and how you forgive them.

And no matter how courageous we seem or immune to depression, we all go through ups and downs.

We all sometimes need to just take a step back and say, "Okay, wait a second, what am I actually still chained to that I'm not even aware of?"

>> There's a quote that you said, "Fear is the greatest disability of all."

>> It is.

>> And I think probably a negative attitude is probably one of the greatest disabilities of all, too.

I don't want to speak for you, but if you don't believe in yourself and you have this negative attitude constantly, you're disabling yourself for all the good and all the love and all the joy in your life.

>> Yeah.

>> So how do we -- you said writing a letter is one strategy.

>> It's one strategy.

>> What's another?

I mean, it took you, what, 10, 12 years to let go.

>> Right, so going back to any depression or letting go.

So first of all, when I was a kid, going back to bullying and stuff, ages 8 to 12, I was depressed, believing that I had no future, believing that I had no hope, believing that people's opinions on me defined my future.

Failure defined my future.

I was just in this very unhealthy spiral.

So there are three things to get out of depression.

Number one, what I ritually do is, I'm a spiritual man.

So apart from prayer and believing that God gives me faith and purpose and help, I actually ritually write out the things that I'm still thankful for.

Number two, talking to somebody, being transparent with them, and getting that encouragement.

And thirdly, actually helping someone in need where you cannot ascertain nor even is it in your mind-set of waiting for them to look at you and say thank you.

>> Just being in service, giving.

>> Yeah, and that instigates purposeness.

Many people are depressed because they don't know what to live for.

They haven't found something yet to die for.

>> Mm.

>> When you have found something to die for and live for, when you know why you do what you do, that's when purpose gives you the strength to override all limitations and fear.

Purposeness was key for me, and that's what I wanted to tell you.

As a teenager, that no matter what hell I went through, I tricked my attitude into a positive mind-set.

And the reason, Lewis, why I became a speaker was because a janitor -- you're gonna love this.

It was the janitor at my high school who looked at me and said, "One day you're gonna be a speaker."

And I said, "You're crazy."

He was the first person to encourage me to start speaking to students at my school, which led me to a public school speech, where in front of 300 sophomore students, I was just sharing my heart, and one girl was weeping.

Half the girls were crying, but one girl was weeping, and she interrupted my speech.

She put up her hand in the air, and she said, "I'm so sorry, but can I come up there and give you a hug?"

>> This is the the video I saw, yeah.

>> And she came up, and she hugged me, and she said, "No one's ever told me that they loved me, no one's ever told me that I'm beautiful the way that I am."

And that's when I knew I was born to be a speaker.

And when they see a man without arms and legs on stage saying, "What's your excuse?"

>> Yeah.

>> Wait, wait, wait, if this is what I've done without arms and legs, what can you do?

>> It's amazing, man, it's amazing.

>> We've been through what we've been through to become who we are today, to conquer the next barrier, and so we've got to keep on going, we got to keep on going.

And I just hope that people see the smile on my face is authentic and the peace and strength that I have in my eyes, never to pretend that I've got it all together.

No one has it all together.

>> That's true, man.

>> But if we can get ahead of that curve, we can get rid of those negativity, our aspects and move out of that room and shut that room down, fire excuses.

It's like, "Here I am, that's where I want to go."

How can I help myself focus on that next goal?

Keep on going.

Knowing that you're value and your happiness has nothing to do with money or fame but being happy, content, and embracing every day.

I could die today, Lewis.

>> Mm.

>> I'm happy to.

I know where I'm going.

Couldn't care less.

When I die, I'll die at the right time.

I don't think about death as much as I think about life, and I live it to the fullest.

>> Man, I want to ask you a few more questions 'cause this is powerful for me.

How do we overcome self-doubt if everything is telling us we're not good, we're stupid, we don't have the skills, we don't have the value.

No one cares about us, our parents left us, this person cheated, this person stole, whatever.

How do we build self-belief when there's so much self doubt?

>> Yeah, it's a great question.

So I always encourage people to first define what their goal is and where they want to go.

What they must -- >> You sound like an athlete.

>> Do I?

>> This is all I talk about.

I learned all these lessons from sports.

And it's like everything starts with the goal for the season.

I look at life as seasons because in a sport, you have usually three months in the season, and then there's the postseason, then there's an off season, then there's a preseason.

That's kind of like the four seasons of life.

>> That's good.

>> But everything you need to have is a goal, so I'm sorry to interrupt you.

>> No, it's great.

>> But I'm glad you're speaking my language.

>> Great, great, I'm glad.

So my book's not gonna help you.

[ Both laugh ] But it's true.

That's exactly what it's all about.

So first, defining who you are, where you want to go, but also seeing your dream and your goal not as something but actually as a baby, and you're parenting and you're nursing and you're nurturing that dream.

Now, no one says that their parents were perfect.

>> That's true.

>> So we're never a perfect steward of our dream.

>> Oh.

>> And when we look at our dream, we kind of try think of it as, well, which season am I in of this dream, and how do I treat it?

Take baby steps first.

The best way to build self-confidence, which is the opposite of self-doubt is to set small goals, do what you can now, and start building on that confidence.

You can't build confidence without a track record.

>> That's true.

>> And you can't wave a magic wand, and now all of a sudden, your dreams come true.

What's the first step, you know?

And if the baby falls down trying to walk, you pick it, okay, let's try again.

>> There's an amazing meme online.

It says something like, "When a baby falls 1,000 times when it's trying to walk, it doesn't say to itself, 'Maybe this isn't for me.'"

>> Yeah.

[ Laughs ] I love that, I love that.

>> Oh, I fell down, let me get back up.

It's not like, "Well, maybe I shouldn't walk because I failed."

No, you need to fail over and over again.

>> Right, right, and that's part of the process.

Thomas Edison said, "I didn't fail 9,999 times, now I know 9,999 ways in how not to make a light bulb."

And to have an emotional, psychological... >> It's a framing of it.

>> It's a framing of it.

Attachment, it's a framing of your dream and goal to almost be you're birthing a baby.

You're not birthing a baby, but you're nurturing a baby so that thing can become giant and run and strong.

And so you're gonna help it, almost like you're putting yourself in the baby shoes -- okay, what's my first step?

And so that's it.

So if you want to become a speaker, go to a seminar, read a book about speaking.

>> Go to Toastmasters.

>> Start somewhere.

So many people say -- I ask them, "What's your dream?"

"Oh, I guess one, day I want to..." And I'm like, "Really?"

Like, have you ever written your dream out?"

I'm like, "Okay, wait a second.

So how much money do you want to make a year?"

And they tell me, and I'm like, "So is that before or after tax in California?"

I'm on 54% tax, all right?

>> I know, me too, man.

>> It's a difference.

>> It is.

>> It's like, okay, and you want to get married?

And how many kids do you want?

And you want them to go to college?

So wait, how much money do you really need to have in the bank to actually get a 5% to 6% interest bearing mutual, you know?

>> [ Laughs ] >> You know?

>> Sure.

>> "Oh, I need --" I said, "Yeah, do you know anything about compound interest?"

"No."

"How much have you saved?"

"None."

"How many credit cards have you got?

Three?

[ Laughs ] I was like -- >> That's me 15 years ago, yeah.

>> Do you really believe in your dream?

Have you ever really been honest with your dream?

And I'll never forget.

My dream was to become a speaker.

This is 2002.

>> Wow.

>> Okay?

>> You were like a baby.

>> My mom -- "What do you mean you're gonna be a speaker?"

She said, "Do you know what speaker?"

I said, "No."

And this is Australia.

There was no Aussie motivational speakers.

If there's a motivational speaker in Australia in 2002, they were American.

>> Yeah, right, they were an American who came over here.

>> Exactly.

No one was making money.

It was an industry that was not even heard of.

>> It was dead.

Maybe Tony Robbins came over one time.

>> That's it, right?

That kind of thing.

My mom said, "What do you mean you're gonna speak?"

She said, "What are you gonna speak about?"

I said, "I don't know."

She said, "Do you have any invitations?"

I said, "No."

She said, "How you're gonna get the invitations?"

I said, "I don't know."

She says -- all these really good questions, but I said, "I don't care."

When I knew my goal, I didn't care how many times I had to fail 'cause I define that goal for me.

I went through a breakthrough event, a really cool exercise that most breakthrough events do.

On one side of the piece of wood, you put your goal.

On the other side, you put your fears that you got to break through.

So these people, they punch this piece of wood and they crack it, right?

And I didn't walk on hot coals 'cause my pants would go on fire, but I head-butted this thing, right?

And it defined me.

>> Really, that one exercise?

>> It was a defining exercise.

>> So are you breaking the side of your fears and the goal is on the other side?

>> Yeah.

My fear was -- >> You're facing your fear, you head-butt your fear.

>> Yep.

>> And then you had the goal.

>> Breakthrough, yeah.

And I realized, like, there's a lot more to my story with my parents, but my parents were so scared about my decision to become a speaker that they said, "You must do your accounting and financial planning degree for a plan B," which is great advice, which I'm thankful for.

>> Yeah, sure.

>> But I had to break through the fear, what if my parents never talked to me again?

And that was extreme, but that was in my head.

I didn't want to disappoint my parents.

They did everything they could for me.

Why now disappoint them?

Is this my stupid crazy little fantasy?

Or is this what Nick's gonna do?

And that was the moment like, Nick's gonna do it.

With or without my family.

>> With or without them.

Even if they're not there for me, I'm doing this 'cause it was a part of your dream.

>> Exactly.

>> And I think we need to be guided by our dreams.

We need to be driven by our dreams.

Because if it's staying in there, we don't pursue it, then what?

>> You're right, and I'm not saying, "Now look, I wasn't married, I wasn't engaged."

Now that you're married, if you're married, that's a different thing.

Well, with a without my wife, I'm gonna -- no, no.

That's a different thing.

>> You got to learn to communicate to renegotiate your dream to -- >> Right.

And seasons and commitments and them to believe in you and what's a trigger point to success?

When do you give it up?

When do you not give it up?

>> Exactly.

>> That's a whole different book.

That's a really good book to write actually.

>> You should write that book.

>> I should write that book [ Both laugh ] >> What's the thing you're most proud of that most people don't know about you?

>> Wow.

>> Is there something you've done, something maybe that you haven't announced to the world, or maybe something you've done that no one knows about, not even your wife or your kids or something that is big that you're proud about, as well, but something most people don't know about?

>> I have to say that every entrepreneurial visionary needs some spark, not just of continuing to create and build and innovate but to give back.

And I've silently been mentoring, and I might actually start a podcast category just for it, but coaching CEOs of nonprofits.

So I've had 15 years of experience of nonprofit.

I turned around our nonprofit from where it was from different directors that were hired.

I was kind of the speaker, the founder, the president, but not the CEO.

And I took over about five years ago, and I learned a ton in the last 15 years.

And basically helping nonprofits who were doing okay, you know?

Most beginning nonprofits, they'd be happy with to $30,000 to $100,000 in the bank, and we help them go to the next level.

And it's just an hour with me and the executive team and the CEO.

Sometimes it's four hours.

I love white-boarding.

I love helping them define their next goal.

How do they change this?

How do they change that?

And I've learned that any big organization, they cannot change 20 things.

But if any organization, for profit or nonprofit, if you just hold on to two or three things per year to change and you do two to three a year, massive change happens.

So they're now triple in the bank.

>> Wow.

>> One of them just has done phenomenally well, and I'm actually now mentoring because of my friend who lost both husbands.

I actually Googled, "What's a nonprofit that helps widows?"

And apart from Bill Gates' whole deal, there was only one, and it's run by three widows.

>> Wow.

>> And they've done the biggest uphill climb of nonprofit registration being able to give actual money to a widow 'cause here I am, and I asked the local churches, "Can I give a tax-deductible receipt to a widow through the church?"

They said no.

I'm like -- so I had a call with these women, told them who I was.

They said, "But what do you want for it?"

I said, "Nothing.

I don't want you to even tell anybody."

Now I'm telling everyone, but I'm just saying.

>> You just wanted to serve.

>> I just want to serve.

And so there's something that no one knows.

I love seeing other people fulfill their dreams.

>> Yeah, I love it.

>> And using the talent and the skill, if I can help fast-track 15 years of education in a year for free, I would do it.

And so what we're doing is I'm getting so many requests that we may have a whole list of content and even maybe phone calls that we could do and just helping many nonprofits.

You know, there's 400 -- no, 1.2 million nonprofits in the US alone.

>> That's crazy, man.

>> So many people are saying, "Well, Nick how did you break it?

How did you do this?

How did you do that?

How'd you build the team?"

And all those kinds of things.

And so that's something that many people don't know it, and if I don't do that, I feel incomplete 'cause I want to pass it on.

>> This is a question, it's called the Three Truths.

I ask this at the end of every interview.

So imagine you've accomplished and achieved all of your dreams and you've lived a very long life.

You've lived as long as you want, and then at one point, you got to go, right?

And hypothetically, you've got to take all of your content, books, materials, video, audios with you.

But you have a piece of paper.

>> Yeah.

>> And you get to write down with your toes or your mouth, you get to write down three things you know to be true about everything in life that you've learned.

These would be the only three things you could share with the world.

>> Truth number one, you're beautiful just the way that you are and you have value.

Number two, you've been created and designed for a greater purpose.

Find it and run for it.

And the third thing is even facing death, there's hope.

>> Mm.

>> It's called Heaven.

>> And so that for me, I understand we all have different philosophies and religious beliefs.

I understand that.

But for me, I've found nothing limitless like that.

That even if and when -- not if, but when I face death and however I may face it, every day, I know that I have value.

I'm achieving my greater purpose, and I know that this ain't it.

And when you have that, then you make the most of everything you have.

Because not only are you doing good to be good to know that you are good, but that you actually do good, do well to even change the trajectory of eternity for other souls.

And if you could encourage people to know that there's a wonderful thing called purpose and eternity, that, to me, is the bottom line.

But when you have that in your mind, go for your dream, keep running, and never give up.

>> Yeah.

Now imagine that you're able to broadcast live to the entire world at this moment.

What would you say?

>> I want you know that I love you.

I want you to know that your broken pieces can somehow and some time will come together for the good to be something beautiful.

I have a history of brokenness and pieces in my life, and I tell teenagers it's always worse being in a broken home than having no arms and legs.

So it's not about what brokenness we have.

It's about holding on to the beauty that will come from them.

Where if you can help someone else in need, that's when you realize you don't need a miracle to be one.

>> You have a huge giving heart to serve people, and it's not easy for a guy with arms and legs to fly around the country the amount of times that I do, but for you to do it hundreds of times a year, year after year to serve, to inspire, to lead, to create hope for people, and to tell people they're beautiful and they matter is a beautiful thing, man.

And I want to let you know that I value your heart and your effort and your energy towards service.

And I really appreciate that part of you.

So I acknowledge you for that.

My final question is, what's your definition of greatness?

>> Greatness?

Humility.

Believe it or not, if there's only one factor.

Because the moment you think you're more important than somebody else is the moment you have clipped and limited your own full potential.

I think the greatest barometer of greatness is humility because with a humble heart, you're happy, you're thankful, you have a serving heart, and you know that every single soul matters.

So you take time to make the most of every opportunity with everyone.

I think humility is, out of all the words that I could have ever said, would be, to me, greatness.

>> We hope you enjoyed this episode and found it valuable for your life.

Make sure to stay tuned for more from "The School of Greatness" coming soon on public television.

Again, I'm Lewis Howes, and if no one has told you lately, 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.

If you'd like to continue on the journey of greatness with me, please check out my website, lewishowes.com, where you'll find over 1,000 episodes of "The School of Greatness" show, as well as tools and resources to support you in living your best life.

>> The online course "Find Your Greatness" is available for $19.

Drawn from the lessons Lewis Howes shares in "The School of Greatness," this interactive course will guide you through a step-by-step process to discover your strengths, connect to your passion and purpose, and help create your own blueprint for greatness.

To order, go to lewishowes.com/tv.

♪ ♪ ♪