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My friend, I am such a big believer that your mindset is everything.
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It can really dictate if your life has meaning, has value, and you feel fulfilled, or if you feel exhausted, drained, and like you re never going to be enough.
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Our brand new book, The Greatness Mindset, just hit the New York Times Bestseller back-to-back weeks.
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This is the book I wish I had when I was 20 struggling, trying to figure out life.
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10 years ago at 30, trying to figure out transitions in my life and the book
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Make sure to get a copy at lewishouse.com slash 2023 mindset to get your copy today.
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Again, lewishouse.com slash 2023 mindset to get a copy today.
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Also, the book is on audible now so you can get it on audiobook as well.
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And don t forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode.
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Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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The power of collaboration to get the best output for what you re doing is really about giving more and also learning and becoming more of a student and listening.
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Welcome to the School of Greatness.
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My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur.
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And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness.
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Thanks for spending some time with me today.
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Now let the class begin.
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Welcome back, everyone, to School of Greatness.
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Very excited about our guest.
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We have the inspiring Steve Aoki in the house.
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My man.
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Good to have you back.
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The thing that I really appreciate about you is the way you think about your life, your career, your business.
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through the lens of art and collaboration, something I really admire about you.
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You know, I ve seen your stuff a decade ago.
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I ve watched documentaries and seen things evolve.
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And a lot of it seems to have this artistic expression along with collaboration.
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And obviously, drive and hustle is moving all these things forward.
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You re like one of the most booked DJs in the world, right?
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And I m curious, did you always think that
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collaboration was going to be a big part of your success and learning how to build great art with other people and Lifting others up as well.
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Did you feel like that would always support you in this career in this endeavor?
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Yeah, I think
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When I think collaboration, I think of your contribution.
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And so this brings me back to day one for me.
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So when I found music as like, okay, this is gonna be my life, my lifestyle, my culture, everything, when I was like 15 years old, that s when I understood this term collaboration, but more this idea of like, how much can I contribute to something I love?
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to this community, and then it s a collaboration.
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Because you have to come to the table with something, right?
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So if you re going to collaborate, if we re going to collaborate, it s not like, oh, yeah, I m just going to be just chilling, and you re going to do all the work, and it s a collaboration.
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Like, the best collaborations is like the premium contributions from everyone in that group, and then you get a 1 plus 1 equals 100.
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Right.
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But if everyone s too passive,
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then you re going to get a one plus one equals two, you know?
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So it s like, I learned, luckily I learned this, this idea of contribution and how important that is to my community when I was so young, because, because in the punk hardcore scene, which is what the music genre I got involved in, it was so small that everyone s, everyone had an impact and we felt the impact, you know, how did everyone have an impact?
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Because you all had to bring two friends and you had to create the experience and the whole thing, right?
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So you think about it like this, the way religion works, the way sports work, whatever communities are there that have a strong sense of, oh, I want to be part of it, this kind of feeling of bonding.
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It s all based on how do you spread the message?
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How did you get people to understand what you believe in is so strong?
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I believe in this so strongly.
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knock on every door and tell everyone about the word of Jesus Christ or whatever it might be.
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So very similar to that with this scene.
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Our scene s so small, there s only like a few kids.
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I remember there s like five kids in my high school that listen to this music and no one gets it because it s screaming music and thrashing guitars.
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But like once you feel it, you re like, oh, this is like, this is changing my life.
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I just want to like figure out how do you get the message out?
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You have to write a zine.
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You have to interview bands.
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You have to put on shows in abandoned warehouses.
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You have to start a band because you can because there s no one else doing it.
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You have to learn music.
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It s all these things.
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You re no longer a passive...
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participant.
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And this is like the main differential, I think, is when I listened to music before then, I was, I was a passive participant, like listening, oh, this is cool.
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I m like, I love these lyrics.
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I m going to sing the songs.
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I m, you know, I like this band or this group to like being a creator in the space, because you now have an impact.
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like when I make a zine at Kinko s and I m like putting my stuff together and my poetry and putting this in and I give it to someone it actually people are going to care about it because there s not many people doing it.
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Right.
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So it was like at that point I was lucky to have this kind of onboarding into contributing
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and then that essentially that s collaboration so like the more you contribute that s actually a quality service or quality thing that s like actually impacting your liberal culture you once you feel it and resonates with you then you want to do it again in a different means you know like i first started doing xena then i see a band i m like oh i can do that too
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I want to pick up guitar and with my friends that don t know how to play, and we re going to thrash around.
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And all of a sudden, we get good by the nature of just doing it.
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And then that same philosophy has transcended in every single industry and every single evolution of my
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my identity like everywhere it doesn t matter what it is it s like i have this ability to just as long as i have this passion to contribute whatever i know like my toolbox i can bring to the table and then also when you go into a collaboration when you contribute you can t be like running the show and trying to try to be like the the big man but it seems like a lot of people
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just want it to be easy.
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They want someone to collaborate with them and them to do all the work.
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The other person as opposed to also contributing.
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Matt, have you always had that mindset of, I want to add maximum value to this collaboration or partnership or where did that come about?
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Whenever you add the maximum value, your output is going to be greater than what you think.
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So that s like, it s just, this is the kind of thing you learn early on.
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So once you put in all the time, then you know, at least for yourself, you know, there s obviously like records that I ve spent so
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a lot of time, way more time than records that just naturally flowed in.
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It was a very quick process and they blew up.
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And these ones don t happen, you know?
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You spend more time on stuff that doesn t blow up.
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Yeah, yeah, exactly.
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And other things, it s like one day, and it s like the biggest thing ever.
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So to manage that, OK, this is like, I m going to digress a bit.
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To manage that, once I started seeing that, and it kind of hurts your ego a bit, right?
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You re like, I spent so much time on this, and it just didn t pop off or make the impact you expect it to make.
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You just have to level the whole field of your expectations
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I mean, back then it wasn t streams, but you know, whatever it might be, how you indicate a success of a song.
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I have to, I just like, at this point, I don t even think about, I mean, we have this managerial conversations, which like, that s what the managers do.
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is like, how do you make this record get more visibility?
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Or, you know, listenership?
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But for me, it s like, I just need to know, like, in my heart, like, genuinely, I m happy with it, whether it gets, like, you know, whatever... A billion streams or a hundred streams?
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Exactly.
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You gotta love it.
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Yeah, like, that s the core of it, for sure.
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And then, like, then I look retrospectively, okay?
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Then I could be strategic.
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But like in the moment, I don t want to affect my creative process, but retrospectively I m like, okay, this didn t work and now I have to learn to pivot and I have to learn to try things and that s the nature of
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of being, I guess, an entrepreneur in many ways, or an innovator, is that you need to learn how to pivot, and with culture being so unforgiving and so fast-paced.
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Constantly changing.
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Yeah, and how fast the attention spans are going, and how you have to be ahead, you have to constantly reinvent yourself, and pivot fast.
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So, and it s a, it s why it s never, it s a very tiring, it can be very tiring as a creator because you can t just like rest on your laurels or you can t do the same wheel that you ve already created.
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You have to, I mean, you have like this general, like general wheel of how you do things, but you have to constantly like change, change the parts.
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This is fascinating stuff, man.
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I want to continue on this conversation about collaboration because I feel like there s a lot of people
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And I grew up in the sports world, playing sports.
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And it was a lot about competition.
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It was like, you need to win in order to succeed.
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There s a winner and there s a loser.
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Sure, you need to collaborate with your teammates, but you re always trying to beat someone.
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And I took that into my kind of entrepreneurial journey after sports in my mid to late 20s, where I was very competitive, win-lose.
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And I realized that that got me success, but it left me feeling very unfulfilled.
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And about 10 years ago, I realized that s not how I want to be anymore.
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So everything became about collaboration.
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It became about how can I interview someone else and make it about them, not make it about me.
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How can I elevate other people and collaborate?
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But it seems to be like a lot of people in business, in music, in the arts, there s still a competitive mindset in the world for a lot of people.
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Not everyone.
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Why do you think so many people are still in a competitive mindset in different industries as opposed to
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in this collaborative mindset like you ve been.
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So before we get to that, I do like this thing you re saying, like how you would like to elevate who you re interviewing.
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It s like this collaboration is more about elevating someone else.
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So that really is the magical sauce in the studio.
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So when I m in the studio with an artist that comes, you know, now they end up coming to my house or because my studio is in my house.
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And I have a studio here in L.A.
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Actually, I did some legendary sessions here in L.A.
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and it s still here.
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So I have a studio here and I have a studio in Vegas.
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But in any case, I think the magical dust in this whole thing is like to elevate them.
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You know, it s not about me.
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They re already coming to me, that s already enough.
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They already know that I want to work with that Steve Aoki power production, whatever it is that they come for.
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So I don t need to flex or do anything.
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I m going to do it anyways.
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You re going to have your moment.
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I m going to do it.
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I don t need to show it.
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It s about empowering them and giving them center stage and giving them this feeling of what you re talking about.
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This is about you.
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Letting them shine.
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Yeah, I want to let you shine.
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And then we can decide how we want to take it, what direction, what emotion.
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Are we going to go more in your lane?
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Are we going to go more in my lane?
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take a whole new different lane, you know, and that s, that you find out later on, once the creative process is going, like, oh, actually, we re gonna go more this direction, because that flow is more reminiscent of this, and now we want it to resonate with people here.
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So, it s like, I think that s like, the power of collaboration to get the best output for what you re doing,
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is really about giving more and also learning and becoming more of a student and listening.
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So yeah, I mean, it is a power of contribution, what you re contributing, but when you ve already kind of made it, you don t need to show that because you re going to contribute anyways.
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So by the track record, this particular person, you could tell they contributed plenty.
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You know that their pattern is to contribute at the maximum level, right?
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You want to work with those people.
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Because you ve already seen the track record.
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So, like, I want to work with them.
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And then, when you re in the studio, then the human-to-human connection starts.
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And if you re, like, overpowering, you re gonna take away their creative space.
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Like I m here to let you shine.
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And the more and more they feel that, and the more environment I give them to be in that zone, it s them.
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Then the magic will happen.
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But it takes time to get there sometimes.
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Sometimes it takes a whole two sections.
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Sometimes it s like immediate.
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You just don t know because everyone s different.
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Different process for everyone.
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Do you feel like if you had more of a competitive mindset for the last, since you started in this,
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Industry if you were more like I m gonna hoard my secrets and my talents and my skills I m gonna make it all about me and I m gonna try to you know, you know build this thing about me and Only me and kind of you know work with some people here and there but really Working with people to build my platform more as opposed to shared collaboration.
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Do you feel like you d be?
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more successful financially or have more of an audience if you made it more about you?
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I don t think so.
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I think, yeah, I think if you hoard too much, I mean, the world loves like this transparency.
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You know, it s like, and like now the way, the way the world is, it s like, like they want to see all of it, you know?
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So if you re hoarding and you re like, I mean, there s like, there s no real secrets though.
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You know, of course, like, yeah, yeah, like, you know, the secret sauce to pizza and like the sauces and the secret, you know, like, yeah, of course it tastes a little different, but like the ingredients are all the same.
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Yeah.
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You know, music s music.
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It can be made differently, you know?
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So at the end of the day, it s, you know, it s like, I don t care to hide any of that because it s, there s nothing to really hide.
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There s no like secret in the cakes.
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you know there is there is a six-page cake rider that that goes it s sent to like promoters so they have to follow because i need that cake to explode all over someone s face sure sure there s no secrets in my production uh-huh um and and honestly my music i wanted to evolve and change
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So the secret, or whatever, the ingredients of my production is always going to innovate and change anyways.
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And the more people I work with, it s going to change even faster.
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So you ll pick up ideas, you ll learn something, yeah.
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Right.
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And I bring in not just singers to the studio or other producers, I bring in instrumentalists, musicians.
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I m like, I want to hear a sax player this time.
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That s cool.
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someone else.
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I play guitar riff.
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I m like, I need to get that played better and different.
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But here s the base of what I want.
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And I ll bring in a guitarist that s going to take that to the next level.
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Wow.
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Because at the end of the day, I have to remember, I m the producer.
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So as a producer, you re listening for what is the best of all the takes.
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And the best of all takes, you can t be selfish and be like, they re all my takes.
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No.
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It s going to be a better singer.
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I sing a line and I m like, I need someone else to sing it better.
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Or I have a bunch of different people come into my house.
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We do writing camps and take different rooms and we build the mood board of what we re going for over the day.
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but with freedom to kind of expand and then, you know, just allow everyone to be free.
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And then as the producer and the A&R and the ear, which I trust that, then I kind of pick my favorite parts and then go, we re going to Frankensteiner.
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Compenstein all these together.
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Compenstein s cool.
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And comp these ideas into one thing.
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And then go, oh, this fits these five different artists I d like to hit up.
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And then I do some...
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Outreach right and then you know, and like, you know, it s like most of the time it s like you can t if you ve hit up like hey manager, can you hit up their manager and Like yeah, they can but like that usually falls on deaf ears.
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Like yeah artists artists.
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Yeah that starts the conversation because they have to really want it to
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And then they ll go, all right, team, you guys do the work that... We started this, now we re moving forward.
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It s like with me and podcasting, it s probably 95% of the bookings are through me having a relationship, sending someone a message, a DM, commenting on it, saying, hey, I d love to have you on.
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And then figuring out the timing with our teams of when this is going to happen.
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Most of the time, that s the way it goes down.
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So what I m hearing you say is that if you were more in a competitive mindset this whole time and hoarding your talents and information, you wouldn t be as successful as if you had been collaborating this entire time.
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So I m absolutely competitive.
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Right.
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Absolutely competitive.
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Everything is a competition.
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Not necessarily with other people.
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people though right okay so that s like I think that s a major difference just saying so and I I compete with myself with everything you know and this is not just like for music this is like my health I know biomarkers sleep stores everything everything yeah like you know I got my
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I got all kinds of data.
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Data is everything, right?
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So I love data in this regard because that s how you truly can better yourself, compete with your previous self.
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And I do my blood draws and just check all my levels and go, okay, I need a little bit more here, a little bit less of this.
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SPEAKER_02
How do I tool this?
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That s a fun game to gamify.
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how you compete with yourself is actually fun, and it engages you more.
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And I m a big, I m really big into gamifying.
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I like gamifying everything I do, because it makes it more interesting.
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And then, of course, you know, you do something consistently over time, it s no longer a chore.
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So I already understand that.
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It s your lifestyle.
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In the beginning, if you don t gamify it, it makes it more difficult.
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Whether it s stop eating certain carbs, to working out a certain amount of time, to doing something that you need to do consistently that takes a lot of time.
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SPEAKER_02
or doesn t like meditation, whatever it might be, or reading a book or something like that, where you could easily disregard it and carry on through your life and feel satisfied, but you could always be more enriched.
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SPEAKER_02
So I gamify competition with myself on all levels.
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SPEAKER_02
But you collaborate with others.
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Yes, I mean collaboration is part of this competition.
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Tell me more about that.
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Yeah, so like to be more, like at the end of the day,
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I think one of my goals is just one of my consistent goals.
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I don t say it out loud.
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It s like unconscious.
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I care deeply about being a global artist because I love touring the world.
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I love playing in front of fans from all different like aspects and parts of the world, right?
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So I love that.
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I love that I ve been consistently touring and playing all over the place for 15 plus years.
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I want to continue doing it.
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So with that intention, the collaborative process is a huge part of that.
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If I go to Australia, I m booking myself in a studio.
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I remember I did that, I worked with Trippie Redd there, but I didn t
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I didn t work with Australian artists, but my intention is to work with artists of that region to learn, to collaborate, to try to build bridges and make new kinds of music and new kinds of art.
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What I m curious about is health and relationships with you.
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Because I remember years ago watching the documentary you had talking about this new obsession of health.
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SPEAKER_01
I think it was like five years ago or something.
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SPEAKER_01
And you ve really dialed in, you know, the data, the measuring and tracking things with your health over the last, I guess, five years.
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SPEAKER_01
You re deep in nutrition, sleep, sauna, ice baths, all these different things.
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SPEAKER_01
You ve set up your life to really optimize health.
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SPEAKER_01
But with 250 plus tours a year, how do you maintain that with all the travel?
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SPEAKER_01
For me, when I m traveling, I m like, man, it s hard on the body.
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SPEAKER_01
I m a big guy.
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Even if you ve got a private jet, it s still like, oh, man, just being up in the air and feeling bloated or whatever it is.
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SPEAKER_01
How do you stay healthy is the first part.
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And then I want to talk about how do you keep healthy relationships in life?
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while you re always on the go.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_02
So the health part, I think it s about eliminating certain things.
2
SPEAKER_02
So when, as an artist, you re pampered.
2
SPEAKER_02
You re a spoiled little brat.
2
SPEAKER_02
So you get whatever you want, really.
2
SPEAKER_02
I mean, it s like, you can just get whatever.
2
SPEAKER_02
So, like, you could become a gluttonous human and just be like, just feed me everything I want.
2
SPEAKER_02
You know, like, you can get to this point.
2
SPEAKER_02
So it s about not, you know, having discipline.
2
SPEAKER_02
Discipline is a really important key aspect of survival, one, and figuring out what, you know, what is healthy for you long-term, the long game.
2
SPEAKER_02
Because, you know, we all want to have that dopamine rush.
2
SPEAKER_02
We all want to have that that, you know, luxury, you know, of of not being not being comfortable or whatever it is, because we have the means and we have the finances and we have the access to to be comfortable.
2
SPEAKER_01
Right.
2
SPEAKER_01
And then there s alcohol and desserts and food and you re throwing cakes at people and you have every type of sugary alcohol gluttonous that you could have at your fingertips.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_02
It s just it s just easy to do to have it all.
2
SPEAKER_02
But it s a discipline game, so it s about what s more important to you.
2
SPEAKER_02
So I think that question, you need to answer that question and have a firm understanding of your answer early on and be very clear.
2
SPEAKER_02
I think a lot of these self-affirmations and things like that are really important for any artist to be like, what is it that you really want?
2
SPEAKER_02
Do you just want to live fast, die young, that kind of style?
2
SPEAKER_02
And just be a gluttonous and just go through life?
2
SPEAKER_02
But you will be hurting later on.
2
SPEAKER_02
I promise you that.
2
SPEAKER_01
Or you re going to just be burnt out and not want to do this.
2
SPEAKER_01
Because you kind of had that lifestyle early on, right?
2
SPEAKER_01
Where it was like, I m just going to go hard and I ll just run it to the end and burn the candle on both ends.
2
SPEAKER_01
Wasn t that kind of early on?
2
SPEAKER_01
That was early on, yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
And then what was the switch for you to be like, actually,
2
SPEAKER_01
I want to live a long, healthy life and not die young.
2
SPEAKER_02
The thing is, after my father passed away in 2008, a lot of these questions about life and death and dealing with tragedy in a way where death is as real as it gets, and then seeing friends of mine pass away, other DJs pass away, artists pass away, it s like you could have it all and just die.
2
SPEAKER_02
And I m like, that s it, life s over.
2
SPEAKER_02
Or your career is gone.
2
SPEAKER_02
And you re like, how do these careers just disappear?
2
SPEAKER_02
It might be their own accord as well, too.
2
SPEAKER_02
It could be for any reason.
2
SPEAKER_02
But I love what I do, and I don t want to see that end.
2
SPEAKER_02
And I also don t want to die.
2
SPEAKER_02
And I also want to make sure people around me have that same kind of knowledge base that I m learning on how to play the long game.
2
SPEAKER_02
You know, how do you play the long game?
2
SPEAKER_02
Because you love what you do, for one.
2
SPEAKER_02
I love my life.
2
SPEAKER_02
I love the fact that I can do what I love to do.
2
SPEAKER_02
And so then it becomes an easier answer for me once I start putting those questions in front of me.
2
SPEAKER_02
And then because of, you know, where I am, I was lucky to get the access to like, find out not just what everyone already has the access to because the Internet is open.
2
SPEAKER_02
It s free to learn so much about health.
2
SPEAKER_02
I mean, a lot of what I learned about health is just like going on like Huberman Labs podcast or
2
SPEAKER_02
Joe Rogan or whatever these different like avenues are they re free and there s different people interviewing these experts you know you know giving tips on like oh this could help okay let me try that if it s like in my means you know i you know i was sitting with brian johnson
2
SPEAKER_02
It was like, you know, really studying his body on a daily, weekly, monthly basis on what works, what doesn t work.
2
SPEAKER_02
And it s interesting because he s like in his own space, like always.
2
SPEAKER_02
I m not.
2
SPEAKER_02
I m moving.
2
SPEAKER_02
So we had a really interesting conversation of, you know, what are the applications I could take from what you re doing that for someone that s moving as much as possible.
2
SPEAKER_02
Right.
2
SPEAKER_02
He s in the same environment every day.
2
SPEAKER_00
You re in a different environment every day.
2
SPEAKER_00
So he s going to always have
2
SPEAKER_00
Perfect air temperature, perfect water, perfect food, all these different things.
2
SPEAKER_02
So his biological age might be 20 or 21 or something.
2
SPEAKER_02
Mine s 33, which is pretty good being 45.
2
SPEAKER_02
And I want to reduce that further by
2
SPEAKER_02
tooling and tooling and tooling, and then keeping check up on my metrics, on my analytics, on my blood, on my whole levels and everything.
2
SPEAKER_02
So that s where I really spend, and I gamify it, and I have fun with it.
2
SPEAKER_02
And then I spend a lot of time on getting the diagnostic checks.
2
SPEAKER_02
I always tell my mom that she s 80 now, like you have to have a really true sense of your diagnostics, because that s the only way
2
SPEAKER_02
You know what was working, what isn t working, how to stop yourself.
2
SPEAKER_02
Now with AI, you can have these predictive models so that you don t get the cancer.
2
SPEAKER_02
You don t get certain things that will debilitate your energy levels or debilitate you and kill you.
2
SPEAKER_01
That s fascinating, man.
2
SPEAKER_01
I love this.
2
SPEAKER_01
And I m curious about relationships.
2
SPEAKER_01
Again, health is challenging enough being in one environment, but you ve gamified it and you do the tracking and the measurements and the diagnostics, which is powerful, which helps you stay aware of where your health is at.
2
SPEAKER_01
What about relationships?
2
SPEAKER_01
How do you keep friendships, business partnerships going, intimate relationships going?
3
SPEAKER_01
How do you manage to navigate that when you re always on the go?
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
Friendships is tough as far as like, you know, these long-term friendships are like, you know, and, and luckily I have a few that always keep tabs on me, which like encourage myself to make sure that I am consistently building, you know, those long-term relationships and keeping finding time for, for them.
3
SPEAKER_00
Um, that s difficult.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s like a very small piece of the pie chart as far as my time.
3
SPEAKER_00
And then the majority of my, my friendships are people I work with.
3
SPEAKER_00
I think this like generally just how you re around them all the time.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
I m around them.
3
SPEAKER_00
So the people I work with, I have to make sure.
3
SPEAKER_00
that they re great people.
3
SPEAKER_00
That you like them.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
They re not just like great for what they do, but they have to be great people because like that energy is going to sink into just me, whether it s my business or whatnot, it doesn t matter.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s just about me.
3
SPEAKER_00
You know, at the end of the day, we have to always work with people that are just healthy for you.
3
SPEAKER_00
Um, and then intimate relationships.
3
SPEAKER_00
I m, I m single, which is probably the, the, the, the big deficit as far as my relationships go.
3
SPEAKER_00
I ve somehow held on to some long-term relationships through my really intense schedule.
3
SPEAKER_00
But as you get older, what you re looking for becomes a little bit smaller.
3
SPEAKER_00
And there s a certain... The window is small, so... More and more selective.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, exactly.
3
SPEAKER_00
They have to fit in your world as much as you fit in their world, which makes it even tighter for someone like me.
3
SPEAKER_00
But I don t mind being single right now.
3
SPEAKER_00
I m not like lonely and desperate to find someone.
3
SPEAKER_00
I m very fulfilled in all these other categories that I think I ll let time eventually just let it ride itself to the right person.
3
SPEAKER_01
Unfold it, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
Because you mentioned, you know,
3
SPEAKER_01
the amount of love that you feel doing a massive show is overwhelming, you know, emotionally overwhelming.
3
SPEAKER_01
You feel it in your body, you know, you re emoting and expressing yourself in beautiful ways.
3
SPEAKER_01
And you mentioned the only other thing that you get that from is love, potentially, right?
3
SPEAKER_01
It s like, the only way I could feel that more on a consistent basis would be love or in a relationship with that loving feeling.
3
SPEAKER_01
Do you feel like you re missing out if you re not having that love also with one person to celebrate all these things with?
3
SPEAKER_00
It s true.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s true.
3
SPEAKER_00
Like I do think about that, but I m not rushing it.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
You know, I think when I was, if I was younger, when I was younger, if when I was younger, for sure, I was like, I really need this, have this person.
3
SPEAKER_00
But then that becomes more of this codependent thing that, that I ve learned to, to, you know, I understand what the codependency looks like, feels like, and is.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s not healthy.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
And it, and like in, in a lot of my relationships, they were codependent and it felt so good, but I didn t understand what codependency meant until my last relationship where we, we got to, uh, go to couples counseling and really understand what, what makes our relationship healthy.
3
SPEAKER_00
What, how do we sustain through that, you know, and what codependency feels like.
3
SPEAKER_00
Cause I always ended up becoming that way.
3
SPEAKER_00
So once I realized that, then you have more self-love and you don t need to fall or rush for something that might be unhealthy for you.
3
SPEAKER_00
And luckily, I have an immense love and relationship with my mom and my sister and my brothers and all my siblings.
3
SPEAKER_00
We have a great, loving, bonding relationship.
3
SPEAKER_00
that I get fueled from that and I see them consistently, like knowing that my mom is around the corner from me and from my house.
3
SPEAKER_00
I see her, we have lunch together, dinner, we hug, we talk, and we just, and we feel the embrace.
3
SPEAKER_00
Like that s already, I m so lucky to have that.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s like a really big part of, that s like really big core of my love bank.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I m so fortunate to have that consistently.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s beautiful, man.
3
SPEAKER_01
That s really beautiful.
3
SPEAKER_01
This is inspiring stuff, man.
3
SPEAKER_01
I m excited about everything that you re working on and everything that you re doing.
3
SPEAKER_01
I m curious.
3
SPEAKER_01
This is a question I ve been asking some of my guests because you ve had a wild last 15 years.
3
SPEAKER_01
I mean, you ve had so much success.
3
SPEAKER_01
We haven t even talked about.
3
SPEAKER_01
the entrepreneurial mind that you have and the businesses that you ve built and the IP you re building and the fashion lines and all these other things that you re doing as an artist, not just in the music, but art and business and lots of other ways that you ve done.
3
SPEAKER_01
But I m curious if you could go into the future 15 years, you know, you ve had a wild 15 years, an incredible run.
3
SPEAKER_01
But if you can go 15 years in the future,
3
SPEAKER_01
You said you re 45 now, is that right?
3
SPEAKER_01
So 60, right?
3
SPEAKER_01
You turned 60.
3
SPEAKER_01
And if you could just put yourself in that emotional mind space for a moment.
3
SPEAKER_01
And if your 60 year old self could give you three pieces of advice for today, for everything you re about to experience over the next 15 years.
3
SPEAKER_01
And again, I ve seen behind the scenes, a lot of the things that you ve done just in the last three years, you know, being in text threads with you and WhatsApp groups and seeing all the things that you ve been doing.
3
SPEAKER_01
The speed of your acceleration in the last three years has been astronomical.
3
SPEAKER_01
You re also going, planning to go to the moon at some point, which I want to talk about that as well.
3
SPEAKER_01
I can only imagine what the next 15 years look like if you keep with this speed of acceleration.
3
SPEAKER_01
If that is your vision, I don t know what your vision is.
3
SPEAKER_01
But if you re 60 and you go through everything that you know you re about to go through over the next three, five, 10, 15 years, what would be three things that you would say to your current self to prepare you for what s to come so that you create the best experience possible?
3
SPEAKER_00
Okay, so the first one,
3
SPEAKER_00
is you probably wouldn t expect, but this is what I m going back to what I would say when I was 15.
3
SPEAKER_00
which is a big one for me.
3
SPEAKER_00
What s that?
3
SPEAKER_00
Wear earplugs.
3
SPEAKER_00
And actually protect your hearing, because my hearing, we talk about biohacking and slowing down the aging process, and my obsession with health.
3
SPEAKER_00
Hearing is a big one.
3
SPEAKER_00
My hearing is old as dirt.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s probably a 60-year-old hearing at this point.
3
SPEAKER_00
I have tinnitus, I can hear ringing right now.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s consistent, constant, forever.
3
SPEAKER_00
So, and I ve done neurofeedback and I understand like my, my markers and my brain.
3
SPEAKER_00
Um, there s two areas of, of problems.
3
SPEAKER_00
One is hearing cause it s like dominating my whole brain.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s so loud.
3
SPEAKER_00
Like all the time, 24 seven.
3
SPEAKER_00
And it just gets louder.
3
SPEAKER_00
How do you sleep when it s always ringing?
3
SPEAKER_00
I can, I m used to it at this point.
3
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
3
SPEAKER_00
So it s like, I live with constant ringing in my ears forever.
3
SPEAKER_00
So it s just- There s no way to heal it?
3
SPEAKER_00
There s no way to- No, there s no way to heal it.
3
SPEAKER_00
Maybe in the future, I m hoping, but at this point, I accept that it ll be this way forever because this is how it is.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I m okay with it.
3
SPEAKER_00
Once you accept it- Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
It doesn t have to- It s like being in COVID.
3
SPEAKER_00
Once you accept that you re stuck at home, you re actually okay with it.
3
SPEAKER_00
I love being home.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I m almost like, you have to accept it and love it.
3
SPEAKER_00
Like, hey, ringing, you re cool.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, for sure.
3
SPEAKER_00
OK.
3
SPEAKER_00
So hearing, though.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I here s another thing with the neurofeedback that I learned.
3
SPEAKER_00
So the hearing is an issue.
3
SPEAKER_00
My memory is also an issue.
3
SPEAKER_00
And, uh, I did a spec scan of my brain as well with Dr. Amen.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, me too.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
Fascinating.
3
SPEAKER_01
Isn t it?
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
Brain.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
So my, um, my, uh, what do you call it?
3
SPEAKER_00
My temporal lobes, you know, they re actually right near my,
3
SPEAKER_00
They come down like a helmet.
3
SPEAKER_00
That area that s kind of messed up.
3
SPEAKER_00
And you can see in the video.
3
SPEAKER_01
Near the ears, huh?
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I think that has a lot to do with the damage to the temporal lobes, the loud music.
3
SPEAKER_00
And the problem I have is when I m playing shows,
3
SPEAKER_00
I need it loud.
3
SPEAKER_00
I want to feel it from the inside.
3
SPEAKER_00
Like, like it s so important.
3
SPEAKER_00
I can t just be like, it s not like I m playing like, you know, music, listening to home cooking or something, you know, whatever, you know, I don t cook by the way.
3
SPEAKER_00
But, um, you know what I mean?
3
SPEAKER_01
It s not, can you play it loud to the audience, but also have headphones and still be loud enough, but not damaging.
3
SPEAKER_00
I m like blasting my monitors so you can hear.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, and I have earplugs in, so like, I know there s some level of damage that s happening, but I need to feel it.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I m blasting and putting earplugs in, so I m like cutting out the highs and lows.
3
SPEAKER_00
So that s like issue one, but my memory is being affected.
3
SPEAKER_00
I think, I mean, if I m not mistaken, memory, a lot of your memory is in the temporal lobes, possibly.
3
SPEAKER_00
Gotcha.
3
SPEAKER_00
I think, I think that s what he said.
3
SPEAKER_01
So number one, you d say to yourself, protect your hearing.
3
SPEAKER_00
Protect my hearing.
3
SPEAKER_01
As a 60 year old, yep.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
Number two, protect my memory.
3
SPEAKER_00
Because those are two aspects of my brain that I have issues in.
3
SPEAKER_01
Of aging too, right?
3
SPEAKER_01
When you lose memory, you age more, right?
3
SPEAKER_01
Or isn t that part of it?
3
SPEAKER_00
I mean, your life is memories.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, it is.
3
SPEAKER_01
Your brain is an artifact.
3
SPEAKER_00
Your collection of memories.
3
SPEAKER_01
Your brain is an artifact of all your experiences and memories.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yes, and I m neurotic about this idea of losing my memory.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s a kind of unconscious reason why I started my foundation to focus entirely
4
SPEAKER_01
on brain health, because I want to find cures for degenerative brain disease, for Alzheimer s, also to do some really interesting science fiction kind of stuff, because a lot of that stems with, for one, our imagination.
4
SPEAKER_01
True and two is a lot of it s like if we can understand how the brain works We re gonna be able to do things that are extraordinary, you know, and we re doing it right now there s like certain things that are happening in you know in the labs and
4
SPEAKER_01
Real life that aren t really being discussed that are very science fiction based but regardless I d say like those two.
4
SPEAKER_01
Okay, and the third protect my brain my memory.
4
SPEAKER_01
Mm-hmm as much as possible by doing whatever I need to do that
4
SPEAKER_01
So at 60, I m still, I can remember everything after the age of 45.
4
SPEAKER_01
Because memories are so important to life.
4
SPEAKER_01
They are.
4
SPEAKER_01
So important to life.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s just like those movies you watch for like, the science fiction movies are like, okay, hey, I m going to zap your memory of your wife.
4
SPEAKER_01
And you could feel the dread and you feel when like someone s going to do that to someone as like a torture mechanism.
4
SPEAKER_01
Remember seeing that forgot what movie it was and he s like if you don t give me this information I m gonna zap your memory of your wife and or your daughter or something and you re like
4
SPEAKER_01
You re like, no, I ll give you everything.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s like such a big part of, and then that could just naturally happen.
4
SPEAKER_01
And you don t want that to happen.
4
SPEAKER_01
You don t want to lose memories of things that give you love and make you who you are.
4
SPEAKER_01
So hearing, memory are very important.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I think the most important is quality time with the people you love.
4
SPEAKER_01
Because when I really break down,
4
SPEAKER_01
what are the highlights of your life?
4
SPEAKER_01
They re spending time with my mom, my family, my sister, and I limit that because I m touring so much.
4
SPEAKER_01
So when I talk to my sisters on the phone, my brothers on the phone, and we re all traveling doing things, a lot of things we say is like, we have to spend more time together
4
SPEAKER_01
Because life goes by so fast, you know?
4
SPEAKER_01
So I think like that is the number one, is quality time with family because life is finite.
4
SPEAKER_01
It is.
4
SPEAKER_01
You know, in this understanding of what life is, it s finite until we reach this technological breakthrough point.
4
SPEAKER_01
But as it is now, it s finite and anyone of us can be gone.
4
SPEAKER_01
And we re like, God, the first thing you say is, I wish I had more time.
4
SPEAKER_01
So the quality time with the people that you love is the number one thing.
4
SPEAKER_01
And then memory and then hearing.
4
SPEAKER_01
Wow.
4
SPEAKER_00
That s good advice from 60 year old self.
4
SPEAKER_01
Because I think that, I mean, career, you re going to, you re going to, you re going to excel.
4
SPEAKER_01
You re going to succeed.
4
SPEAKER_01
You re going to fail.
4
SPEAKER_01
You can do all these things and let you re going to do, but that s not really going to be like, if I win a Grammy, I was like, you know, it s like a career highlight, a goal of mine, get a Grammy, you know, it s not going to change anything emotionally for me that I m like, Oh, like I, if I didn t say Grammy or like having more and more like amazing memories with
4
SPEAKER_01
the people I love, I m going to be like a Grammy.
4
SPEAKER_01
Who gives a shit about this award?
4
SPEAKER_01
You know, like it s, it s clear that you need, like the, the time you spend with the people you love is.
4
SPEAKER_01
by far exponentially greater.
4
SPEAKER_00
You ve got some new music coming out pretty soon.
4
SPEAKER_00
Can you share more about that?
4
SPEAKER_00
And your touring as well and all these different things.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, exactly.
4
SPEAKER_01
So this is the second part of my new IP called HeroQuest.
4
SPEAKER_01
And it s called Double Helix.
4
SPEAKER_01
Um, and it s a full list of collaborators on there.
4
SPEAKER_01
Like I said, Paris Hilton s on there.
4
SPEAKER_01
We re going to drop our single next month.
4
SPEAKER_01
I have a song with a country singer named Ernest is incredible.
4
SPEAKER_01
Um, it s really great song.
4
SPEAKER_01
Really excited to drop that new song with Donna Paola from Mexico.
4
SPEAKER_01
Uh, um, we re dropping that on the 29th, right before the Canela fight.
4
SPEAKER_01
Very cool.
4
SPEAKER_01
I think she s going to be out there too, so we re going to be able to do some fun stuff around our single in Vegas.
4
SPEAKER_01
Every album I do is just tons of different collaborations.
4
SPEAKER_01
Latin, I got Gracie on the album too, she s a Colombian artist.
4
SPEAKER_01
I dropped a bunch of singles already.
4
SPEAKER_01
And it s a continuation to the HeroQuest story.
4
SPEAKER_01
So what s exciting to announce with this one is for the first album I dropped a CD.
4
SPEAKER_01
I mean no one does CDs anymore.
4
SPEAKER_01
But I put inside a HeroQuest card that you open in a pack.
4
SPEAKER_01
people got so excited to get these packs that the CD sold 30,000 copies in five hours.
4
SPEAKER_01
Wow.
4
SPEAKER_01
Which is ridiculous because I, you know, like most CDs just don t sell.
4
SPEAKER_01
So people were obsessed with these HeroQuest cards.
4
SPEAKER_01
And then I dropped like a second series of cards around the remix album.
4
SPEAKER_01
And we sold 30,000 packs there.
4
SPEAKER_01
So there s this real interest in collecting this IP and cards of the IP.
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SPEAKER_00
Right.
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SPEAKER_00
Is this the same business that you launched recently?
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SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_00
The card business?
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SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_01
So I co-founded this company called MetaZoop.
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SPEAKER_01
and we create our own world based on cryptids.
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SPEAKER_01
So like Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, Chupacabra, Smokey the Bear.
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SPEAKER_01
Things that are made up by human lore, we just make up because we see a ghost in the corner like, oh that s the ghost of
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SPEAKER_01
Christmas pastor.
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SPEAKER_00
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
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SPEAKER_01
That s that s a cryptid.
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SPEAKER_01
So we we made a whole world of all cryptids.
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SPEAKER_01
That s interesting.
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SPEAKER_01
It s all public domain.
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SPEAKER_01
That s so cool.
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SPEAKER_01
And and then we like, you know, people that are like obsessed with Bigfoot.
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Now we have 20 million of of the people that are obsessed with Bigfoot.
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SPEAKER_01
We might capture like five million of them or one million of them.
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SPEAKER_01
And they ll collect those cards.
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SPEAKER_01
And we we started in February 2021.
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SPEAKER_01
uh, with a Kickstarter box with Kickstarter.
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SPEAKER_01
And by December, 2022, we already grossed like $40 million in selling carts and building community.
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You know, once again, the community is this collaborative process of,
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of how you can, you just need to enrich and grow and really believe in what you re doing.
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So that s MetaZoo.
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And then HeroQuest is its own IP that I created, which combines music culture, like my music culture, with like collectible card culture and creating a whole new IP of characters.
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SPEAKER_01
And this new album, I m dropping
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SPEAKER_01
a book I wrote with Jim Krueger, which I m still finishing up.
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SPEAKER_01
So like the album s going to drop and then this, you know, what s becoming to be around 250 to 300 page book that, um, that, uh, me and Jim are writing right now.
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SPEAKER_01
And Jim, I work with, he s an Eisner Award winning writer for DC, Marvel, he wrote Neon Future for me and Tom Bilyeu.
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SPEAKER_01
So we wrote this together, the story of HeroQuest and it s also coming with cards and the CD and like all kinds of fun stuff.
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SPEAKER_01
And you know, that s gonna be like the entree or the onboarding into the world of HeroQuest now.
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SPEAKER_01
It was all like pre,
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IP, you know, what I was doing before and now I can drop the story.
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SPEAKER_01
That s incredible, man.
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SPEAKER_01
Because I want people to read the story of HeroQuest.
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SPEAKER_01
You get the album, the musical story, the musical album, how it ties to the story.
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SPEAKER_01
And then you get the cards that people love to collect.
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SPEAKER_01
So that s exciting to be able to finally do all that.
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SPEAKER_01
This is amazing.
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SPEAKER_01
Where can we get access to all this stuff?
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SPEAKER_01
so the obviously when the album drops you can just listen to it everywhere you know on streaming but the book and the cards and all that and the cd that s gonna i mean we re gonna have links everywhere on stevieoke.com it s like you know
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SPEAKER_01
StevieAoki.com will have all this stuff.
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SPEAKER_01
Yeah, it s basically, once you know, once you follow me, I ll be... You ll see it.
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SPEAKER_00
It s gonna be out there.
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SPEAKER_00
You re everywhere on social media.
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SPEAKER_00
I love your social media content.
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SPEAKER_00
StevieAoki on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, all these places, but StevieAoki.com.
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SPEAKER_00
for tour dates, the album drop, for everything that you re working on, the cars, the fashion.
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SPEAKER_00
I mean, you got 30 businesses, it feels like.
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SPEAKER_00
You re everywhere.
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SPEAKER_00
But that s the main hub where they can find everything.
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SPEAKER_00
Exactly, yeah.
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SPEAKER_00
Get on the newsletter, see everything.
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SPEAKER_00
And how many tour dates are you doing the rest of this year?
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SPEAKER_00
Or nights are you doing?
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SPEAKER_01
Well, this year, I ll probably do about over 250 shows.
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SPEAKER_01
So yeah, it s interesting.
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SPEAKER_01
Since COVID, I thought I was going to slow down.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, I mean I was doing 300 at one point and then it was just literally like no time off.
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SPEAKER_01
But 200 to 250 is like my sweet spot.
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SPEAKER_01
Then I have at least 100, 75 to 100 days at home, which I love being home.
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SPEAKER_00
But what I ve realized, it s a mindset thing.
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SPEAKER_00
It s a mindset shift.
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SPEAKER_00
So once I put my mindset into treating the road as my home and my home as my vacation, then it all works.
5
SPEAKER_00
That s cool.
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SPEAKER_00
That s beautiful, man.
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_01
I m excited for you, man.
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SPEAKER_01
This was very inspiring to hear about your creative process, your collaborative mind, and just the way you think about all these things as an artist.
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SPEAKER_01
It s really beautiful, man.
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SPEAKER_01
Thank you.
5
SPEAKER_01
And hopefully I can get out to Vegas one of these days and just come watch a show as well.
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, we do the cold plunge sauna.
5
SPEAKER_00
Let s do it.
5
SPEAKER_01
I don t know if I could stay out till 3 a.m.
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SPEAKER_01
I might have to take a nap and come for part of it.
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SPEAKER_01
But make sure if you guys are in Vegas to go watch Steve.
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SPEAKER_01
I think you re there with 50 nights a year, 50 shows a year right now.
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SPEAKER_01
So if you go there, look up if he s doing a show there for sure and go support him.
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SPEAKER_01
Follow him everywhere on social media.
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SPEAKER_01
I ve got two final questions for you before I ask them.
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SPEAKER_01
Is there anything else we can do to be of support to you today?
5
SPEAKER_00
No, I mean, I think, you know, it s just, I guess, check out my social media, I guess, I don t know.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, check it out, the album, all these different things.
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SPEAKER_01
I want to acknowledge you before I ask these final two questions.
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SPEAKER_01
I want to acknowledge you, Steve, for, and your consistency and your commitment, because I think you mentioned this, there s a lot of artists or just people in different industries, whether it s business or writing or music,
5
SPEAKER_01
There s a lot of people that don t stay consistent over time.
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SPEAKER_01
They might have big moments, but then they fall off or they treat people poorly and people don t want to work with them.
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SPEAKER_01
But I really acknowledge you for 15 plus years of consistently showing up and adding value to your communities, to other artists, to other business partners and saying, how can I provide value as opposed to only take?
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SPEAKER_01
And I think in the world of
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you know, at least what it seems like in the world of social media, in the world of celebrities or big artists who are on social media, you can t always tell if they have the best intentions in mind.
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SPEAKER_01
And I really appreciate how you show up for people.
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SPEAKER_01
And I know you re not a perfect human being, but I appreciate your consistency over 15 years and just constantly showing up saying, how can I collaborate?
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SPEAKER_01
How can I add value?
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SPEAKER_01
It s really cool, man.
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SPEAKER_01
So I acknowledge you for that.
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SPEAKER_01
This is a question I, these last two questions,
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SPEAKER_01
I asked you about your 60-year-old self on the advice you would give your current self.
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SPEAKER_01
But I have another hypothetical scenario.
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I d love for you to imagine that you get to live as long as you want and accomplish everything you want to accomplish.
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SPEAKER_01
But it s the last day on Earth for you at some point.
5
SPEAKER_01
Live as long as you want.
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SPEAKER_01
And for whatever reason, you ve got to take all of your work with you, all of your art, your music, this conversation, anything you create, it s got to go with you to the next place.
5
SPEAKER_01
So we don t have access to your content anymore.
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SPEAKER_01
All your IP gone.
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SPEAKER_01
But you get to leave behind three lessons to the whole world.
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SPEAKER_01
Three things that you know to be true from all the life you ve lived, and this is all we would have to remember you by are these three lessons.
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SPEAKER_01
What would be those three truths?
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SPEAKER_00
What would be those three truths for you?
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SPEAKER_00
I love sci-fi.
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SPEAKER_00
I was like, thinking to myself in this whole new world of where things would be.
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SPEAKER_00
What would be those three lessons of truth that s all we have to... Well, one is going back to what I was saying, the most important thing is you have to really give the best quality time to the people that you love.
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SPEAKER_00
When you give, it s so much more powerful than receiving.
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SPEAKER_00
And cause like, I think it s very selfish to give.
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SPEAKER_00
Cause it feels better.
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SPEAKER_00
It feels incredible.
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SPEAKER_00
You know, when you give something, you could see someone s face light up with like, like genuine joy and happiness.
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SPEAKER_00
It s the greatest feeling, especially when you love them and you want to just continue this, this like feeling.
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SPEAKER_00
Cause at the end of the day, that s like life.
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SPEAKER_00
You want to feel amazing in that, in that regard.
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SPEAKER_00
Because if you can go to sleep and wake up with that same feeling every day, what could be better?
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And that s free.
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That feeling of gift, it doesn t cost any money.
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SPEAKER_00
So anyone could do that.
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SPEAKER_00
you know, just by just, you know, helping and being, being part of someone s life in a positive way that s fulfilling.
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SPEAKER_00
So that s, that s, that s like one for sure.
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SPEAKER_00
Um, I think, I think that s like, they re all, they re all there.
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SPEAKER_00
It s like, one is that, and then two is going back to what we re talking about, the contribution, like always give the most.
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SPEAKER_00
Cause like at the end of the day, when you think about, um,
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SPEAKER_00
you know, reputation, things like that.
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SPEAKER_00
I, whenever I think about people that have great reputations, they re transparent.
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SPEAKER_00
They always, they always like offer more and, and you know, like, like, you know, like, of course we all, we, we get, we get greedy, we get selfish and we re like, oh, but if, if I just take right now that I ll have more, but if you keep doing that, like you re, you re going to lose all, like all your relationships, right?
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SPEAKER_00
You know, I, I, that s, that s a hundred percent certainty.
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If you think short term only for yourself, you will a hundred percent have like no future in, in with those people.
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SPEAKER_00
That s just, that s just, unless it s like a unconditional, like mom, it s like, I have to take care of my son.
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SPEAKER_00
It s like always just taking, taking, taking, taking, taking, taking, you know?
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SPEAKER_00
Even the mom might get lethal.
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SPEAKER_00
So I think you have to give maximum level of, like, you know, give as much as you can on contribution.
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SPEAKER_00
So I think it s about maximum value of what you put out.
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SPEAKER_00
Whatever you do, don t be passive.
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SPEAKER_00
Don t give the bare minimum.
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SPEAKER_00
If you re going to do it, you have to give as much as possible.
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SPEAKER_00
And the more you do it, you re always going to be someone that people want to work with, you know, so that people will remember like, like, Oh, they re great to work with.
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SPEAKER_00
They re great that they give, cause they always do more and they don t want, they don t want anything else in return.
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SPEAKER_00
So that s actually a big thing to remember.
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SPEAKER_00
The people that give a lot and they don t want anything returned consistently.
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SPEAKER_00
They re like, they don t, they actually do it just to do it.
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SPEAKER_00
You know, those people, like you want to work with those people.
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SPEAKER_00
You want to be those people, right?
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SPEAKER_00
That is like a powerful one is like giving as much as you possibly can.
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SPEAKER_00
If you are going to do it, if you don t like, you don t have to do it all.
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SPEAKER_00
Like saying no is just as important to like, I can, I can t give as much time, so I m not going to do it.
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SPEAKER_00
Right.
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SPEAKER_00
So you have to make that decision.
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SPEAKER_00
So I think how you contribute has to be the best that you can.
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SPEAKER_00
So that s two.
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SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_00
And, and three, I think three would be on the idea of collaboration.
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SPEAKER_00
Let s, let s stay within the box here.
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Three is having an open mind.
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SPEAKER_00
to try many different things and to learn and always be a great listener and always be a great student to learn, you know, to receive, you know, and like really truly be present in the receiving side of things.
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SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_00
And be grateful in that.
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This is where like gratitude will help you be a great listener.
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Because the more grateful you are, you re going to be more present.
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Because the second you re like, oh, I m so,
5
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I honor to be here.
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SPEAKER_00
I m so grateful to be here.
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SPEAKER_00
You are 100% going to be present and you re going to receive everything coming to you.
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SPEAKER_00
You know, the people that go to school and that they don t, they have to pay for it are usually the ones sitting in the front of class.
5
SPEAKER_00
And they re like, I paid so much money to be here.
5
SPEAKER_00
I have to listen.
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SPEAKER_00
I have to learn.
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SPEAKER_00
I, I need to learn this.
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SPEAKER_00
And the people that like, like their parents would pay for the education.
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SPEAKER_00
A lot of the time they re, they re like, Oh gosh, me here.
5
SPEAKER_00
Oh my God.
5
SPEAKER_00
You know?
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SPEAKER_00
So it s like, if you, you have to be grateful just to be in the room to receive, and then you re going to be able to use that information to go to number two.
5
SPEAKER_00
you know, to contribute that.
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SPEAKER_00
Absolutely.
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SPEAKER_01
To give the most maximum value.
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SPEAKER_01
Those are, those are powerful, man.
5
SPEAKER_01
I love this.
5
SPEAKER_01
Um, final question, Steve, what is your definition of greatness?
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SPEAKER_01
That s you.
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SPEAKER_00
Oh my God.
5
SPEAKER_00
I m winging it right now at this point.
5
SPEAKER_00
I love it though, man.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s great.
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
5
SPEAKER_00
So I ve been like, stop it.
5
SPEAKER_00
Thanks.
5
SPEAKER_00
I didn t even like, yeah.
5
SPEAKER_00
What s the definition of greatness for you?
5
SPEAKER_00
What is it?
5
SPEAKER_00
Um,
5
SPEAKER_00
I feel like I said it already, but I know this is like, you need this one, you need this one, this is all you.
5
SPEAKER_00
The definition of greatness.
5
SPEAKER_01
It can be simple, it can be short, it doesn t have to be long.
6
SPEAKER_01
think is it s like it is like a important one you know I mean the definition of greatness is all it s very similar to like the definition of success you know like what is success to me it s not it s not like up to someone else to define that success that s really important that s like you know I think it s like it s it s a little bit complicated because
6
SPEAKER_01
I think what we think of what s great is always what other people think is what s great.
6
SPEAKER_01
Like success is always what society deems is what s successful or what s great.
6
SPEAKER_01
So it s really about how do I feel about myself?
6
SPEAKER_01
Do I feel great because I was able to accomplish these things?
6
SPEAKER_01
So it s more about how I feel.
6
SPEAKER_01
Did I do something where it made me feel great for myself?
6
SPEAKER_01
you know, whether it s finishing a song or it could be as simply just having lunch with my mom, you know, like these are things that they make me feel great today.
6
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
6
SPEAKER_01
So it s, I think it s all more subjective and, and, and it s always, it s always like,
6
SPEAKER_01
It s always a new challenge.
6
SPEAKER_01
I think the idea of greatness is a challenge.
6
SPEAKER_01
It s always a challenge.
6
SPEAKER_01
It can never be within your comfort zone.
6
SPEAKER_01
It has to be not, it s gotta be outside the comfort zone, but not impossible.
6
SPEAKER_01
So in this kind of like, this area where it s, you need to go beyond what s comfortable and into this zone of what s attainable, but it s difficult.
6
SPEAKER_00
There you have it, Stevie Oakey, my man.
6
SPEAKER_00
Thanks for being here, brother.
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SPEAKER_00
I hope you enjoyed today s episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness.
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SPEAKER_00
Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today s episode with all the important links.
6
SPEAKER_00
And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our greatness plus channel
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SPEAKER_00
exclusively on Apple Podcasts.
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SPEAKER_00
Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well.
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SPEAKER_00
Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review.
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SPEAKER_00
I really love hearing feedback from you, and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward.
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SPEAKER_00
And I want to remind you, if no one has told you lately, that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter.
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And now it s time to go out there and do something great.