The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes

>> 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.

And in this episode, we sit down with Inky Johnson.

He is an entrepreneur, an author, and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the world today.

He shares his inspiring story about chasing his dream of becoming a professional athlete, until it was suddenly taken away by a career-ending injury that left his right arm paralyzed, forever changing the trajectory of his life.

He shares lessons about finding the positives in adversity, how to manage the wide range of emotions that come with painful experiences, as well as ways to break free of past identities that may be holding you back from finding your purpose in life.

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

>> Like any other kid, man, I had a dream, you know?

And I felt as if, at the time, football was the quickest vehicle to get me in a space and place to help my family, right?

My mother is working a double shift at Wendy's.

But I wanted to help my family, and I felt as if I had the tools and the skills to do that.

I was the first in my family a lot.

I was the first one to graduate and go to college.

You know, I was the first one that looked as if I had something really promising that was about to happen.

And so, when I went to college, University of Tennessee, a full football scholarship, you know, everybody back where I was from, you know, thought like, "Hey, man, Little Ink -- he's about to be the guy.

He's the ticket.

He's about to make it.

Like, that's our guy."

That's all they used to talk about.

And I thought the same thing.

>> Right.

>> And I got really close to making that NFL dream happen.

And I went to make a routine tackle September 9, 2006, against the university of Air Force and almost lost my life.

>> Mm.

>> And it ended my career, and it paralyzed my right arm and hand.

And it sent my life down a totally different path to which the world have come to know me as the inspirational speaker and the servant that I am today.

>> Mm.

DB, right?

>> Yep, DB.

Yep.

>> Defensive back, routine tackle.

Do you remember exactly what happened?

>> I do, man, and it's crazy.

I remember it vividly, man.

We was in quarter coverage.

I'm looking at the quarterback.

He's tapping it, releases it to him.

And I'm thinking I'm about to hit him, maybe make him fumble.

We can end this thing, get ready for Florida the next week.

Two minutes left.

As soon as I hit him, it seemed as if, Lewis, everything in my body left.

Like, one of the scariest moments of my life.

And I had been in a lot harder collisions.

But it seemed as if as soon as I hit him, everything in my body, every breath just left, right?

I had never felt that before.

It's like I lost total control over my body.

I hit the ground, and I black out.

Never experienced that before.

Right?

And when I came to, it was very quick.

When I came to, my teammates were running over like, "Ink, get up, let's go."

And I was like, "I can't."

And they said, "What you mean, you can't?

You always get up, man.

You're captain.

Let's go.

Nurse your injury after the game."

I was like, "I can't move."

And there was a shock.

I'll never forget.

It was going from the crown of my head to the bottom of my feet.

I couldn't feel anything.

>> All the way through the body?

>> Yeah, all the way through.

It just kept going, kept going, kept going, and then it left, but it stayed in my right arm and hand, and it stayed there.

But I thought it was a stinger.

You know how we get stingers playing ball.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, dead arm, you get a stinger.

And it stays for a while, then it leaves.

And so, that's what I thought it was, and so I still wasn't panicky right after it happened.

I was like, "Eh, may be a stinger, you know, maybe I broke my arm."

So they were like, "We're gonna take you to the hospital," you know?

So then I thought, "Maybe it's a broken arm."

>> You weren't too worried about it still?

>> No, no, I wasn't worried.

>> 'Cause your body was -- You can move your neck, you were -- >> Absolutely.

So I wasn't worried.

They get me over, they run their test, and they bring me back into a room.

And everything is still loose.

You know?

Everything is loose.

My mom comes in kissing me on my forehead, cracks a joke.

"Ink, everything is all good.

You'll be fine.

It's football."

And she goes to exit the room.

And when she exits the room -- I'll never forget -- she made a left.

When she made the left, I flipped my head back to the left.

When I flipped my head back to the left, I saw the head doctor, and he was running in.

And he was kind of, you know, screaming, you know, at an elevated tone.

And he was like, "Guys, guys, get in here.

We got to rush this kid back to emergency surgery.

He's about to die."

And I was thinking like it -- >> They talking about you or someone else?

>> Yeah, he was talking about me, but I was thinking, like, everything was so calm and cool.

I'm thinking he's jok-- like, not joking, but, like, I'm thinking he's messing with me, right?

Because everything had been so calm.

And so, I was like -- like, "Die-die, like away from here die?"

He was like, "Yeah."

I was like, "What happened?"

And he was like, "When we ran the test, we noticed you've ruptured your subclavian artery in your chest, and you're bleeding internally."

And he said, "We got to rush you back and take the main vein out of your left leg and plug it into your chest in order to save your life."

>> Holy cow.

>> He said, "Oh, I guarantee you you won't be alive in the morning.

You'll bleed out."

And that's when I was like, "Oh, it's a real situation.

It's a real situation."

>> So you were fairly calm.

Maybe you were frustrated that you got injured and you didn't get to finish the game.

You're like, "Oh, this sucks."

Like, "Hopefully I can get back next week or something and they'll be able to tape me up and put up a bandage and I'll get out there with one arm and I'll be fine."

>> You know how the boys think.

>> Of course, man.

But then he was like, "Oh, no, we need to do the surgery now, or you may not last."

>> Yeah, absolutely.

>> Holy cow, that's a big shock.

>> Yeah, that was a shocker, man.

>> Isn't it crazy one moment can change the direction of your life?

>> Oh, no question.

>> One instant.

>> That's affected and impacted even the way that I live my life until this day.

Just not only the injury, but there's so many parts of the injury that shaped my perspective until this day.

I always say to people, because they say to me all the time like, "Man, did you do anything different?

Did you wear any different pads?

Did you warm up different," right, and I'm like, "No, man, I did the same thing.

I listened to the same pre-game music, like my song -- Phil Collins."

I can feel it That's my joint.

Coming That's my -- I'm like, "Man, I listened to the same song, wore the same pads."

But for some reason, on September 9, 2006, on that day, the outcome of something that I did for most of my life was totally different, right?

And so, I always ask people and challenge people, like, when you say something to the extent of not you, but just a person, "I'll get to it tomorrow," I'm like, "Who promised you that," right?

"I'll get to it a month from now," I'm like, "Who promised you that," right?

Because life changes so quick, right?

And as people, we're often arrogant.

I was one of them.

We live our lives, and we feel as if we're promised something, right, but when you think about it -- It's like when we try to control things.

But when you really think about the macro of life and the grand scheme of life, we really don't have any control, right?

We can control what we possess -- emotions, attitude, thought process, perspective, how we speak, how we respond.

But just life in general, we have no control of that.

Right?

You think about how many people woke up this morning thinking like, "Man, everything is gonna be great," and life changed, right?

One day you wake up on top of the world, next day you wake up, world is on top of you, right?

And so, it's affected my mentality and my perspective just toward life -- how I greet people, how I see people, how I interact, right?

Just that one moment and one element of the injury, right?

There's so many things that's happened inside of the injury that shaped and molded me as a person.

People see the injury.

People don't always think about the intricacies of how it's shaped and molded and cultivated who I am as a man until this day.

>> So how long did it take for you, when you had the surgery and woke up, to get to a place of peace and finding a purpose or a new identity?

>> I would say the total process took me a little bit over two years, just to get to a real place of just peace, acceptance, and just trying to figure life out.

>> You still didn't know your purpose or what you wanted to do, but you're just, like, trying to recover.

"Maybe I can get the function back, and maybe I can do this."

>> You know, it's that bravado, man.

You think that, yeah, you gonna come back.

That's the athlete's mentality.

You think you can come back from anything.

You know, when I woke up and they were telling me that, "Your career is probably over," I'm like, "No way."

Like, "I worked too hard, man.

I've been working for this since I was a kid."

And now I get to the point to where I could possibly get drafted and now I lose it all?

I'm like, "No, man."

And so, I went back to the sand pit that week, right?

The next week, I was in the sand pit with my teammates with a DonJoy sling and a Velcro strap, with staples in my body from incisions from surgery, right?

I was back in the indoor complex running, right?

>> Oh, running?

>> Yeah, man, with this false sense of hope that -- >> Thinking you were gonna come back.

>> Yeah, man, I'm gonna come back, like, "I'm gonna train.

I'm gonna come back."

Thinking that, like, "Nah, man, I can't lose it that quick."

Like, Lewis, I can't lose it that quick.

>> One little hit, yeah.

>> Yeah, like, "Man, I've been putting in years where I can't lose it that quick."

I remember going to sleep early, like, every day, like 6:00 p.m., 7:00, right, thinking that, "Man, when I wake up in the morning, I'll be able to feel my arm again."

>> Really?

>> Yeah.

Thinking that, "Man, like, when I wake up, I'll be able to feel my arm."

And I would wake up, man, and I would touch my arm, I would touch my hand, be like, "Man, I still can't feel it."

>> Couldn't feel anything?

No sensation?

>> Couldn't feel nothing.

I would go to sleep early thinking it was a bad dream.

Right?

I just couldn't -- I couldn't come to grips with that I could just lose it like that, right?

And so, man, I would -- I would wake up and touch that arm, like -- And every day, there would be, like, a period to where I would be like, "Man, I can't feel it, but I'm gonna go to work out."

Right?

"I'm gonna go to train."

>> "Just do the other arm.

Just do squats."

>> I'm on the Smith Machine with one arm, right?

Lift and squat and thinking that I'll be able to make a comeback, man.

And I'll never forget, like, one day it set in, and I cried, man.

I was in the indoor facility.

I was on the turf, and I was like, "Man, I'll probably never get to play again.

Like, really."

>> Mm.

>> And that day was -- it was tough on one end of the spectrum because it was like, "Man, the reality of I probably won't be able to play again."

But on the opposite end of the spectrum -- it's weird -- it was a level of freedom, right, that, "Okay, man, release it, like, get it out."

>> Stop holding on to it.

>> Yeah, stop holding on to it.

Just get it out, man.

And so, like, on one end, I was crying.

I was hurt.

But on the opposite end of it, it was a level of freedom.

Like, "Okay, man, now it's time to turn the page, and let's move forward."

>> Really?

>> Yeah.

>> How do you let go of an identity that you once were that you can no longer be?

>> That's a great question, man, and especially for us as athletes or former athletes, because we all tie, and I think everybody, to a certain extent, with what we do, because if you ask a person, "Hey, man, who are you," they're gonna tell you what they do, right?

Because their identity, most of the time, is wrapped up in what they do.

And so, for athletes, it's heavy, right, that identity crisis of, "Man, I play ball, I do this," right?

And so, when you got to transition into another period or sector in life, it's sometimes hard to understand because you don't always get that same feeling.

And so, when guys have to do it or when I had to do it, it was tough just trying to figure out, "What am I gonna do," right, "because I've done this for so long, and this was the thing that I thought was gonna help my family?"

And so, I'm big on service, right?

Because a lot of people helped me and my family coming up.

My mother raised me, like, from the standpoint and the perspective of, "Hey, man, life don't owe you a thing," right?

Like, "Okay, something happens to you, pick up the pieces, move forward.

Everybody's gonna encounter something."

And so, I never looked at speaking, sharing.

I never was the guy like, "Oh, man, this happened to me.

Let me go share it with the world."

It was like, "No, Ink, figure it out.

Like, "Pick up the pieces, move forward, and figure it out."

One day, I was in a small group because I was connected to community.

That was one of the things I did intentionally when I got injured.

I was like, "Man, I need community.

I need to be connected to -- whether it's spiritually, whether it's life groups, I need to be connected."

And there was a guy -- Shout-out to my guy Gus.

Older guy, like, in his 70s.

We're in a small group one night discussing some things, and he says, "Man, you're selfish."

I was like, "Me?"

I'm like, "No, man.

I'm probably one of the most unselfish people you know."

He was like, "No, man.

Like, you're selfish.

You think your injury and what happened to you is just about you."

>> Mm.

>> I was like, "It happened to me."

He was like, "No, Ink."

He was like, "The things we go through in life, man, they're not just for us, right?

Once we get to a place of peace and we figure out how to deal with it, it's our responsibility to go out and share that."

He's like, "Not before the world all the time, but just to share it, because other people go through things, right?

Other people are fighting.

Just go out and share it."

And that was the first time I had got hit with something to where I pondered it, right, to where I was like, "You make a nice point."

Right?

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> "Make a good point."

And I was getting invitations to speak at the time.

School assembly, you know?

>> High school.

Middle school.

>> Backyard stuff, birthday party.

And I got the feeling, Lewis, I got the same feeling that I was getting in the tunnel.

>> Mm.

>> And I was in kneeling.

I got it.

I got it, right?

And I'll never forget, when I got it, I felt it, and I captured it.

I was like, "This might be it."

And I spoke.

Did well.

Got home.

And I'll never forget thinking like, "Man, like, I might need to look more into this.

I might need to be more intentional about this."

When we go through things in life, the first thing we try to do is understand it.

We want to know, "Why am I going through this?

Why did this happen to me?"

I'm like, "No, man, some things you're gonna go through, it's gonna be so tough, you're not gonna understand it right away.

Just survive it, right?

And once we survive it and we get to a place of peace, hopefully we understand it, but then it's time to go out, share it, try to add value to certain environments we go into and certain people's lives."

>> Yeah.

>> So shortly after that two years, I felt like I had survived it and I got to a place of peace to where it was like, "Alright, let's move forward."

>> Do you ever think about it and wish you would have tackled differently, or are you grateful with everything that's happened the way it's happened?

>> For most people, when they look at adversity and opposition, if a person goes through something that's traumatic, right, trauma, whatever the case may be, the average person's perspective is gonna go to a space and place, "What did you lose?

How did it affect you?

What did you have to sacrifice?

What did you have to give up?"

People very rarely would ask the question, "Man, what did you learn from it?"

>> "What did you gain?"

>> "What did you gain?

I know it didn't feel good.

That's obvious.

I know it hurt, right?

I know you didn't like it.

It wasn't convenient, but, like, what did you gain from it?

I just want to know, right, from the loss, from the pain," right?

And so, for me, it was such a traumatic experience to where I was searching for the good.

It was so traumatic.

>> There is no good, yeah.

>> Right.

It was so traumatic to where I'm like, "Alright, God, like, what's -- like, what is this, man?

This hurts.

Like, I don't like this.

Like, why did this show up at this point in time?"

I remember being like, "God, just let me make it to the NFL, get the contract, help my family."

When I was a kid, man, I remember saying to my cousins like, "If I make it to the league, man, we can get our own beds one day," right?

We just wanted our own beds, right?

And so, when it happened, I remember seeing certain things happen that it caught my attention, right?

But I was so in the midst of what had happened to me that it just caught my attention.

I think the beautiful thing about adversity and opposition, when you live with it, it teaches you, right, if you're open to it, right?

When you live with challenges, it teaches you.

And so, the reason that I wouldn't change what happened to me or go back and even change the incident is because of not only the man that it shaped and molded me into, but the way it's impacted those close to me -- what it did for my family's relationships, what it did for me and my buddies, my friends, right, guys tying my shoes, our connection, what that produced.

Like, it was phenomenal, right, the way it shaped and molded my perspective and my life and how I treat people, right?

Not that I was a bad person before, because I wasn't.

It's just the way that it shaped and molded my perspective and how I view this thing called life every single day.

It's about, can I condition my mindset and my perspective that when uncertainty happens, opposition happens, adversity happens, I can put my mind and my perspective in a space and place to extract some good, right?

And so, with adversity and opposition with my arm, I got a paralyzed right arm and hand.

My perspective, my drive, my dedication, my commitment, my essence, my ethos, the thing that makes me Ink, it never got paralyzed.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> That was just my identity in sport.

>> Yes.

>> That's what people knew me by in sport.

But who I am as a man, that never got paralyzed, right?

I'm extremely grateful for that, right?

I get to go up to the Mayo Clinic, and my first visit there, I sit down, and I come out of a room to where they had just shot four needles in my back full of dye.

I'm talking about biggest needles I've ever seen in my life.

I sit down, and I'm feeling sorry for myself.

A little kid -- had to be 10 years old -- sits down.

I don't know what the condition was.

A mother sits down on one side of her, father sits down on the opposite side of her.

And it's like they're holding skin up on her face.

And I was like, "Man, I just got an arm and a hand."

But I got put in those environments, and I got to see that.

I tell people all the time, man, the easiest thing in the world to do is to be negative.

>> So easy.

>> Easiest thing in the world to do is complain.

Easiest thing in the world to do is to quit.

That's easy.

Me and you both can walk out of this building and see something on the streets of L.A. and say, "Man, that's wack," and complain about it.

Or we can look at it and say, "You know what, man?

That's really unfortunate.

But if they did this, if they can change this about it, I think that can be a beautiful situation."

>> Yeah.

>> That's a gift and that's a talent that not everybody has, and it's extremely underrated.

>> Mm.

>> Extremely underrated.

>> Yeah.

>> But it's extremely powerful when used in the right manner.

>> Why do you think so many people hold on to their tragedies or traumas so intently in their present?

>> I think just the nature of the impact when it happens, right, and how it stuns their life.

Painful experiences, they always come with a lot of different emotions, right?

Like, me talking about going out, it was hard for me with my arm when people would look at me, right?

That was a bit embarrassing at first, right?

And so, sometimes we hold on to these different emotions that attach to the experiences that we have.

So I think you got the experience, and then you got the collateral damage of the experience, how it affects our mindset, how it affects the way we see people, how it affects our emotions.

And so, I think the moment that we can grow through it and figure out a way to use it, I think the quicker we get through it, because I think it's a powerful thing, Lewis, and I think you probably know this to be true, when we use what happens to us and it creates a light-bulb moment for another person, that's a great feeling.

It's like when you get something for yourself for Christmas, that's awesome.

It feels great.

But when you do something for another person that you know is in need, like, that feels 10 times better for some reason.

And so, I take adversity and opposition, and I interconnect it the same way.

>> Yeah.

>> When we go through things, it hurts, or we figure out a way to get through it.

But when we share something and we identify with another person to let them know that -- Because, oftentimes, when people go through stuff, you feel alone, you feel isolated, and you feel like, "Man, like, is something wrong with me?"

And I think what happens when we go through and we create a level of empathy, we show them that, "No, man, you're human.

Like, we all go through things."

>> Yeah.

Did you beat yourself up for a long time?

>> Why did it happen?

You know what I'm saying?

Like, just going down that rabbit hole of searching, like, "What is this?

Like, why did this happen?"

And then when I released that, it was like, "Alright, man, just survive it.

Stop trying to understand it.

Survive it."

>> "This did happen.

I can't go back."

>> Can't change it.

>> So you got to accept it.

>> Got to accept it.

>> Get through the pain and the emotions and then find meaning from it.

>> Absolutely.

Absolutely.

>> Is that the process?

>> That was the process, bro.

>> Is that what you would suggest to anyone if they go through a devastating divorce or some type of heartache or injury?

>> Sometimes you got to stop focusing and thinking about what could have happened and what should have happened and you got to live in what is happening.

And for all of us, we're gonna encounter those defining moments in our lives, right, to where it's gonna hurt.

So when you go through these things of opposition, adversity, and challenge, it's always a lesson, it's always a blessing.

It's up to us to extract it.

And if we're so concerned with trying to understand why, why, why, we're gonna miss the lesson, right, we're gonna miss the blessing, and the lesson is gonna keep repeating itself.

My son, sometimes he'll come out, go five for five, right?

Might get two home runs, right?

Other times you'll come out and go 0 for five, right?

When you go 0 for five, are you gonna start huffing and puffing and then you got to get the lesson repeated again, or are you gonna learn at a certain point to say, "Alright, man, it's baseball.

It happens.

So what?"

Clap it up, cheer on your teammate and say, "You know what?

Today I'm not getting it done on the offensive side.

Defense, I got you, right?

Sometimes I'm not getting it done on this side, I got you."

And so, that's the key to life, I think, sometimes when things don't go our way.

The quote says it.

You judge the true character and caliber of a person not by where they stand in times of comfort and convenience.

You judge the true character and caliber of a person by where they stand in times of challenge and controversy.

Right?

It's an incredible thing.

And character can be cultivated in the midst of opposition and adversity.

That's the reason it says it.

It's King's quote.

It doesn't say, "You judge character by how a person respond when everything is going good."

They know how you're gonna respond.

Happy-go-lucky, celebrate, hand clap, "Great, hip, hip, hooray."

But when things go wrong, things don't go the way you want them to, they don't unfold the way you want them to, who are you?

Because that's the true test of who you are as a person.

That's your true character.

That's the essence and the ethos of who you are as a person.

Everybody is gonna smile when the sun's shining, man.

But the song says it.

"Can you stand the rain, baby?"

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Like, it says it.

And so, in light, can you stand the rain?

That's the true test of character.

>> This question is called the Three Truths.

So imagine, hypothetical, it's your last day on Earth.

Many years away.

You get to live as long as you want to live -- 100, 200 -- however long you want to live.

But eventually, you got to turn the lights off.

>> Alright.

>> But for whatever reason, you got to take all of your message with you.

This interview is gone, but you get to leave behind three lessons to the whole world, three things you know to be true from your existence, and that's it.

What would you share are your Three Truths?

>> The first one -- "This too shall pass."

Whatever you encounter, whatever you go through, every storm has an expiration date.

Every storm runs out of rain.

"This too shall pass" would be the first one.

In the midst of good times and bad times, learn the art of patience.

Patience will reveal certain things to you about situations, circumstances, and yourself that you didn't know exist.

And always be willing to be empathetic, right?

For most of us, right, when things happen, we have sympathy for people, right?

Like, "Oh, man, that's really unfortunate, what happened to that person."

We have sympathy.

I think the power of empathy is, when somebody goes through something or somebody is dealing with something, empathy says, "Hey, Lewis, I'm with you, bro.

You got it."

>> Yeah.

>> "I'm gonna walk with you, man.

Call me if you need me."

That's empathy.

>> Final question -- What's your definition of greatness?

>> So when I think greatness, I think about having the courage to pursue it.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Because most people won't even pursue greatness because they feel as if it's something that's so far-fetched that they'll never attain it.

>> Yeah.

>> I feel true greatness is having the courage to just involve yourself in the pursuit, the process of trying to be your greatest self, right?

Self-mastery is the constant pursuit.

So being willing to show up every single day and constantly pursue greatness of trying to be our best selves.

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

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.