135 How to Achieve Your Dreams (and getting started)

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Lewis Howes shares a personal story about pursuing a big dream: making the Olympics as a handball player. He explains that achieving a dream requires research, learning from the best, commitment, hustle, relationship-building, and decisive action despite fear, setbacks, and injuries.

Main Topics: Defining and pursuing a big dream (Priority: 5/5): Howes frames dream-chasing as a universal process and uses his own Olympic aspiration as the central example. Researching the path and learning from the best (Priority: 5/5): He stresses studying the field, identifying top performers, and positioning himself where he could learn from elite players. Commitment and sacrifice (Priority: 5/5): The episode emphasizes showing up consistently, training beyond scheduled practice, and making major life changes to pursue the goal. Taking risks and moving to New York (Priority: 4/5): Howes describes leaving his comfort zone in Columbus for New York City once he had enough money and belief in the dream. Using strengths and relationships to advance (Priority: 4/5): He explains that hustle, speed, and strong connections with decision-makers helped him earn a spot on the national team. Action over intention (Priority: 5/5): The story culminates in his trip to Spain, illustrating that speaking a dream aloud matters less than following through when opportunity appears. Setbacks are part of the journey (Priority: 4/5): He notes injuries and not yet reaching the Olympics, reinforcing that big goals involve long, difficult, nonlinear progress.

Key Arguments: A dream becomes achievable when it is treated as a concrete plan, not just a wish. Research is the first step: find the best environment and learn from top people in the field. Commitment requires doing whatever it takes, including extra practice and major personal sacrifice. Fear and discomfort are normal, but they should not prevent action once the opportunity appears. Success can come from leveraging existing strengths and building relationships with key decision-makers. Speaking your goal publicly can help create opportunities, but action is what actually advances it. Big dreams take time, setbacks, and injuries; progress should be measured by continued movement toward the goal.

Data Points: Year of inspirational Olympics viewing: 2008 - Howes watched the Olympics and discovered team handball while recovering from injury. National team roster spot: 16th man on the 16th spot team - Howes describes being the final roster addition to the USA national handball team. Time until USA national team tryout: 9 months later - He says the national team tryout came about nine months after joining the New York City team. Travel window to Spain: 2 weeks later - After receiving the invitation from the Spanish coach, he bought a flight and went to Spain two weeks later. Training duration in Spain: 2 weeks - He spent two weeks practicing with the top team in León. Practice frequency in Spain: twice a day - He describes training twice daily with the Spanish club. Injury examples: 3+ injuries mentioned - He cites pulling his groin and busting up his elbow and face while pursuing the sport.

Pivotal Quotes: "If you can dream it, you can achieve it." — Lewis Howes (attributed to Walt Disney): Used to reinforce the idea that dreams are possible with the right action plan and commitment. "Talk is cheap. Action is what really matters." — Lewis Howes: He says this while explaining that publicly declaring the Spain goal mattered less than actually taking the trip. "I knew that I would regret this if I didn't go after it." — Lewis Howes: He describes deciding to travel to Spain despite fear, language barriers, and intimidation.

Implications: Listeners are encouraged to treat goals as systems: research, commit, network, and act quickly when opportunities arise. For ambitious careers, persistence and adaptability matter as much as raw talent.