Podbit · The School of Greatness
With no contacts, no confirmation anyone would let him in the gym, and only a website address, Lewis Howes packed up from Ohio and moved to New York City to chase an Olympic handball dream. He was laughed at his first night. Within a year, he made the USA national team.
Where this was said
At 31:00 · chapter starts 26:00
The third and perhaps deepest shift reframes the entire problem: overthinking is a symptom, not the disease. The disease is a fundamental lack of self-trust — and smart people weaponize thinking as a sophisticated way to avoid the risk of acting [1] — Lewis Howes "Underneath all the overthinking is a simple lack of self-trust. Smart people use thinking as a way to avoid risk. But self-trust isn't buil…" 26:00 . Howes asks the key diagnostic question: was there a time you moved without certainty and it changed everything? His answer is the most cinematic story of the episode: packing up in Ohio with only a handball gym's website address, buying a ticket to New York City with no confirmation anyone would let him in, showing up the first night and being laughed at, and then — through consistent showing up — making the USA national team within a year [2] — Lewis Howes "With no contacts, no confirmation anyone would let him in the gym, and only a website address, Lewis Howes packed up from Ohio and moved to…" 31:00 . The principle crystallizes: you will never have full certainty on anything. Howes grounds this in a nightly ritual with his wife Martha where they exchange gratitude, prayers, and appreciation, and he acknowledges that 150,000 people die every day — waiting for the right moment is, statistically, a bad strategy. The chapter closes with Bob Proctor's definition of courage: fear won't stop me [3] — Lewis Howes "Courage doesn't mean having no fear. It means feeling the fear and moving anyway. Bob Proctor's simple declaration — 'fear won't stop me' —…" 38:45 .
Underneath all the overthinking is a simple lack of self-trust. Smart people use thinking as a way to avoid risk. But self-trust isn't built by having all the answers — it's built by moving into uncertainty and discovering you can handle whatever comes.
After moving to New York City with no contacts and being laughed at on his first night, Howes made the USA national handball team within roughly one year.
Howes launched his first podcast episode on an iPhone with zero experience and went on to produce nearly 2,000 episodes and three New York Times bestselling books.
Approximately 150,000 people die every day globally, a figure Howes uses to reframe the urgency of acting now rather than waiting for perfect conditions.
Thomas's wife deferred her CrossFit career — she's in the global top 1% of athletes — to put him through law school debt-free. He wants her to chase the dream now; she wants the emergency fund and house down payment first. On a $200K lawyer income with no debt, the opportunity cost is just a few months of slower saving.
Underground calisthenics battles are exactly like UFC meets a rap battle — 150 people crowded around a circle, fighters walking out with masks and chains, nicknames like 'Extra Money' vs 'Calisthenics the Prince,' and people throwing money and betting. The battle set: 100 burpees, 50 muscle-ups, 75 dips, 75 squats with a 65-pound dumbbell. This is the next big spectator sport.
Rico Verhoeven controlled the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion for approximately 10 rounds — and had his appeal upheld when officials admitted the fight was stopped after the bell. The result was never overturned. Rogan calls it either incompetence or corruption, and argues the money behind Usyk made an upset politically inconvenient.
Rogan lays out a blunt case: boxing's 3-judge system is structurally broken, and the judges know who the promoter wants to win. Glory's 5-judge format is the right model. Corruption doesn't have to be conscious — just knowing Usyk is the cash cow is enough to tilt the scales.
With the Usyk-Wilder fight stalling and Fury-Joshua coming too late, the real fight the world wants is the rematch. Rico is a free agent. Usyk vacated his belts. The story is unfinished and both Rogan and Rico know it. His Excellency Turki Alasheikh already called for it ringside — the question is money.
Rico texted Jason Statham during the Canelo-Crawford fight. Statham showed Rico's highlight videos to promoters. Two days later, Rico was on a call about fighting Anthony Joshua. When Joshua pulled out, Rico pitched Usyk himself — Undisputed vs. Undisputed. Usyk said yes in two weeks. The whole thing started with one text.
Every heavyweight who faced Usyk tried to move to the right — straight into his power hand. Rico and Peter Fury identified the obvious solution: move left, away from the left hand, and smother him with size. It sounds simple. Nobody had done it. That one adjustment was the foundation of 10 dominant rounds.
MMA fans boo when fights go to the ground. They love stand-up. Kickboxing is pure stand-up. Yet it barely exists in America while boxing and MMA are enormous. Rogan's diagnosis: no promotion machine. If the UFC got behind kickboxing the way they've built MMA, it would explode. The talent is there — the storytelling machine is not.
A nation of 17 million people gave the world Ramon Deckers, Peter Aerts, Badr Hari, Melvin Manhoef, Rob Kamen, Ernesto Hoost, and Rico Verhoeven. Rico's theory: the country is so small that every gym shares knowledge freely. In the US, you need a flight. In Holland, you drive 40 minutes and spar the national champion.
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