The Power of a Poor Man’s Mentality with Flex Lewis | Ep 24

Flex Lewis: 00:00:00

I am so grateful and so blessed that I went the road that I did, through the turmoil, through the hardship, the tears, the unseen this, the unseen that. But that forged me into the champion I am. And that's one of the reasons why I can talk on a mic and say this.

I can speak to fans who are going through the same things, because I've been there.

Arjun: 00:00:27

Welcome back to the show, guys, and I'm really excited for you to get into this next episode with me.

I first met Flex Lewis at a dinner through a mutual friend who's also been on this podcast in Las Vegas, and was immediately taken not only by the guy's size, because his bicep is actually bigger than my waist, but by how humble and magnetic this guy was. I came to learn through the course of this dinner and evening that this guy was the most accomplished athlete in his sport.

He was a seven time, and I mean seven consecutive times, title holder as Mr. Olympia in bodybuilding.

It was absolutely incredible to meet this guy and hear his story about resilience, overcoming the odds, and really silencing all those critics back home that told him he's not going to amount to anything, that he won't win. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode as much as I did shooting it. And let's get into it.

Arjun: 00:01:26

Flex. I've been looking forward to this for watch. Not every day we have someone that is of this caliber, not to mention of this accent on the show.

What accent? Well, you guys can hear this here for yourself.

Flex Lewis: 00:01:39

Yeah.

Arjun: 00:01:39

I want to first start with you on the obvious question. To do something once in life could be considered nice, great. Maybe it was good timing and some could even call it lucky.

To do it twice means you have staying powerful three times, okay, this is the real deal. But seven times to be Mr. Olympia. There's a word for that that comes to mind, which is legendary.

How does someone continue the wheel and stay motivated to keep driving? What is the force that pursues seven world titles?

Flex Lewis: 00:02:14

Well, thank you for the great introduction. I appreciate the word legendary, but maybe in my mother's mind, I try to keep myself humble, as you know.

But in terms of chasing the Olympia title, it was a dream of mine. Once I commit myself to that chase at a very young age. I mean, the top of the tree is Mr. Olympia.

So at 19 years old, going to my first bodybuilding show, then competing in my first bodybuilding show and coming to the United States, the top of the tree, the Super bowl, is Mr. Olympia. So I had to have my vision as delusional as what it was and chase that. And I had to have my whys, every one of my Mr. Olympias.

If we're just focusing on that chase every year I had to recreate my why. The first year was winning it. I done it. All that hard work, all the dreaming, I done it.

But then to call yourself a champion, in my eyes, you got to defend that title.

Arjun: 00:03:07

Yes.

Flex Lewis: 00:03:07

So the why was defending that title. The third year was the 50th year anniversary. The a very iconic year.

Joe Weider, who, you know, was the Godfather body villain, to win that year with all the celebrated history that was involved with that, that was my way. And again, fourth away, sixth out of fifth out of six other way and seven other way. So each of them was special.

But every single year, especially I would say from 4 to 7, I really had to home in a way, because why I say that I had a weight division to make and that weight cap I had outgrown that weight caps was tremendously hard for me to. To make that weight every single year. And that weight was 212.

So the second to the 212 class in my body was saying, you don't like this number and all you got to do is jump on the scale.

Arjun: 00:03:57

Sure.

Flex Lewis: 00:03:57

And jump off the scale.

Arjun: 00:03:58

Even more difficult.

Flex Lewis: 00:04:00

Absolutely.

Arjun: 00:04:00

And you say why a different why each time.

Flex Lewis: 00:04:03

Yeah.

Arjun: 00:04:03

Did that help renew and did it feel when you had a totally different independent why of the previous one? Absolutely. A new one. Make it feel like you were just starting from scratch.

Flex Lewis: 00:04:12

Absolutely.

Arjun: 00:04:13

Humbled you like you trained? Like an underdog all over again.

Flex Lewis: 00:04:16

Yeah.

Arjun: 00:04:16

Like a champion.

Flex Lewis: 00:04:17

And I also remember the same characteristics that won me my first show. Yeah.

Arjun: 00:04:21

You had the formula.

Flex Lewis: 00:04:22

Yes. I kind of say this, but I have this poor man's mentality, and I think it's such a great drive.

Even to this day, I still have this poor man's mentality. Like, my gosh, it could all end tomorrow. Thankfully. You know, I have these firewalls that won't happen. That will happen. But I still have it.

I question it many times and many times over. I had it for every one of my Olympia wins, and as I said, I still have it to this day.

It's a massive driving force, and that obviously comes from my humble upbringings. But I don't want to lose it as much as I say it can torment me in a good and a bad way. It's a massive driving force. That poor man's mentality.

When you know that when you grow up, you didn't have what maybe others had in the household I came from. Just to preface this, my mom and dad were incredible. Very loving household and very blessed to have my parents.

But also remember what it was like for me to ask for something and then my parents say, we don't have the money. You don't have the money.

And soon enough, when you get old enough to kind of slightly understand my parents don't have the money, then I have to earn the money. So that's how I got into my young entrepreneurial streak at a very young age. And that was, if you wanted to talk about it, was the finches.

I went to a pet shop, bought a male and a female finch. You know, you can imagine what happens next. You've got a lot of finches. And it expanded into many more finches.

And I went back to the pet shop and sold them off. And then this kind of rinse and repeat turned into parakeets, into Paris.

So I kept on evolving the bar because the monetary factor and, yeah, that entrepreneurial speak wasn't. Was nothing that I was taught. I just had this instinct to get in and hustle.

And my dad or my mom or none of my family members were entrepreneurs or business owners. I just knew that for me to kind of get what I wanted, if I wanted to buy a bike, then I had to earn it through paper rounds.

Through these endeavors, learned every day.

Arjun: 00:06:20

And then when as that played forward in your competing days, what I hear you say, which I love, is that people should always, when they. After they won, you should continue to train like an underdog, but perform like a champion. Because there's a certain way a champion knows how to win.

Once he's done it, he has the formula, as you said, but the training is like an underdog. He doesn't rest on his laurels. He's not as good as his last victory. Starting with a clean state. Trains like an underdog. He wants it.

Yeah, he's hunting. But when he gets there, there's an element of, I've been here, I know what to do. I can stay within myself and I'll execute.

Train like a underdog, but perform and compete like a champion.

Flex Lewis: 00:06:55

Absolutely.

Arjun: 00:06:56

Yeah. And that's it.

Flex Lewis: 00:06:57

I've also as many people seen that underdog be able to perform to achieve that goal of winning a championship, winning a title, winning a belt, whatever it is. And when they get there, they've tasted the meal and they get off the gas.

And I don't understand that with fame and belts and championships or titles, that really should form you into more of a savage. When you get distractions, when you're the champ, you get invited to do stuff.

You get come to this club, we'll pay you to do this, we'll pay you to do that. But what is getting you up every single morning to say mma, to run five miles? Are you still doing that five miles? Know that you're the champion.

Are you still doing the things that you are hungry to do every single day? And that's why I mentioned the poor man's mentality. I kept that shop. I won the title. I had my one day of celebration.

Guess what I was doing the next day I was back doing cardio because I had another show to do. So I never celebrated any of my wins until my competition season was done. And that was normally Christmas time.

So when I was ready to celebrate, everyone else was like, oh, we won that several months ago.

Arjun: 00:08:02

Yeah.

Flex Lewis: 00:08:03

But that's when I allowed myself to kind of be like, okay, I've done it. I've achieved this season. I'm going to kind of enjoy my Christmas time and then back on the horse come January.

Arjun: 00:08:12

Right. And when you. If you talk to me or take me back to those days, the humble beginnings.

Flex Lewis: 00:08:18

Yeah.

Arjun: 00:08:19

And some tough times. I know you were bullied a lot and called a lot of names as a kid.

Flex Lewis: 00:08:25

Like, never bullied.

Arjun: 00:08:26

Not bullied, sorry, no, Called names. Like mentioned dyslexic or like, people would throw names out there and label you.

Flex Lewis: 00:08:32

Yeah.

Arjun: 00:08:32

So there was these periods of being. Yeah, definitely. Pumpkin, nobody bullied you. Might have been.

Flex Lewis: 00:08:36

I was a bully dream, by the way, being a redhead, I made sure that never happened, though. And my brother's a redhead, too. I made sure that my legacy that I left the school with, that my brother had to. Oh, that's Flex's brother. But anyway.

Arjun: 00:08:46

Yes, okay, good. You instilled that.

But coming from that, the dark place of being called names and then sometimes knowing that mom and dad can call, Always get these things first, and maybe it's going to be on me. Were there some moments that you still look back to?

Like, your mind takes you back there to a moment at home or a moment on the schoolyard or somewhere that you draw, continue to draw, strength. And remember, like, when you're going through something difficult now that you say, I've been there. Yeah, I know. And this is where it came from.

Is there one or two particular moments that you can go back to?

Flex Lewis: 00:09:21

I have many. I can tell you a story if you like, when in one particular moment.

Well, I would say my majority of My school years, there was no such thing as dyslexia back then for me. It was later discovered first week of college.

So I went through five years of school, which would be kind of the equivalent of high school, where the old school teachers that came from. I mentioned this on stage earlier, they came from the whip era. They were still there when I was in school.

So even though the whip wasn't around, they still have a vicious tongue. So if you weren't listening or paying attention, you were labeled as stupid. You were labeled as whatever it could have been.

But stupid was a word that was used for me. And I was either put to the back of the class or the front of the class. Now I didn't turn up the class to misbehave.

I just couldn't get what was going on. And once you don't get the. The basic one of one of maths, for example, on certain equations, stuff that we don't use. No. In business.

But once you kind of get lost in the shuffle of not knowing the basics, then when it progresses on, then you're kind of just lost. This is all a foreign language to you. And that's what I was labeled now, maths, for example.

This teacher would always put me in these predicaments and kind of pull me out of the class and talk as if I had no chance of surviving. You know, I remember a particular story where she said to me, you're going to go one of two directions.

You're either going to go into the military and that's where you find yourself, or you're going to be in jail. I'm like, when you're a young kid, you hear that and you come from a small town anyway and you don't see really see so much success.

You kind of start putting yourself in that box and you start. On some occasions, it's like, well, is that my future? Well, I knew it wasn't. And I fought that so hard.

So much so when I finished school, I went to college. They told me, first week, it was like, first two days after doing the test that you got dyslexia and adhd. I was like, what the heck is that?

And then they explained it to me. They gave me a laptop and explained, like, this is going to be used in your lessons.

And it was a massive bag off my back because I knew I wasn't stupid.

I knew I wasn't wearing any of these cliches or terms or names that these teachers used for me and many others in my, in my classes and many Other classes. I started my first business in college. I grew that business to a successful moving company.

Fast forward three years, I won three business money awards. I had 13 employees, I had trucks, I had fleets. And I was invited back to school.

And I remember walking into the school to find this particular teacher. I walk in and my success story being talked about and everything else. And I was cock of the walk when I walked into the room, same teacher.

And I looked around and she was putting me on the pride. Knew this guy was going, this is an example for a small town guy doing his thing. And I said, ask you a question.

Are you sitting here because she put you here? Yes, I was sitting in the exact same places as probably you and you in the back. And she called me stupid.

Probably like you called me being called stupids. Am I correct? And you can imagine this teacher was like, yep, this person was a massive driving force and put me in a box.

And now I'm in here to tell all you guys and girls in this class that through determination and hard work, forget the labels. You put what you want to into anything you do and you'll receive whatever you put into that you get back.

Arjun: 00:12:51

How satisfying was that?

Flex Lewis: 00:12:53

A beautiful moment and one I don't mind sharing about.

Arjun: 00:12:55

Your face is lighting up as you see it.

Flex Lewis: 00:12:57

Right.

Arjun: 00:12:57

I can see you being back in the room.

Flex Lewis: 00:12:59

It's crazy again. That young kid, I can still remember what it was like to kind of be put down and stamped on. Now, PE for example, I excelled in pe.

I played rugby, I run for my country. So the PE teachers poured into me and a few other teachers poured into me too. And I was there, bright eyed, bushy tailed.

And if I didn't understand, I was prepared to fail to learn with these other teachers. They didn't give us a chance.

So for me to return back to school many years later and tell my story and also kind of remind the kids in that class that, listen, I'm nothing special. I'm just like you from the small town. Dream big, have your big lofty goals and just chase them and don't let anybody tell you you can't.

Arjun: 00:13:46

Yeah. And when we talk about success and it's a beautiful story. That's an amazing story. Really happy you shared it with us.

And hopefully people relate to that, you know, having that moment that they can go back and avenge something in a way emotionally.

Flex Lewis: 00:13:57

Yes.

Arjun: 00:13:58

Or just say, I told you so. Yeah, I had more belief. But when we talk about success in today's day and age, people want it easy.

And I Know in your competing days and in the gyms you run and the people you're around, the people maybe that come to you asking to be trained to reach some certain echelon, they want it easy and they want it instantly. It doesn't happen that way. You have a one day at a time mentality.

Flex Lewis: 00:14:21

Yes.

Arjun: 00:14:21

Stack wins on top of each other. Talk to me about that.

Flex Lewis: 00:14:24

Well, if you're looking at building a house, for example, everything starts with a foundation. Without foundation, it's nothing.

So that mentality is that first brick down, one brick at a time, one day at a time, one rep at a time, one step at a time, whatever that is to you, make sure that that is put into whatever you want to achieve. And also there's so many life's cliches, right?

The older I get, I'm like, oh, these cliches now sound so applicable to my life, right, and everybody else's. But it is, it's true, right? What you put in, you get out and. And bodybuilding, suffice to say, was the hardest thing I've ever done.

And I done a lot of high level stuff at that period of time, played rugby, run for my country, box gymnastics, all these different things. But bodybuilding was the hardest thing, down to the fact that the better you look, the worse you feel. And that is such a mind mess.

This is mind, can I say fuck? Mind fuck, right? It's a commitment to a goal, a task. The date is set come hell or high water.

You need to turn up on that date in the best version of you. And if you cheat when nobody's looking, if you miss cardio, if you miss a training session, it's all going to look that way on stage.

So I can tell you either never missed a cardio session, I never ate more than I needed to, I never missed a training session, I never missed anything that was on my plan to get me to that point and to answer your question, was the mentality to how I got there. It's just commit yourself to that, to that end.

Arjun: 00:15:55

Goal, right?

Flex Lewis: 00:15:56

And that one brick at a time, right? So me getting into bodybuilding, I really done it for a free gym membership. At first.

I never knew that this was going to open up the world, that it ended up being for me. But when I realized that this is something I love and I can actually get paid for and see a future in, I was all in. All cards were in, right?

Arjun: 00:16:16

And with LFG energy, we talk about it a lot, that you have to be putting in the work and you have to stack small wins. It's not this sprint, right? It's slow and steady and we can't put a timeline on success.

It could be a little bit shorter for some, much longer for others.

And the one day at a time, the one brick at a time, laying the foundation mentality, it's so important for people to hear now because it's lost on everyone. We see instant success, but nobody knows what actually goes into it.

If I look at you, if I didn't know you, if I didn't know your story, I see this guy, he looks like he's winning at everything.

He has a beautiful family, gymnasiums, he's got seven world titles, he's training other athletes, so they say, oh, he's winning, it just comes to him. But that would be a grave insult.

So all the blood and the sweat and the dark moments, maybe even depression at times, being as low as a cricket's ass to the ground, tell me about that. And maybe a place of where you came from, whether it was home or something specific that happened.

Yeah, that will just remind everyone who's listening to this that that stuff wasn't easy.

Flex Lewis: 00:17:24

Yeah, great question. I would say that what you mentioned earlier, that instant success is promoted so hard and heavily. The three minute abs, the quick this, quick that.

Or no, it's the Instagram version of what everybody sees and everybody posts their highlights. Right. I have no problem. And in fact, I talk more about my failures and the periods of me going through whatever it was to achieve success.

Because that is the reward, right? Had you not been on rock bottom, you don't know what true success is.

Now, if you've had a fast pass to success and you're sitting on top of the mountain and you've not gone through any hardship, the first moment that you get slapped in the face with some reality and some hardship, a lot of people don't know how to take that. They fold big time. They've just had such a fast pass and such a success or such a easier ride.

Then they just crumble and fall and the majority of times they can't come back from it.

I am so grateful, I'm so blessed that I went the road that I did, through the turmoil, through the hardship, the tears, the unseen this, the unseen that. But that forged me into the champion I am. And that's one of the reasons why I can talk on a mic and say this.

I can speak to fans who are going through the same things, because I've been there, I've had no money, I'VE had no food, I've had no opportunity. But all these things I mentioned, I've got through it because I had self belief that I was going to get through that.

So in terms of being at the rock bottom, I've been there many times and I've got so many different stories. But I could say, let's just say all my Olympia wins then, right? One of them, number six, was probably going to be my last one.

And that was the year that one of my close friends passed away three weeks before the show and devastated me, devastated everybody around us. And I had to dig deep, dig deep and truly recreate my why for that year. Because it was tough for me. It was tough for everybody around us.

And then going to the Mr.

Olympia, I had, you know, a two, three hour line that from front to back were crying and I just had to stand there and just console every single fan because they were just as devastated too for the loss of a person that had beloved. And that year, again, I couldn't even tell you what happened.

I was in this autopilot and through tricks and tips and things of old, I managed to get through that show. And after that, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I mean, I was balling, couldn't stop.

Most people at that point in time have gone through the grief, but I had to get through these shows. And then I allowed myself to grieve and the funeral and everything else, it was all part of the Olympia thing.

But after the Olympia and then everything was done and dusted, I allowed myself to grieve. I don't even know if I allowed myself to grieve. But it just came to you.

Arjun: 00:20:23

There was nowhere else for it to hide.

Flex Lewis: 00:20:25

Right. It was just like, you're dealing with this.

Arjun: 00:20:28

It sounds to me that you were very good at mastering the art of compartmentalization. Yeah, we were able to compartmentalize and lock something. Windy, that's not something anybody can do.

Yeah, Most people would be just overwhelmed or overcome by what's happened and it's going to bleed into every aspect of life because they're only human. That's how it is for most humans.

Flex Lewis: 00:20:46

Yeah.

Arjun: 00:20:47

What you're talking about is not the average soul capability to be able to do. How are you able to do that? Or do you even have any rhyme or reason for it? Is it just part of your DNA?

Flex Lewis: 00:20:57

I had a great support system that kind of parted me.

I had a BBC documentary was following me and it was very hard for me to be the athlete that had trained a whole year for the show and then be the friend that lost his little brother. And somewhere along the lines I was in, I was out, I was in, I was out.

And I don't want to sound like I was cold or heartless because in this middle ground, it was a mess. But that's where my team came in and they parted me, they allowed me to have my moments.

They were like, listen, we're doing it for another reason, you're doing it for dollars. And then as I said after the show, I went into this, I would say depression, where I was like, I don't even know if I want to do this again.

I don't know if I want to get back on that stage. It hurt me, you know, hurt me losing somebody close to me. And I went to. Now, this was in Christmas time when I lowered myself to grieve.

I went to a show in Fibo, which is the biggest fitness expo in the entire world, in April. I wouldn't say it was on autopilot, but I still wasn't all in on the Olympia because I didn't know if I was going to do it or not.

And I turned up at this four day event and thousands of fans and just to hear the fans excited for me to turn up at that, the Olympia that year, I said, I'm all in and this is going to be my last and this is going to be the best version that anybody's seen. And this is the year that I do it for the reasons that I came here to United States to end on a ban.

The last year was for my friend, this year is for me. And I went all in. And I literally killed myself to make that wait. But I enjoyed every moment of it.

And when I tell you, I said to myself, which I wasn't on many others, you have to be in the moment. So I can tell you, I remember putting my foot to the step of the Mr.

Olympia stage and feeling how the cold stone turned to hot from the lights walking onto that stage and then the unforgiving lights and the heat that's generated off the floor and the audience, I goosebumps thinking about it. Have to be in the moment. I remember being telling myself, this is the last. Enjoy it. And again, I'm a different flex on stage.

I'm a charismatic, I'm confident, not cocky. But you walk that fine line on confidence, right? But I'm the champ and you have to exude that. This is my stage.

If you want to beat me, come and beat me on this spot where you're on the X. I remember looking into the audience and seeing people I knew, celebrities, the judges. I just remember everything for the previous six. Blue.

Some marry into one another. Is it six? Sorry, Is it two? Is it three? But number seven. I can tell you had a heart.

I knew and felt and smelt and breathed everything in that seven, because I knew it was going to be my last in that weight division, but I didn't know it was going to be my last ever. And I'm so glad I was conscious enough to understand and realize that. Be in the moment.

Arjun: 00:24:08

You appreciate it.

Flex Lewis: 00:24:09

And I appreciate. I appreciate it to this day. Talking to you right now.

Arjun: 00:24:11

No, I could feel it. First of all, I'm ready to run through a wall right now.

Flex Lewis: 00:24:16

I'll run with you.

Arjun: 00:24:17

All right.

Flex Lewis: 00:24:17

Hand in hand. Okay, there we go. There we go.

Arjun: 00:24:20

I'll come right behind you. But I can feel that. And that's the appreciation that an athlete needs to have.

But it also shows the utmost respect for your craft and for the space that you compete in, which is why you're the great champion. You are. You respect it. There's so much humility that you respect the greats that have come before you. The sport itself, the arts.

Flex Lewis: 00:24:38

Yeah.

Arjun: 00:24:38

That it is. And this process that goes into it, and you take nothing for granted. That is just beyond inspiring, what you shared there. And I think that stuff.

The word that comes out in that as you're sharing that story is pride. And I heard you say today on stage that you are the American dream.

Flex Lewis: 00:24:54

Yes.

Arjun: 00:24:54

I got a tear in mind when you said it, because some people refer to it as, like, immigrant mentality or whatever, but, like, you take nothing for granted. Flex. Like, it's pretty obvious. You can tell that in talking with you. How important is that?

And not everyone can say that, because maybe they don't have immigrant mentality or they are from this country, but to have, like, a real burning sense of purpose.

Flex Lewis: 00:25:15

Yeah.

Arjun: 00:25:15

And something to fuel you, whether it's anger or whether it's resentment or revenge, whatever it might be. As long as you channel it the right way.

Flex Lewis: 00:25:23

Yes.

Arjun: 00:25:23

How important is it then? How do people find it?

Flex Lewis: 00:25:26

Soul search. And I think that comes from silence. Being able to sit in a room or go, I'm very blessed. I live in Red Rock. Right.

The Red Rock backs up to my house in Las Vegas. And it's such a scenic, beautiful place. And I have my moments now, and I'm retired. But it's all about manifestation.

It's all about what you want to get out of this life. I'm on this earth right now, and I have one shot, one shot on the spinning globe. And who knows when that ride's gonna end.

But I have control of today. And what am I gonna get out of today that propels me forward to that goal?

And in that search of that goal, that dream, whatever that is, you're gonna have these side missions or side goals or dreams, whatever else, that keep you aligned with that end mission. And in doing so, again, you've got to go into some dark places. The Flex that people see that's outside of the gym is not the flex that is in the gym.

And obviously I'm not that guy as well now, like the gym for me right now. And I haven't been able to train for three months because I tore the trace and push. I'll tell you that story too.

world, they had to turn up at: 11:30

conversations, whatever else.: 11:59

And walking into that gym, switch goes. There's no laugh, there's no humor. It's business. This is what we're here for, this is what we're paid to do.

And this is the mentality you have to have if you want to be the best. No distractions, no phones, no nothing, no tripods, which is now the big thing. We trained with no cameras. It was just me and my training partners.

And I kicked their ass. And then in return, the love is given back to me.

So in doing so, you get to see a different version of not only yourself, but bring a better version of the people around you too.

Arjun: 00:28:06

People see you as this very strong man, right. You're also a dad, you're a loving husband and all close to your kids. I see it. Beautiful.

Flex Lewis: 00:28:13

Thank you.

Arjun: 00:28:14

And a brother and son, all these things. Is there anything that flex is afraid of? What's stokes fear in?

Flex Lewis: 00:28:20

Well, the last fear I'm doing right now is speaking on stage. It was a massive fear of mine.

And I'll tell you this, had I known that bodybuilding came with a mic at the end of it, as if standing on stage in a bloody Speedo wasn't Bad enough, right? Tell us how you've done it, Flex. I had to fake it until I make it, and I hate that sentence.

But I truly had to get over the hump and start learning how to talk on the mic again. The dyslexia, the adhd, whatever else, all these things start playing in your mind, and you start going back to that kid, can I do this?

Can I do this? The only way you're going to do this is throw yourself into it. And before, I kind of would dance around the feared stuff.

Now I embrace a lot of these things. It's like, what is it that I'm fearful of? And I just throw myself in. I throw myself in.

And, you know, again, the cliche is, make something that's uncomfortable become comfortable. And it's true. The wraps and sets of me talking on stage and the podcast, for example. I never intended to be a podcast host.

That story lies with my wife and me in my office.

And having all these celebrity friends of mine coming to the gym and coming into my office, BSN, talking, talking about every different subject, PG, PG 13 and above. Yeah. I'm always like, babe, you should do a podcast. This is you just having conversation with your friends. I don't want to do a podcast like this.

Accent the excuses, right? And I'm like, here I am again. I'm the one preaching about no excuses. And I'm giving myself excuses right now. And I said, you know what, Ben?

If this is meant to be, and I see the sign, God will provide and God will show the sign, I'll do it. Oh, my gosh. Same day, same day, I went into my YouTube account and I had a YouTube video that was monetized.

There's several YouTube videos monetized in one in particular went bananas. And There was like $8,000 sitting in my account. My YouTube account I didn't know about wasn't even attached to the bank account.

So I was like, well, I guess this is my sign. Yeah. So I bought the podcast stuff that day. I said, okay, the more you get to know me, that's how I am. It's like, this is the sign. Let's go.

So I hit my friend up for the right equipment.

I got a podcast going, and then I started pouring into the podcast and through reps and set, it all plays a part, because how you articulate yourself, how you construct a conversation, and how you're able to converse a little bit different, obviously, in a podcast, but when you go to that stage, too, you get them. There's some repetition that comes out of your mouth, right?

You're talking about stories or relatable stuff, or you can even use reference from some of the guests you had in your conversation as a keynote speaker. And before long, I forgot about the fear. Yeah. Because of that. Pouring into something that's out of the.

Arjun: 00:31:08

Energy right there, man. No fucking fear.

Flex Lewis: 00:31:10

No, no.

Arjun: 00:31:11

Burn the boats. Take the boats. Burn the boats.

Flex Lewis: 00:31:14

And that was my mentality coming to the United States was burn the boats.

I left everything back there and I said, you know, all the businesses that I created, every who call me crazy, starting the businesses started cheering for me. And then I said, oh, I'm going to the United States to become a bodybuilder.

It was a little different than that, of course, but they're like, you're crazy. Don't do it. You're going to fail. I was like, okay, well, now I'm doing it. That craziness turned to collapse to applause.

And then when I've done the other things, oh, the podcast, I don't know if it's going to work. That's why I do it. You know, speaking on stage, people, my friends back home will remember me as a kid in close circles. I was Jack the Line.

You know, this is a term we use the other. Smallest guy in the room, biggest shit talker. But outside of them circles, that was not me. I was quite.

I was not quite yet, but I wouldn't go up to introduce myself to somebody, right? Small town mentality. Now they see me doing what I'm doing and my friends hit me up. I can't believe, you know, so and so on.

And I think these friendships have come from pouring into. I say the word over and over, pouring into, right? But it's true.

You meet people, you leave an impression, and it doesn't matter if you're never going to see that person again. That person might end up telling their friends about you, and that person might be connected to somebody else.

And then there's this massive role of how they met you and you should meet. And that's what's happened with me. I know living in Las Vegas is just a networker's dream, right?

Everybody comes into Vegas at least once a year, twice a year. Athletes there, in and out all the time.

And me having a gym in Las Vegas is just a great opportunity to bring these people in, to meet people, shake their hands and connect people. I don't meet somebody with the intention of, what can I get out of you? Because this happened to me so many times. If you have an organic friendship.

It's amazing what just giving a shit does. Touch in with somebody. If somebody comes to your brain that you haven't spoken to for a long time, that's a message from God. It's falling in there.

Hit them up. Hey, how's the family doing? Most of the texts that I used to get were straight to the point. Can you hook me up with so and so?

I'm like this guy who wants to be that guy. I don't want to be that guy. I want to have a true friendship with somebody where then I can connect somebody with somebody.

A year conversation in rooms like we've been in today. You know what? I got somebody I want to connect you with. Karma does the rest. I've been very well looked after in life from bodybuilding.

I never knew I'd be able to make the lifestyle I've done, but that has been organic from the moment I got here to the end.

And there's many people that's in my life right now that train in my gym that remember me coming off the plane the first couple of weeks, and they love telling them stories. And I love the fact that I was able to leave the impression with them the first couple of weeks of me being in the United States.

I lost Pup to now what I'm on in life.

Arjun: 00:34:09

I believe it. You spoke earlier of a sense of finality and how it's a. That's how you operate, right?

You don't know how much time you have here and you're trying to do great things and have an impact. I asked this question of a few guests and as you were saying that I stuck with me, that.

I do want to ask you this because you're contributing now so much, right? You're in a different phase of your life. You're no longer a competitor.

You're coaching, guiding, consulting, speaking, growing, taking care of family, whatever your time is left here on this planet. And we all know it's going to be a long time. Flex.

When it's all said and done, your kids and your grandkids and everyone who knows you and everyone that's left that you know has come by way of you somehow or you got you touched in some way. If there's one word they remember flex by, what would you want that one word to be?

Flex Lewis: 00:34:53

I don't know if it's a word, but I would say just, he was a good guy. I think if he would be called a good guy, great legacy. Anything else, I mean, that's something that can come from somebody Else's tongue.

But if you're a good guy, I think that is generally so accepted amongst the masses. He's a good guy.

Arjun: 00:35:11

He's a good guy.

Flex Lewis: 00:35:12

He's a good guy. I think that ticks so many boxes. You know, if you put somebody on such a massive pedestal, oh, he was this, he was that.

Somebody is going to have a combatant.

Arjun: 00:35:22

Version of that, right? And I'll say, I think good is great.

Flex Lewis: 00:35:26

Good is great.

Arjun: 00:35:26

Good is great. It's a great word, like good for you. Like, it checks. A lot of boxes, a lot of sub boxes. Humble, yeah. Being one. Very committed, grounded. Just good.

And I'll say this as we close, you know, a young boy who came from Wales with the stream of being a world champion bodybuilder to come all the way over to this country having crazy ideas and dreams that people might have laughed at. And you just said it. I'm gonna burn the boats that left the energy all the way. Right, let's go. You did it. And you are the American dream for that.

And you're going to keep doing so. For all of us that listened for me to be here with you today, an absolute honorable moment, man. I really appreciate it. Huge fan.

Flex Lewis: 00:36:12

Thank you.

Arjun: 00:36:12

And appreciate just your contribution and what you're doing because it's inspiring so many of us. And like I said, man, I was ready to run through a wall. So if you're still up, if you're still up, well, we can do that wall, right?

Flex Lewis: 00:36:22

Well, I got the tricep injury and all this, you know, but you go first.

Arjun: 00:36:25

You would lead with the other school. I appreciate you, man. Thank you. Thank you very much again.

Flex Lewis: 00:36:30

Yes.

Arjun: 00:36:31

And we're all rooting for you and all the things that you do, man. So thank you.

Flex Lewis: 00:36:33

Well, I just want to end by saying congratulations on all your success and I'm looking forward to seeing what the paths that you're laying out in front of you for the future again, you've got massive success in the hats that you've worn again, but that's not going to. That's not going to put you in the box of who you are.

And the same thing I'll say about myself, I've achieved what I came to this country to do and that was become the best in that field. But I don't want that to be the defining version of myself. I wanted to just be a category in life, a chapter in a book.

Because my goal is to keep on creating these chapters. Once I've done this one, I move on to the next.

I'm a hungry, driven young man who is again, immigrant mentality, poor man's mentality that will never give up. Tell me I can't and just read the book at the end because.

Arjun: 00:37:24

Let's fucking go.

Flex Lewis: 00:37:25

Let's fucking go.

Arjun: 00:37:26

There you go. Good man. Thank you, Mama. I appreciate it.

Flex Lewis: 00:37:28

Pleasure.

Arjun: 00:37:29

Thank you.