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The School of Greatness

Why Your Past Doesn't Determine Your Future | Dan Martell

15 Apr 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What sensitive topics are addressed at the beginning of the episode?

0.031 - 23.153 Lewis Howes

this episode includes sensitive discussions that may be distressing for some listeners so if you or someone you know is struggling support is always available anytime by calling or texting the number 988 in the u.s and canada or contact your local support i was so scared bro i was like sitting on the ground with the gun under my chin

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23.251 - 28.076 Dan Martell

My thumb was on the trigger and I just couldn't push it. Yeah, man. I just wanted to stop.

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28.116 - 37.525 Lewis Howes

He is a serial entrepreneur, an investor, and a best-selling author of the book, Buy Back Your Time. We have the inspiring Dan Martell in the house.

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37.905 - 53.14 Dan Martell

The things that happen to us that hurt us the most are the most powerful tools that we have to help other people. I think sometimes when we're in the thick of it, that bottom is a great foundation to build from, but it's also proof that God is the rock at the bottom.

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53.12 - 60.242 Lewis Howes

What is the mindset that someone needs to overcome this feeling of rock bottom and overwhelm to finally step into their abundance?

60.503 - 65.88 Dan Martell

I wish I understood this sooner, and you kind of alluded to it, but

68.24 - 91.463 Lewis Howes

Dan, I'm excited about this because I've known you for, I think, a decade and a half now, 2008, 2009. I don't think a lot of people know who just see the highlight reels of you and just see the short content of your success and the private jet and the millions of dollars and the AI mastery that you have. Back in your teens and your early 20s, you...

91.763 - 105.139 Lewis Howes

You were a drug addict, you were alcoholic, you went to jail, you had a lot of issues, a lot of mental issues that consumed you to thinking that you weren't lovable, that you weren't enough, that you'd never amount to anything to the point where you almost took your life.

106.18 - 120.758 Lewis Howes

And it's hard for people, it's hard for me to know that because I've known you for so long and I know the positive attitude you have, the discipline you have now, the habits you have, and the love for life you have. But for those that don't know about that,

Chapter 2: What pivotal moment led Dan Martell to choose life over despair?

121.565 - 140.086 Lewis Howes

Why do you think you got to such a dark place in your life where drugs, alcohol, attempted suicide became the norm and going to jail became the norm rather than living a life of I'm deserving of love, I'm deserving of peace, I'm deserving of a beautiful life?

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142.189 - 174.25 Dan Martell

Dude, you got me going already. With the benefit of perspective, Cause God knew I could do it. You know, I think sometimes when we're in it, in the thick of it and we hit, we can call it rock bottom. You know, you've heard this. It's just like that bottom is a great foundation to build from, but it's also proof that God is the rock at the bottom.

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174.805 - 202.717 Dan Martell

You know, all these things you just said about me feels kind of like, who is he talking about? But it's like, bro, cause I go back to Dan who's 14, 15. I was angry. I had a lot of shame, made a lot of bad decisions. I didn't feel worthy of any affection, love. And when I look at that kid.

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203.238 - 203.378 Unknown

Mm-hmm.

205.012 - 228.732 Dan Martell

And the life I live now, it's like, I feel so blessed, bro. Yeah. Like, dude, this is what, I hope everybody hears this, that no matter what you go through, if you choose, and it sounds cliche, if you choose, and this is what you write about, and that's why I love your books, is to grow through it, not just go through it. And just pull out that lesson. I'm just, this is all I am.

228.772 - 258.611 Dan Martell

And you've seen me for 15 years, right? I'm just an example of making mistakes, because I am human, so human. But at 17, I learned that as long as you take a lesson from that moment and then just try never to repeat it, that's the, like, hey, let's just, I call it new mistakes. Yeah. Just like, yeah. Make new mistakes, not the old mistakes. I get I'm going to make more. Let's just make new.

259.773 - 293.305 Dan Martell

But I know that I went through that So I could be the dad for my kid. Really? Oh, yeah, dude. I'm not emotional because it's sad. I'm emotional because I'm grateful. I am grateful that Mike's mom wouldn't let me play with him and made me stand at the end of their long driveway and not every time I called, she would pick up, hang up, pick up, hang up.

293.285 - 299.035 Lewis Howes

Because you wanted to hang out with a kid and she knew that you were not a good, you were not a good, you know.

Chapter 3: How did Dan Martell's past shape his current mindset?

563.559 - 582.656 Dan Martell

My mom found the guns and called the cops. So my brother says, Hey, don't come home. The cops are waiting for you. So I go on the run. How old are you? 15, 16. And the only place I knew to go was my buddy, Scott, his parents had a cabin and we'd been to it in the summer. And I knew where it was. It was in the middle of nowhere. He's not there. Yeah.

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582.676 - 611.268 Dan Martell

And there's food and there's stuff, you know, it's just like a hunting camp. So I went there and there was a gun there. And I was probably there for three days. And I just remember on the fourth day, I grabbed the rifle, some bullets. I went for a walk. And I was like, it was, it was next to a national park. So it was like super quiet, super majestic.

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611.368 - 651.615 Dan Martell

And I walked down this long hill and I just sat in the field and I loaded the gun. I was so scared, bro. I was like sitting on the ground with the gun under my chin. My thumb was on the trigger and I just couldn't push it. Really? Yeah, man. I just wanted to stop. And I just remember thinking like, who would find me?

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655.46 - 661.525 Unknown

How much pain it would cause. And the truth, I didn't want to die, man.

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661.585 - 666.312 Dan Martell

I just wanted it to stop. I wish there was like a button I could hit and just like reset everything.

667.234 - 668.956 Lewis Howes

What did you want to stop? Was it the shame?

668.976 - 694.71 Dan Martell

All of it, man. I just wanted to just not, like, I just, I just, I had a pattern of making bad decisions. Like it was almost comical. My family would make fun of it. It's like, you go do something and you always get caught. Your brother does the same thing, never gets caught. It's so weird. My parents would see it all the time. And, um, I just wanted a reset.

694.831 - 714.741 Dan Martell

I didn't know if I needed to move countries or whatever. And, but unfortunately at that point, it just was too far. I'd already been, I went to juvenile detention the first time when I was 14. And I mean, dude, it's the worst thing you could ever experience as a kid. And then I get out and I'm like, tell the guard, you know, nice meeting you, but never see you again. He's like, I'll see you soon.

714.761 - 726.872 Dan Martell

Wow. I said, bro, that's not cool. He goes, we always do. Ooh. I didn't know at the time, 80% of the kids that come and go come back. Yeah. And he wasn't wrong.

Chapter 4: What lessons can be learned from Dan's journey of transformation?

870.255 - 892.82 Lewis Howes

Two different uncles from ages five to seven. Separate sides of the family. One of my dad's younger brother and then my mom's brother-in-law. And so I went to two funerals back to back when I was six and seven. So young. From two separate uncles. who didn't know how to deal with the pressure, the weight of life, different causes.

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892.96 - 916.42 Lewis Howes

One was on drugs, one was an accountant and couldn't handle the pressure and both shot themselves. And so I know I've experienced that close to me and I know how much it takes to not pull the trigger also for you. when you're feeling that way, because I've had those feelings when I was younger of like, what's the point of all this and why am I even here?

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916.5 - 940.041 Lewis Howes

And I never attempted anything to take my life, but I felt I shouldn't be here, you know, multiple times. And so I want to acknowledge you for being here and for making a difference in the world, because, you know, I think it's easy to when you feel like you're not enough, when you feel like none of it matters anymore, when you feel like I've messed up so bad, I can't come back from this.

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940.061 - 941.082 Dan Martell

Yes, I can't come back.

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941.342 - 961.774 Lewis Howes

The shame I have for my family, the shame I have with my friends, the shame I have with God, I cannot come back from this. And I think you're a great example that... not only can you come back but you can transform your entire life you can have a beautiful family you can have beautiful kids beautiful wife and make a big difference in the world

963.222 - 983.784 Lewis Howes

And your story is what's gonna help you make that difference as well, not hold you back if you step into it. And so I wanna acknowledge you for that because again, everyone hears about the money and the success and the big personal brand you have now, but I don't think people truly understand the shame you were feeling to want to take your life multiple times.

984.906 - 1007.77 Lewis Howes

You have to be feeling so low self-worth and such a negative self-identity And I'm saying that because I understand that feeling, that you have to feel so bad about yourself to want to end it. And so I acknowledge you for not ending it and for it didn't happen overnight, but you've transformed consistently over time. Yeah, 28 years.

1008.031 - 1018.187 Lewis Howes

You said, you know, hundreds of hours of therapy and lots of other transformational work. A lot of work. When was the moment that you actually started to love yourself?

1021.34 - 1022.521 Dan Martell

That's a good question.

Chapter 5: What realization did Dan Martell have about his past and work?

2871.014 - 2892.525 Dan Martell

Zero day. Zero day. That's the next, the day, I know. And in that moment, It's nice and it also made me realize how much I allowed my work to keep me distracted. And then the morning I woke up and I didn't have to go to work and I had a bank account that was full of money and I was depressed and nobody cared if I get out of bed.

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2893.767 - 2904.361 Dan Martell

Dude, I think two days after that moment, I had a massive panic attack where it felt like an elephant was standing. You know what I mean?

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Chapter 6: How did Dan experience a panic attack despite his success?

2904.401 - 2924.306 Dan Martell

Yeah. I had to go to the hospital. They introduced, like, you know, I ended up getting a psychiatrist, this guy named Manuel. And you had millions of dollars. Oh, dude. It was. You made it. Made it. And, and this is the part. I did it all for her. For the girl. And guess what? She never asked me for it.

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Chapter 7: What insights does Dan share about relationships and personal sacrifice?

2924.546 - 2925.147 Unknown

Yeah.

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2925.987 - 2946.918 Dan Martell

She didn't want that. People listening need to hear what I just said. Yeah. Because we all get up to do the thing for the person and sacrifice for the kids, for your wife, for your, it doesn't matter. They don't want that. They never asked you for it. Why? Why do we think that we're doing it for? It's just our bull crap to give us permission to do it.

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2947.218 - 2964.804 Dan Martell

To be distracted from connection, from intimacy, from. So when you say, when's the moment you made the most money and was the loneliest, saddest, depressed, it was that. I remember where the, I, it's like, and it was a blue sky sun's coming through my thing and I'm laying there and I just was like.

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2964.864 - 2965.745 Lewis Howes

You should be happy.

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2966.306 - 2978.816 Dan Martell

Yeah. What happened? What, where did I miss the calculation? There was a error. I'm a software guy. So the error in the formula, how did I not catch the bug?

2978.876 - 2980.879 Lewis Howes

What was the formula you had before then?

Chapter 8: How can someone use AI to create certainty in their future?

2980.919 - 3014.586 Dan Martell

That, that sacrifice was required to it, to create a life that I could have lived without the sacrifice. Like, if I want to be, like right now, you know when I talk to Renee, OK? Because I'm God's eyes goals. I'm all in, OK? Like, yeah, I have a great family office team, and they protect me from myself. But I also like, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're like, OK, you can't put all that into this, OK?

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3014.606 - 3040.632 Dan Martell

You've got to diversify a portfolio. But I also let them know, like, hey, I don't want you. I want you to challenge me, but I'm making my calls, OK? Yes. And the only thing, now that I've gone through that, the blessing, the gift is that I know, because I've asked her, if I make a decision and I lose it all, everything, is that okay?

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3040.852 - 3051.49 Dan Martell

And you know, the only thing she says to me, don't be mean to me. And as long as you didn't take advantage of anybody. That's it, bro, bro.

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3052.904 - 3075.57 Lewis Howes

i could lose it all tomorrow i don't care martha says the same thing to me i was kind of telling you beforehand when we started really getting serious in kind of dating and commitment and engagement she was like i'll follow you anywhere and it's like the most powerful thing to hear is a woman say to you i will follow you anywhere and it's also the biggest responsibility

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3077.018 - 3087.248 Lewis Howes

to not want to blow it all up so that she has to follow you down some dark path or some path of like, oh, now we're struggling. But it's such a gift for a woman to say that.

3087.548 - 3115.019 Dan Martell

She took the pressure off of me to have to be. That's what, when you said, what was the difference? Before I thought I had to be and do something for her to love me. And now I've got a person that says, as long as you're loving and you didn't do something to take advantage of, I'm good. well then I can push and I can create because it's a, I'm playing to win, not playing not to lose. Yeah.

3115.259 - 3116.762 Dan Martell

That's a different energy.

3117.864 - 3125.438 Lewis Howes

Yeah. At the end of the day, you'll probably keep a few million safe in case it all blows up. The insurance said like, dude, it would be really hard for me to mess it up at this point.

3125.838 - 3149.51 Dan Martell

Let's go. Yeah. But at the same time, I know that if I ever wanted to hit the injection button and shut down my social media and reset my life and move to another country, she's good. Yeah, you could do it. She'll come with me. And I think that's the beauty of it. And also, I think what we essentially want in asking that question is, are you with me for me? Yes.

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