The School of Greatness
Yara Shahidi Opens Up: How To Prioritize Mental Health & Overcome Self-Doubt To Achieve Any Dream
Wed, 27 Nov 2024
Join me for an incredibly insightful conversation with the remarkable Yara Shahidi, who at just 24 has already achieved extraordinary success as an actress, producer, and Harvard graduate. Beyond her achievements on shows like Black-ish and Grown-ish, Yara reveals herself as a deeply thoughtful individual wrestling with questions of authenticity, personal growth, and purposeful living. She opens up about balancing her flourishing career with her education, managing public expectations, and her journey toward embracing imperfection. What struck me most was her wisdom beyond her years and her commitment to building genuine relationships while maintaining her authentic self. This conversation is a masterclass in navigating success while staying grounded in your values.The Optimist Project with Yara ShahidiIn this episode you will learn:How to transform early success into sustainable growth by honoring your curiosities and staying true to your authentic selfWhy building "relationship equity" is more valuable than networking, and how to cultivate meaningful connections in any industryThe importance of creating boundaries and practicing discernment when opportunities seem endlessHow to navigate public expectations while maintaining your personal values and integrityThe power of reframing challenges as opportunities for growth and self-discoveryFor more information go to https://www.lewishowes.com/1699For more Greatness text PODCAST to +1 (614) 350-3960More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:Rupi Kaur – greatness.lnk.to/1678SCPokimane – greatness.lnk.to/1443SCVenus Williams – greatness.lnk.to/1591SC Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy!Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX
Chapter 1: What challenges does Yara Shahidi face in her career?
The incredible Yara Shahidi. It truly starts as a vision board. Some random day, I was 18 and wrote down every deal that I wanted to have. And I don't typically think that way of being like, oh, I'm going to get this deal with this. But I just written down a list. Two years later, I was like, oh, we did it all. The priority in this world is building relationships with people around you.
It's not building networks. It's not building contacts. It's building relationships.
My whole life has been about relationships.
Yeah.
What do you feel like has been the most challenging thing you've had to overcome?
I don't know if I've talked about this,
Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. We have Yara Shahidi in the house. So good to see you.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, I'm excited because you have had an incredible career as a young actor, but also just talking to you beforehand with your mom is just inspiring what you've been able to create for yourself from your career in TV, film, but also graduating from Harvard while acting as well on one of the biggest shows on TV and making that work.
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Chapter 2: How does Yara prioritize mental health?
Chapter 3: What is the significance of building relationships in Yara's life?
It's not building networks. It's not building contacts. It's building relationships.
My whole life has been about relationships.
Yeah.
What do you feel like has been the most challenging thing you've had to overcome?
I don't know if I've talked about this,
Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. We have Yara Shahidi in the house. So good to see you.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, I'm excited because you have had an incredible career as a young actor, but also just talking to you beforehand with your mom is just inspiring what you've been able to create for yourself from your career in TV, film, but also graduating from Harvard while acting as well on one of the biggest shows on TV and making that work.
You're launching a podcast now with your mom called The Optimist Project. And you were telling me right before that you're actually not that optimist of a person.
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Chapter 4: How does Yara navigate public expectations?
kind of i don't know i don't know the best way to say it other than kind of getting downloads and moments of like oh i think that's next i think this thing is next what does that download come is that a uh an analytical voice in your head is it a heart vibration is it you just see something differently in the air like what does that download look like
I think a lot of it is that feeling of when I get a wave of excitement, it's like, oh, that's interesting. That means that my curiosity is piqued. A lot of, I think, what I'm interested in tackling next comes from a wave of curiosity. Like, for some reason, this has grabbed my attention. I really couldn't tell you why. It's not because, oh, it's the logical next step. I think whether that be...
you know, the podcast starting as conversations. And then I think I wrote the name, The Optimist Project on like a random hotel, like a little pen and pad they had at the bedside. And then the analytical side starts of like, okay, how do we bring this into the world? But I think, yeah, a lot of it comes from that just kind of wave of, oh, I'm really curious by this.
This keeps grabbing my attention. And if it's grabbing my attention, it must mean something. And it really ranges from even, As random as it may seem for my kind of endorsement deals and fashion side, I remember at some random day, I was 18 and wrote down every deal that I wanted to have.
And I don't typically think that way of being like, oh, I'm going to get this deal with this shoe company, this deal with this. But I just written down a list. And I think two years later, I was like, oh, we did it all.
Now what? Now what? You got it right on your list.
Yeah. But I think that's what's nice about the fact that our team is also aligned in how we think and that it's like all of us get these waves of curiosity and then we bring in the analytics to be like, now how are we going about it? And so it truly starts as a vision board. It starts as like, oh, what do we see?
I love this. You had an amazing TED Talk. And the quote that I wanted to pull from that that you said about curiosity, you said, chasing curiosity means that my purpose is constantly unfolding in front of me. All I have to do is pay attention. And similarly, each of us... Each and every one of us have a special set of interests that are totally unique to us like a thumbprint.
So you say, please join me in recommitting the curiosity because honoring your so-called distractions is an act of creating. It's to sit in the grandeur of all of our options. It's to acknowledge our infinite possibilities when the world tries to convince us. it is indeed finite. So refuse to let your world get smaller and let's build new futures together.
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Chapter 5: What lessons has Yara learned from self-doubt?
I mean, I know I just started drinking, but I'm like, same, because I'm just like, either it has to taste phenomenal, which most times it doesn't. And I think being introduced to drinking on a college campus where I'm like, the warm beer or warm orange juice, not appealing. And I think to me, I was like, yeah, never done drugs, never desired to.
It was never even a decision of, oh, I can't because that would look like this or that. Never desired to. It's just kind of your makeup, yeah. Yeah, some of my makeup. And so I think a lot of times I felt as though people were challenging my makeup as though I was moving super strategically when it wasn't that.
Of course, I definitely had a fear of failure, but I think the core tenets of who I am and how I move through the world came from authentically just how I landed here. And I think some of that, some of the attention I got for moving the way I did made me feel more...
what is the word made me feel like people were waiting for me to slip up really because it was always so voiced it was voiced to me so constantly the more I did that feeling of being like oh but you know you can be just a regular kid like I don't know why you think you need to do all this I'm doing this because I want to do it like I would not have been able to go through four years of school if I didn't want to be there no one could have convinced me into that flying back and forth no
No one could have convinced me into doing, like, a voting initiative unless I wanted to do that. And so I think the mistrust people had that it was coming from just truly who I am, and I have a team of people that were honoring who I am. It wasn't coming from external voices of, like, you know who would look great. Right. But I think it made me skeptical.
Like, are people waiting for me to slip up? Are they waiting for me to be... I don't know, something that I'm not. And I think that definitely made me aware, more aware of how I came off in the world because before I never questioned it. Really? Until I got the comments, I never questioned like why I was making certain decisions because it was just kind of second nature.
So it's who you were?
Yeah, it's who I am. And so I think that's something that I had to move through where the strategic thinking didn't come in until after I had heard, oh, people are kind of waiting for me to slip up for whatever reason.
Right. So what's your biggest fear moving forward now? You've had so much success from TV and film and, you know, graduated Harvard and all the things you're creating. What is the fear moving forward?
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