Tererai Trent

Lewis: This is episode number 752 with Terarai Trent. Welcome to the school of greatness my name is Lewis Howes a former athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur and each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today, now let the class begin.

Albert Einstein said “In the middles of difficulty lies opportunity.” I want you to think about that for a second. Are you going through a difficult moment in your life? Do you feel like everything is falling on top of you? Do you feel like you’re stress or overwhelm more than you’ve ever been before? If so look at this as an opportunity, look at this opportunity to learn and to grow to develop that isn’t working and start developing something new that will work for you in the future. Your obstacles will lead to opportunities if you allow them. If you allow them to hold you down then it will always be an obstacle.

Today’s interview is with Dr. Terarai Trent who is one of today’s internationally recognized voice for equality education and women’s empowerment. She is distinguished as Oprah’s all-time favorite guest, she’s a scholar, humanitarian, speaker, author, founder of the Terarai Trent international foundation. This woman is incredible we had her speak at summit of greatness last year and she blew people away. I like to think that speakers blew people away but she brought a sense of fire and passion that’s just palpable throughout everyone in the auditorium. And we have the Q&A from that interview, again she did this magnetic mind-blowing passionate interview. And at the end of the interview we sat down for a Q&A and we talked about the power of daily rituals to help maintain your mindset. Talked about Terarai to make her voice heard every single day even when she was silent her entire childhood. How to recognize talent in ourselves? How to believe in dreams no matter what and the beauty between working together as one.

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All right guys I am excited about this one and make sure to share with your friends as always thank you for the love and support without further ado let me introduce to you the one and only Terarai Trent.

Olympia: Hi my name is Olympia again I am very grateful for woman empowerment of course and my question is: How do you as a woman make your voice heard every day?

Terarai: I defied the rules of my people. I think it’s about refusing to have someone define you and to say ‘I’m not going to be silent. I have to maintain my authenticity because it is in how we give our voice allow, give ourselves permission to speak about truth.’ That’s what’s going to change our world and the world around us. Sometimes we numb those talents because we are always afraid, because we want to listen to what others say about us but it’s important to dig deep within you. When you come home to yourself then you own who you are and you own your voice.

Janice: My name is Janice I’m from Toronto, you’re a very powerful woman and I thank you for sharing. Where are your children today?

Terarai: So when my mother say if you achieved these dreams not only are you defining who you are, you are defining every life that comes out of your womb and generations to come. When I came to the U.S I brought with me 3 daughters. The first 1 when she came she was hardly 9 years old and today she graduated with mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University. If that had not happened so I’m always saying I’m passing on a different baton, I redefine it and I have another daughter she’s at Western Michigan University she’s doing biomedical science.

Marco: I’m Marco from Nebraska, Lewis thank you so much for bringing us together. So how can we inspire men to empower women?

Terarai: How can we inspire men by coming to this forum and thank you Lewis because is how we all get inspired and I think it’s important that when we inspire more men it means more women are healed. Men should give more voices, you know what’s happening in America sometimes the people say the silence of women is only in Africa I think and that. So, we need men who can vocalize, men who can stand up with their sisters but also remember I read a Lewis book, there are also men who are being marginalized. So we also need to recognize that and I think there’s beauty wherein that is intersection between men and women, the energy when we work together as one. I think we can achieve much more than women on their own than building silos, I think we need to be more of a family, collectively we can do more.

Naycook: My name is Naycook I’m from Michigan, Grand Rapids.

Lewis: Too bad.

Naycook: You said that when we were 1 on 1 in the inner circle too. I’m grateful for each and every person in here because you guys are seriously a blessing and I think each person is gonna do great things. My question is you covered a lot and have a phenomenal story of what like if we leave the want stuff or to add in our lives what do you feel that is? The one thing we can take away.

Terarai: We have to believe in our dreams no matter what because we are here on earth for a purpose and you just have to believe in it.

Matt: My name is Matt and I’m from Atlanta but Oklahoma State graduate as well and I’m grateful for everybody here, very grateful for all the people I’ve met and very grateful for you that you made it through what you went through and impact so many people’s lives. So, what I wanted to find out was while you’re there going through that struggle all of us have similar type driven, we want to get out of what we’re in, not nearly what you were in but we all have that. So how did you continue to keep that mindset, drive through it even when you got here how did you continue that mindset because it seems like nobody around here was able to and will odds against you how are you able to just got and hold it and push through?

Terarai: You know there’s something about our minds they wobble, we feel pain but I always maintained my dreams by focusing on daily rituals. And I talked about daily rituals you have to have your own daily rituals, something that grounds you, some they call it meditation whatever you have that can ground you because I can tell there were many times I wanted to give up, there were many times I wanted just go back to Africa but then I’d go back to those rituals, I would visualize those dreams with life deep down and at the ground encouraging me to say “Go on your own journey to redefine this baton.” That alone grounded me and I never wanted to go back. So it’s important to have something that to believe in and I also say surround yourself with individuals who give you energy, run away from toxic environment. You can’t change someone unless you want to change yourself.

Lewis: I want to acknowledge you thank you so much for sharing your story.

There you have it my friends’ powerful woman who has up the big things in the world. Make sure to share this with your friends tag me @lewishowes on Instagram and let me know if you’re listening and I’ll send a reply.

We are on track to taking over with a movement to possibility, a movement of potential, love and support that’s what this community is all about. If you haven’t got your ticket to the summit of greatness it’s gonna be a game changer. Go to summitofgreatness.com get your tickets right now, early bird is up there right now.

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I love you guys so very much and as the great Einstein said “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Look at the challenges in your life, look at the difficulties in your life, look at where you might be struggling that is the juice. I love you all so very much and you know what time it is, it’s time to go out there and do something great.