Rob Lowe Names Names: The Power of ‘Screw It’ | A Bit of Optimism Podcast

Maybe you know the feeling: you've got an idea, a joke, a risk you want to take… and you talk yourself out of it before anyone else gets the chance. Rob Lowe has spent four decades doing the opposite. He calls it a healthy case of the "screw-its." It's how he survived an industry famous for chewing people up. He went from movies to The West Wing when movie stars didn't do TV, and from TV to hosting a game show when that was supposed to be career death. His secret isn't avoiding failure. It's never letting failure decide what he tries next. Rob is an actor, producer, and bestselling author whose career runs from The Outsiders and St. Elmo's Fire to The West Wing and Parks and Recreation. He hosts FOX's The Floor and the podcast Literally! with Rob Lowe, and stars alongside his son John Owen Lowe in Netflix's Unstable. In this conversation, Rob tells the story of his infamous Oscars song-and-dance number (and the open letter from Hollywood legends that followed it). He also shares the Letterman appearance that taught him to trust his instincts for good, and explains why authenticity has become the only currency that matters. And I push him on the question under all of it: can the rest of us learn to take a punch the way he does? In this episode you'll learn: ➡️ Why a healthy case of the "screw-its" is a career strategy, not a character flaw ➡️ What the world's top tennis players can teach us about bouncing back ➡️ The one practical rule for being more authentic: stop self-editing ➡️ Why the thing you least want to talk about is the thing that makes you relatable ➡️ Why "availability" might be a better word than "vulnerability" ➡️ How to spot performative authenticity (+ Rob's three red-carpet poses) ➡️ Why you can meet your heroes, but shouldn't get to know them ➡️ How humor makes even the hardest subjects easier to talk about Rob's lesson is a freeing one: take the work seriously, laugh at the absurd parts, and trust your gut on the next big swing. Worst case, you get a great story. This… is A Bit of Optimism. + + If you want to listen to Rob’s podcast, Literally! with Rob Lowe, head to: https://teamcoco.com/podcasts/literal... Find out where you can watch Rob as host of GSN’s The Floor, weekends at 8pm ET: https://www.gameshownetwork.com/the-f... + + Chapters 00:00 The Oscars Disaster: When Rob Lowe Bombed on Stage 01:59 From Teen Beat Cover Boy to Career Death at 17 03:33 The Theory of Frozen Fame: Why Growth Stops When You Get Famous 05:29 The Secret to Staying Relevant for Decades 06:12 The Power of the F***-Its: Taking Risks That Shouldn't Work 12:45 The Comedy Central Roast and the Price of Humiliation 14:39 Learning to Trust Your Instincts After Letterman 20:06 Authenticity vs Performance: What It Really Means to Be Real 25:52 The David Letterman Story: Learning to Trust Your Instincts 36:47 The Three Red Carpet Looks: Man of the People, Blue Steel, and Iconic 45:30 Don't Get to Know Your Heroes: The Paul McCartney Philosophy 49:47 From Navy SEALs to Game Shows: Skills You Never Knew You'd Need 53:26 Finding Humor in the Darkest Moments 53:26 Living in Gratitude and Managing Expectations + + Simon is an unshakable optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Simon has devoted his professional life to help advance a vision of the world that does not yet exist; a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are and end the day fulfilled by the work that they do. Simon is the author of multiple best-selling books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better, and The Infinite Game. + + Website: http://simonsinek.com/ Leaderful: https://simonsinek.com/leaderful Podcast: http://apple.co/simonsinek Instagram: Instagram: simonsinek Linkedin: LinkedIn: simonsinek Twitter: Twitter: simonsinek Facebook: Facebook: simonsinek