Greetings, Superfriends, and welcome to the 300th episode of the SuperHuman Academy Podcast - where, as you've probably already heard me mention in previous episodes, after nearly 6 years and 4.5 million downloads - it is my duty to inform you that this episode will be our last - at least for now.
In this final chapter, I want to take a few moments to answer some of your questions, share with you how I've come to this decision, and let you all know what you can expect from me in the future.
The first question that's probably on everybody's mind, I imagine, is this:
If you've been paying attention, you know that podcasting is at its all-time peak right now, with just about everybody in every market you can imagine getting into the medium. And it's only expected to grow, with people consuming more and more podcasts every single year.
Of course, a lot of these new shows are destined to be part of "the long tail" - never crossing more than a thousand downloads per episode. But SuperHuman Academy, since its inception, has been a reasonably successful show - earning thousands of downloads per episode consistently throughout its 6-year run.
Add to this the fact that some of our best and most interesting guests and episodes have come out in just the last year - with quite a few "superstar" guests and life-changing episodes happening in 2020.
Why, then, have I decided to bring all of this to a close?!
In truth, there are a lot of reasons.
First, there's the "family" component. My wife and I just had our baby boy, and I've made the decision to clear off most of my calendar for a while to focus exclusively on this exciting and rewarding new adventure. The fact that I have the freedom to do this is a major blessing that I realize not many people enjoy - and I intend to take full advantage of it.
But, as you can imagine, there is much more to the story than that.
You see, when I first started this business - with nothing more than a simple Udemy course recorded with a webcam, it was intended to be a fun "side project" - a way to give back and earn a living while I searched for "the next big thing." I could have never anticipated that I would be where I am today, employing a full team, with over 300,000 students worldwide, bestselling books, a successful podcast, certified coaches all over the world, etc. What was intended to be a fun, lifestyle-oriented "side business" in many ways became a runaway success - and my main focus for the better part of 7 years.
All of that is well and good - I have no regrets whatsoever, and of course I consider myself extremely blessed for everything this journey has done for me and for those I've touched along the way.
But, in all truth, somewhere between then and now, I lost sight of what was important to me. I spent a few solid years mingling with and learning from the smartest minds in the business. And yes, there were amazing times where everything "clicked" and we were on top of the world. But since then, there have also been years of struggling - often uphill - towards endless growth and expansion, without considering whether or not it would bring me happiness (spoiler alert: it didn't).
Ultimately, for the second time in my life, I found myself in a prison of my own making: working more hours than I wanted to, to build something that wasn't even my dream. As a result of this, I learned a number of very valuable life lessons: first, there's no happiness in living other people's dreams. And second, there's nothing more important than happiness - nothing.
That's why, when COVID-19 struck, and a few key team members took it as an opportunity to resign and start their own businesses, rather than fighting tooth and nail to rebuild, I instead chose to view this as a huge moment of awakening - and a huge opportunity.
It's funny, you know? Day in and day out in my courses, podcast, and in interviews, I talk about designing the life that best suits you, about living "a la carte" instead of "prix fixe," and about how you can create your own unique lifestyle where you work as much or as little as you want to.
And sure, in many ways, my life today reflects those values and ideas. But sometimes our own advice is the easiest to forget - or, as they say in Hebrew, sometimes, the shoemaker goes barefoot. When the spell of "constant growth" wore off, I was forced to look at the plain facts: while I love this business, I love all of you, and I'm forever grateful for this entire experience… continuing to grow this business bigger and better isn't what makes me happy anymore.
It doesn't challenge me or excite me like it used to. It's not what I feel compelled to do. And no amount of impact, press recognition, or money is going to change that.
Similarly, another reason for stopping is that I sense that I've done all I can with the podcast. Sure, I can continue finding great guests to interview every week, but the reality is that most of the guests I've wanted to interview have already been on the show at least once, and those who haven't, I've come to realize probably never will be.
While the show has grown to a respectable size, it will likely never grow any bigger or reach the next level. And so, after 6 years without missing a single episode, the hard truth is that I'm bored. Sure, there are occasional interviews that blow my mind and make me want to keep going, but if I'm honest with myself, my sincere enthusiasm for recording the show week after week waned a long, long time ago.
What's more, I've found that my overall enthusiasm for the personal development space has really waned along with it. You see, though I'm still a lifelong devotee of all that personal development has to offer, after 7 years of working in the space day in and day out, I need to take a step back and cleanse my palate for a while. I'm sure I still have plenty to learn - and that I haven't heard it all just yet… but sometimes, it certainly feels that way. Not to mention that the marketing, the content creation, the collaborations, the webinars, and broadcasts… it's all a lot more work than it seems, and quite frankly, I think I probably just need a break.
People talk a lot about a "7-year itch," and there's really something to that. This same thing happened to me in my last business, a luxury car parts internet retailer that I grew to seven figures - and then sold after 7 years. Whereas I used to be obsessed with cars and learning everything there was to learn about them, towards the end, I was so burnt out that I wanted nothing to do with them. Only now, 9 years later, have I rediscovered that passion and enthusiasm I once had as a kid.
So now, you must be wondering:
I mean, from the sound of it, you might be worried that I'm going to pack up and leave, shut down or sell my website, and disappear into the sunset - much like I did when I left the aftermarket automotive industry.
Not to worry. I'm not going anywhere - at least not right now. After all, a huge part of why I do all this is a feeling of responsibility. So many of the techniques, ideas, and strategies that I talk about in my courses and on this podcast fundamentally changed my life - and for that reason, I feel like it's my moral obligation to continue sharing them with the world - even if my day-to-day involvement has been reduced to a minimum.
This is why I spent the better part of the last year training over a dozen SuperLearner Certified Coaches, who will continue working hard to ensure that the worldwide impact of the SuperLearner methodology continues to grow. It's also why my team and I have been really active in sharing content on social media - so make sure to subscribe to us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, if you haven't already.
So while my company will be running mostly independently of me, with a smaller staff and significantly reduced marketing, all of our existing courses, programs, and content are not going anywhere. In fact, I might even come back from paternity leave and continue producing new courses or content, from time to time - especially on social media. I even have an idea (and a domain name) for a new podcast, which I'm calling "The Lifestyle Entrepreneur." It's all about how to build your business around the lifestyle you want, as opposed to the other way around. In fact, if that sounds good to you, you can show your support for this new project by subscribing to the mailing list at LifeStyleEntrepreneur.com
In addition to all of that, the serial entrepreneur in me couldn't stand still for too long. Paternity leave or no paternity leave, it took me all of about 15 minutes after deciding to scale down my time commitment to SuperHuman Academy before co-founding a new business that I've been working on a lot lately. It's called Coffee (you can check it out ChooseCoffee.io), and it's a high-ticket sales team as a service. Basically, we work with businesses that have high ticket offers - whether that's coaching programs, mastermind memberships, B2B software, and more - but who don't want to deal with hiring and training a sales team.
While it might seem completely out of left field based on my skill set, I'm excited about this business because it gives me the opportunity and challenge of working on novel technological implementations for our clients, connecting their systems to ours, without being involved in the "business" side of things too much. Leveraging technology to automate work has long been one of my favorite things - and one of my favorite parts of building out SuperHuman Academy, so I just couldn't resist the opportunity to take on a role where that's my sole focus.
Finally, there are still some question marks as far as what's next. As time has progressed, I've felt increasingly compelled to get involved in some way, shape, or form with environmental impact. I'm not sure whether I want to do so as a volunteer, a cofounder, or even as an employee… but I know that I'm passionate about solar energy, carbon capture, alternative protein, electrification, and more. So, if any of you out there have ideas as to how I can leverage my skills to make an impact in that industry, I'd love to hear from you.
Now, that was a lot to take in - and probably pretty confusing. On the one hand, I'm scaling down my involvement in this business, but on the other, I might start another podcast, on top of at least one other side business I'm starting?
"Dude... make up your mind," amiright?
If I were you, I'd probably want a clear, definitive answer:
The best answer I can give you is "Maybe."
Allow me to explain:
For now, I will definitely be taking at least a few months hiatus from the "superhuman" content and podcast interviews.
And one way or another, I really want to get off of the superhuman hamster-wheel, where I'm constantly under the gun to create new podcast interviews and content on a weekly schedule.
With that said, I can't promise I won't miss it - just a little.
And quite frankly, if the opportunity to interview one of my "bucket list" guests were to crop up - hint hint, Tim Ferriss - of course, I wouldn't turn it down.
So, yes, there may be a future version of the show where I release episodes more like once a month or once in a while.
It's all going to depend on what I end up doing next, how much time that takes, and what I feel excited about doing. I think I owe that to myself.
All this is to say that I would love it if you all stay subscribed both to our free content mailing list at SuperHumanAcademy.com and to the podcast itself in your podcast player. Who knows… I might just surprise you.
And now, before I let you go, one last thing:
Have you ever taken a moment to look at something that is "normal" in your life - something that you take for granted - with fresh eyes, and realized that it's absolutely mind-boggling? It could be looking at your kids and realizing that you made them… or looking at a 300,000-pound airplane and realizing that it glides through the air…
Well, that's exactly how I feel when I think about this podcast, and about SuperHuman Academy as a whole. The fact that all of you - hundreds of thousands of people in all 205 countries and territories worldwide - have tuned in for literally millions upon millions of hours of my content is absolutely humbling and awe-inspiring. And the incredible reviews, personal transformation stories, and testimonials many of you have shared are also deeply, deeply moving.
When I think about my own origin story - from being a bullied, depressed, and underachieving 13-year old with low self-esteem… to where I am today… in a position to empower and provide value to so many people all over the world, I'm truly speechless. It has been, without a doubt, the greatest honor of my life thus far.
And so, I want to thank you - each and every one of you. Not just for tuning in and listening… and no, not just for supporting my business financially throughout the years, either - though I appreciate both of those things tremendously. What I really want to thank you for is the deep impact you've had on my life. For the meaning and the purpose you've given to my own, at times very painful, journey. I don't often think about what I would say to 13-year-old Jonathan, if I could go back in time. But most likely, thanks to all of you, I think I know what it would be:
"Stick it out. In the end, you can't even imagine how many people you're going to help because of this."
On that note, the teacher in me can't resist sharing just one last, final "nugget." At the end of nearly every episode of the show for the last few years, I've asked each guest the same closing question: "If our audience were to take away one big message from this episode and carry it with them for the rest of their lives, what would you hope for that message to be?"
For me, from day one, through thousands of hours of content and endless interviews and videos, my message has been the same. It's been my personal mission to be a living example of how you can create your own, unconventional, custom-tailored life to suit your own needs, dreams, and desires. There's a sense of poetic fulfillment, then, that this final episode - this closing message - is me doing just that. Walking the walk, taking my own advice, and making the uncommon decision that leads to more happiness, satisfaction, and growth.
My only hope is that each of you have learned to do the same.
Wishing you all the best - from the bottom of my heart.
-Jonathan Levi