Three people, three powerhouses who have achieved marvelous things, each have one incredible life-changing question to ponder which Mel Robbins, the podcast sensation, was so astute as to share with her faithful audience.

The first question, to which I will devote this article, comes from the lovable mega movie star Terry Crews. This hilarious man is a TV host, sitcom star, comedian, best selling author, artist, children’s book illustrator, and People magazine’s sexiest man alive three years in a row. 

I’ll give you a little backstory on him. He went to Western Michigan University on a scholarship, that he had received due to his passion for Art, and where he ended up playing football. But his heart wasn’t in it. It was just a way out of Flint Michigan. After a brief stint with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL, he retired in 1996 and moved with his family to Los Angeles to pursue animation and get into the movie industry. His wife was naturally concerned about what would become of them. He responded to her concerns with: “We are never leaving LA; I don’t care if it happens when we’re 99.” You see, Terry had learnt from not giving it his all in football and not getting a second chance at it. This man had a taste of the high life, what most people strive for, the fame, the fortune, the press, the cars…Only to have the rug pulled right from under him. Having a level of self-awareness and candidness few people possess, he used this knowledge to push himself forward. The first lesson resonating here is this: “It is not about being the best, it is about how long you are willing to show up, give it your all, and not quit”. It is about remembering how much it sucked to have something not work out because if you’re being honest with yourself, you didn’t pour yourself into, just it like Terry hadn’t.

Cut to the stage in his life where he’s sweeping floors to survive in LA. To get out of his depression, he played games with his mind and asked himself one question, THE question that has the power to turn your whole life around: “Imagine if someone was gonna give me one million dollars to sweep this floor, how would you sweep it?”. Terry swept his little heart out and forgot about his troubles. “He ramped up how he showed up”. This right here is the way you play life to win. In this manner, you uncover your hidden potential by showing up as your best self. 

It proves to you that at any moment, you are capable of great things. 

He moved forward asking himself that question in every lowly job he had. While doing security for movie sets, he turned up his shirt ironed, stocked up on batteries, and pouring his heart into it, reversing the bad attitude he had in the league. Terry Crews reverse engineered excellence, motivation and how to raise your own standards with this invaluable question.

During that phase, he realized he hadn’t worked out in a year. Subsequently, he started going to the gym and paying 25$ a month, never having paid a dime to go to the gym. At first, he would just sit and read magazines on the machinery. Till one day he began actually using them, which catapulted a 30-year habit of working out. Another valuable lesson here is to just do it, do it tired, do it depressed, till you build a habit. This habit of excellence makes all the difference seeing as “how you do anything is how you do everything”.

Incrementally, one thing at a time, he made it again to the big leagues. He became a famous actor while setting out to be an illustrator for a company such as Pixar. He hadn’t planned for his big break, which is what happens in most cases. A door that hadn’t crossed your mind flies wide open for you and the rest is as they say history.