Maisie Williams: Be Your Own Hero with Lewis Howes

people live their whole lives pretending to be someone in a character yeah putting on a mask yeah people don't really know who they are and you do it for so long that you really lose touch with who you are when I take it off and decide to stop that as if he were a very anxious person. Welcome everyone to the School of Greatness podcast. I'm so excited that we have Maisie Williams in house 5. We're in London. We are in her office area. A secondary office for hers. startup the cool part of town the cool part of town we were driving through or like me and if we were feeling good, we actually drove by I don't know 15 minutes away and there was a group of kids in similar outfits and already You know, the school suits and uniforms and they looked like Harry Potter kids, yeah, where's Harry?

I'm excited about this. We met a couple of months ago in Los Angeles and yes, you are a power in the world, you are a star, a great show, Game of Thrones, which I told him. I had never seen you. I watched the first ten minutes of an episode from a year ago. I never got into it, yes, but now I want to do it thanks to you. Oh thanks. I'm excited to get into the final season. seasons coming out right now, yeah, April 14th is coming, so there's a lot of press and stuff right now, everything, yeah, you're everywhere right now, cover of every magazine, you're doing it all, yeah, exactly, and this is interesting.

We were talking about this before we sat down about how anxious you get, yes, before interviews, before speeches, before photo shoots, before things like this, yes, but you are a huge superstar with millions of followers. around the world, but you do eight seasons of games and Yes, you're huge, but you still get anxious before an interview with a simple American who goes to my cast, right? I think, as an actor, you spend

your

life playing a character and then you know I've been doing a presence for about a decade and you know, there are moments where I feel like I'm playing a character and, you know, portraying a version of myself.

your

self, but I think there's nothing scarier than truly being yourself.

Wow, and yes, I get very, very anxious about a lot of things I think it helps me in some ways I do a lot better when I get a little bit under pressure I think and I think nerves is one way you do that, like feeding your nerves, yes or more accurately you are focused, yes, but yes, it can also be very stressful. I think you know, because a lot of people are going to hear what it's like to be yourself, so stressful, because I think for a long time I wasn't really sure. who I was, so I couldn't really be authentic because I was trying to look in a lot of other places for who I was and I guess it's that kind of fear of being discovered and, like you know, trying to say the right thing and trying to be the person you want. let it be in this situation that I tried to eliminate about a year ago and then I think the feeling that my nerves have definitely become much more intense, but the nerves are more intense, yes. when I tried to drop that, I don't know, yeah, a lot of you got it a lot when you're younger, when you grow up and you try something and then you meet a lot of people.

You have a lot of opinions and you say you're not, you know how to be authentic and you're just trying to figure it out for yourself. I think that's a pretty jarring thing to hear, and in my case, I've always felt like it's not. Do you know who I am, yes, yes I don't pretend to be someone or yes, yes, do you think more because you are 21 now you will be 22 soon? Do you think most teenagers feel this way even if they're not on a big show? and everyone absolutely looks at them, I think you know, anytime someone can see through my facade and see me for the nervous little cover that I am, I think that's actually quite a lot.

I get a pretty positive reaction from that so I've really tried to Embrace it a lot more because I think people can relate to that and you know getting up on stage and doing a TED talk is scary and I think watching someone finds it scary, ya You know, it makes you feel good, like, yeah, superhuman. Yes, yes, I'm not fine, yes. I feel like it's quite a natural thing to be a little nervous about being on stage and talking to people. So is it different being in front of the camera versus a film crew? I mean, no. knowing how many people are filming and we're not on set 20 to 50 people while you're doing a scene, you get more nervous when the camera says "ok, action", it's time to go get this right now, you've done it 20 times and now I need to do it right, which is more stressful, or a TED talk for 15 minutes in front of a thousand people, a TED talk, why didn't I perform?

That's in my bones and to be able to turn that on and so on. I can pretend to be still and calm and focused and thoughtful and that's all my job on Game of Thrones. Arya is very calculated and she can command a room by doing very little and I understand that feeling and I can portray it and I can convince. people, but my hands are shaking right now, so you can do that on a camera. I would be super calm, but on stage or yeah, on a simple little podcast with me you still get a little nervous or anxious, yeah, and I think that's really how it is. the act of like you know how to create a character of yes, pretend that you know what you think and I think people do it all the time people live their whole life as if they pretend to be someone Meritorious yes, put on a mask yes, people don't know really who you are and you do it for so long that you really lose touch with that, it's who you are and I think you know being able to do that so strongly and convincingly means that I've created a career out of it, but yeah, when I get naked I dismiss that and decide to leave it as if I'm a very anxious person and yeah, I don't know if there will ever be a way to fix that about me.

I mean, I definitely tried. I went to therapy and I've been medicated and I've tried a lot of different things, but you know, I think the best medicine they gave me was just trying to accept it and stop trying to fight it and just accept that this is how I deal with things. and not let that stop me from doing a TED talk. I'll still go and do it even if it means I'll feel uncomfortable and probably make my anxiety worse or I'll do a play. I did a play for three. months, the Hampstead Theater here in London was completely stressful one opening night I looked in the mirror I was alone in my dressing room and outwardly I said to myself in the mirror what made you think you could do this like set it up myself lol That's why I didn't That's the best thing I can say right before we meet for the first time, you know?

But I couldn't believe that, like in the past, Maisie had thought it would be an amazing idea, but then you have to stop, breathe and realize that, like it's me. I'm not going to let this stop me from doing the things that I enjoy because ultimately I enjoy performing, I enjoy being on stage, I enjoy that kind of stuff and I enjoy, you know, helping other people and I know that the words that I wanted to say in My TED talk could be inspiring to other people and I want to do that and it's hard, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't do it, yeah, so it's like trying not to hear those voices in me, yeah, I'll be the work. and a TED talk for you personally, how did you think it went?

The work was incredible. I felt very proud of myself afterwards and want to do more TED talks. The thing about a TED talk is that you do it all day in front of them. people who are on stage and then still alive after you, yes, on the day when the labor was not strong, there were many pregnant pauses where I looked at the crowd and thought: what am I, what am I doing here? Who would have thought I should be? I got it back and you know, but you know, and I'm one. I was really beating myself up after that.

I was with Ruben and we walked back to the train station. I basically cried all the way back to the train station which took the floor I couldn't even look at it because I was so embarrassed, I'm disappointed in myself and then we got to the train station and I pulled myself together and we were looking through a sharp point, We waited for the train and this girl came up and said Maisie and I turned around and she was like she was at your TED talk. It's so interesting to me that you're so terrified and you don't beat yourself up about it because yes, you know.

It wasn't the most powerful talk anyone's ever given, but the fact that you like to tear down that wall and let people see that you're kind of an anxious person, I think it's very humbling that they dragged me here, so that was what It was necessary for me to just hold on like it was bigger than that and it's okay that I did something wrong and then they edited them and now the videos work great and people are happy so yeah I don't need beat. Myself for the rest of my life now, where do you think anxiety comes from for you?

I think I think my whole family is pretty anxious people and I think mine is definitely a little bit improved and the youngest of four, right? Yes, yes, they are the same things. in the family, the baby, I think yours gets better, yeah, it's just that you know mine gets worse with being famous, you know, and the things that come with that, like being harassed on the street, you know that, but no I know, that's like the root of this I really feel like maybe I would have been an anxious person anyway even if I wasn't famous, so I don't want to say that because I think that's not true, I think I just have doubts about myself and my whole family you challenge yourself a lot, yeah I think we all do, we have this big star, your shows, you know, are celebrated, I don't think that's where your self-esteem comes from, although where does your self-esteem come from?

I like real connections with people like I pride myself and judge myself based on how you know how many people are good to me and help me and how many people I help one by one, that's how I feel. I'm worth something if I can be that friend that cools me down or if I can find if I have someone that cools me down, you know, I think that's where my self-esteem is, yeah, it's so bad that I don't give off personal connections. having the relationships you have whether they're strong or whether they're not strong hmm yeah and I think the reason you know maybe it got worse is because I have this fame and it's hard to understand what people's intentions are. and it's hard to have time for those relationships, so if you spend too much time away from home, it can get a lot worse and I spend too much time away from my family, but I think we all know that's how it is. it's like a little bit of self-doubt and I think we have pretty low self-esteem and you know, I can look at every member of my family and I think I can identify them, you know, I can see it in their eyes like things what I feel and things I think about myself. and as soon as you know, one of my brothers tells me something that is a phrase that I probably say to myself, you know, I hate this about myself, I hate, it destroys me and it's very difficult tell me, don't you dare because I know who I am exactly same, so I think it's something within us, but we are getting a lot better at talking to each other and supporting each other more, how do you think you can? change that for yourself personally and move forward where you don't say negative things about yourself or Who am I to do this?

Yeah, well, I definitely used to tell myself that I hated myself like every day. Well, I'd say I'd be inclined to do it. Myself before, just before you started appearing during the show, so this maybe started when I was 15 or 16, really, yeah, and I wasn't popular, yeah, we are. I would say out loud what in the mirror or I just like it and sometimes I would say it, but as you know, it's not just in my head, like I'm thinking about something, but like I'm cringing or feeling disappointed or everything or whatever. Whatever it was, and then it would start to get worse and worse until Sometimes I would just be with people, we would be talking and then I would be like, I hate myself and people like what and I don't feel anything, I'm sorry, well, it's just because the The thoughts in my head were becoming so overwhelming, but I would do it.

I just said it out loud and didn't realize I had done it. Wow, yeah, it was like I was very. I felt very negative about myself. Why do you think this is so? I even mean what could have changed on the outside to make you think differently. you had the biggest show, you know you're on the cover of magazines, you have all these opportunities, tons of people love you, but inside you didn't love yourself to sound like what would have to change in the external world for that change from freida, i think that was the point, was that i was waiting for something on the outside to change and it was never really going to, so i think it was important for me to find peace within myself, i think you know.

I had a lot of difficult relationships with friends and you know, my family, you know, I had a lot of thoughts about, you know, why did I get this success, you know, plus you like my brothers and you know how much guilt or things you might have. I felt like yes, definitely, so I think what I needed to do is start punishing myself for that and that's what came out because I would punish myself for being successful. Wow, yeah, I'm surprised you made it this far. I'm still showing the show. so I crave as much as the inner hate and punishment you get when you're definitely hit rock bottom before I really got to where I am now yeah, we wouldn't have had this conversation a year ago yeah, it's a much better place now, definitelyjust to find out what you think your biggest fear is right now.

My biggest fear is not spiders but you. I know I think I have no doubt that I am going to do wonderful things with my life, but I have a tendency to judge myself based on other people's opinions of me and that's where I always There have been a lot of my anxieties and something that I'm trying to change, but I don't know, you know that a year of doing that is not going to solve that, so I think you know now that the show is ending and moving forward in my life and I'm deciding what what do I want.

I want to do, I'm just worried that if people talk a lot about what they think about my life, that might affect me, even if it just bothers me, that scares me a little, because when I get angry it makes me forget a lot of things. Things that I've worked so hard on to try to understand what the energy is in that discomfort or in people exactly as opposed to the good things that you've done, yeah, well, your mission or what you want to create, yeah, and there That's when it starts to come back. here and you know it's like you're not calm one thing you read and then it can just spiral and I know I'm still very capable of doing it so that's my biggest fear for the future because I don't want to It's to stop me from doing the things I want to do, yes, but other people's opinions, do opinions still affect me or do I like them?

So how do you separate your emotions from what other people say about you? I think positive or negative, I don't know if this is the right answer, but for now, well, what I'm going to do is don't watch them, don't read any newspapers, don't comment on social media, yeah, I mean, definitely not that one. is the answer that is useful, I think, yes, but I think for me. It's going to be about getting away from some sort of social network, and as you know, if I'm trying something new, I want to be able to try it and figure it out and figure it out before I have to present it to someone to get their opinion.

The thing about being famous and doing anything is that people are always looking at you, so you can know that I can't go back to being a beginner at anything because everyone is expecting you to know exactly, it's what makes you think that you can do that. I'm like, well, I don't know, I'm just figuring it out, so I think you know, at least lock myself in until I know exactly what I want to go out and do next. I think that's important and something I'm so excited about just being able to take some time and be creative on my own and maybe even study again.

I always told myself I would never go back to school, but I think I would, if you had been doing the same thing. program for ten ten years now yes, ten years in a few months Wow, yes, it has consumed your life my entire adolescence like I was a complete child like twelve years old and now I am full, I mean I am a complete adult, but now you know over twenty-one it's like you know you're officially an adult so at least age wise emotionally yeah emotionally I think you know it really has been yeah everyone's seen me grow up yeah are you most excited for the show to end and watch it?

Whats Next? Or are you more worried? Well, am I going to book a big show again with a big role? Know? Because I know some actors we talked about last time. They have been big stars for years. The show ends and then they can come back. a casting, yes, for the next three years, yes, I don't know. My idea of ​​success in my future is not to try to do something that was as successful as Game of Thrones again. Most people don't have a point of view, yes, I think. That is where I have clashed opinions with many people in my life about what I want my future to be and for me I do not see successes that always go better and better, and more and more, because that is not the case. what I want I have no intention of being more famous than I am now I am happy that that is becoming less and less and in terms of being an actor and the characters that I want to play in the emotions that I have I want to portray, it is very rare to find that type of things in very, very important movies and sometimes they don't ask questions that are poignant enough, deep enough, real enough and I think you know I really want to. to tell stories that are heartbreaking or I just want to feel like I'm really a very emotional person.

I feel things very, very deeply and I love that and I want other people to feel that when they watch movies and when things are a little sweet. coated and you know I'm a little offensive. I think yeah, there are more opportunities like that for you and you know, and even not just me in the acting world, but you know personal accomplishments and things that I judge in my life. and yes, I don't want to run a marathon right when we're not talking about it, at what age do you want to complete it? Well, this is the thing.

I don't want to do it for myself and no one else and it's like I don't even want people to know when I'm doing it. I don't and as you know, I could raise so much money by doing a marathon and you know I'd rather donate it all. about my own pocket, so I have this, I'm doing this, it's not about anyone else and yeah, so it's just yeah, things that I want with my life that I think, as you know, it's hard to convey to a manager or someone who tells me. like. you, yeah, personal things, you like the little personal things that I want to do, where is my life?

That's great, yeah, what would you say your superpower is, empathy, maybe one, yeah, that's a very powerful superpower. I feel like I felt a lot of emotions like and I can feel them for other people, yes, and I have friends that you know that are just as emotional as me and I love that and I can see it and like you, you know the pure happiness and the joy of the amazing things that have experienced. in their lives and it's so beautiful but at the same time I feel like I can feel real sadness for other people and it can really, yeah, consume me sometimes, but it's a superpower, it can also be your kryptonite exactly, yeah, so you have to learn. to handle it yes, yes exactly and be proactive in your empathy as a happy user yes help someone yes see what you know see what makes them sad or whatever and how you know be able to understand it enough with it myself what I needed to do in that moment and you know how can I help someone like that, yeah, who was the most influential person in your life growing up and what was the most important lesson they taught you.

My mother was the most influential person in my life. and she taught me, she taught me, I mean everything, but I think you know I'm... things are coming to mind right now. She taught me to never put limits on anything I am capable of. She likes it, according to my mom. You can rule the world you know and having that kind of support makes you think when you ask how did you get through all that when you were putting yourself down so much, she never believed that I couldn't do something so she taught me that and then I think about seeing my mother growing up and I think understanding the way my mother feels about herself definitely impacted me negatively at times, but I think in turn, now that I've understood, it's made me love myself for her even.

If she sometimes can't love herself, you know what she I mean, so I think it was something that was very new to me and I can see a lot. Wow, that's great. She seems like an inspiring woman. Is incredible. My mother has done everything. she's just there's no one like her that I don't want with her life Wow she's so special if you were thirty years away and hypothetically still here right now but they're almost 30 years older 51 mm-hmm and you were watching yourself Right now you're going through everything you've been through in the last five years, especially in the last year, what advice would you give yourself now?

Looking back, 30 years from now for the next chapter of your life, keep running like you're trying everything while aiming. I think I'm really excited for the next 10 years of my life and I definitely have no idea what's going to happen and that's very exciting for me and I hope that when I get to 30 years later I have done everything there is to do in this world and I have met everyone and that is why I want to have achieved it. I don't want to be stuck anywhere. You know, I think I've trusted so much in this great opportunity that I was given a young seed, but it's like I want to run away from that and just live a normal life and see what I can accomplish with it and, yeah, I want to try everything.

I'm a very creative person, I hope so, I hope. I've explored all those avenues in 30 years, yeah, good advice like that. I want to ask a couple of final questions and we'll conclude. You have a new startup called Daisy. I just saw it behind the scenes. of this, you're showing me a little bit, she looks really cool, yeah, can you explain what it is and what your mission is? Yes, people can participate if they are listening or watching, so I started Daisy for artists and creative people, people always. Say that if you want to get into the industry, it's not what you know, it's who you know, and I think when you don't know anyone, it's very shocking to hear that you do, so I wanted to create a social media platform for artists and creative people . being able to discover a network of other people in different industries and collaborate with them on projects that you know they want to build, whether as a musician who needs a videographer to shoot a music video or as a photographer who is going to photograph you. you meet an artist at her new gallery or you meet across industries and people who really like finding these people who need to be able to elevate the work that they're already doing.

I think the key to six is ​​how to collaborate and find new audiences and I think the more people you can work with and the bigger your network can become, even if it's at a very basic level and, like it's an amateur level, I think those are the kinds of things that really start to catch people's attention and help. you enter the industry, that's why we created it and you know that all types of creatives can be artists, from graphic design to photography, yes, film, fashion, music, photography, art, literature, writing everything, in all areas, we want you be part of our platform and we want you to find like-minded people and find your place among each other.

I think a lot of creative people feel rejected from social media like Instagram or feel like they're not part of the Cool Club and I. I think Daisy is really about celebrating that messy middle and giving these people a place to really express themselves and find people who love what they do and I don't think that's weird that's cool yeah it's in beta right now but people may be on a waiting list. or they can register themselves, so in May people will be able to find us on wwe.com. Daisy with an IE as my name and you can follow us on Instagram and Twitter to see all the updates or join our mailing list and yeah.

You will be, you will be inside very soon in the club, the club like the aunt's club, that's right, applaud Daisy, calm down das IE da, I ask IE da es ie and Daisy on social networks, too, you They join in with what is happening right now. You also have a podcast that you are launching, yes, thank you very much darling, thinking of Maisie Williams, now it is about childhood dreams and when you are a child you know what you wanted to be when you grew up and how that compares to what the people do it from time to time, you know the idea of, from now on, what is your big dream for the future and it shows that you know that evolution never stops, yeah, it's been really wonderful.

I just talk to a lot of really creative people and I think it's really interesting to see that for so many creative people it's like their career is taking off, but usually that means you're crying into a pillow, so it's another thing, yeah, it's their career taking off. , they cry and become murderers, yes, I think. that's not a line from I think it's definitely Wears Prada or something like if your career is going well. I don't know, I more or less know, quiet lady. This is a really cool line from Devil Wears Prada. you know when your career is taking off like your personal life usually is your whole personal life is like suffering yes, yes, yes, yes, because you put all your energy into your career and your dream, but then when you find the balance, you lose yourself , yeah, I think you I talk to so many people and you know I haven't talked to many for my podcast, but in terms of interviewing people for Daisy, don't worry, you know the magazine or the profiles and you know the content that will soon be available on the website.

I think what I've really learned from creative people is that there's a lot of pain mmm that's what makes you so good mm-hmm that's what you also know aside yeah and trying to balance that's like the mission for so many people yeah yeah and it's like a constant, like staggering on that scale of: am I going to lose everything or am I always going to be very successful like this? And I think, for anyone who wants to get into the creative industry, it's kind of like that. which you know, it's like people who have this drive and this mentality to follow the path, it's like it's not inside a lot of people, very powerful, it's going to be toxic, if it can pierce you, consume you, I mean, we see some of our best . talented artists of our generation, you know, and their 20 is 27 inches from the age that they're there, they go the other way and they make it or just yeah, in the number of DD brains that we've talked to people with.

That likes us to struggle with this disorder and it's like Maidan are incredibly creative people who are going to do amazing things with our lives, yeah.and you know whatit's very interesting, you know what I thought the D ad was and then meeting these people and realizing that, oh, these are people who don't know their approach but they don't have what motivates them yet, yeah and when you do that, Oh my gosh, yeah, people like you know there's the artist Chloe, why is it like an ax without paint in five days and it's like a big huge canvas and she says I'm done and then it's on to the next one.

Lady, he is beautiful as in they are like painted pictures of photos that you took of her or her friends and it is like some kind of multimedia and she will just go and paint and paint and paint, she's done, she's done, she won't touch him again . I'll move on to the next one. You know, I just can't do that often. It's like a very interesting part of her brain that can produce things like that. Is incredible. It's crazy. Yes. You know you can't lock someone up. a room and just say how to paint seventeen canvases, it's hard, you know, a lot of people can't, maybe that's a little thing and they find it kind of crazy, so yeah, I think it's been very interesting for me to see these eccentric people and realizing that no, that's what makes you successful, yes, everything you know about people, it's so important to find those weird things about yourself, embrace them, thank you all, it's got Daisy, you have to think big.

Game of Thrones, everything happens almost at the same time, tell me what I am. The next few months will be very exciting for you. Is there anything else you would like to share? Let us know. We can support you with um. No I don't think there's all that crazy stuff going on but I think just like you know remember it all seems so super human but it's just going underneath it all just a girl looking at a boy I've been there before but I have to go see the blue door just a girl standing in front of a guy asking him a lot asking him to love her okay so we can follow you on Instagram yeah even if you want to be less famous but actually I might like to get away from all that kind of stuff soon, your labyrinth underlines me, underlines Williams, your most social platforms, so if you guys, before she leaves social media, are going to fall on her right now, take a screenshot of this video or audio, tag her in your interesting story, let her know how much you enjoyed this loss.

I'm sure she would. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this so be sure to tag Maisie and let her know I have two final questions for you, this is called the three truths okay so imagine it's your last day on earth in a hundred two hundred years mmm. -hmm, you have superhuman strength, you live as long as you want, but one day you have to quit, you have to move on to the next chapter, the next scene, if we want to keep the theme there and you've done it all. you listen to your 51 year old self who said: go on an adventure, do it all, meet everyone, you did everything you wanted to do, you live the most amazing life of your dreams, you look back, you have no regrets and you can leave the world with three lessons. three truths that this is all that would have to remind you of every lesson and experience you have had the people you have known the things you love the losses everything three things that you can leave behind so that the world remembers you for what Could you write your three truths?

I think the first would be: I don't know how to put it into words. I guess it's like how other people remember me doesn't mean anything unless I feel good about myself, so I don't do it. I know how I change that until I like other people's opinions, it doesn't mean anything unless you feel good about mm-hm, unless you love yourself exactly, yeah that's a good truth. Take care of the people around you, put good energy. in the world be a beacon of light even in some of the really dark days we are going through now.

I think the last one would be to look up when you're in the world, no, because I don't do that and I think we can all learn a lot from realizing how beautiful this world is, yes, yes, I want to recognize how amazing it is for opening you up, thank you for sharing, although I know you said you didn't want to be this bar that called you for your gifts for being a beautiful young woman for engaging deeply with people because I think it's an incredible superpower that most people don't have empathy like you, iconology for that knowledge now, for waking up simply realizing that that way of life was not powerful. for you and I wasn't helping anyone else and now you can do some beautiful things in the world even more so everyone I can do for all of this thank you one last question okay and that's what your definition of greatness is.

My definition of greatness is. like that feeling, the feeling of not being able to be taken down and it's not arrogance and it's not ignoring other people's feelings, but greatness is a feeling that you can't achieve anything, you can be anything, it's that feeling that will take you to that and Through that next hurdle, greatness to me is like your best day when you wake up and you know my three truths that I talked about like you're going to do every one of them and it'll be like you don't break a sweat and it's just a Beautiful day, this is the feeling you have.