Thirty Minute Mentors Podcast Transcript: Former NFL Star Donald Driver

I recently interviewed Donald Driver on my podcast, Thirty Minute Mentors. Here is a transcript of our interview:

Adam: Our guest today was a star in the NFL playing in four Pro Bowls over the course of his 14-year career. Donald Driver is the Green Bay Packers all-time leading receiver, is a New York Times bestselling author, and is the founder of the Donald Driver foundation. Donald, thank you for joining us.

Donald: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Adam: Appreciate you coming on. Donald, you didn't have an easy childhood. You grew up in poverty and for a period of time were homeless before moving in with your grandmother when you were 14. Can you take listeners back to your early days? What were the key experiences and lessons that shaped your worldview and shaped the trajectory of your success?

Donald: Well, I think if we go back, we go back almost what? We say 30 some years ago. For me, it was a memory that was almost like a field trip that I was taking. A life was built around a roller coaster. Never knowing what the ins and outs were moving from one location to the next location. Not knowing when you're going to ever have a foundation to be able to say this is where you need to be. And this is where you can lay your head. It was more like a field trip. I was enjoying it. I was enjoying the ride, not knowing the outcome that we were really homeless, living in and out of hotels and apartments. And I live it once in a while in a U-Haul truck. You think those are trips, especially as a kid, you never know the things that you go through. And so as I got older, that's when I started to realize that we were struggling. And mom made everything possible to make it a good environment for her five children. And so I think people will say, for me, I didn't have the most great time growing up. But I didn't have the hardest time, as well. As I think a lot of people have a harder life than I did. It's just for me, it was an opportunity to figure out where I wanted to go in life. And so for a kid like myself, dad was in and out of prison, mom was working two or three jobs just to provide for her five kids. And then, unfortunately, my mom, well, my mom was a mover and a shaker, meaning she never wanted to stay in one location longer than a year or two. She wanted to move from one location to another. And as a kid, you never know what's really going on. And as you get older, you start to ask those questions. What were you chasing? And for my mom, she was chasing identity. She was really trying to find out who she was as a woman and as a mother. And then, unfortunately, she found her own roots. And so sometimes you think you need individuals to make you and identify who you are. And I think that she needed that clarity from a man to make her the woman that she was and then she realized she didn't need that. And during that process, she put her kids in situations that she probably shouldn't have. And the outcome is that we all turned out to be great kids. And so sometimes the hardships that you go through, and the trials and tribulations that you face, it makes you a better person. And for me, it made me a better man, made me a better father, and a brother.

Adam: Donald what's really interesting, as you recall, your childhood is objectively you had a really difficult upbringing. But as you describe it, you focus on the positive. And you really harp on how it shaped you to become successful. Turning the negatives into ways that you were able to become all that much better. And so much of it comes down to your attitude, how you face adversity, how you handle the tough times, how you handle the hardest moments. And you had many hard moments, not only as a kid, but over the course of your career. And I want to know, if you could share with listeners, any concrete examples of difficult moments where you found yourself staring at it and saying, man, how do I get out of this? And you were able to get out of it and what you're able to learn from it?

Donald: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of success stories in my life. And I think sometimes it's hard to just pick one. But I will say the one that really justifies who I am as a person, individual, I think for me, it was when I was at Alcorn State University. At that time, I was still doing negative things. I was still selling drugs at the time. And suddenly you get caught in a situation where you have to either take yourself out of it or you keep yourself in it. And my mom used to always tell me, there's only two things that can happen by doing it the wrong way. You either gonna end up in jail or you end up there. And for me, I felt like I didn't want either one of those. So I had to figure out how to get out of the situation that I was in. And so sometimes you have to be willing to step away from all the friends that put you in that situation and sometimes as you lose your friends, but at the end of the day, they’re family. They don't always stick with you. And so I was able to step away from the game, but it was more. I wanted to my senior year, at Alcorn State, I got the word that our dorm rooms were gonna get raided. And I had a large pile of narcotics in my room at the time, and I just decided that I had to get rid of them. And so I went to my girlfriend, now wife at the time, and told her to put this bag away for me, because I knew they were gonna search our rooms. And she gave me an ultimatum. She kind of told me that you have a choice to make, you either going to be with me or you continue this life. And I loved her. I took the bag back with me and told my guys that she wasn't gonna do it, she wasn't gonna hide it away. And sometimes, that's when you really want to risk everything, for the upside of what your life could hold. And so that was easy for me to tell my guys that I'm out, that I choose her over this life. And sometimes the body's trying to lead you in a different way and say, there's more efficiency. Or sometimes you can go out there and try to fish all day long, and you never catch. And for me, that was one of the things that I felt like I was gonna never be able to do is catch the fish that actually had my back, and wanted to make sure that my life was positive at the end of the day.

Adam: I love it. And a really important lesson is the power of surrounding yourself with the right people. You were surrounded by the wrong people. But fortunately, you had a great person in your life, your girlfriend, your now wife, who was the right person who was a positive influence, your grandmother a positive influence in your life, you've been a positive influence in the lives of so many former teammates, so many other people. Can you share with listeners what it takes to be a great mentor, and what your best tips are on the topic of mentorship?

Donald: Man, oh my. I would say for me, it's three things. First, I think it has to be identity, you have to know who you are. And then from there, it has to be relationships, you have to be able to build relationships in life. And then last, it has to have a purpose. I think for me, it is that you have to have a purpose for why you strive every day, why you wake up and want to see better, not just for yourself, but individuals. And so I think if listeners out there who are listening to this thing, man, they have to find out who they are individually. And that's where it starts, with identity, you can't go back. And I think so many people come in and say, well, I'm gonna start with the purpose because I need a purpose to be able to build relationships, and then I can create who I am. But it doesn't go that route, it always starts with identity, it builds relationships, and then you have a purpose. If you go that route, you're going to be successful in life. You try to go backwards, and you try to have a purpose for why you are here, then it's gonna be hard to build relationships because you're not gonna be able to build that because you're still trying to chase what your purpose is. And then from that, you'll never know who you are. So you're chasing this different person that doesn't need to be chased. And so I think it always has to go in the cycle of identity, relationships, and purpose. And for me, I think I've been able to do that. I kind of tell people all the time that in success, there's four things that people fear: insecurity, worry, doubt, fear. And when you think about those, I tell people all the time, I'm gonna always have three of them, I'm gonna always have fear, I'm gonna always have doubt, I'm gonna always have worry. But insecurity I never have, because I know who I am as a person. And I think that's what a lot of people struggle with because they have all four. But I think you have to always have those as a father. I'm going to always have fear and doubt and worry about who my kids are hanging around, with whom they're going to marry, all those things, I have a son and two daughters, and so forth, that I'm gonna always have that. But at the end of the day, insecurity is out of the question.

Adam: I love it. Before you can effectively lead others you need to be able to lead your own life. Self-awareness is essential to being a great leader. You've been around so many great leaders in sports. You were one of the leaders on the Green Bay Packers. You led the Packers to the last Super Bowl that they won. In your experience, what are the key characteristics of a great leader? And what can anyone do to become a better leader?

Donald: Be willing to understand that you have to be willing to be uncomfortable. Great leaders are uncomfortable all the time. And they have taken that passion and been successful with it. I think there's a lot of people out there that are not successful because they just can't understand being uncomfortable. The hardest thing is being uncomfortable. You have to love it, you have to embrace it. Because that will make you the person that makes you the leader that you are and be open to the conversation. I tell myself being an owner, and entrepreneur, I tell people all the time my employees, I tell them all the time we're family. This is why we sit together. And I said the thing that you got to understand about me is that you don't work for me, I work for you. And it's crazy that so many of my employees go, what do you mean? Like you write the paychecks. You do all this? I'm like, that's true. But at the end of the day, I still work for you. You don't work for me because every CEO, every VP, every senior vice president, every executive, there's always people underneath them. And what I've always said is that I have never been at the top if I don't take care of the people that's on the bottom. Most entrepreneurs in his world have never done anything alone. They all need someone to guide them through the process, but their name is gonna always be on the top of the ballot. And sometimes you gotta understand that the people on the bottom of that ballot are the people that made you at the top.

Adam: Who were the best leaders that you played for and played with? And what did you learn from them?

Donald: Ron, oh, my gosh, I would say one of the best leaders that I have ever been around. As far as the organization, the Green Bay Packers, I would have to say his role with Ron kind of took me under his wing, as a player, it believed in me from the beginning, where even the old coaching staff didn't believe in me. And so Ron came to me and said, “Listen, I believe in you. I know that you can make this team. But I need you to go out and prove”. And for a great leader, knowing that he had drafted receivers before me, he brought in free agents before me, he had guys on the roster that deserve to get paid a lot of money. But he was one of those guys that really said, hey, listen, I believe in you. And for that, that's what a great leader is believing in someone that maybe at that point, didn't believe in yourself. And so for me, I went out there, and I proved everything that I could to play in the National Football League. That would be all you need is one. And when you find that one person that can believe in you, you have to be successful. And I didn't want to let Ron down. I wanted to prove to him that I deserved to be here and that he should have drafted me with a first-round pick.

Adam: That's awesome. As a leader, demonstrating faith in the people around you, empowering people, giving them confidence, having confidence in your people, if you don't have confidence in the people around you, they're not going to have confidence in themselves. I had a guest on this podcast, who was one of the most successful people in the history of the video game industry, Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts. And one of the things that he shared is that when he was working at Apple, right at the beginning of his career, he had a vision for where he wanted to take the video game industry. But he was young, he was just starting out. And one day, Steve Jobs came over to him and said, “You know what? You have great vision, you should really do something with it”. And that compliment from Steve Jobs gave Tripp the confidence in himself to go out and act on his vision, which ultimately led to Electronic Arts which ultimately led to the disruption of this entire industry. So it was a leader, having confidence in someone, and going out and saying I believe in you completely changing the course of an entire industry.

Donald: Yeah, I think that's the key. I think we have to have someone that just really believes in us and gives us an opportunity. That's the number one goal. A lot of individuals don't understand that the opportunity is right there. Funny. You just have to be willing to take one of my favorite quotes, Bill Graham said, “Sometimes we stare so long at the door, that's about the clothes that we miss the one that's about to open”. And so many successful people, that's what they do, because they're so afraid the doors have closed already. And you have to find another opportunity to get in. And when you can do it. Just go to the next door. Go to the next door.

Adam: And Donald, you're a great example of that. You were not exactly the highest touted prospect coming out of Alcorn State, which isn't exactly a major feeder to the NFL. You were drafted by the Packers all the way at the bottom of the NFL Draft. You're a seventh-round pick. And your first three years in the league were anything but ceremonious. But in year four, you got that opportunity. And you broke out, you broke the 1000-yard receiving Mark caught nine touchdowns, made the Pro Bowl and the rest is history. You got that opportunity. You capitalized on it. Can you share with listeners how you went from Donald Driver, unknown afterthought, to Donald Driver, NFL star?

Donald: I think that's a Cinderella story in itself. I think this thing, I think no one expected, no one expected me to come in as a seventh-round draft pick. Most seventh-round draft picks are not going to make the team. And then at the end of the day, you end up on the practice squad or you end up chasing other teams to make ends meet. And for me, I felt like the only thing I could do was prepare myself where I could not be indispensable. And so what I mean by that is as a receiver and there are four different positions you can play on the football field. They kind of came in, they said hey, listen, don't you gotta be a flanker and for people that don't know football as well. That's the guy that's all the way outside, that's outside the number,. and he runs all the deep routes. That's what they told me I was going to play when I came in. And then all of a sudden, I got in practice one day, and I forgot what route ahead at the moment. And I looked at one of the receivers and I asked a question, I'm like a well-rounded guy. And he told me, I had a post. And so I ran this post route, I caught my breath or threw myself deep. When I catch it, I'm thinking like, this is the greatest thing in the world, just scored on our first tour de France. I'm excited as a rookie, and everyone's screaming at me, like yelling at me, I've done some, and I'm like, what did I do something wrong? Yes, I ran the wrong route. The good thing is I was wide open, and I beat the guy. And I made a touchdown. But Brett was looking for me to run the comeback. And I ended up running the post, while the guy who told me the roll route. And so at that point, I knew that this game was not about a team. At this point, we're in training camp, everyone's out for their own stuff, everyone's out to make the team. And so, I went back to my dorm room, and I just studied. And I said the only way I can make this team is I have to make myself indispensable. And how I did that is I learned every position in the offense to make sure that they cannot get rid of. And so when the tiny came out of the game, they needed to receive it to go in and replace the tiny and I stepped in. And I remember them looking at me saying, you know what you're doing? And I said, yeah, I know what I'm doing. He said, okay, let's go to work. And we just connected and we connected and connected and connected. And for that, I wanted to make every play count. And I think that's what caught the fans’ attention. And that's what caught the organization's attention. And I think that's why Ron believed in me in the beginning. And so for them, an opportunity was presented right in front of me, I had a choice to either do something with it or let it all crumble. And for me, I took the initial step to do something with it. And so when the opportunity came, there were other guys on that team that only had one position. And I knew all four. And so that allowed me to be indispensable. And sometimes that's what you have to make yourself in this world, make yourself indispensable. We all know that we're not robots, we can't just keep ourselves in one little bubble, we have to be able to expand ourselves out. And that's what I was able to do.

Adam: That's a great tip. And it doesn't matter if you're playing football, or if you're working in any company, make yourself indispensable. Figure out what you can do in the role that you're in, that will add value to the people around you. That will add value to your boss, that will add value to your colleagues, that will add value to your customers, that will add value to every person in your orbit. If you're helping everyone around, you get better. You're going to stick around, there's going to be a spot for you. There's going to be a place for you

Donald: Yeah, I think you have to care. People don't care how much you know, listen to how much you care. That was the initial piece. I had to care about myself individually first so that I could go out there and do the things that I needed to do. And I think that's what so many people out there have to do. If you care about yourself, then you're going to put yourself in situations that will allow you to grow in the industry that you're in. I will tell every person, don't put yourself in the box. Don't limit yourself or what you feel like you can't do. Because anything is possible. You just have to believe the impossible is actually possible. If you believe in that.

Adam: Take pride in what you do. I'm thinking about the great book on Vince Lombardi when pride still mattered. Take pride in your work. Take pride in yourself and set as high a standard as you can for yourself. Whatever standard your boss's setting for you, whatever standard your coaches are setting for you, the standard that you set for yourself should be higher.

Donald: No expertises give yourself higher expectations than what they believe in you. That's gonna be anything you want to do.

Adam: Yeah, yeah. And Ron Wolf set high expectations for you. But no one had higher expectations than you had for yourself.

Donald: No, I told Ron this when I got inducted to the practice hall of fame, right? I told Ron, I said, “You had high expectations for me, but I had higher expectations for me”, because Ron said he never would have thought in a million years that drafted me, I would go in and become the all-time faculty receiver in franchise history. I don't think anyone ever expected that. And so for that, kind of look where I'm at now.

Adam: If Ron did, he wouldn't have let you slip to the seventh round. Let's be real about that. You played on winning teams, you played on losing teams. You play for teams that shattered expectations, you played for teams that didn't live up to expectations. What differentiates aided winning cultures from losing cultures and what differentiated great teams from good teams?

Donald: Learning from your mistakes. I think that's the key. Because regardless of what you do in life, you will make mistakes. And you have to embrace the mistakes and you learn from them. And do I think we were able to learn from what we learned from every single one on going to win multiple Super Bowls? No. But I think the thing that we did learn is how we get over this hump. And I'll give you an example, to go on in 2010 to win the Super Bowl. I don't think anyone expected that as a wildcard, no one thought we would go on the road and do the things that we had to do to get to where we need to be. And that's the ultimate during the Superbowl in Dallas, Texas, against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't think anyone even predicted or could have imagined that would even be possible. But the thing that we did is we found what we were missing. And we fixed it that year, we faced a lot of adversity. And I think that's the thing you have to remember, how to face adversity, and how to be able to continue to move on. We had a lot of guys get injured that year. And we were like, okay, who's going to be the next guy that steps up? And we had a lot of guys step up to the plate. And we were able to go on the road, we had to win two games, we had won the last few games just to get into the postseason, we went on to do that. First of all, we had to go in to beat the Giants, we beat the Giants, then we had to go on to Chicago for the last game of the year. And Chicago didn't have anything to lose, they already had home-field advantage. They were already in the playoffs, they had won the Division. And we went in and we beat them. And so they had told us they were gonna end our dreams tonight. But we prove to them that we will fight for more than what they were fighting for. And so with that went on, we went on to go to Philadelphia. And that was a hostile environment. If you ever know Philly fans, they're coming after you with everything they got to win. We were able to win, we were able to go into their hostile environment and beat them there. They went on to Atlanta. Atlanta was one of the greatest things that happened, at the time they were taught in their division, we went in, we spanked them, we played lights out. And then we went on the road, went on the road to Chicago. And we knew that we had to get to Chicago once again, to get to where the ultimate destiny was. And that's suitable. And we went on to win that game. And we knew that at that point, there was nothing stopping us, the only thing that could stop us now is us. And so there's a lot of people that go through those things that will face adversity, will go through challenges, and will make mistakes. But you have to be willing to fight through every single one of those to become the person or the company that you want to become.

Adam: And so much of it comes down to having a winning mindset. How can anyone develop a winning mindset?

Donald: It goes back to what I talked about earlier, identity, who you are. And I think that's the key. You don't have to allow someone else to justify and define who you are. If you allow those individuals to tell you who you are, then you'd never become who the person you need to become. And for me, that was always my niche is that I don't allow someone that's defined my world for me, I don't let anyone else tell my story. My story is going to be told to me. I told somebody I like that I'm 47 years old. And guess what? I'm still writing chapter 47. When I turn 48, I'll be writing chapter 48. And I don't know what the chapter looks like. But I know one thing about it is that this was the last chapter I wrote, then guess what? It's been an amazing journey. But I'm able to tell that story.

Adam: And what's a really important point, because a lot of people might think of you as Donald Driver, the football player. That's a pretty well-known chapter in your book. But that was one chapter. Another chapter is Donald Driver, New York Times bestselling author, sharing your story, sharing this great story. A chapter that you're writing right now is this partnership with moral code. And I want to ask you about that. It's something that I know you're very passionate about. I know that you believe strongly in the importance of dressing for success, something that might get overlooked in today's casual environment. What is your moral code? And why is it imperative that everyone have a moral code that they live by?

Donald: My moral code is what you create. That's it. I think so many people can put their own stamp on what their moral code is, but mine is what you create. What do you want to stand for? What do you want to be noticed? And for me, it's all about creating something that's unique and different. And so, me and my son, Christian, we teamed up together to realize that we really are very passionate about the shoes that we put on our feet. And we know that if we can impact lives through shoes, we've done some amazing things. As a kid growing up, those were the hardest things that I've never been blessed to have. I had brothers and sisters that chose to go down generations because we couldn't afford to go and buy shoes from Nike or Adidas or Puma. That was not it and we say this, we shopped at Payless. And I remember going in buying the old XJ 900 and when I used to think those were the Michael Jordan's of the days, but we were handed downs every time. My brother got older, he grew out of shoes, it got handed down to me. And so the first time I was able to go into a store and buy my own shoes, was when I made it to the National Football League. It was the most blessing that I could ever expect to put a smile on my face, knowing that I could actually walk out with these shoes on my feet, and not have to put them in the box and save for school. That's the most amazing thing. And so me and Christian, we decided that we're going to create something, we got to create something that we make an impact in society. We want more Black, Brown, Latinos, Caucasians, we want everyone to dress more to impress. We feel like if you are, like I tell people, you look good, you feel good. That's number one. But everyone can tell what someone's profession is, by the way that they wear on their feet. You know, I tell people this all the time, if you see a guy come in, and he got construction boots on, and he got jeans on, he's when most likely he's in construction work. If you see a guy wearing dress shoes on, you think in your mind, like he's got to be an attorney, he’s got to work in the marketing department, he's got to work in some field. But guess what, today's eyebrows, society's balls in his new bubble, that you can wear anything now. And no one can tell what your profession is. But back then when I was a teenager, that's what I knew. If somebody had on dress shoes, you knew they were businessmen or they had on a suit, a briefcase in hand, they were in the business world. If they had old tennis shoes, and they had a nurse uniform on or a doctor's coat, and you knew they were a doctor, they were a nurse. But now, times have changed. Because now you can wear anything on your feet. And people still can't figure out what your profession is because we have opened up society to get out of this bubble of being stereotyped of where we are to where we know we can wear anything we want. And that's what I love about it. So what Krishna is created to say, hey, listen, be more presentable when you go out. And they can be casual, they can be dressy, they can be comfortable, whatever that is, but be more presentable. And we feel like if we can touch young men's lives through shoes, then we've done our part. And so that's where it started. I come from a homeless background to where I'm at today, there's a lot of kids that come from that background. And for those shoes, they're still shopping at the gift stores, because they're trying to figure out how to be able to buy more. Parents are saving money to be able to get those kids the shoes that they need. And so when we say if we can donate shoes, and sell shoes, then we're doing our part in society because we're giving people an opportunity to feel comfortable. And what you have to have is what the shoes mean. Christian said, “It gives you confidence that you can do anything you want to do”. And for that, we're changing lives.

Adam: Confidence is essential to success. And this really all comes back to something that we chatted about earlier, which is setting high expectations for yourself, taking pride in how you carry yourself, taking pride in who you are, setting the highest standards.

Donald: Yeah, I think that's the thing. I think a lot of people don't set those standards for themselves because they want somebody else to set those standards for them. And then they hope that they can follow through with them. But that's not how it's supposed to be. You set your own standards, you set your own goals, you set your own values, and then the outcome was positive because now you control your own destiny.

Adam: You mentioned the Philadelphia Eagles. And I would imagine you got hit probably pretty hard by a guest on this podcast. Brian Dawkins, one of the things that Brian shared is that everyone has to have a vision for their life. Because if you don't have a vision for your own life, someone else will and their vision for your life is going to be a lot more beneficial for them than it's going to be for you. So take ownership in everything you do, including ownership of your own life.

Donald: You know, I think it is, God gives everyone a platform. As you're born into this world, you don't know what your platform is. As you continue to grow in life, god says, here's your platform. He gives you all these gifts. And people sometimes ask the question, well, what do you mean God gives us all gifts? And I tell him, there's going to be a point in life where we're going to be standing at the gates of heaven. And God's gonna tell you, these are all the gifts I get, you're gonna be lined up, some of the President's is going to be closed, some of the press is going to be tipped up a little bit open, and then some is going to be completely open. And you're going to ask the question like God, so what was that? Well, those are all the gifts I gave you. Those are God's gifts that you use. And then all these other presidents that's all closed. You never opened up. Then you ask yourself, what can I go back and open? It was too late now. You have to be willing to open up every deal because at the end of the day, that's what God gives you. He gives you all these gifts, and you never want to question at the end of it why you didn't use them all. And so we never know what our gifts are. There's opportunities that come in front of us. And those are the gifts that we're able to use. And so when I get them, getting to Him, and I want to be able to look up and say, oh, my gifts open. And I know there will be some there that will be closed, and I know some to be kept open. But I want to have as many open as possible. And I think that's what people usually have to do, gifts that God blesses you with.

Adam: How can you understand what your gifts are? Sometimes, it's staring you right in the face. But sometimes it's hard to understand what your gifts are, what advice do you have?

Donald: Find what you're passionate about because that's your gift. If you're passionate about building foundations for cancer research or feeding the hungry, well, that's your passion, that's your gift. Go out and do those. If you want to build businesses and change the world through technology, go do that. I think so many people, again, want to put ourselves in this little box and say, well, this is what I think I'm good at. That's not what God gives you. God says you're good at everything. You just have to choose what you want. Because everything we do in life is a choice, we have choices. And sometimes we don't want to use the choices that we have, we want somebody else to tell us what our choices should be. And so I think we all have choices to be able to use, you just got to be one of them. So the thing that I will tell anyone out there, find your passion. If you look at our shoes, the reason why we named the five shoes is because one of them is called Discover. One is called Image. One is called Passion, Purpose, and Drive. Those five tools are designed for one reason. You have to discover what you want to do in life, then you have to create an image and meaning, you have to visualize what you see in your life, yes, then you have to have a passion for it. Because if you have a passion for it, you gotta be successful. But then you have to find out what your purpose is. Why are you doing this? And if you have that purpose, and guess what? You're going to drive to success. And so that's the reason why we created the shoes. We wanted to give people that niche, that you have to find all five of those to be able to accomplish the things that you want to accomplish.

Adam: Image, passion, purpose, and drive, that is great stuff. One thing we have yet to touch on, but I would love to ask you about is motivation. You played an incredibly grueling sport, physically taxing to an extreme. But you missed only four games over the course of your entire 14-year career. How did you motivate yourself on the days you didn't feel motivated? And what are your best tips on the topic of motivation?

Donald: Biggest thing for me is I didn't want to let people down. That's what motivates me every single day. And I know that I can't change the world one way or the other. And I know that I'm not going to be able to change it all in one, but I can put it in and for me that is what motivated me. I think the fans wanted me out there every single week. Because they know if I was out there, they had a chance of winning. So that motivated me to get out of bed when I felt like I didn't want to play the same thing. I look at it like a business. What motivates me, I'd love to make an impact in the world. It's funny because every time I wake up in the morning, I sit on the edge of the bed. And I say, okay, guy. You woke me up this morning, how can I change someone else's life? And then I stand, then I start to walk and then I say okay, God. Now walking, how can I change my home? And so that motivates me every single day. Because now I'm motivated to walk out the doors, knowing that I may see somebody on the street, I may see somebody at the gas station and grocery store, at the gym, that may need a little motivation. If I can give them that positive message that, hey, everything's gonna be okay. But that's a hard way to tell somebody that's struggling, that everything's gonna be okay. And so I always say, I don't know what today brings. But I'm here right now to help you get through whatever you get through. And if we can get through this moment, right here, we'll see what the outcome comes. I never tell anyone that everything's gonna be okay. Because I can't promise that. But I will tell them if I can help you at this moment, then I've done my part. So we all have to find our own motivation that makes us strive. For me, those five things are my motivation. I have to discover how to create an image, I have to have a passion, I have to believe in a purpose. And I have to have a drive. So that motivates me every single day. And those motivations are going to all come in different ways. All different ways. I have a passion for what I do every day training people, getting people healthy, and saving lives. That's my passion. But then what is my purpose and see them accomplish the things that they need to accomplish in life? But then I have to be wanting to accomplish my own as well.

Adam: You can't control the outcome, but you can control your input. Right. Donald, what can anyone listening to this conversation do to become more successful personally and professionally?

Donald: Though, lack of insecurity, if I can tell him anything, you don't like insecurity. But we will say this, I think I can say this and leave it in the most positive way possible. Every person, life is like a camera. We focus, we develop. And at the end of the day, we pray. And so what I always tell people is that that's the mindset you have to have. Your life has to be like a camera, you have to focus on what's important, you have to capture the moment. And then when it's all said and done, you develop. And so if you can live your life like that, it is exciting. But when you feel like this, to add it, right, when you feel like nothing else can go on, guess what you can do, you can take another snap, because sooner or later, the cameras gonna focus is going to develop into some of the most gorgeous things in the world. And you're going to be able to capture the most beautiful moment. But at the end of the day, if you don't, you can take another snap, and start all over again. And so we have to live our life like that. We have to live our life. Let the camera focus, capture, and develop.

Adam: Donald, thank you for all the great advice and thank you for being a part of Thirty Minute Mentors. 

Donald: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

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