Brian Dawkins: Philadelphia Eagles Legend on Growing Through Adversity - Classics Series
54:08 Share

It's the same thing in life. When we grow through that thing and we're looking for that nugget, as I mentioned earlier, you recognize that how this thing blessed me to be wiser for this next occasion. So when I went to this next level because of this thing that I grew through, now I can handle this situation with more confidence. I'm more confident in who I am because I grew through those things.

That's the power of understanding and becoming friends with pain. That's how I call it. Me and friends are partners now. We're workout partners. I recognize when a moment comes in my life that it's supposed to be teaching me something. So instead of me talking about why it's me, woe is me, I'm like, hmm, so what are you about to show me? What am I about to gain from this pain that I'm going through right now?

Welcome to What Got You There, where curiosity leads to wisdom. I'm your host, Sean Delaney, a former professional athlete turned executive life coach for high performers and author of two books, Masterpiece in Progress and Insights of the Ages. This podcast is a journey into the minds of exceptional individuals to uncover the key lessons and wisdom they've uncovered while scaling the heights of success in business, sports, investing, and everything in between.

For the last 10 years, my journey has been one of unwavering dedication to the mastery of peak performance and the art of transformative personal growth. My mission is clear, to be a catalyst in unlocking the vast potential that resides within people. As a coach to CEOs, investors, executives, and athletes, I strive to unlock the limitless potential within each individual, guiding them toward a life rich in purpose and fulfillment.

Now I hope this podcast will do that for you. And if you're interested in finding out more of what I do, head to whatgotyouthere.com.

Today, I sit down with NFL Hall of Famer and one of my all-time favorite athletes, Brian Dawkins. I grew up watching Brian as he transformed the Philadelphia Eagles with his intensity, his leadership, his coachability, and just the motivation he brought on the field. And we talk all about that, about what it takes to strive for greatness, how you need to go through trials and tribulations and face challenges in order to grow, in order to become the best version of yourself and to strive for greatness.

So if you're interested in leadership, personal growth, developing yourself and the inner work that's required to raise up and rise to your potential in life, then you will love this conversation. This conversation with Brian Dawkins took place in May of 2022. Hey guys, it's Sean. And if you're listening to the podcast, then I think you'll love my book, Masterpiece in Progress, A Daily Guide to a Life Well Crafted.

Now inside the pages, you'll find 365 daily meditations. Now these are carefully designed to challenge, inspire, and catalyze personal and professional evolution. It's the book Frank Slootman, the CEO of Snowflake Inc. said is a masterclass in personal development. And retired Navy SEAL and winner of the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, Michael Byrne said is a roadmap for all who aim to conquer their personal and professional battles. To get your copy, head to masterpieceinprogressbook.com

Or you can go to Amazon and just search Masterpiece in Progress by Sean Delaney. Brian, welcome to What Got You There. How are you doing today?

I'm blessed. How about yourself? I'm doing so well, so fired up. It's really good to see you. I can't wait to just dive deep on you, your mentalities. And that's one of the things I think about a lot for you is just your work ethic and just your motivation and drive. And I would love to begin around work ethic, right? Like we all have these foundational pillars that help build us up over time. I'm wondering for you, where do you develop that just voracious work ethic and that mentality?

come a couple of different places one of them being that growing up in the neighborhood that i grew up in jacksonville florida i wasn't the biggest of guys in the neighborhood and i always felt i had to outwork those around me and that coupled with some of the instructions my mom and dad gave me through different vehicles and different conversations the fight that i have in me and the way that i approach whatever it is you give me has been given to me by those two individuals

And that has literally been two of the things, three of the things I just mentioned. And I'll tell you the other, those things my mom and dad told me, but they have been instrumental in my mindset and the way that I approach life. Even before I knew what I was doing, I knew how to do whatever it is I was going to go after. So my mom taught me how to fight.

And she told me that you don't start a fight, but you finish it. And a lot of people have probably heard that before. But she told me that you don't. You fight in such a way that they have to pull you off. That's how you fight. So that mentality has been added to me at a young age. And then my father taught me these things. He taught me that when you give your word that you're going to do something that you do it. So if you start something, you finish it. There is no quit.

And not only do you give max effort in order to do it, that you stay coachable the whole time. And because I approached a specific thing in my life that way, I developed more out of me by giving more of me. And I recognize that. So really, it became to be something that I try to find the nugget.

And whatever it is I'm going through, because I grow through things, you don't go through things, you grow through things. And so I recognize that. And so those are a couple of things that I can off the bat tell you that have shaped the way that I fight, the way that I grind, the way that I go get it, right? And so that has allowed me to have a lot of success in my life. Yeah, I would love to know just how focused you are around just your intentionality, right? Like even when you show up to a practice, showing up to something like this, what is the approach you're bringing to it?

So if you talk about practice, I was going into practice every time. I don't know how many practices I had, but there were specific things that I was going to work on for that practice. Yes, I was going to learn the game plan. Yes, but was it a technique that I wanted to do? Sometimes I would play too high, so I wanted to make sure that I played low the majority of practice.

I wanted to make sure that my effort towards the ball was a specific way that when I watch film, that I like what I saw. So everything that I did, even going into meetings, I was listening to the whys or why are we running this defense and what is expected of me in this instance. So each person

space of what I did. There was very intentional about how I went at it. And then ultimately in practice, I knew that I had earned the right to be a leader. So if I wasn't leading properly, I couldn't then ask somebody else to do something that I was not. So even from that perspective, so being intentional about the things that I put my name

behind that I'm going to give you everything that I got, everything that I have, excuse me, but it's going to be extremely intentional. So specific questions you're going to ask me here, I'm going to be very intentional of answering those things from a way that preferably speaks to those who are listening.

And you're able to speak with such clarity on these things because of the inner work that you've done, not just on the field. I mean, that's just prevalent in your playing days, but the work you've done as a man, as a father, as a spouse, that's what I'm like really excited to carve away here as we get more into this. But I'm so intrigued, right? Like we could look at you from the outside and be like, man, the absolute pillar of success. You must have had this just like

and voracious, raging confidence from day one. And this was in your Hall of Fame speech. You bring up Emmett Thomas and you said, he would not let me settle for good. He saw greatness in me that I did not see. This is such a crucial point. I would love to hit on this because those mentors, those people we respect that put a little bit of confidence in us is just crucial. And I would love to just hear you unpack that a bit.

So let me speak to one thing first before you go on to that. So one of the reasons that I'm more clear in my conversations right now is because of my struggles when I grew up. I stuttered a whole lot.

And so I was very shy about introverted, about communicating because I thought people would laugh at me, which made my stutter worse. Right. So I've been very intentional about helping me better pace myself to have more clear conversations with people. So that's that was, to your point, very intentional about my inner work of helping myself so I can be a lot clearer in the way that I communicate. And as far as Emmett is concerned, he's not the only one that has done that either.

So there have been people in my life, and I've learned this from listening to Les Brown. That's the way I say it, the way that I say it. Now I'll give him a little credit on this. I had to take somebody else's vision for me before I can come up with a vision for myself. So I had to believe in Emmett's vision of me. And I went after that because to your point, he did not allow me to settle for good. He wanted me to do great things. And that was not something that he communicated directly.

to other people the way he was communicating with me. He was constantly on me when somebody else next to me could make a good play and he would say, "Good play." But for me, no. Like, you're supposed to do it. Look at that. Look at you that did this. Look at you that recognized this a little earlier. Look what could have happened. So in my mind, he's getting on me, but I recognize that he saw something in me different. So the way that I explain it now is that I had to believe in his vision of me, which became my vision of me.

That's why I went after it the way that I did. But once I recognized what I can do, I no longer needed his vision for me. I began to come up with what I believe the safety position should look like. So I began to create something completely different.

When does that creation start to happen? I was revisiting an autobiography on Michael Jordan, and he's talking about, I just wanted to like make the high school team. And then I just want to be the best at this camp. He was like, basically, his confidence was growing with each step along the way. And I would love to know how that progression happened for you, where all of a sudden you were co-creating with the position, what you were doing with the team, all of that.

That truly began to happen when Jim Johnston got there. When Jim Johnston came to the Eagles around year three for me, you're going into year four, excuse me. Emmitt had woke up a beast in me. He had woke up, woken up someone that believed he can do anything on the football field. There was nothing that I didn't believe that I can, that I can do on the football field. And so that's what Jim received. And so my, my,

willingness to try things, to attempt things, to push the envelope in practice, to push disguises in practice, how far I can get from the point A to point B in a disguise to help the blitz work a lot better, to put my input into potentially doing things differently. I can do it the way that you would like me to do it, Jim, but if I do it this way,

I can get it done. I still can get it done if I do it this way. So now I began to once again create some things. And so the thing that I wanted to be is I wanted to be someone that wasn't just good at one thing. I did not. I always talk about it in terms of checkers. I didn't want to be just someone that can jump one place to the next. I wanted to play chess.

And that's what Jim began to do with me. That's why I weapon X, right? Weapon X because I'm a weapon all over the field. Yes. So now the stat line for me was significant in every statistical category. So there wasn't one thing that I was like the best in besides sure tackling. I wanted to be a sure tackler. But I really wanted to help affect the game in all of those areas. And the only way that I can do that, the only way that I can do that is if I believed that I can do it. And I did.

What did Coach Johnson do for you to unlock that beast within? I'm just thinking if there's a coach listening and working with someone, they see that potential in. Is there anything you remember specifically that he did? So when Jim got there, he had a more extensive blitz package for the safety. So with Emmitt,

people don't know this with emmett i was the fourth corner basically on the field so when nickel would come on they would put nickel personnel on the field they would bring the nickel on and if we ever go dime i would play the nick i would play the dime nickel so i was a cover corner so even in certain formations that they come out if we didn't want to go nickel i would cover the third receiver so a lot i did a lot of covering my first couple of years in the national football league when jim got there he unlea wow

I blitzed a whole lot more and I think he saw the timing and the ferociousness in my blitz. It's like I wanted to make sure that his blitzes worked. So I would literally do any and everything to help make those things work, whether it be running. Wow, I can go into some detail, but I know we don't have time. Of really learning how to pass rush, you know, studying how people block me, specific backs. If you cut block,

I know how you cut blocks, so I'm going to dive over you. So there's certain things I begin to look at film differently. And so that is what allowed me to have more in-depth conversations with the different secondary coaches, if you will. I would tell them some things and they would relay it to Jim. And then Jim would come in and then a lot of times, not a lot of times, a good percentage of the times, he would then change some things and

But it wouldn't be like because of Brian, because of Doc. No, no, no. It was just like, we're going to change this to this. And I don't care who get the credit. I just knew that if I did things a different way, that it would help the defense be more effective. And we would sometimes it would be me giving up the blitz to somebody else.

Like literally giving up the blitz, me showing down, me blitzing and the team keying on me, then allowing another cat to run scot-free because you're keying on me so much. So different stuff like that. So I know I'm kind of jumping all over the place a little bit, but it's so much in depth in that question that it's hard to just answer it with just one statement. Yeah, well, I think some of the foundational pillars here, even what you were talking about

earlier, right? Like the humility, you needed to be coachable. You needed to put in the work. You need to show up every day. If you don't do those things, if you're not a student of the game consistently for years, you can't even be at that place where Jim Johnson can unleash you. And it's the work you put in and the ongoing work to be a student of the game. That was so crucial. I just love people who are just like absolute masters of their craft. And it's so obvious for you. And I would even love to know just about the physical side of it. I know you had a high school basketball coach, Humphrey.

And there was just like an epiphany that if Coach Humphrey can't break you physically, then no one can. I would love to hear about that lesson. That was it. That was it for me. Now, you can't leave out the other two things that I told you about. So the thing that my father taught me made the things that I did with Hump come to fruition because I started it and I have to finish it. I can't quit.

And I have to give max effort and I have to stay coachable. So no matter what this dude was telling me to do with all those laps, I'm going to run it. And because I'm someone that wants to give more than is expected of me, I'm going to always be pacing everybody in the laps. So when we're running 75 laps, I'm going to pace everybody, right? That's just my mentality. So again, I brought out more of me because of how I worked.

But because of the way that I was taught to do things mentally, I had already had a mindset to work this way. So that's what Hunt brought out of me. And when he ran us so much, we ran more than the track team a lot of the times.

And I remember, and I put this in the book, but I remember that I literally had to put bandages on my nipples because I was like chafing. Like if you're a distance runner, you're running a lot, right? That's like my feet, we should be burning up after running so much. My shins used to be hurting. Like I think my shins were bigger than my calves sometimes because of the running we were doing. But-

When I so-called survived that, and not only did I survive it, I began to see the benefits of the condition that I was in, that I can run in the fourth quarter the same as the first quarter. It was no difference.

I literally saw other teams, especially the year we won the state, begin to tap out physically, mentally, because we were just pressing them so much. We were so physical defensively. We're moving about so much that I literally saw other teams tap out. So that mindset that I then developed in high school, when I got to Clemson, there's nothing you can do.

that's nothing i don't care what you do i don't care how much running you're talking about literally my body will give out before my mind does my body will give out because i'm going to have to get ivs which i did a whole lot right but my mind mentally i'm not quitting i'm not going to stop i'm going to continue to push myself and once again because of that i believe i brought out so much more of my giftings than others because they weren't willing to push themselves

Hey guys, it's Sean, and when I'm not behind the mic for this podcast, I'm on the front lines of executive performance coaching, helping top-tier professionals in finance, business, and sports not just meet but exceed their highest goals. Now, my coaching isn't just about professional excellence. It's about integrating that success with personal fulfillment. I offer tailored strategies that sharpen your decision-making, help you navigate high-stress situations, enhance your focus, and unlock your full potential.

Imagine what it would be like having a dedicated ally in your corner, someone who provides clear insights, challenges your perspectives, offers strategic advice, and builds your confidence. This is the transformative support I provide to consistently drive you to peak performance. Now, if you want to see why top industry leaders choose me for coaching, head to SeanDelaneyCoaching.com to discover if my full immersion coaching is for you.

Yeah, I even want to go further on that. This to me is just such a crucial concept for people to get right, like the growth through the challenge. And if you're not doing those reps, you can't bring out your full potential. You had a line in your speech, your Hall of Fame speech, the majority of success that I've had has come on the back end of

pain. Pain has pushed me to levels unknown for me at the time. And it's like you only experience that growth, that potential within yourself if you go to that point. And so I would just love for you to even hear about some of the challenges that you went through and how that altered your trajectory to a positive way. Wow. So because I also love to work out,

Still to this day, it's a part of me. I recognize that. And I'll give you a story. So I had a late growth spurt in college, a late growth spurt. So and my knees were absolutely killing me in college. I'm talking about killing me. I used to at the practice, I used to just have to go sit in the bed in pain with ice bags or even in training room just with ice bags because of that growth spurt.

If you talk to any woman who's had a baby, they understand the growing pains that happen. So as you grow, there's some pains involved in that. So that is how I kind of look at things from a spiritual perspective, yes, but also from a physical perspective that we are going to go through things and we're supposed to grow through them. Everything that we go through is supposed to teach us something. I know that now. Didn't know it then, but I know it now. And it's not going to be comfortable because we don't grow in comfort.

You can't, going back to weights, you can't lift the same weight over and over again and get stronger. You probably can get, if you lift a hundred times or maybe you can build your endurance, but getting stronger...

Your muscles are too smart for that. So you have to increase the weight periodically in order for you to get stronger and stronger. It's the same thing in life. When we grow through that thing and we're looking for that nugget, as I mentioned earlier, you recognize that how this thing blessed me to be wiser for this next occasion. So when I went to this next level because of this thing that I grew through, now I can handle this situation with more confidence. I'm more confident in who I am because I grew through those things.

That's the power of understanding and becoming friends with pain. That's how I call it. Me and friends are partners now. We're workout partners. I recognize when a moment comes in my life that it's supposed to be teaching me something. So instead of me talking about why it's me, woe is me, I'm like, so what are you about to show me?

What am I about to gain from this pain that I'm going through right now? So again, that pain is my workout partner. It allows me to get stronger because I recognize things from that level. And I'm thinking from a different place in my brain, not from the emotional brain, but from the area of the brain that allows me to better process the information that is being presented.

Can you even talk about that brain processing ability? I'm thinking of that in correlation with just your confidence building over time, right? Like you're so much more cerebral now than I'm assuming you were when you first came into the league. I would just love to know what that progression was like for you. Wow. So a lot of the things that I did early on was more from an emotional place, from a more emotional place in a sometimes in a... So for instance, I use anger,

A lot. I do. Oh my goodness. Because I felt I was overlooked all the time. It was supposed to be everybody else that was going to make it to the NFL or even to college. It wasn't going to be me. It was so many other names. So I always felt resentment towards that. I always used that as motivation to push myself when I'm running, push myself when I'm working out, right? But as I began to understand more and my relationship with my vertical relationship increased, I began to truly understand the power of love.

The power of love. Yes, I can still use the things that people, like I said in my Hall of Fame speech, my haters became my elevator. So they helped me, right? So absolutely, I can push a couple more reps because of that hate. But ultimately, I didn't want to let my teammates down. I didn't want to let my coaches down. I didn't want to let the Philly fans down.

So I needed to do things from a better place, learn more about the game, learn more about my limitations, push myself even more so because I didn't want to let these people down. It wasn't from a place from that place anymore. So I began to stop utilizing or depending solely on the emotional part of the brain from a place of anger, hatred and those limiting things before a more abundant place.

from a love factor, from an appreciation factor, from a not wanting to disappoint those around me. And then ultimately, as I continued to grow, when I left Philadelphia, I recognized that I was going to Denver initially, and I was going to try to prove them wrong. So who had the power in that? Did I have the power? No, somebody else had the power. So I began to think about, wow, the Holy Spirit hit me with, no, what you want to do is go prove you right.

Go prove you right. Don't go to prove them wrong. You can utilize those things in workouts, but ultimately go to prove you right.

thereby having all the power and no and then i'm no longer hateful towards anybody i'm no longer angry towards anybody i didn't like the fact they let me go but you know i'm utilizing more more abundant power source i'll say it from that place which is love and appreciation and gratitude those type of things it sounds like you just completely take full responsibility for your life right like you said before you were pushing out to the external now it's all internal is that the case

Absolutely. It's a great way to put it because I did. Because prior to that, I knew nothing more than to do things the way that I did them. That was the way that I did them and I was having some success doing it that way. The problem is that some of those things begin to leak into my personal life, right?

Some of that anger that I was holding on to, that resentment that I was holding on to, and I was not talking about those feelings to anybody at this time. And so those are the things that took me down into depression and self-harm thoughts.

Because I had an influx of those emotions that I was not dealing with. And it was able to fester and move about in me and come out at the wrong times, right? So once again, once I began to have that vertical relationship and fix that vertical relationship, pray more, meditate more, journal more, I began to be more appreciative about the things that I can do.

That does not include those things. So I empowered myself once again, as you just stated, from an internal place to be able to see how much I bring to the table without using any of that stuff. You mentioned some of those things, praying, meditating, journaling. Are you consistent in those? Are you setting aside time each day to do that? Every day. Now, I will tell you, when I first started this, when I first started, I pray, read, pray, read, meditate, journal.

Every morning, every morning, without fail, every morning. When I first started that, it happened after I went to counseling, after my rookie year, after I had that meltdown.

and begin to talk to that psychiatrist and take medication for a little bit. And what that medication and that conversation did is it helped me come down off my emotions, which I could not hear past my emotions at that point. My emotions were turned up so loud that all I can hear was those emotions. So that process allowed me to come down off my emotions so that I can hear from a higher level of some of the things I needed to start doing and some of the things I needed to stop doing. And I did.

I stopped doing some things and I began to, I start to do some things that I prayed about. So what is it, Lord, that I can do to help me not just come from this thing and all of a sudden have nothing that I can do. And then I go right back down into those things the way that I used to do things. And so what was given to me was pray, to meditate, and to journal. And when I talk about prayer, prayer is not just talking all the time. Prayer is also listening.

And I call that part meditation. So I pray, I talk, boom, and then I'm listening. But in the midst of that, before that, I've already done my breathing exercises so that I can calm myself, calm my nerves, calm the space that I'm in and be 100% present in that place.

so that I can then begin to, at the end, journal my thought, journal my gratitude, journal the things that I have learned from the session of that time. And sometimes I also read my devotional as well during that time in the morning. So it started off maybe five minutes. I gave myself five minutes. And now that thing has increased to sometimes I'll be in there for, oh my goodness, for two hours.

Right now, often the majority of the time, it's an hour. I give myself an hour. So if I have to take my kids to school, which I do the girls to school, I give myself an hour to do all of that stuff so that I can then go do what I need to do as a father. But that empowers me for the day. And here's the thing about it. I don't leave that space as the only time that I do what I'm just I just said. So every hour on the hour I have on my phone, give thanks.

So wherever that alarm hits, or I see a reminder on my phone, give thanks, I'll stop in that moment to give thanks. Now, because I've done that for so long now, I look for opportunities throughout the hour just to give thanks, just to be grateful, just to be thankful, whether that be looking in nature, right? Looking at God's great creation in nature, the cloud formations, the birds, like I'm looking for the evidence, more evidence of reasons for me to give, to be thankful. So again, it's not just a morning thing.

It's throughout the day and at night is a reflection time. I reflect back over the day and find the nuggets. I find the gratitude things and I jot those things down. Things that I've learned from that day that have blessed me from that day, right?

So I'm very intentional about those things now. And this is me at 48 now. I didn't do this at 35. I didn't do this at 40. But where I am now, from my growth and my understanding, I'm doing things from a different place. And it's empowering me so much to go out

and want to do things like I'm doing right now, share these things with someone because I believe that this is going to bless someone powerfully. Oh, absolutely. I mean, this podcast is around for reasons like that to show someone else the light so they can be guided on their journey. You hit on something that is so important. If you're even thinking about personal growth, investing, it doesn't matter. Long-term growth, right? Compounding. You mentioned you weren't like this when you were 24 or 34.

But we so often look for that quick win, right? Like immediate success. And you basically just said, I'm not the man I am today without this work consistently over time. And I just love that part. And it's important to understand that. But it goes against what we would want for ourselves most of the time. Most of us, all of us would want those shortcuts, right? I was given this story and I'm pretty sure you've heard something similar to it. It's if you've heard of individuals who,

who climb mountains, Kilimanjaro, whatever the tallest mountains are, right? Those individuals, if they were just flown to the top with a helicopter and dropped off, a lot of them would not survive because they wouldn't have been climatized

along the journey like they were by doing the process, the grind, the pain of the process allows you to excel or to survive at the top. If you get to a place and it's an easy, a lot of times your character is not where it needs to be.

to have you at that place. Because once we get to that place of prestige, that place of prestige, if you haven't grown through those things the right way, I'll say the right way, then you'll get up to the top and sabotage that thing. Your character, who you really are will begin to show. And there's a quote by, I think it's coach John Wooten, that basically talks about your talent, your talent will get you there, but it's your character that will keep you there. Right?

Right. So it's that principle that comes to mind for me that you have to grow through stuff. You have to get the grind. You have to grow through the grind of understanding who you are, what you are, staying humble along the way. So then once you get to the top, you're able to now utilize that position to bless people, not just say, look at me. Yeah.

I mean, it's like building a house on a shaky foundation, right? Like you can't set up your life on a shaky foundation. The work's got to be put in consistently over time as well. Something you were talking about earlier, one of your coaches, one of your mentors, essentially you grasped onto their vision. I'm thinking about now after you put on in all this work, what's the vision like for you? And how do you just think about having a clear vision of what you're going after in life? Well, my vision is,

It's so substantial now of the people that I want to bless, that I'm going to bless with the different ways that the Lord is putting them opportunities in front of me. This voice, this gift, this ability to inspire. I'm going to be using these things on a greater level.

But that vision is to bless as many people as possible, billions of people with increase in different ways, mentally, spiritually, or physically. And so I've understand and you understand that we are three part beings, right?

If we're not strong or we're not growing in every last one of those areas of our lives, then it will strain the other areas. So, for instance, if you are the most mentally sound, right, you're strong spiritually, but you eat crappy food.

then that's going to drain the other parts. You're not going to be around long to give what you have to bless people with. So being strong in every area is extremely important. And understand, first of all, that we are three-part beings, that there's three parts of us that we have to continue to build, to pour into, right? And so...

That is the space that I'm stepping into. That's why I'm learning about neuroscience. That's why I'm learning about psychology, right? I have a good understanding and knowledge about physical, your physical body, what to eat, how to train, supplementations and all of those things, hydration, sleep, you know, all of those things, right? And from a spiritual perspective, absolutely. I've been walking this walk for a long time, so I understand the importance of all of these things. So to be strong in all of those areas, it allows you to be

what you were created to be, not what others say you should be for money. That's what this does. And so that's a fulfilling place. So if I'm just doing things just for money, that's limiting. That's very limiting because that's not, who is that blessing? Ultimately, that's one of the things that I ask myself in Proverbs, to check your heart, check your motives.

So the things that I'm asking for are thinking about if it's not going to bless other people greatly, why am I doing it? If it's just going to bless me, why am I doing that? Right. So, again, that's where I am. That's the space that God has me operating from. And I have a voice.

that I've been blessed to earn, a platform that I've been blessed to earn. And I believe that I'm supposed to speak to those people that have an ear to listen and a heart to understand the things that are coming out of my mouth. And those things and the things that I'll do going forward in my coaching sessions and all of those things will bless people to be better versions of themselves.

And when that happens, they will then bless so many other people from that space and they'll want to from that space. And there will be also individuals that feel fulfilled

And their life callings. Yeah. You're hitting on one of the foundations of my life. Inner growth, outer service. It keeps, it's a self-fulfilling thing. It keeps growing and growing. One thing I want to hear you hit on real quick, because you mentioned just the limiting beliefs that so many people put on ourselves, right? Like you said, chasing after money or things like that. I'm sure you've seen this again and again. Incredible athletes who just have these self-limiting beliefs. What have you learned about people who just put these limits on themselves? Is there anything that you can share that can help someone in that situation? Well,

The way that I talk about it is think about for any of us who have moved before, moved from a house to another house or apartment to an apartment and you rent a U-Haul. Right. So in the U-Haul, usually it says maybe on the dash 85 miles per hour. Right.

maybe even 90 but they put governors in so it's only going to go maybe 65 miles per hour no oh you can put it to the floor and it's only going to go 65 miles per hour right that's what our limiting beliefs do see we have the potential to go let's say like a sports car 200 miles per hour

But because of our limiting beliefs, we're going to only manage to go 70 miles per hour, 80 miles per hour. And that's not what God created us to be able to do. And the other thing about this thing is that your limiting beliefs limits those who you're supposed to reach with your giftings. So if you only go 70 miles per hour and you're supposed to go 200 miles per hour, you're

That area that you're no longer being, that you're not being able to manifest in your life or bring to reality in your life is limiting all of those people that are looking for your story. My story is not going to reach everybody. The way that I've come up and the way that I've done things, it's not going to reach everybody. They may not hear my story and it fits them.

But your story is going to reach other people. When you believe that your story is worth telling and you're constantly going after things in a way to make you a better person. I believe that when you become a better person, you will go out and you will get those things that you were supposed to get from a monetary standpoint, from a financial standpoint, from a relationship standpoint, all of those things. When you continue to grow internally, internally, excuse me,

You will be better when it's all said and done and those around you will be better. So I guess one of the principles is to, first of all, know, know that you are, there is greatness inside of you. That's the first thing I always tell my children and they know this by now. I asked him, I say, are you great? He'll say, they should say no, but what?

But it's in me. Yes, because it is. Greatness is in every last one of us. So the greatness in my life, and I also said, I know I'm getting long on this, but this version of me that is now being expressed and given to those that I communicate with was in me when I was in high school. This was in me. So this greatness or the greatness that I had on the football field, it was in me

that whole time, just like a seed. The tree is in that seed. The tree is already in the seed, but the seed had to go through what it needed to go through, the growth it needed to have in order to have the seed, the tree and the roots and everything come up, right? And come out. It's the same thing with us. So don't look ahead for the great things in your life. Look inside for them because that's where they are. So the more of those limiting beliefs that you knock down and get rid of,

the more of the fruit that is in you that's waiting to be given to the world will manifest itself and the happier and the more joyous you'll be with your living. The 100-year oak, it started just as a single seed. I mean, I'm getting chills hearing you talk right now. And you've always been able to do this. You've been able to motivate and inspire people.

When did you become aware of the impact you've had? I mean, as you know, I grew up going to Eagles game. When you came out on that field, you had 65,000 people who you transformed. It wasn't like there are certain players. We all know them in sports, in the world, and they just have a different freaking energy. You were one of those guys. When were you aware of that? I've always again, it takes me back to Little League. I've always been an emotional player.

And again, like I said earlier, sometimes those emotions were coming from a bad place. But I've always been an emotional person, an emotional player. I began to recognize some of it at Clemson. A little bit of it at Reigns when I was the senior, but more as I got going. And when I got into the National Football League, the restrictions came off of the things that you can do to show your excitement. In college, you show your excitement too much, they're going to hit you with some flags. So it's only so much. But as I got to the NFL,

And I went through what I went through. I grew through what I went through my rookie year. I had a wonderful mentor and coach in Emmett. And so on the other side of that, I began to truly understand, man, that I have something. I have a gift. I have a gift to inspire. And me now understanding and looking at the original writings of the word inspire is literally to breathe into, to breathe life into, right?

So with my vocal pattern, with the humility that I walk with, I believe humility is the power position, it's the pole position. That humility and meekness is not as a weakness, it's strength under control. That's what I call it. It's power under control. And that power under control is like a knight with his sword sheathed.

like he has the power but he chooses to bless other people with that power that's that's how i see it and so as i continue to understand these things look at the way my my teammates responded to me when i did speak because i didn't speak a whole lot i'm still introverted i'm very introverted i only spoke when i needed to but when i got on that dog on field and flipped that switch they knew even in practice when i flipped the switch to practice they knew it's go time like it was a minute many games for me throughout the week

And so from that place of servant leadership is what I call it.

I led on the field. And when I led on the field, it was like a tennis match of energy being passed back and forth from me to the fans to me, me back to the fans. So it was a constant back and forth. And I felt that. And I loved that because ultimately I am a fan of the game of football. So I love that. That's one of the main reasons that I would go to the 50-yard line when we scored a touchdown and I would sing the fight song.

with the fans, right? Because in that moment, again, I'm letting you know, yeah, I'm a fan of this thing. Like I would go to the 50 yard line and I would be sitting there singing the fight song with the fan, right? The fans, right? So again, I understood the passing back and forth of energy because energy is transferable. You mentioned you were a fan of football. Could you have achieved what you achieved if you didn't absolutely love the sport? No, because I wouldn't have been willing to do what I did with my body. If I only love what the game brought to me,

I would have been extremely limited, in my opinion. I would have been limited in the things that I would do as far as sacrificing, because I did sacrifice my body sometimes to do some things because I love the game and I love my teammates. I loved the soreness of

after a game. If I didn't come out of the game beat up, sore, limping just a little bit, little blood somewhere, I felt I didn't play in the game. That's how much I loved it. I love that physical part of it. I love the demanding parts of workout. I love when you've worked out, you haven't worked out in a while and you push yourself for that first time and how you're sore and can barely move that next day because you're so sore.

I love that feeling. So that's, again, that's how my mind operates and wraps around when you love something, what you're willing to put yourself through in order to bring out the best in you to have the success that you want to have. So, yes, I mean, I, and that's why I said, like, you have to have a couple of, you have to have a school loose to play defense.

And I just so happen to have a bunch of them loose when it comes to the way that I approach things. Yeah, you got to be all in. It's only a sustainable level of motivation to keep that going through those hard times. I love hearing about some of the things that like drove you and motivated you. I know you're huge into self-talk and using other things, even like Wolverine. What are some of those things that were just keystone for you throughout the years to just provide a little extra motivation? Man, well, one of them was from Wolverine. I'm the best at what I do.

but what I do ain't nice. I'm the best at what I do ain't nice. I used to literally say that to myself. But my self-talk game, and that's one of the most important parts for our mental success is that your self-talking. What do you say to yourself about yourself? Because the most important voice in your life

It's no one's voice on the outside, external. It's internal. It's your voice. Because your voice is the only voice that your body listens to. Because the only way what you say to me would make a big deal in my life is if I agreed with it.

If I don't agree with what you said about me, it's just a word. But if I agree with something that you said, now I'm saying it to myself, then your brain takes it and passes it through your nervous system to your body. Your brain begins to respond from that emotional part of the brain. So that's the most important voice in your life. So my self-taught name is Outstanding Jack.

I'm constantly saying good things about myself. I'm constantly challenging myself, yes, but I'm constantly thanking myself. Well, thank you, not myself. I'm constantly being thankful for the things that I can do, the people that I can reach. And going back then, my favorite, I call them fighting words. From a spiritual standpoint, fighting words. The words that I say to myself when myself talk

is getting too negative, right? So one of them is when I'm getting real fearful, this is the one that brought me out of so many of my moments, even in the games, I have to say this scripture to myself. It's 2 Timothy 1, 7. For the Lord did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of love, power, and of a sound mind or self-discipline.

so when i quote it that's to myself i would say it to myself if i'm operating in fear i'm operating outside of my power the power that you have given me so what is that power love love i just talk about the love of my teammates right power type of power limitless power that means that i would literally be on the field this is now talking me talking to you i would literally look at film and be like man how did i get from there to there how did i make that play

How do I jump across that dude to make that play in that instance? Like, wow, I will blow myself. It would blow my mind to see me do some of the stuff that I did on the field. And then ultimately I have self-control or self-discipline. So I can't tell myself I can't help it. That's no longer an option for me. I can't help it. Yes, you can, because you have been given self-discipline. So I can be a self-discipline. So the discipline in my life is

increase because of that scripture, me meditating on that scripture. Does this make sense? Oh my gosh. You have no idea how much sense this makes. These things are very important to not just memorize a scripture, to walk it out, to murmur it. Like they talk about what cows chew. They bring it up and regurgitate it. Chew on it, chew on it, chew on it. This is how it gets into you.

And then you begin to respond in life from this place of wisdom, of understanding instead of emotion. So that's why self-talk is so important. It's so important. This has me thinking of what you were saying earlier, like you're studying neuroscience, psychology, all of these things, just like you were studying on the field to help you in your life now. What does that practice look like for you? Like where are you even figuring out what you're going to be reading next, consuming just to grow as a person?

So that's in my quiet time, in my meditation time. So where am I going? So one of the things and one of the questions or one of the statements that has always been in me since, for my long, I won't say always, has been in me since high school, I mean college, is you know you're supposed to be doing more. I will always hear this voice. When I'm settling too long, when I'm being stagnant too long, I will always hear this voice. You know you're supposed to be doing more.

you know you're supposed to be doing more and i heard that before i became an executive with the eagles once i when i got released from esvn and i was settling because i had been settling for a while this is a real quick story i had been settling i mean i was getting paid to talk about football and i wasn't necessarily growing and i wasn't going to grow there i wasn't trying to go and do a whole bunch of stuff there i was really just getting paid there and that voice was getting louder and louder you know you're supposed to be doing more

you know, you're supposed to be doing more. And I know now what happened, you know, the Lord, everybody knows that the Lord will close one door

in order to have you walk into another. And that's what happened. And that voice told me to do these things. So the reason why I say this is because that's what happens. When I'm in that meditative state, when I'm praying and I'm in that space, I ask, what is it that you would have me to do? What is it that you would have me to study? And if it's not, it doesn't necessarily come audible all the time. Sometimes it's if a specific individual continues to show up

on my email or he can or she continues to show up on my instagram like over and over and i would ask is this you is this you so that's kind of how i go down that process

And so from my mental health standpoint, I've studied on those things. From a psychology standpoint, I've studied up on those things. And now from a neuroscience standpoint, a place called OptiMind at Shante, learning from a neuroscience standpoint, all of the processes that I actually did and I didn't know that I was doing, but here's what I was doing to my brain. I was programming myself to do things a specific way.

by the way that I went about doing things habitually on a continuous basis. I formed new neural pathways, stronger bonding neural pathways, replacing old ways of thinking. And that's what I did. Didn't know it at the time, but now I know what I did. And those are some of the things that I'll be sharing with other people to help them do the exact same thing in their lives. Yeah.

Continuing to grow. I mean, there's not a universe for a finished product here. And I love that. You know, there's no end destination we're getting to. There is not. It's a continual process. Keep growing. There isn't. Yeah. Just looking back, I'm going to link up some stuff here in a second, but I would just love to know, analyzing everything, what are you proudest of? What am I proudest of? I think, well, the thing that I'm proudest of is my continual willingness to increase my vertical relationship with the Lord. Yeah.

That's the thing I'm most proudest of. To get to get back up to when life hits you, to not just look up to see how I can do things differently, but know how would you have me to do things differently, Lord? Asking that question.

Because I can come up with a whole bunch of ways to do stuff, but it may not be the thing that I need to do in that instance to get me to the next thing that he has for me. So I don't want anything in my life that he has not ordained for me to have. And in order for me to have what he wants me to have, I have to be in that constant and consistent connection to hear him in those instances that

I don't have the answers or I think I have the answer. I have the way, right? I don't want, I'm past that point. Trying to see how to say this right. Yes, I'm past the point of thinking that monetary gain is the greatest gain that you can have. I'm past that point. I understand that the greatest gain that you can ever have and the greatest work that you should ever do in your life is to work on you.

And not you doing the work on you, but allowing the Lord to work through you and do things and bring to your attention through conversations with people what you need to change. Accountability, right? Those individuals in your life that I have a blessed packet in my life, even my wife, she's also one of those individuals that will speak to me some truth, like some things that maybe I can't see for myself. When you're in a picture frame, it's hard for you to see out of it.

So having people in my life that will tell me the truth about some things so that I can see past sometimes my puffed up chest, you know, me on my soapbox or feeling good about myself. And I'm not saying you can't feel good about yourself and success. Yes, you can. But it has to be, as the word talks about, it has to be the good success. There's some bad success that you can have.

But I want good success because that good success is going to bless a whole lot of people when it's all said and done. Yeah. We definitely need some truth tellers, build that tribe of people that are going to help us grow to the next level. You mentioned in having conversations, you grow so much. This is why I love doing this podcast. I get to sit down with someone who's essentially a hero or someone I admire. If you could do this long form conversation with anyone dead or alive, who would you love to be sitting down with right now? Who would help you grow in your path?

Oh my goodness, off the bat, it will be Jesus, like off the bat. Absolutely. I would love to sit down and talk to Him, even though we have His Word.

the certain things that are in that are not in the bible that he did and the perspectives that i would love to to be able to break bread with him and to listen to you know some of the other things and some of the other ways that that i need to be looking at things right i have a perspective of how i should see things and even from reading the bible i have a perspective even hermeneutics helps us to be able to understand how things were written so you can understand it from that perspective not just your own

but to then hear it specifically straight from him, right? And the direction that he would have. And I would love to hear his analogies for his parables and analogies for today.

He used his parables back then for what was back then, right? I would love to hear those parables he would use in today's society. Yeah. Would you get him to do a strap on the pads? Would you get him to strap on the pads? Jesus? I don't think he would do that. But Brian, this obviously is motivating as hell as inspiring. I know your book, Blessed by the Best. We'll link that up in the show notes. Where else would you like the listeners just staying connected with you? Where can they just learn more about what you're doing right now?

well briandoggins.com you can go there and there's going to be something i mentioned earlier there's going to be something coming out here soon i don't know how i'm still working on it still trying to get some things together on it the more i learn the more i want to give but you know it's the weapon x academy the weapon x academy is going down that mindset trip

to change the way that you think to change your perspective to help you change your perspectives your belief systems so that you can come up with a vision so that you can chase life and go after purpose on purpose right so that's that Weapon X Academy and the first initial giving in that is called the beast package it's the best energy attitude self today so it'll be your four quarters that you have you'll walk now with me and they're going to be group sessions

of me helping you understand how to unlock the beast in you. Right. And I can't wait to start that. I can't wait to start that. So again, all of that will be updated on briandalkins.com about how you can be a part of that team. Awesome. All that will be linked up with Brian Dawkins, man. I can't thank you enough for joining us here on What Got You There. Appreciate you, brother.

You guys made it to the end of another episode of What Got You There? I hope you guys enjoyed it. I really do appreciate you taking the time to listen all the way through. If you found value in this, the best way you can support the show is giving us a review, rating it, sharing it with your friends, and also sharing on social. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Looking forward to you guys listening to another episode.