While you may know me for Discipline — wake up early, stay in shape, “Work On Your Game,” etc — I don’t do all the same things every day. If I did, I would’ve run out of material years ago.
I like trying new things, exploring new ideas outside of the discipline. Here are a few reasons why.
1) Expand my worldview and conversation capacity. Going “a mile wide and an inch deep” means you’ll know a little bit about a lot of things — so you can carry a convo with anyone, no matter what they do.
(The key to conversation isn’t talking, anyway — it’s asking questions and listening.)
2) A great idea can come from anywhere. When I used to post 100% basketball content, a random commentator once suggested that I take the on-court workouts that I did, compile them in a document, and share them with everyone else so they could train like me.
I took that idea and ran with it. My first $4.99 sale a week later made me an entrepreneur.
Later, someone commented, “Dre, you make all these HOOP Handbooks — but you talk Mindset too. What about a MENTAL Handbook?”
I wrote that book. Now, this is essentially what I do for a living.
Had I not been open to at least listening, I would’ve missed those.
3) A story to tell. Know this: Nobody remembers great information. Information is boring, even when it’s accurate.
But you never forget a good story. When you’re hearing a good story, you don’t even notice the time going by.
I’ve you’ve ever written a book, been a guest on a show, or done a speaking gig (or you want to do these), know this: Everyone has similar information. What makes you unique is the STORY BEHIND HOW you got that information.
A plethora of experiences equips me to make my information proprietary & “sticky” — you remember it because of the narrative that it’s tied to, not because I’m so great (well, maybe a little).
Ex: I’m vegan, with an asterisk: once per week (maybe more) I eat whatever I want. I recently went to brunch and tried “crispy grasshoppers”. They tasted like spinach and kale mixed together — like grass, basically.
I don’t know if this experience will ever make it into a speech or book. But it’s different. It’s not the usual. And you’ll likely remember this more than you’ll remember 99% of anything I’ve ever said about Mindset.