May 17, 2022
In this episode, our guest is Brian Dawkins. He is a coach and also the author of a book titled, “Blessed by the best”.
He has successfully climbed to the top of the success level but the cool thing is we are going to talk about the things that happen behind the scenes, how he became successful, and also pass the message to other people.
[2:48] Why should I listen to you?
My personality is really to listen more than I speak. I know how to be in my workspace and when it’s time for me to speak, I know what to do with it. Being blessed to have had some of the success that I have in life, I understand the significance of framing/reframing a situation and what that situation can bless you within the present to have your future.
The level of success that I have also attained helps me to know that I have wisdom that should be shared with somebody else.
[4:58] What is the moment that shifted you to where you are now?
While growing up, I was the smallest kid in the neighborhood and I always thought I had to fight which I did. I went through diverse of pain and disrespect and at some point, I had to use those things as a platform to grow. The majority of success that I have had in my life has come out of pain and that pain has taken me to different heights that I would never reach if I had not made use of the pain and disrespect to grind and work harder.
I was able to make use of the negative things that happened to me as part of my growth process and that is one of the main ingredients for success.
[8:50] If you think it wasn’t supposed to be you, where did you get the ability to attain the height of success?
I was blessed to have my parents around me. My father not only played the role of a parent but also proved to be a man. One of the things he taught me was that whatever you start, you must finish. He developed in me the mindset that I should always give more than what is expected of me. What I learned from him became a part of me and also a major principle in my life.
My mum also taught me that you don’t start a fight and not finish it. You must fight in a way that they have to pull you off the person. So my dad taught me how to grind and my mum taught me how to fight.
[13:26] How did you show up differently whenever you make a mistake?
I’m extremely hard on myself so I am brutally honest with whatever I see. I wasn’t solely a perfectionist but I expected a whole lot of myself. Whenever I make a mistake, I am extremely hard on myself and I make sure that I get back to practice. So, I always make sure that I never make the same mistakes whenever I recognize them.
I was treated badly by my team and as time pass by, I begin to love them and develop the mindset of never letting them down.
[20:25] Did you ever experience the fear of being judged by people when you want to talk about what you are going through?
What I’m going through is not for everyone. I call it cerebral wellness and it is important to me. First, I can not do it alone. As men, we were made to believe that it is wrong for us to be emotional. We should always bottle up our emotions but at a point, l had to speak up. I begin to talk about what is affecting me without the fear of being judged.
[22:48] How did you navigate to the shift moments especially when you don’t have an outlet?
When you think you don’t have an outlet, you do. There is at least one person you can always communicate with.
[33:05] What are the things that help you get back on track whenever you make mistakes?
If you expect to always have success without a fall, then you are already in the wrong space. You will fall short and you have to pelf to fall short at some point in life. You are not trying to fall but you will at some point. If you fall and it hurts you, you might have to take a count.
I might need to take a little time but I will definitely rise.
[36:13] What are the things that work well for you?
The first thing that works for me is the power of the pause. I breathe a little and then explode. During this process, I begin to express gratitude for the things that I’m grateful for. I recognize that the things I fail at don’t make me a failure. With gratitude, I learn that failure is temporary and it shouldn’t last. It is just for a season.
With this, I learn to recognize what I can learn, how I can grow, ad, how I can get better. I recognize that I make mistakes but I do not dwell on them. I make room for it to move on and replace it with powerful thoughts.
[43:45] How did you know it is time to give back to the world through a book?
I never thought I would write a book. In the book, I talked about how I had speech impairment which is stuttering, and how it got worse. I was emotional and sometimes I go far than my tongue and mess up the whole speech. So I couldn’t think that I would become a public speaker and also write a book.
The book isn’t about football even though it has football in it but it will show you how I developed a positive mindset and principles that helped me. It is my hope tI hope I achieved success and also learn to take time out of your schedule to also apply the same mindset and principle.
[57:00] What promise did God make to the world when he created you?
What God said was, “The passion that this smart child would operate in will be something that will bless whosoever comes in contact with him”.
Key Quotes
[4:23-4:28] There is no meaning to a moment except for the meaning we give to it.
[6:40-7:00] The majority of success that I have had in my life has come out of pain and that pain has taken me to different heights that I would never reach if I had not made use of the pain and disrespect to grind.
[24:50-25:05] If the stuff that I have bottled up inside of me is causing me to act the way I am, why would I think I can dump them on another person and not expect them to respond similarly or worst.
[41:56-42:03] If you can control your thoughts, you can control the direction you are going.
You can find Learn more about Brian Dawkins
Website - https://briandawkins.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/briandawkinssr
Twitter - https://twitter.com/BrianDawkins
Linkdin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-dawkins-sr-8a48474a/