Habits and Hustle - Episode 51: Coach Dana Cavalea – Former NY Yankees Director of Strength & Conditioning

Episode Date: February 18, 2020

Coach Dana Cavalea is the former Director of Strength & Conditioning and Performance for the New York Yankees. The same year they won the World Series (2009) he won the Nolan Ryan Award given to the ...top Strength & Performance Coach in Major League Baseball. He’s now a performance coach working with C-Suite & Upper Management, Sales Teams, Wall Street Traders, and more. He’s also the author of his new book, Habits of a Champion. In today’s episode, he shares how he started as an intern, he talks about how the habits of athlete’s like Derek Jeter versus Alex Rodriguez and dives into a few valuable stories about his interactions with players and executives. Youtube Link to This Episode Coach Dana’s Website Coach Dana’s Instagram ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Did you learn something from tuning in today? Please pay it forward and write us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. 📧If you have feedback for the show, please email habitsandhustlepod@gmail.com  📙Get yourself a copy of Jennifer Cohen’s newest book from Habit Nest, Badass Body Goals Journal. ℹ️Habits & Hustle Website 📚Habit Nest Website 📱Follow Jennifer – Instagram – Facebook – Twitter – Jennifer’s Website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:01:22 And Dana was the director of Strength and Conditioning and Performance for the New York Yankees. Left a few years ago and has a very thriving career as a performance coach. But before we start, a few words from our sponsor. So here's something a lot of listeners will be interested in. Organes grant for greater good. Organis giving away $150,000 in grant money.
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Starting point is 00:03:11 So if you think you're a good fit, please visit or gain.com slash grants today to learn more. That's or gain.com slash grants to learn more. I was gonna say, if they're gonna work for any team as a strength and conditioning coach the Yankees is probably the best team to work for. It was in terms of like brand recognition. Right, right, and you know we had some unbelievable players through the years too. You know that help enhance that brand. Oh absolutely. And you got into the World Series and there's... Yeah, we World Series in 2009, that's when we won.
Starting point is 00:03:47 Right. But, you know, we're competitive every year. So, we were in the playoffs every year. That's kind of what we do in New York. That's right, of course. So, first, I'm just curious, like, what exactly was your role? Like, what did you do from A to Z as director of strength and conditioning?
Starting point is 00:04:04 Man, so my role was to oversee basically all aspects of performance. So when you look at a player, you see the player on the field, but there's a lot that goes into getting that player on the field, right? So everything from stretching to helping them with their mindset, helping them with their nutrition, for some guys, it's helping them to lose weight, other guys it's helping them to gain weight. Right, right, right. So it's understanding where the players at today and where we want to take that player. And then what are the steps, strategies and processes we use to get them game ready?
Starting point is 00:04:39 Right, so how did you even get that job? I mean, that's probably a very coveted job in terms of any type of training place. Like that would be like the number one, like the pinnacle of any kind of coaching, strengthening position. Yeah, I started, believe it or not, as an intern working for free at 19 years old. So I decided to go to the University of South Florida
Starting point is 00:05:01 down in Tampa, leave New York, and go to the land of the palm trees on the East Coast, that is. And I just, I love baseball, and I had to make a decision myself. Do you want to keep playing, or do you feel like there's a better fit for you, maybe in another role? And I realized that I wasn't good enough to make it to the big leagues as a player, just by my own self-analysis
Starting point is 00:05:24 and the analysis of major league baseball scouts. So I said, what wasn't good enough to make it to the big leagues as a player just by my own self-analysis and the analysis of major league baseball scouts. So I said, what do you love most? I loved training for the game. And I also loved coaching people. And I had some great coaches and I had some bad coaches. And the bad coaches set me back and the great coaches accelerated me forward. And then I realized, wow, there's a position where I can combine the training and the coaching and it's called strength and conditioning coach. Let me do that. So I literally,
Starting point is 00:05:50 I started working at the University of South Florida with a football team, a sport that I really didn't have any interest in. And the Yankees come to spring training in Florida in February. So I drive my old car up to the stadium because I knew they were in town and I walk up I park about a mile and a half away And I'm taking pictures of the team Derek Geter, you know, Mary Ann or Vera Roger Clemens all these great players with my flip phone through a chain link fence I'll flip phone, yeah, so it takes about two thousand and two we get we're going back to and Later that day I ended up going back to my internship at the university. The head coach says, hey, date out, can you come into my office?
Starting point is 00:06:29 I want to talk to you. Now in New York, when someone says, come into my office, I want to talk to you. You know, you're about to get whacked. And you're done. So I ended up sitting with him and he said, listen, I just got a call from the head coach for the Yankees. And they need somebody to basically hand out water, hand out towels, and watch the weight room while the head guys on the field. Would you have any interest in that?"
Starting point is 00:06:50 And I said, you know what? As a matter of fact, I just got back from there and I would love that opportunity. So I said, window I started, he says, you start tomorrow. So the next day I get back in my beat up old Mazda 929 car and I drive up to the stadium this time I got a spot up front waiting for me which is really cool. I walk in the main office they say hey you Dana Cavaliere I said yeah and she says okay well here's your credential so they throw it around my neck it says my name it says C for Clubhouse F for Field Access they walk me in to meet the head
Starting point is 00:07:21 equipment guy and he throws me in Yankee gear and next thing You know they're escorting me out to that same field. I was taking pictures of a day earlier And I'm right in the middle of team stretch. Wow looking at all these players So that's that's how that happened and then literally about two years later I between that time and two years later I did a lot of working for free learning my craft and They hired me as an assistant. And a couple months into the season,
Starting point is 00:07:47 they let the head guy go, and they advanced me as a 23 year old kid, basically, to run the organization from the performance side of things. So it was a great, great journey. As an amazing, I can imagine being like a New York native, and then being able to like work for the Inquis, that's like a dream come true for any guy. Yeah, it's crazy because, you know, when you're in high school,
Starting point is 00:08:11 you're buying Derek Eater shoes a few years later, you know, you're hanging out with him at dinner and a movie theater and flying on his plane. And it's like, this is pretty cool. But what's even better than all that stuff is actually getting to know the guys as people, not just players. Well, you know, I should say also, I didn't say at the beginning, you wrote a really good book, it's called The Habits of Champions. Right? Habits of the Champions. Habits of a champion. Nobody becomes a champion by accident. And I actually
Starting point is 00:08:38 think it's a very not actually, I'm not shocked by it, but it's a very good read. And it's very, there's a lot, it's very like, it's just basically to the point. There's no, it's a very good read. And it's very, there's a lot, it's very like, they're, it's just basically to the point. There's no, it's not very much fluff. It's basically, here are 15 things that make a champion. Wasn't it 15? There's, there's 15 lessons in there and, and then like a lot of sub, sub lessons.
Starting point is 00:08:59 Sub lessons within that. And I loved it. And you know what I also noticed was, and when I like to see this see is, people hear all the time like Darryl Jeeters, like a Ver, he's a gentleman, he's like a class act. And in your book, you make, actually, it sounds like he really was. You kind of referenced him a lot, you quoted him a lot. It sounds like you learned a lot from that relationship.
Starting point is 00:09:20 Yeah, so here I am. I'm brought in to help these players, you know, with their overall performance. And it's a very reciprocal relationship. Yeah, so here I am, I'm brought in to help these players, you know, with their overall performance and it's a very reciprocal relationship in that at the same time they're helping me with mine. Right. You know, like I said, I was a kid that was, you know, like any other kid trying to find his way and when these guys were coming up into the big leagues, so I looked up to them, almost as, you know, teenage, for me, with my idols right in the world of sports.
Starting point is 00:09:43 And now here I am, you know, having to coach them, but I'm also learning from them at the same time. And I learned what makes great players great, what makes average players average, and what makes players that come up and go right down those sort of players. No, I think that's a great segue into what I was gonna say to you and ask you.
Starting point is 00:10:03 The first thing that I saw in your book, which I love the way you were today, was like, you gotta hate to lose more than you love to win. Yeah. Let's talk about that a little bit. Yeah, so I mean, that's definitely a jeeterism, if you will, but it was something that I saw, what makes these great players great?
Starting point is 00:10:20 And they had that chip on their shoulder. They had an edge to them. And it wasn't forced, it wasn't something they faked. It was just something that came with their package, right? They had an expectation of personal excellence and that personal excellence, they also, they put that expectation on to you as well, right? So you better be on time because I'm on time, right? You better approach your day the way we approach our day which is like that of a winner, right? There's no excuses. There's no, you know, this, this,
Starting point is 00:10:54 it's very direct language that we use in sports. Well, you said, I think you said in the book something like, if someone doesn't respect your time, they don't respect you. That's I think we said that Darryl Gute was saying to you. Right, there was a time when I was waiting in a wait room in Boston, and I was waiting on a player, and I had Darryl right after that other player. Darryl came down early, and he said, Hey, what are you doing here? I said, Oh, I'm waiting for so and so, and he says, Well, where is he?
Starting point is 00:11:21 Who was so and so? I can't tell you. Why not? This is all part of the thing. You know, we're gonna tell us about this. Yeah, it was actually one of our, one of our other marquee players. Was it A-Rot? It was A-Rot.
Starting point is 00:11:32 It was A-Rot. It was A-Rot. And he's one of my close friends. Right. But in that moment, you know, in Boston, maybe he went out a little bit the night before or whatever. But we had an early appointment and he didn't make it that day.
Starting point is 00:11:46 Well, how long did he make you wait or he just stand you up completely? Well, I got a text right around, I'd say I was supposed to work with a G-Dirt around 10, and I got a text from Alex around 10, Hey are you available? So I guess whatever happened happened, but ultimately at.m., I had my session with the captain. Now, was there a lot of interest, like, what was the relationship dynamic between A-Rod and Geter from the inside? Yeah, from the inside. I mean, listen, when you come inside of our clubhouse, you see all these tables where guys
Starting point is 00:12:19 eat lunch together and they eat dinner together. Right. You're almost eating every meal together. And a lot of what was made up on the outside was not really true on the inside. You know, there's a public image that players have and then there's a real image that players have. And for us, you never felt any rifts, you never felt that. And, you know, in sport, which is I find to be very different than I say the real world in business, when there's a problem, we address it.
Starting point is 00:12:45 And that problem is addressed, and then you're sitting at the same table having dinner together. So I've seen guys literally have fist fights with each other on the field during stretch. And a few hours later, they're having dinner together like nothing happened. So it's very raw, and it's very emotional.
Starting point is 00:13:00 It's very intense. But then it's simmering once it's addressed. There's not a lot of passive aggressive behavior. There's not a lot of holding on. If I have a problem with you, I'm gonna tell you, we're gonna address it, and then the dust will settle and it's business as usual. So that people don't really harbor resentment
Starting point is 00:13:18 or immocity? No, because the undertone of all of it is that I have a respect for you and you have a respect for me because we're the greatest in the world at what we do. We're the top 1% where professional athletes, 99% of the world is not. So we have a gift and we know it
Starting point is 00:13:36 and I respect yours and you respect mine. That's the undertone that sits there. So when you were saying earlier about you got a heat to you know you've got to hate the whole hate to lose more than you love to win, right? And then you said to me about you know the people who may or who are made to be who are champions they have like an innate chip on their shoulder, right? That's what you kind of said. I saw that another thing that you said is that it says you act the one
Starting point is 00:14:05 to actually make it without just beyond their genetic talent often come from a situation of hardship and like a tough life because they never want to go back to the world. Yeah and actually that sport and business. I have some guys that I work with that are multi-billionaires that came from the streets of Brooklyn. When Brooklyn was not what it is today, it wasn't in this Renaissance period or gentrification period, it was a dump. And it was a hard way to live and a hard way to grow up. And one of them was just telling me a few months ago,
Starting point is 00:14:34 they could still smell what the lobby smelled like in their building. And they never want to go back to that. And in sports, you know, players that come from the Dominican Republic, they come from really poor situations. They never want to go back to that. What I found is a lot of players, they come from middle-class backgrounds to lower-income situations. And it's just something that's always in the back of their mind.
Starting point is 00:14:58 That here is something where I can have this great level of achievement. You know, financially, I can set my family up for generations. And if I don't make it, then I have to go back to that. Yeah. And I don't want to go back there. If you love the Habits and Hustle podcast and are looking to add more podcasts to your weekly routine, I have the podcast for you.
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Starting point is 00:16:59 I see that all the time, it's like kind of like you need, in order to have build, and not always, there's always like an exception to every rural understand that. But like grit and character are usually like the found is a foundation of someone who had to like work really hard to kind of get to that point and like struggle and persevere. And you know when you're usually like born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Yeah. Right. And like you were saying in the books, I mean like you know if when you're usually born with a silver spoon in your mouth, right? And like you were saying in the books, I mean, like, you know, if you're like, if your family's driving right in a test line, you're doing this and you're, what was the other like, like, what were you saying in the book was like,
Starting point is 00:17:32 I'm trying to think of the exact example that you're going with. It was, gosh, I can't. So you know, you're basically like, you're, you're born to privilege. Yeah. You know, the chances of you making it to that, to being that, and sustaining it, was. It goes down. I mean, there's been research studies
Starting point is 00:17:52 that have done on this that talk about, where you kind of enter what your chances are for success. Right. And there's different kinds of success. If you grow up in a privileged situation, it doesn't mean that you're not going to make it. You've already made it. Now you have to kind of reset your bar.
Starting point is 00:18:09 And when I work with the kids of some of the business leaders that I work with, this is what we talk about. Like, hey, this is what your mom and dad did. But what are you gonna do? Yeah, absolutely. So it's not about, if you come from a better situation that you don't have a chance, you just have to reset what it is that you want to do and determine what your own vision
Starting point is 00:18:29 for yourself is. Absolutely. So. What would you say the one through line is from between, let's say, Geter, everybody, they all have these character traits, right? Yeah. But the one, the most, those are the most fundamental quality that they all have. Consistency. And it's consistency in their actions, it's consistency in their words, and it's consistency in their behaviors. When you're around
Starting point is 00:18:54 these people, they're never going to surprise you. What, you know what you're going to get. You know, they're not going to come in with one attitude one day and another attitude another day. You know, they're not going to just totally lose it on somebody because that's not of their cut. Right. You know, I have the saying where I say they ride the middle line in life. They don't get too high, they don't get too low, they stay right in the middle, with little ups and little downs, but not enough to where you'd walk away and say, wow, what was that? I didn't expect that. I've never seen that before. Right. So there's a lot of consistency and behavior and obviously their words.
Starting point is 00:19:28 And like you said, also never getting too high and never getting too low, kind of maintaining that like middle ground. I see that all the time too. I mean, people who make decisions from an emotional state versus people who can like make a decision for much more of a rational, even Stephen state, right?
Starting point is 00:19:50 I see there's a big, again, there's something you can see in someone's overall character when they kind of say, like long, kind of steady versus these irrational behaviors, ups and spikes and down, like, because you can only sustain that behavior for so long. And then it gives out all things. It's exhausting, but also other people don't learn not to trust that, trust you in that behavior. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:14 I mean, the other thing that you said, I think I don't know if it was something, it wasn't from a baseball player, but one of your, I guess, private clients, about like there's three kinds of people. Yeah, there's a smart, right? A smart person, a bad person, and a stupid person, and stay away from the stupid person. Right.
Starting point is 00:20:35 Exactly. So he works with, he's actually in the private equity world, and he was with Bougain Heim, and he told me this lesson, and I always enjoyed it, and because he's a professional negotiator, he goes around the world and courts the world's billionaires, and basically tries to take their money, so he could reinvest it into his fund. And he said, there's three types of people in this world,
Starting point is 00:21:00 you have smart, you have bad, and you have stupid. He said, smart people, you know what you got, they're smart, bad people, you know what you have smart, you have bad and you have stupid. He said smart people. You know what you got? They're smart right bad people. You know what you have they're bad Stupid people you you they're the most difficult to negotiate with because you don't know what they're bringing and neither do that So they may say one thing and pivot into something else and just in one meeting they could put on many different faces It's it's because they're inconsistent. And again, as back to that point of, you don't know what you're going to get. Their behavior is not consistent.
Starting point is 00:21:32 So then it's hard. It's like, but I would say, yeah, I always say the worst kind of person is a stupid person, right? Because you can't rationalize with that kind of person. You can rationalize with a smart person, you can rationalize with a bad person. But the stupid people, you're right. But then how do you know? Could somebody stupid?
Starting point is 00:21:51 How do you know if somebody's actually stupid? Yeah, I mean, it's up for your own interpretation of what that means. But I think, if you think about your day and your life, you're typically gonna have a very similar type of person that you're around. And then all of a sudden there's this person that sticks out, right? And that person sticks out. They're either sticking out because they're brilliant and they're and you're like, wow, this person's really something. Or they're sticking out because you just can't figure them out
Starting point is 00:22:18 and they make you feel a certain way and you feel uneasy and you don't know how to handle them, right? Right. So that's how we will classify stupid. It's just somebody that doesn't kind of fit your natural daily mold or interactions of the people that you're used to being around. Wow. Yeah. No, that's... I think anybody who would listen to you say that can think about a time and experience for that so true. Yeah, for a couple names. A couple names that come to mind pretty easily. How is it different now, as you segue out of working with the professional sports team now with CEOs and all these high-level executives, how has that transitioned been? What's the difference? Well, there's a lot of similarities
Starting point is 00:23:09 in terms of expectations and intensity. The one thing I find is a lot of executives and a lot of leaders, number one, they haven't been coached in a really long time, if ever, since their youth sports days. Number two, they haven't actually been trained on how to handle the aggressiveness of their schedule. They haven't learned how to manage their own schedule oftentimes.
Starting point is 00:23:32 They haven't learned how to manage their own personal life, personal relationships, as it relates to their whole career. In sports, we're grooming these guys to deal with those things. If they have an issue with a spouse or with a girlfriend, boom, we're right on it to talk about it. As a business leader, who you're going to? You're going to have to hire maybe some sort of psychiatrist, but if they don't understand everything about your work and how your mind works and the intensity that goes with what it is that you're doing, it's a little bit different.
Starting point is 00:24:05 Where I come in, I work as a personal coach now to these executives, to these leaders, as well as still working with professional athletes, as kind of this behind the scenes go to support that they have somebody where they could lean on. So I help them design their physical training programs, their mental training programs, and wrap the nutrition. And what wrapped around all of that is just someone to talk to when they're dealing with something. Well you know what? And you saw this in the book and you said about fit to win, which is one of the habits, right? Yeah. And of course me coming from the fitness business and world, you know, of course it resonates, right? Because I think a lot of people don't understand
Starting point is 00:24:46 that when you are physically fit, meant to, I mean, that you're eating properly, working out, doing all those things that take care of yourself, it is a direct translation into how you act and are in the rest of the world, like how you do one thing in life is how you're going to do everything else in life. And then it's like people are always like, well, how can they say this to me? Like, okay. So now you did that. How did you ricochet into being a performance coach with with all these CEOs or whoever? And it's like, you know, what? Because when you get the fundamentals down, right? Which is like how to take care of yourself, you know, create habits, routine, and the physical and the fitness and the diet, that it tweaked your mindset.
Starting point is 00:25:29 And you become, and that's when you have a different mindset, you behave differently to the world. Exactly. You're a perfect person to be that person for. Yeah, and I've enjoyed it. I approach them as if they're athletes, as if they're, you know, Derek G. to the, again, I'll talk about these executives, you know, a lot of them, they're like wild dogs. They're aggressive, hungry, wild dogs.
Starting point is 00:25:51 And what's plaguing most of them, right? Stress, anxiety, and a mind that's all over the place. And somebody says, well, now here's what you should do, right? You should do meditation and you should do debriefing and all that. And I say, what do you do when your dog's going crazy in the house? You open the door and you let the dog out. Right. We have to teach them to, first, we have to, before we get into meditation or that,
Starting point is 00:26:12 these guys are our high energy, high octane. We got to burn that top layer off. And then we could get into the other things. But like not even about meditation, I think the importance of having a structured routine, if meditation isn't even your thing, and you the importance of having a structured routine, if meditation isn't even your thing, and you say this even in your book, then like pick what works for you, right? So like I think having just working a lot, and you said it's also, doesn't necessarily equate to being
Starting point is 00:26:36 successful or really anything, that what makes you successful is having a really honed in schedule and being efficient. And owning that. And owning that. And because at the same time, if you don't own it, now you're vulnerable and now you're questioning, hey, you know, I only worked four hours today, but I got everything done that I had to get done. But this guy over here, he's working eight.
Starting point is 00:26:56 Maybe I should work eight. And then again, we'll go back to the pro athletes. They have a tremendous amount of conviction. They don't care what you think. They don't care what you think. They don't care what I think. They're very coachable, but they have their core values. They have their focus and they know where they're going. It's just a matter of who's coming with them.
Starting point is 00:27:13 I was gonna say to you, like, how do you find it difficult to coach someone? These are all these people who have type A personalities. They tend to wanna do things their own way and wanna do things on their schedule, which is kind of like the irony of this whole thing, right? Because those are the people who also invest in coaches because they want to like level up and make it better, but at the same time it sometimes could be hard to train them. What are your strategies to help people who are super type A listen to you and put them on a very strict schedule
Starting point is 00:27:48 that's better for them. Something I always say is I'm not afraid to wrestle them like an alligator. So these guys there and ladies too, very aggressive people. Typically, I always say you've got to get on top of them. Because nobody ever gets on top of them. But what I find in coaching them, they'll always give you something. And then when you find that something, you hammer whatever that something may be, it's different for every single person. Like some, when you're talking with them and you're, you, you, the, the, the one thing, they're such
Starting point is 00:28:20 street shooters. And if you catch them and they're own bullshit and you hold the mirror up to it, you can pause them for a second because nobody again think about their position in life. They're used to telling, they're always used to playing off-rights. So as soon as you can get them in a semi-defensive position, you've now created a hole and then a great coach finds that and goes right at it and that opens up the dialogue. So I know it's a little bit deep, but. No, it's not anything that I can understand. That's like, it's a deep, that's a lot of speed.
Starting point is 00:28:52 Some people may say, what do you mean? No, I understand what you're saying. You're saying that usually people have like, they show you something where you can then like, a small little sliver where you can open open up and go through it. But a lot of times people can be super defensive, right? It depends on how self-aware they are or how much they can listen to. I know that a lot of times I've worked with people and no matter what they want to do what they want to do.
Starting point is 00:29:22 And they have a very strong conviction when it comes to that. Part two is I have a strong conviction too and I don't have to work with you. So I can leave. You don't own me. Right. So nobody does. I own myself, I own my thoughts, I own my action. So at the same time, if you're asking me to come and help you and you're not coachable, I treat you like any other uncouchable player. When you're ready to be coached, let me know. Has there been anybody that in your experiences
Starting point is 00:29:53 has been uncouchable? Yes. 100%. Anyone I know? No, no, these are guys. And I will say what's interesting, a lot of the guys that I work with, especially on the business side, they don't want to be very, they don't want to be known.
Starting point is 00:30:07 They're not like the household names, you know, in business, but they're, they've been very successful, but some of them, they're just not in a place where they say they're open, but they're not open. Right. So ultimately, at that point, you just walk, you just leave and say, because part of when you're building a business, you're building a business, you're building a business that's right for you and you have to build a business that has the people that are also right for you. Because in order to build your own brand,
Starting point is 00:30:34 in order to build any brand, you have to have fans and you need people to take to your words and take to your coaching so that they can go out and be great billboards for themselves and for the coaching. So let's talk about like Derek G. versus A. Rod and the only reason why I'm bringing those two up are because they're the most well-known to me. Right. Right. And I want to talk about like how are they, well how is their work ethic different? How did it... It's pretty simple. Different from... From different from each other,
Starting point is 00:31:13 Alex was much more of a guy that he always wanted to do more because that more made him feel more prepared. It made him feel more secure in his ability to go out on the field and play. Right. The guy like Dirtie knew exactly how much he needed and when he hit that point, he stopped. It wasn't about, well, I have to do more and more will make me more prepared. He knew exactly what he needed in order to be prepared. So it's interesting because you then you're saying that did he did a rod work more? So then the whole thing about time, like he thought the more time he put in when make him more successful.
Starting point is 00:31:53 Right. And so Derek Geter worked smarter. He was more efficient with this time. Well, I think when you kind of peel that back, the thing for Alex was, I think he really did need it because I believe that his mind was much more active than a guy like Derek. And he used that extra work to actually keep him calm, right? But it wasn't actually excessive amount of work, which by 20% more than a guy like Jeter,
Starting point is 00:32:22 but again, every person, every player is unique. But they were in naturally. These are people who are naturally, like we're talking earlier. They're genetically disposition to be champions too. They had a natural innate talent and then they hone their talent, right? Now, can you, let's talk about somebody who we said earlier,
Starting point is 00:32:41 who maybe wasn't as gifted genetically, but then because of their consistency, their work ethic, their discipline, their conviction, was able to become a superstar. Right. So, you have a player, we have a player in New York now, his name is Brett Gardner, right? He went to a smaller college, wasn't a hydrafic, but he's had a long career, 10-year career, which is unheard of, because he's probably five foot, five foot six. So he's a small guy, he's a speed guy,
Starting point is 00:33:14 but a guy like him, he's got a very, very strong mind. He's very willed to go where it is that he wants to go, and that's his greatest gift. He was naturally born with a great body, he was naturally born with speed. He's not into training that much, but he grew up working on a farm. So he has what we call farm boy strength.
Starting point is 00:33:33 So a totally different profile. So he was able to make. What farm boys, what is that? It's just guys that are naturally strong. You know, the strong joints, strong tendons from basically growing up with manual labor. Like physically strong.
Starting point is 00:33:48 Yeah, physically strong. Yeah, not weightlifting strong, not gym strong. When they go in the gym, they're not that strong, but their body feels strong. Right. They have just this strength within them. Well, it's also because they were bred that way, right? Yeah, exactly. It's like Kentucky horses. Yeah, exactly.
Starting point is 00:34:07 Same thing. Same thing. So they were born that way. So that's an example of a player that definitely doesn't have the same talent profile as some of the guys that we're talking about. But through consistency, through his own work ethic and focus on where his holes are in his own game, he's actually focusing on those. Yeah. That's how he's been able to maintain performance. More from our guest, the first
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Starting point is 00:37:04 zero self-doubt you. Grab a with love today. Vitamin water, zero sugar, nourish every you. Vitamin water is a registered trademark of glass O. You know what I find also super interesting? It's like today's time, right? You have in the wellness space. You have so many different modalities
Starting point is 00:37:28 to basically get to the next level. You have all the different red light, near infrared, red light, infrared saw in us. You have cryo therapies, you have ice baths, you have all these things, you have, you have, I can go on and on. You have the intermittent diets, all the different fads and diets. But at the end of the day, you have, I can go on and on. You have the intermittent diets, all the different fats and diets. But at the end of the day, you have hyperbaric chambers.
Starting point is 00:37:49 I'm at an end go on. IVs. But really, and you said this in your book, how really to be the best, to be a champion, it's usually the most basic shit that you need to master and just do it over and over again. Like do you think that everything that's kind of like evolved and happened over the last, you know, lately of the last five, eight years, let's say, is kind of superfluous nonsense. Yeah, I do actually. Yeah, a lot of elite players, it's funny that you say that, you know, because I would bring in what I would classify as like a gimmick, right?
Starting point is 00:38:25 Yeah. And these elite players, the whole thing, guys. Like, come on, man. What are you doing with that? Get that out of here. I'm not using that. Get that away from you. I'm not using that.
Starting point is 00:38:34 They're just not into it. They don't subscribe to that. Now, what I say is this, right? Every person, every player is different. All these different modalities that are out there, those are just tools. And at different times, you need different tools. Just like if you're building a house,
Starting point is 00:38:49 or you're building anything, you need different tools for different things. And that's the way it works. So cryotherapy, some guys actually make it too stiff from that. They may hate it, they maybe have an adverse reaction to that level of cold. Right.
Starting point is 00:39:02 There's still questions that say, does this even work? Right? Because now there's things by the cold. Right. There's still questions that say, does this even work? Right? Because now there's a lot of these things, by the way. Exactly. You know, so I have a buddy who's a doctor and he's like, listen, the IV, he goes most of that, you're just gonna excrete anyway.
Starting point is 00:39:16 Most doctors do say that. Yeah, so when you start to look at all of these things, you say, okay, what are the essentials, right? What do we need, right? I said, okay, well, if you're training an athlete, we need to make sure that they're strong, they're powerful, they're flexible, they're mobile. So those are the key things that we focus on. Right. You know, from their mindset standpoint, they have to be positive. They have to be, you know, they have to believe in themselves, right? These are key principles. So let's focus on those things, right?
Starting point is 00:39:46 When they get down, we have to figure out ways to lift them up. So these are the basics when it comes to fueling. How are they reacting to certain, you know, macronutrients versus others, certain ratios versus others? So we figured all this stuff out and then we said, hey, this is what works for you. Do you believe in this? Yes or no, if not, we modify, we pivot. We find what works for that person, but it's not looking for what's the next tool. It's actually looking at the person and saying, hey, what do you need right now in this moment today?
Starting point is 00:40:21 Right. I feel like a lot of things become other directed and noise, right? Because I said, like, kind of just stay on on on program and just staying with the fundamentals. And like, a lot, a lot of the super athletes I've spoken to worked with or whoever it is who who achieve and succeed at like an extraordinary level, they're like, God, here you go again, Jennifer, with another ridiculous thing that we should be incorporated.
Starting point is 00:40:51 Like, someone else is where I'm telling them about a new modality. They're like, I don't care. I do what I do. I eat the way I've been eating for 20 years and it's been working for me. And they're at a higher level than most people. Yeah, and there's some players that we found that they play better heavier. They play better with extra body fat, right? And if you look at them, you say, hey, that can't be true.
Starting point is 00:41:15 We're trying to create this ultimate sculpt and then we've seen players throwing fastballs at 98 when they're at one weight and they're throwing it at 95 when they're at another weight. That's a problem, not a, that's a big problem when a guy's fastball drops three miles an hour. Well, baseball is different though. Like, I'm not gonna sit here in pretend and I'm like the biggest baseball fan in the world
Starting point is 00:41:37 just, you know, I'm not. But I know the basics. And I find it to be like a different sport, though, because looking, like you just said, looking at people who play baseball, they don't look like the most like fit and sculpted athletes, you know? But it's again, like you were saying,
Starting point is 00:41:57 it's about like just because that doesn't mean anything, right? You can have a lot of power and strength, but have 30 pounds extra on you. Just people, everyone's different and like every sport you train differently. Exactly. Yeah, every sport you train, you train differently for that. That's the bottom line. But and then I ask average people, hey, what? Or every day people, every day people.
Starting point is 00:42:19 Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Civilians, how do you train? And they have no idea. Some people, they, they're always guessing, right? There's no plan. There's just a constant guessing that goes on as to how they go about. They don't know why they have a good day, they don't know why they have a bad day. They don't know why they feel tired some days and some days why they feel good.
Starting point is 00:42:39 They don't know why they sleep poorly one night and why they sleep great another night. They have no idea, right? They know more about their car than they know about themselves. No, I mean, so basically you're saying that people should have a plan. It doesn't matter how fancy the plan is. Usually the most basic plan is fine, but have some kind of plan. And it has to be a plan for you, right?
Starting point is 00:42:59 It's like, you know, we read so much about diet, right? You have to get in your greens and, you know, there was the kale revolution that was gone on. You have your t-shirts that just kale and all that. And at the same time, if I put that in your plan and you hate it, you're never going to eat it. Right. You know, so it's not going to work for you.
Starting point is 00:43:16 So whatever the plan is, it must be curated and individualized to you. That's all that matters. Absolutely. That's what people are. I was like, what's the best exercise to do? Whenever one you're going to actually do is the best exercise to you. That's all that matters. Absolutely. That's what people are. I was like, what's the best exercise to do? Whenever one you're going to actually do is the best exercise I do. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:43:29 If I tell you to go kickboxing and you absolutely hate it, you're never going to do it. So, you have to, I think it's trial and error. People have to try what, try things to know what works for them. Yeah. And what they like to do. Totally. And in pro sports, what's a little bit different is, like for me, I had over C-300 million dollars in human assets human capital right and they all come with a with an injury history that Summer this big and someone go down to the floor right So we also have to teach them and protect them from themselves right if you have a history of lower back issues
Starting point is 00:43:59 There's certain things that you just can't do so you know so you don't like at that so are, like walk me through a day in the life of training these people, these professional athletes at that high level from beginning to end. I know you say stretching and this and that. I wanna know exactly. Yeah, so what we do is we, you know, when we first get our players in for the year, right?
Starting point is 00:44:24 And what we do is we do a thorough assessment evaluation, everything from postural analysis to how much joint range of motion you have, we actually measure your shoulders, measure your hips, measure your torso rotation. We measure it all. And then what we do is we begin to classify the player. Where are they at the highest risk and where are they at the lowest risk?
Starting point is 00:44:41 And then what we do is we tailor and design programming to focus on where the highest risk factors are. Because again, some of these guys, and it'd bet, one at bat, could be worth $75,000 to $150,000. So if he doesn't make a few at bats that night, it could cost the team half a million dollars. Wow.
Starting point is 00:45:02 Or during that week, right? So we have to really be aware of that. So where's your weaknesses and what are your natural strengths, right? team half a million dollars. Right? Or during that week. Right. So we have to really be aware of that. So where's your weaknesses and what are your natural strengths? So what we do is we get all this data. We cross reference that with their previous injury history. And then what we do is we create these custom tailored plants. So where does it begin?
Starting point is 00:45:19 For me, it always begins with soft tissue. What's the quality of your soft tissue? Where do you have disturbance? What's going on in your soft tissue that may be limiting your hip range of motion? So we actually work on their soft tissue with our hands, with our elbows, with different manual therapy. We do a lot of manual therapy. So every player, we have a custom plan they come in. Boom, we hit their manual therapy. From there, we take them into their core development, we take them into their pre-habilitative protocols, which are injury prevention based protocols based on our assessments and our evaluations.
Starting point is 00:45:56 Then from there, we condition them and then we get them into a strength based program that's specific to them and then we recover them after the game. So this is a process and we just execute that process over and over again. So how many hours a day in training do these people... Well, if they're just going to come in and do their manual therapy and some of their pre-habilitative work, they could be in for maybe 30 minutes. But what we do is we try to get a full program at least three days a week.
Starting point is 00:46:28 And in the off season, it expands out to four. So these people don't, so the teams don't work out together. Like you don't like train everyone together. Everyone's individual. Yeah, everyone's an individual. But like, so while in season, because you're saying, I train Derek at 10 o'clock and I train A-Rod at 9. Like, do you do, like, I would imagine,
Starting point is 00:46:48 this is how I would think it you would do, you'd be like, it was like any other kind of situation where you'd be like, I train, I'm training this person from nine to 10, this comes from 10 to 11. Like, you had a schedule where you have an hour workout with each player. Yeah, so it's kind of like they actually like, drip in.
Starting point is 00:47:05 Right. So starting from, don't forget we have a seven o'clock start time on a game. Right. So they get in, guys are getting in, 1, 130. But that's game day, so that's like it costs game days. Well, the thing isn't baseball, we play 162. I know.
Starting point is 00:47:17 So we play almost every day. So that becomes your schedule. But what I did was, so let's say I spent 20 minutes with you on your manuals therapy, well not every player needs that, right? So if we have a 25-man roster, let's say only half of them need manual therapy, that's 13, so 12 and a half,
Starting point is 00:47:40 and it's 20 minutes a person. And I may need this person every other day. So it's not as much. So once I do the manual therapy, they know their plan after that. And they do it themselves. They do it themselves, but we're all in a very small, contained space.
Starting point is 00:47:55 Right, so do you have other people who work, do you have other people who worked underneath you? Do you, we're like, okay, you're gonna be working on this guy, not guy. Yeah, we have different, like, minor league coordinators and coordinators as well that were there. So it's, uh, and it's a team-based approach. We have a great athletic training staff.
Starting point is 00:48:13 So there was a team of us, but I quarterbacked the performance side of things. Right, right, right. You know, and, and now when you work with the, the non-pro's and you're working with these elite executives, you're introducing them to something like this that they've never even thought of before. Because for them in their mind is like, do I do soul cycle today? Or am I going to do some sort of spin class? Should I do yoga?
Starting point is 00:48:36 What should I do? And so by the way, what do you do? What's your daily routine? But my daily routine? Yeah. Well, one thing I try to do every day is I try to get, it's like my own little therapeutic walk. That's like a big thing for me. Just kind of where I get to unplug from my tech
Starting point is 00:48:55 and I get to just be, right? So that's a big thing. And I love cycling is something that I really enjoy. And I actually just picked up, because I do have a history of lower back issues just from lifting like like a clown when I was younger. I started to do Pilates. Oh, yeah, yeah, reformer based Pilates. Right. And that's been really, it's been great actually.
Starting point is 00:49:23 Do you and so do you do work? Do you wake up at a very specific time every day or? You know, when I travel, I just say this, the first thing I do is my exercise. Because there's days when I travel like here on the west coast, tonight I land at 11 in New York and then I have to get it back on that time. So my rule is the first thing I do is exercise and I like the last thing I do to also be something physical as well. So I try to split my day like that and then somewhere in between that I put a walk.
Starting point is 00:49:56 So you do two workouts a day then or? Yeah, I do two. And plus plus a walk? Yeah, okay. So but then you have to understand also how I typically break up my day. Right. So, I believe in working in 90 minute blocks.
Starting point is 00:50:07 So, I only do 4, 90 minute blocks a day. I do 90 minutes, break, 90 minutes, break, 90, break, 90. So I'm working six hours a day, typically four to six hours a day in these blocks. Because I can't give you more attention than 90 minutes. I'm not wired like that. I'm in on field coach. I'm used to being out there. So when I have to write a book, I'm not
Starting point is 00:50:31 sitting writing for four hours. I'm writing for 90 minutes. And then I get up and do something else. About 30 minutes, I can be active moving around. And then I'm back at it again. So I. You know what's great about that? And I like that.
Starting point is 00:50:44 It's because it truthfully is like, it's reality for people. Like you were saying, and I was like, a lot of things that you were saying in that book, I was like, oh my god, I totally agree on it, but that resonates. In someone's total day plan, between, they wait, if an eight to six day,
Starting point is 00:50:59 probably they'll work, like maybe like, they'll get two or three, like solid work hours. They're like mostly scrolling on their phone. They're like texting their friends or talking. They're like talking at the water cooler. Like how much of that real eight, 10 hour day do you spend with real like really working? Right.
Starting point is 00:51:16 So like, I think it's so much better if like people had that like come to Jesus moment, even in corporations and like, you know, this is like human nature a lot of times because you can't concentrate for 12 hours. Yeah, it's impossible. It's impossible. It's impossible.
Starting point is 00:51:32 So like to have that, then you're actually more efficient with your time in these 90 minute blocks. I'm sorry, yeah, 90 minute blocks. Yeah, 90 minute blocks. And you know, just kind of coming full circle again on how I wrote the book. You know, as a coach, you're always reading, right? You're always trying to develop yourself so you can then pass information and develop
Starting point is 00:51:49 your players. And I started to read all these books. And I said, I mean, these are theory-based books. These are classroom-based books. These are not real-life case study books. So I said, okay, I work with the best in the world in sports and business, and they don't do what these people are saying to do. I said, so I'm going to write a book that's not just a book, I want it to be a handbook. So where you could reference anything in there,
Starting point is 00:52:18 and it'll have some direct application to your life. And it wasn't meant to be written in a sports tone. It's meant to be real. It's like we're conversing. Yeah. And that's what I want. And I want people to know, listen, high performers, they deal with the same thing that you deal with. And just because you're not, you don't have this perfect routine
Starting point is 00:52:41 yet, you can get one. And when you do get it, you'll probably struggle with it too. So it's all normal. So we're normal, I'm normal, you're normal. Don't feel weird, it's just what it is. Whether you're doing a dance to your favorite artist in the office parking lot, or being guided into Warrior One in the break room before your shift, whether you're running on your Peloton tread at your mom's house while she watches the baby. Or counting your breaths on the subway. We're inhaling and long exhale out. Peloton is for all of us, wherever we are,
Starting point is 00:53:13 whenever we need it. Download the free Peloton app today. Peloton app available through free tier or paid to description starting at 12.99 per month. That's what I liked about though. Like it was easy to get through because it was like I said at the beginning of this podcast, was it was kind of like a handbook.
Starting point is 00:53:28 You can turn to anything at any time and have a practical piece of information that you can integrate. It's like, yeah, you know what, that's true. Look at that thing. And it's not hard. These are not hard complicated theories. It's very doable. Right? Like even stuff as simple as, you know, how important loyalty is for success.
Starting point is 00:53:52 Like, you know, having loyal people around you, you being loyal, what was another one that was just for a winning formula? Yeah, one of my favorites in there is, if you're going to eat, you got to digest. So a gentleman that gave me that one is one of my clients. He's a multi-billionaire. And he's an amazing guy. He only works four days a week. And he told me, he's like, you know, you in business, right?
Starting point is 00:54:15 Everybody's so hungry, right? They're all that household. They're always hustling and they're working to acquire. He said, but when you acquire something, it's very important that you sit with what you acquire and let that kind of expand and let it open up and see what that acquisition is going to do. Don't be so focused on the next acquisition. Sit with what you have and develop it and see what happens naturally with that. It's a par excellence. Yeah, and the story was like I opened a bunch of gyms in the New York area.
Starting point is 00:54:45 Yeah. And I, this guy was my client the whole time and I opened one and we were doing great. So the amateur mind says, well, let me open another one. Right. And then that starts doing well and then I said, well, I got something here. Let me open another one. And he says, you know, I was watching you bury yourself. And I said, well, why didn't you tell me? He said, I did. He didn't listen. So that's how that story evolved. What it says, if you're going to eat, you better digest. So that's a simple lesson. It is a simple. It is a simple. It's a great, it's a great lesson. And then also reframing. Who is that? You were, you talked a lot about reframing, like ideas, like people get themselves very worked up over like the big day, you know, the big game,
Starting point is 00:55:25 the big moment in life. Yeah, so that's a great story. I always tell of Marianne Rivera and I go back to, this started in 1995 when I watched him pitch for the first time and this guy is a skinny Panamanian kid and I said, what's he gonna do? And he leans back and he throws 97 miles an hour and I said, wow, you have my attention now.
Starting point is 00:55:43 And you know, as again, I was at high school at the time, so I'm trying to figure out who I am, what I stand for, and everything else in between. And I see this guy and I said, man, this is an incredible player. So years later, I actually got the chance to coach him for a large amount of his career. So here we are, we live in the same county, just a couple towns away up in Westchester, New York. And he calls me up, he says, hey, can you come over to the house, it's in the winter, I need you to stretch me and work on me. So I go to this house, we're in the basement, we're just talking,
Starting point is 00:56:14 and I said, you know what, it's time, I got to ask you this question. How do you do it? Like people say you have ice in your veins, people watch you pitch in the biggest situations, and you have ice in your veins, people watch you pitch in the biggest situations and you have no fear. And the game's on the line and everything, how do you do it? And he says, buddy, I do three things. He goes, number one, I slow everything down.
Starting point is 00:56:34 Number two, I quiet the noise. And number three, I throw one pitch at a time. He says, that's it. He says, you see, I don't pay attention to the externals. He says, because they will, I don't let them inside. He says, I control what's inside of me. I control how I respond and how I react to things. So if I don't acknowledge those things, they're not real.
Starting point is 00:56:57 And I said, well, what about the big situations game on the line, world series? And he says, buddy, every situation is the same. We decide what we give life to. So that was a very defining conversation for me because I said, how many things do I pay attention to that get me totally worked up? And when you understand that concept, you decide what gets you worked up and what doesn't.
Starting point is 00:57:20 So people say, man, you're very relaxed. You can decide what it is that you get elevated from. Now, does it take work and does it take practice? Yes. Are there some people more gifted at this naturally than others? Yes. But ultimately, if you understand that fundamental concept, very few things will get you nuts. No, and I think that like anything, you've got to practice anything to get good at it.
Starting point is 00:57:44 And that's a great example. You can keep on talking yourself into remembering those things. Right. Remember that if you just reframe them, that's a great piece of advice for them. Because how many times have I gotten to myself in a really shitty situation? Because I've worked myself up. Or like you become so overwhelmed by the idea of something that can be so simple that you end up doing nothing. Yup, right?
Starting point is 00:58:08 And here's something you can kind of pair with that. I say, well, why are you so wound up? Like, why is this little thing causing a spillover, right? And I think it goes back to what a lot of us deal with today. There's so much consumable information. We have so many things that we're doing and trying to do and accomplish. And it's like, well, what if we can get really singular?
Starting point is 00:58:33 And what if we can say, hey, for me right now in my life, what is the greatest income-producing activity that I could do? So if it's a podcast and that's how, how, where your position of strength is, then that's where you double down, right? But too many of us, we try to do too many different things in order to achieve this one goal.
Starting point is 00:58:57 And we may not need to be doing 75% of those things. Yeah, exactly. There's usually a 25% that's really what's generating your result. Right, you can be spread so thinly and doing a lot of things kind of half-ass versus being focused on one thing and doing it exceptionally. Yeah, and E-Rot gave me a great quote years ago when we were talking about this and he said, listen, I prefer to go an inch wide and a mile deep instead of a mile wide and an inch deep. It's such a good time.
Starting point is 00:59:29 It's true though. Yeah, it's totally true. You know, and the more people I meet that are at the top of their game, they don't do a whole lot. They know exactly what they have to do to get the result that they desire. Derek Jeter knows exactly how many swings he has to take per day to get that result. Absolutely. So the question I always ask is do you know what that is? Do people listen to you? Right. Do you take the time to think about what is the one thing that I could do or one or two
Starting point is 00:59:57 things that I could do to get the biggest result? Absolutely. I like that. That's exactly, that's very true. And I see that Alex A. Rod, otherwise known as I call him A. Rod anyway. He is one of your Testimonials on your book. Where's Derek Jeter though? I see Brandon Steiner, John Gordon. Yeah, Alex Rodriguez. I didn't ask Derek Jeter actually. But I wanted one baseball player. I wanted one guy in business and I wanted one author. Do you still speak to Derek? Yeah, and I have I have other books I'm working on now, so you'll see some of those other names. Well, you know, I I hone into him because, you know, like I say, I'm not like I'm not like an official. I'm not a pro at baseball, but he's one of those guys that's always stood out to me and probably every other girl. But more, but not because he's
Starting point is 01:00:43 a cute and has nice eyes. But he always came across like a class act. Yeah. Even without you telling me that, or even reading the book, like I said, you can just tell people, he had that like, he has a vibe about it. There's a grace and a professionalism that's brought to each situation. Yeah. So I, and in the book, I wrote, you know, Derek Geter's just an introverted guy from the Midwest. So in the book, I wrote, Derek Geter's just an introverted guy from the Midwest. That's what he is. And he's maintained that and he's stayed that his whole career. And he's not like a media whore.
Starting point is 01:01:12 You don't see him. And he's kind of just like low-key, does his thing. Yeah, he doesn't need to prove anything to anybody. And he knows it. And that's again going back. When you look at these guys that have had immense success, I have clients in the business world,
Starting point is 01:01:29 they try to not do articles. They don't want to do media. They just, they don't want to bring any attention to themselves. Right, right. I mean, just to be one team for 12 years is really amazing. It's a business I feel that there's a lot of turnover, right?
Starting point is 01:01:48 And there's a lot of pressure. And there's a lot of follow the money. And follow the money. Like did you get a lot of, do like people come after you and try to coach you from, from a very different team? When you are with the Yankees, you become a very valuable commodity in what you do.
Starting point is 01:02:03 So there were opportunities with other teams, but for me, I said, when you stop your career, where's the best place to stop? Right. And that was what I said. I said, you know what, when you can take the Yankees name with you for the rest of your days, it's a good place to stop because there's some real legends
Starting point is 01:02:22 that were a part of that. So it's really cool. And I just enjoy sharing those stories with people. Do you know a couple of things that you started with the Yankees and you stopped with the Yankees? So you also did your beginner career. And that's what I'm saying. Most people don't begin and end their career at the same place.
Starting point is 01:02:40 And I guess with the Yankees, I had a boyfriend like years ago who I still am friendly with, who is so fanatical about the Yankees, he's lost relationships, friendships, like his whole life is revolved around. It's amazing. He's the only one. Yeah, you see these die hard fans, I know the team we just signed and acquired
Starting point is 01:03:03 a big time pictured last night, and you go on social media and it's everywhere. People are are going crazy for this move and excitement and I can see it. You know sometimes we look at these fans are saying, man they're crazy and I remember I was one of them at one point as a young kid. I just can't imagine how surreal it must be for you just as a as a guy being such a fan, like I said, and then now working for them for so many years, like how did your perspective, and then we'll kind of end with this a little bit,
Starting point is 01:03:33 but how did your perspective change at all afterwards? Well, you know what, when you are affiliated with an organization that, again, professionalism is number one, but I think number one, but I think number one A is winning, right? And you're bred to win. And you're bred to think about winning. And you're bred to see victory and feel it. I don't think that conversation has had very often today
Starting point is 01:04:01 in our, does I don't come across people talking about winning and going after it in that way, that sports kind of instills in you. How about Dodgers, the Dodgers? People are huge Dodger fans too. I think everyone's a big fan of whatever team they have. But Yankees is like next level, I get it. It's next level, and I think I'm talking more,
Starting point is 01:04:21 I would say that I'm talking more of just being brought up in sports. Right. Right, because the energy that is in sports is, it's an amazing thing. I mean, to actually wake up and say, I have to go win today. And I need to get these guys ready to win today.
Starting point is 01:04:36 Like, you're thinking about nothing but winning. Right. And it's what your judge's on. It's what your performances are based on. It's whether you get the ring or not at the end of the year. By the way, I love that ring. Thank you. You're welcome.
Starting point is 01:04:48 And if the Dodgers called you today and said, hey, you know what, we'd love for you to come on board as a director of strength and conditioning, would you do it? You know what, I'm at a police in my career where I actually like the diversity of what I get to do. Like tomorrow, I'm flying back to New York tonight. You know, I have to fire up a sales team, you know, for a $200 plus million company. I love that, right?
Starting point is 01:05:10 That's awesome. And then the next day, I have to personally coach a hedge fund private equity manager. I enjoyed that. And then I also have my athletes. So I would do more on the consulting side more so than day to day operations. Got it. So who are some of the athletes that you're still work with? Did I still work with?
Starting point is 01:05:31 Yeah, you said you have some independent people. Yeah, well you know what, I'm working now more with like college kids that are kind of moving off and guys that are moving into the Myrleague ranks. So it's kind of cool to be able to tell these war stories of these names that everybody knows. And then be working with the next generation of players. And it's cool to be able to give them the insight and the intel that they don't yet have.
Starting point is 01:05:57 Absolutely. And kind of prepare them for what's in front of them. Well, you are, and they also want just to say this, you did write a child, a children's book, right? I did. I wrote two of them actually. Two. Two. I wrote one. You know what it is? I went to go talk to a school and I talked to middle school kids about leadership. And it was so cool. I would invite these young kids up to the microphone to face their class, the whole class, the whole school really. There was about 250 kids. And I would have the kids come up and say, hey, tell your classmates one thing that you're afraid of.
Starting point is 01:06:30 And for a little kid in middle school to do that and tell the kids in front of them that, it was big. So what happens next? All the kids start clapping. Naturally, I didn't invite it, it just happened. So then I invite the next kid up. And it was like this therapeutic experience for these little kids.
Starting point is 01:06:46 And I said, man, you know what? I wanna create a book and a series of book called Champion Kids. That's the series, Champion Kids, where I take lessons from sports and address topics from bullying. And that's my book, Johnny the Jet saves the day. It's about a baseball player on his way to the field.
Starting point is 01:07:05 He gets pushed off a bike by the neighborhood bully. And instead of fighting back, he says, you know what? There's something going on with this kid. There's a reason why he's behaving this way. Let me invite him to join my team. And he becomes one of the best players on the team. And then after that, I still have this book for boys. I mean, girls for edit as well.
Starting point is 01:07:24 I said, let me write something for girls.. I mean, girls for edit as well, I said, let me write something for girls. So I created a book called Girls on the Run. And it's about my niece, her name is Melina. And she becomes a soccer player, and the best soccer player in the world. And she has to go up against this team called the Mean Girls. And she knows she can't beat them by herself.
Starting point is 01:07:43 So she invites her teammates to come together. they put their hands in, and they become known as the girls on the run. And it's about girls working together instead of as their own independent entity. Well, I mean, teamwork. Like teamwork. Teamwork. I need to see these two books. First of all, I have a four.
Starting point is 01:08:01 Yeah, please, because I have a four-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy. I did see briefly about the baseball book and I'm like, oh my gosh, my little one Dylan will love this book. So I love that. Well, this has been really enjoyable for me. I hope you had a good time. Thank you, I did. I mean, I know I made you walk for over an hour, but you like to walk. I was going to say. Now I took my botch for the day. I was going to say, you usually did two workouts. This is perfect. You're welcome. Take wood way. This has been great.
Starting point is 01:08:28 So your book is called, for those of you, the book is called Habits of a Champion by Coach Dana Cavalía. Yep. There you go. How do people find you? My website DanaCavalia.com. And I write a daily blog all about this sort of stuff, leadership with a sports angle.
Starting point is 01:08:47 And it's a lot of fun. We have a nice little community and the book is on Amazon. Well, this has been a real delight, honestly. Thank you for coming on. Have a good time. Thank you very much. Thank you. And how many calories do you burn?
Starting point is 01:08:59 Press the white button. The white button. 159. All right. So, all right. I have a little more to do to get button. 159. All right. So, all right. And a little more to do to get breakfast on. Thanks, Dana.
Starting point is 01:09:09 Thank you. Have a good one, everyone. The body and the foot are going. Visionaries too, then you can get to know. Be inspired. This is your moment. Excuses. We in heaven at the Habitat and Hustle Podcast. Power by happiness. Attention, Kroger Shoppers. Did you know there's a world of innovative services
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