THE ED MYLETT SHOW - From Life Sentence to Life’s Purpose with Damon West

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Are You Living in a Prison Without Bars? Some of the most locked-up people aren’t behind steel bars—they’re trapped in their own minds. My guest today, my friend Damon West, knows this better than anyone. Once a promising college quarterback, he spiraled into addiction and crime, ultimately sentenced to life in prison. But Damon didn't just survive—he transformed. He found a way to change his environment from the inside out, becoming what he calls a "coffee bean"—a force for change rather than a victim of his surroundings. Damon’s story is unreal. He was sentenced to life but earned his way out by changing himself first. Today, he’s one of the most sought-after speakers in the world, sharing the same message that saved him. He went from practicing speeches in his parents’ spare bedroom to standing in front of NFL teams, Fortune 500 companies, and thousands of students. He’s proof that no matter how far you’ve fallen, you can rewrite your story. This conversation is filled with raw truth and real strategies. We break down what it takes to overcome mental prisons, fear, and limiting beliefs. Damon shares how he got his first big break by refusing to take “no” for an answer and the lessons he’s learned from some of the world’s greatest leaders. And in a moment that will stay with you, he reveals a forgiveness letter from one of his victims—proof that redemption is possible. This episode is about hope. It’s about getting back up when life knocks you down. And it’s about understanding that your past doesn’t define you—your decisions do. Key Takeaways ✅ The coffee bean mindset—how to change your environment instead of letting it change you ✅ How Damon went from seven years in maximum security to becoming a top speaker ✅ Why you must ask the question—and how one bold move got him in front of Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney ✅ The power of gratitude and giving—how a simple keychain changed his entire life ✅ The life-changing impact of forgiveness—including the letter that changed everything If Damon West can rebuild his life from a prison cell to flying private, what’s stopping you from making a change today? This is your wake-up call. Let’s go! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So hey guys, listen, we're all trying to get more productive and the question is, how do you find a way to get an edge? I'm a big believer that if you're getting mentoring or you're in an environment that causes growth, a growth based environment, that you're much more likely to grow and you're going to grow faster. And that's why I love Growth Day. Growth Day is an app that my friend Brendan Burchard has created that I'm a big fan of. Write this down, growthday.com forward slash ed. So if you want to be more productive, by the way the way he's asked me I post videos in there every single Monday that gets your day off to the right start he's got about five thousand ten thousand dollars worth of courses that are in there that come with the app also some of the top influencers in the world are all posting content and they're

on a regular basis like having the Avengers of personal development and business in one app and I'm honored that he asked me to be a part of it as well and contribute on a weekly basis, and I do. So go over there and get signed up. You're gonna get a free, tuition-free voucher to go to an event with Brendan and myself and a bunch of other influencers as well. So you get a free event out of it also.

So go to growthday.com forward slash ed. That's growthday.com forward slash ed. Bombas makes the most comfortable socks, underwear, and t-shirts. Warning, Bombas are so absurdly comfortable, you may throw out all your other clothes. head. Go to bombus.com slash listen and use code listen for 20% off your first purchase That's B o m bass dot com slash listen and use code listen at checkout Bed MGM Authorized gaming partner of the NBA has your back all season long from tip off to the final buzzer You're always taking care of with the sportsbook born in Vegas That's a feeling you can only get with BedMGM.

And no matter your team, your favorite player, or your style, there's something every NBA fan will love about BedMGM. Download the app today and discover why BedMGM is your basketball home for the season. Raise your game to the next level this year with BedMGM, a sports book worth a slam dunk, and authorized gaming partner of the NBA.

BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have any questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connix Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. This is The Admirelent Show. All right, welcome back to the show everybody. So my guest today

easily is one of the most popular episodes of all time when he was on before and today will probably exceed those numbers because his story is absolutely incredible. And since he was on the show three years ago, I've watched this man's life just get better and better and better. And I've also watched him become a very dear friend of mine. We've shared some great experiences together. He's been great to my son, Max. And I call him a friend now. I'm very, very proud of this man and the difference he's making in the world, the difference he's made for his own family. Welcome back, Damon West.

Man, Ed, that is an incredible, like, I felt myself sitting up straighter when you were talking about, like, getting the atta boy from your dad kind of thing, man. Because you're, man, but you're like one of those close friends. And man, I gotta tell you, I'm so excited to be back. My wife, Kendall, was, well, she was excited for me to come excited to be back My wife Kendall was what she was excited for me to come back I'm gonna tell you who was really excited for me to come back my parole officer Are you serious episode we did it was epic she plays it for all the parolees that come in see a lot of people are

Listens going wait a minute. Who is this? They didn't see the first episode so we need to give him a little bit of context But I think you're the only person who's ever been on the show who needed permission from their parole officer to come do it. And he actually needed it again today. Now, by the way you did, we'll tell them the story in a minute, but you did actually get in here a little bit different today than last time as well,

just to show how life has changed. But life has changed a lot in the last three years since I did your show. Ed, yes, I did take a little different transportation this time. And, uh, Ed, I mean, I'm just going to throw it out there. You told me February 19th. You told me the date we could record. I looked at my schedule, man. I'm speaking in Ohio in February 19th on February the 20th in the morning.

I'm speaking to college station, Texas. I'm like, man, there's not much of a window there. There's no commercial flights in the little town of Ohio. And I'm like, you know what? I text you back I said, I'll get it done. Yeah, I booked a private jet I've never booked a private jet before not for myself and like in the investment in it It was the investment in the dream, right? You got to put into that dream

You got to believe in yourself before anybody's gonna believe in you man, and you believe in me. I'm there brother Thank we're here. He landed today flew private And wait till you hear where this man's coming. Some of you know the story, so here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna recap a few minutes of the story, because even if you've heard it, it just hits you in the chest about how your life's changed and what's happened to you. And then we're gonna go in a totally different direction

than we did last time. We're gonna talk about a bunch of great stuff. But in case you're sitting there going, parole, Damon West, who is this dude? So why, I know the story, but why were you, why are you even on parole? What happened to you in your life? Give a fill in the blanks.

Yeah, I gotta, man, so it's a wild story. And this is, let's start with the story of the coffee bean. Okay. On May 18th, 2009, a jury in Dallas, Texas sentenced me to life in prison for engaging in organized crime. I was the crime boss of an organized crime group, a bunch of other meth addicts breaking into people's houses to feed

our meth habits. I was once a stockbroker in Dallas. Before that, I was a division one starting quarterback in North Texas. I worked in Congress. I worked for a guy running for president. I've had all the best jobs in the world. I get introduced to meth one day in 2004 and my life changes forever. I'm instantly hooked just like that. And I give everything away for that drug. Because that's what addicts do add we give things away, an addict will give up their goals to meet their behaviors. That's the definition of addiction. So I'm giving everything away. I become a criminal living on the

streets, I start breaking into people's houses. These burguers are called the Uptown burguers. They go on for three years in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas and beyond. And, you know, when I broke into people's houses, I didn't just steal their property. I stole their sense of security. I know that. I know I really affected these victims in a terrible way. But the Dallas SWAT team took me down in 2008, this dramatic SWAT team raid.

And in 2009, I stand in front of a jury in Dallas. It's a RICO case, engaged in organized crime. And the jury sentenced me to 65 years. Life. Life in prison. Six times in a nickel is what they call it in prison terms. And so right after the sentencing is over, my mom makes me promise I won't get into any gangs,

I won't get any tattoos. I don't know how I'm going to do this. I'm waiting for the prison bus to come get me at Dallas County Jail. And I run into this old black man named Muhammad. Now, Muhammad's a career criminal in and out of prison his entire life. One of the most intelligent people I've ever met. He's telling me everything about prison. He's telling me how much I might have to fight. Prison's about race. All the races run the gangs. The gangs run the prison.

Then he tells me, he said, I know how you're going to get this done. And he tells me the allegory of the coffee bean. He said to imagine prison as a pot of boiling water. And he said, you're going to have three choices West. Be like a carrot that becomes soft in the boiling water, an egg that becomes hardened by the boiling water or a coffee bean, which changed the pot of boiling water into a pot of coffee. And that's what he said. He said, the coffee beans, the change agent, you have to become the change agent in this environment and change the water around you, if you're going to

survive prison and then I remember thinking right then and there, man, I got this, the powers inside me. And if I can keep the power inside me, it's not the world around me. Right. And that's what I did. I took the message to Coffee Bean into the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. And it's not just any kind of prison I went into. I went into a level five maximum security prison. This is the highest security level there is. I have to live with lifers because I'm a lifer. That's Texas's law. If you get a life sentence, you live a life sentence people. They don't want you to escape for five years. You live on a building.

You can't come off the building. It's, it's dangerous, man. It's the most hopeless place in the world, but every day I wake up. I get a little bit better. I do what you talk about all the time. I built my confidence because I keep the promises I make to myself. Yes, sir. And that's how you build confidence. I heard that from you first, and it just hit so hard.

And that's what I was doing inside that prison. And I started becoming a coffee bean, started changing my life, becoming a better man. I got into a 12-step program recovery, and my life took off. And in 2015, the parole board comes to meet with me. They want to meet the guy. They didn't just change himself, but actually changed the whole prison. And on November 16th, 2015, I walked out of a Texas department prison, Texas department, criminal justice prison. Now I got a little more time left on parole. I'm on parole until the year 2073. Is that all? That's it, man. I got this recording. I got 49 more years left on parole, but I'm not worried about being on parole because I'm a coffee bean.

And as long as I'm a coffee bean, the only way I'm going back into a prison is it's how I'm going to a prison tomorrow night in Texas. I'm going to go walk into a prison in the front gate. I'm going to share this story, the message with the men and women in there and I'm going to walk out the front gate. I voluntarily go to a prison every month somewhere in America. You guys, I want you to, let's just pause. Okay. Damon lives with this story every day.

So let me just unpack a little bit. This man got life. Got life. He meets Mohammed, who's one of those people that God sends into your life. In this coffee bean analogy, I've lived it since you shared it with me. Since you and John Gordon did.

I try to change the environments I walk into. This is a huge thing in life everybody Because most people acclimate to that environment or they wilt like we talked about the carrot and it's such a profound Metaphor in life, by the way, he mentioned six dimes and a nickel That's also the title of Damon's new book that you can go pre-order right now. Go get it like just trust me as Damon is one of the great storytellers of all time, but the book is really really special. I've been going through all of the notes of the book and there's a lot and we're gonna unpack a few of those things here today. But let's just start,

I want to now go kind of where we go. Our podcasts always flow, they already are. So you guys have to understand something. He then gets out of prison. We'll talk a little bit about that journey, but let me fast forward to that, to the now. This is a man who is one of the most sought after speakers in the world. This is in the last three years, really, most of this has happened to. USA Today, man, after what happened on your show, USA Today was like, this is one of the most in demand speakers in America. In America, 200 nights a year. If you want a speaker for your business, your company, your organization,

let me tell you, you guys know I speak as well. Damon is on the road. He's a hustler. He's turned his life around financially, he's a multimillionaire now today, flew in here private today. This is what can happen in your life if you'll take the lessons we're gonna cover today

and the lessons that are in Damon's book. So let's back up this idea that you have, I know when it changed but I want them to hear it. One thing you are not afraid to do is ask for help and ask a question, okay? Like even today, you got here today and you said, hey, I need help getting on these podcasts. I want you to help me.

I said, well, I can't do that. You go, well, wait a minute, let me just show you my list. And I love this about you. Most people never ask the question that can change their life or never get in the room that can change their life. So I know being on my show was a big catalyst, but before that, I would not have known you.

You would have not gotten on my show if it weren't for another room that you got into as well and questions you asked. So share that with them. I know what chapter of the book you're talking about. So it's the chapter about always ask the question. I believe the only question, you know, the answer to in life is the one you do not ask.

That answer is no every time because you never asked your question or Wayne Gretzky may have said it best. He said you miss in life is the one you do not ask. That answer is no every time because you never asked your question or Wayne Gretzky may have said it best. He said, you miss 100% of the shots you do not take. So in this story, I get out of prison, Ed, and I know I've got this incredible story and this great message, but when I first get out of prison, there's nowhere for me to share that message. I mean, I just got out of prison, man.

Right. And you can't go knock on the door of a high school and say, I just got out of prison and talk to your kids. So there weren't a lot of places for me to speak in the very beginning, but in, in my parents' spare bedroom, cause that's where I lived for the first two years out of prison, I lived in my parents' spare bedroom. You talk about all the money and the success now in life. 10 years ago, I was living in my parents' spare bedroom.

In that spare bedroom, there was a mirror in there. Just happened to be where I moved in. Little vanity mirror my mom had in the bedroom. Every night for two years, I practiced my presentation in front of that mirror. I got in my reps head. And you know this man, you talk about this. There's no such thing as an overnight success anything you want to be good at in life, you got to practice it, you got to put in the work for two years I'm practicing in

front of a mirror, man, there's no audiences for me. I mean, but I know that I have this message. I know if I get in front of the right audience, and I believe the right audience is going to be the world of college football because I played division one college quarterback. He can still throw a football. How many yards? 60 yards. 60 yards. He goes and talks to these college teams. Yeah. Blows these kids away. They go, yeah, sure. You can't. And I've watched the videos.

50 yards, bro. This dude has a cannon to this day, but go ahead. Yeah. No, it's one of those things I've never forgotten how to do is throw a football. You should have seen it in prison. I got ahold of football. Those guys loved it. So, but anyway ahead. Yeah, no, it's one of those things I've never forgotten how to do is throw a football. You should have seen it in prison. I got a hold of football. Oh, those guys loved it. So, but anyway, so I believe the world of college football is going to be where I can share my message because I know I have a message that can impact these players. And I think that's one of the main ingredients to how you want to be good in life is something you find a way that you can help other people and

solve other people's problems. That's what you got to be there. How do I serve other people? And I know my story can serve these college athletes. The problem is though, it's been 20 years, so it took a snap. I don't know any coaches. They don't know me. January 11th, 2017, one of the most pivotal days of my life. On January 11th, 2017, I'm 14 months out of prison and a buddy of mine in Houston named

Mike Orta. He calls me up. He works for KHOU. He says, Damon, get to Houston right now. It's the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year award. They're going to name the best college football coach in America. He said the eight best coaches in the country in this room right now, I got an extra press pass. I'm sneaking you in. And I'm gone. I drive the 90 miles from Beaumont to Houston. I practiced my elevator pitch on the way in. What am I going to say

to these coaches? He sneaks me in the back door at Toyota center, hands me a press pass. He said, you're on your own. So there I am yet. I mean, all of these coaches, they're USC, Wisconsin, Penn State, PJ Fleck. And I run up to these coaches. I shake their hand. I give them my pitch of why they should bring me in to talk to their team. And every single coach I meet that night slams a door in my face. They all said, no, in one hour, I've been told no seven times

by the eight coaches in the room. That's a no every eight minutes. And I have peed through the room in one hour. I've got one coach left. I can't get to this guy. He's the hardest guy to get to in the room. His team had just beat Alabama two nights before for the national championship. Everybody wants a picture with this guy.

Shake his hand. I'm in the corner of the Toyota center. I'm 10 feet from the door and look at my wounds. I'm feeling sorry for myself. Are you thinking of leaving? Well, the voice in my head is telling me to go. The voice in my head screaming at me. Damon, you don't belong here, you're an imposter.

The imposter, right? Man, and I know so many people listen to this right now. I felt you've had that imposter voice in your head. Let me tell you something. Don't listen to yourself. You don't know what the voice in your head is fear talking to you. Just tune that out, talk to yourself.

And that's what I did that night. I'm telling myself, Damon, you survived prison, man. I'm applying perspective. I know what a bad day looks like. This is not a bad day. Prison was a bad day. I fought to get in that room. I'm gonna fight tonight to talk to the last coach. He's gonna tell me no and I'm going home. So I stalked Dabo Sweeney around the shrimp and I look at crazy person, man. I'm hiding, you know, Dabo, you've talked about it. I'm hiding behind fake plans. I'm weaving in and out of people. I'm pushing a few people, if I'm being honest. And Dabo sees me and security has seen me at this point too.

Right, I'm sure. And I get in front of Dabo and I give him my pitch of why he should let me come in to talk to his team. And man, Dabo is just like, man, you got a card on you. And I've seen that look before, Ed, but I gave him my card. I had a smile on my face. He took it from me. He said, I'll check you out. He was gone. And that's what the other nos looked like that night. But I felt good about that no, because I left it on the field. One of the biggest lessons I learned from playing sports, you give it your all. Or Muhammad told me in county jail, you don't have to win all your fights. You got to fight all your fights. I fought my fights at night. I went home and slept like a baby. Forgot about that night.

Four months later, I get an email out of the blue. It's the director of football operations at Clemson University, got a Mike Dooley, Mike Dooley's email says, Hey, Damon, coach Sweeney met you at an award show in Houston. He'd love to have you come talk to the team. Do you have August 1st open? I'm like, brother, I got every first open mic. So August 1st, 2017, I go speak to the Clemson Tigers, defending national champions of college football.

And when I get done with presentation tonight, Dabo's in my face. And you know Dabo, you are real good friends, but Dabo's a high energy guy. He's like, man, that's the most amazing story I've ever heard, Damon. He said, have you been to Alabama to talk to their football team? And I'm like, no, I've been to Clemson. I mean, I've been anywhere, man. He said, we're going to see about that. He said, I just texted Nick Saban from the back of the room.

Ed, when my flight lands in Houston the next day for my trip to Clemson, I turned my phone on voicemail and a text message from the director of football operations at university of Alabama. Here we go. The whale, the biggest program in America with the best coach arguably would ever do it. Right. Here's what the voicemail said.

Hey Damon, dabble call coach Saban last night. Coach Saban can't wait to hear your story. He said, how does August 21st, 7 30 PM work for your calendar? Pretty good, man. So great. So I go to Tuscaloosa. Dabo didn't stop there. Dabo becomes the client, the friend that turns the Rolodex over to you.

And that's what everybody in sales and life, you're looking for that friend, that person that becomes the connector. Kirby Smart Calls, Lincoln Riley, Chip Kelly, Lane Kiffin, Ryan Day, every coach in America is calling my phone. When do you come to talk to my team? But the biggest thing hadn't happened yet. And I hadn't met that second servant leader that I was going to run into in life. And this is why servant

leadership is so important. And it's one of the core tenets of being a coffee bean. It's one of the main things I speak about to any group, team, organization or company.ant leadership is helping other people will reach their goals, helping to raise other people to a different station life. What you've done with me. So it was August of 2018, one year after the first presentation with Clemson, I get a phone call out of the blue that day and on the other end of my phone is John Gordon. And John Gordon, one of the biggest motivational speakers, authors in America. The energy bus guy is on my phone and I thought with John, Ed, this is my

inspiration every day on social media. I'm like, dude, John, I know who you are. How do you know who I am? He said, Dabo Sweeney. He said, uh, he said, Damon, I just got done speaking to Clemson's football team. And Dabo brought me office for 30 minutes to tell me your whole life story. And, and Ed, I'm going to insert something here that I just learned from dabble this past year, since we had a podcast, something I can tell the audience.

Here's how the conversation started that day in Clemson in 2018, when dabble and John are in the office. When I went to speak to Clemson that first time in 2017, I wanted to show dabble some gratitude for being the one. Yes. And room full of nose. So I got a little wooden coffee bean key chain off the internet. Not much money, but I didn't have much money.

I wanted to show some gratitude. So when I went to speak to Dabo's team, I gave him the wooden coffee bean key chain and he said, what's this for? I said, well, when I speak to your team, you'll understand what the coffee bean means, dabble up the coffee bean. He put it on his own key chain. And when Dabo goes in the office that day with John, one year later, he pulls his keys out of his pocket, throws them on the desk in his office where you've been in the office that day with John, one year later, he pulls his keys out of his pocket, throws

them on the desk in his office where you've been in the office. John glances down, he sees a keychain with that coffee bean. He said, What's that? What's that on your keychain? That's how this came up. That's how this came up. My entire life, the lives of so many millions of people that have heard that message came because I took a little extra time to show gratitude to somebody for something they did. It didn't have to be much. It doesn't ever have to be much. Sometimes the gratitude is giving someone your time. Dabo tells John, that's the coffee bean. He said, have you ever heard the story of the

coffee bean? Have you ever heard of Damon West? John's like, I don't know who this is. What's the coffee bean? I want to know. Dabo tells John the story that day, tells him everything about my story. And that's what John calls me. He said, hey, I was just in Dabo's office. And Dabo tells John the story that day. Tells him everything about my story and that's what John calls me. He said, hey, I was just in Dabo's office and Dabo told me the story of the coffee bean. He said, Damon, the world needs the coffee bean message, Damon. Let's deliver this message to the world. He said, will you write a book with me? We'll call it the coffee bean. Here's what I told John.

You're John Gordon. You go write the coffee bean. You can have it, man. It's all yours. Share it with the world. You don't need Damon West. John Gordon is one of the best men I've ever met in my entire life. John said, Damon, God told me to call you and write this book with you. In fact, God showed me

what the cover of the book was gonna look like and your names on it. Let's listen to God do the book together. John said, hey Damon, I'll give you half of the advance that I get for a book. I'll split everything with you 50-50. And at that time, John's advance was $100,000. It's a lot more now for a John Gordon book. But John got $100,000 per book back then he said, I'll give you $50,000 if you write this book with me and I'll give you half of everything after that too. And true to his word, we write the coffee bean, you know, you're an author, you've written several books, you know, this, you know, your manuscript gets turned in way before the book comes

out. And after the manuscript was turned in, I got a check in the mail for $50,000. And my wife, Kendall was sitting there with me when I opened this check more money than I've ever legally, legally held. She said, uh, I know what you're going to do with that. And she said, you should go do it. And I smiled and I was like, yeah, I'm going to go do it. I call my mom and my dad. Now my mom and my dad live a few miles away.

It's changed. This is going to be good. Yeah, man. Um, my mom, my dad now my mom my dad live a few miles They just change this is gonna be good Yeah, man, um, my mom my dad just live a few miles away about ten miles away from where I live Kindle and I have a place together at the time. We're we're young couple starting out and um My mom and my dad when I went to trial Ed they um, they cashed in their retirement to get me lawyers they wanted their son even though their son was guilty of everything and I did everything wrong and I was a bad guy and they wanted their son to have the best chance possible and have a good representation.

So they cash in their retirement, $50,000 to get me representation, man. So I called my dad up that day and I said, Hey dad, you got your mom at home? He said, yeah, we're at home. I said, I gotta come by and drop something off. He said, well, come on over. We're at home. I knock on the door. My dad answered. He said, I thought you had something. Pull out this check for 50,000, sign it over to him. It's the only time in my life I

ever saw my old man cry. And he said, Damon, we never thought we'd see this money again. And that was okay. We just wondered what was the best for you. And I was like, dad, mom told me after I got sentenced to life in prison, that debts demand to be paid and I'm paying this debt and my mom was there was just a big hug. You're making me cry. You know, I didn't know that part of this. Yeah, I know what's that's the stuff we couldn't all get into in the first episode. This is and this is stuff that's in the new book. Ed, I think it's fair for people to understand that I don't write this book.

If you don't tell me to, we'll get into that story too. But this book, let's unpack something about that, too, because I did tell you to write this book if you don't tell me to and we'll get into that story too but this book. Let's unpack something about that too because I did tell you to write this book but I want to just go back and get a couple other lessons out of what you just said. What you all don't know is he gave all those that that great thing he's telling you about dabo and sabin and all that he was speaking for free. So when Damon was speaking in the beginning these weren't like massively paid speaking engagements he was literally paying his dues. If you're going to get something off the ground you can't expect to be profitable right away He sacrificed everything to get this thing going then he has this so smart to leave that extra keychain thing that leads to John Gordon

Asking about the coffee bean that leads to the book that you guys write John Gordon's my friend which leads to getting you on my show eventually then he gets on the show then his speaking career goes to a different level, starts to be able to do more with his speaking. And so all of this is part of the lessons that are in the book, but I also want you guys to have this inspiring story. What Damon won't brag about is Damon just moved

into a brand new spectacular home, dream home that he's built for his family with the proceeds of being on the road 200 nights a year and speaking and changing people's lives. This is all things that you can do in your life if you'll make the commitment to do the things and whatever your dream is that Damon had in his life. It's just an unreal story. So hey guys I want to jump in here for a second and talk about change and growth and you know by the way it's no secret how people get ahead in life or how they grow and also taking

a look at the future. If you want to change your future, you got to change the things you're doing. If you continue to do the same things, you're probably going to produce the same results. But if you get into a new environment where you're learning new things and you're around other people that are growth-oriented, you're much more likely to do that yourself and that's why I love Growth Day. Write this down for a second growthday.com forward slash ed. My friend Brendal Bruchard has created the most incredible personal development and business app that I've ever seen in my life.

Everything from goal setting software to personal accountability, journaling, horses, thousands of dollars worth of courses in there as well. I create content in there on Mondays where I contribute as do a whole bunch of other influence like the Avengers of influencers and business minds in there. It's the Netflix for high achievers or people that want to be high achievers. So go check it out. My friend, Brendan's made it very affordable, very easy to get involved. Go to growthday.com forward slash ed.

That's growthday.com forward slash ed. Listen, I've made some mistakes in my life. Heck half the time this podcast is saving you time on mistakes I've made before. Let me tell you one of them. I owned a house in Idaho for a long time. I had these rain gutters that were really pretty, but they weren't functional. Leaves accumulated in it and I lost part of my roof. Clogged rain gutters suck. They're easy to forget. They're annoying to clean and they can grow into a big problem. That's

why I love leaf filter. Listen to me. This is a big deal. There's an easier way for you to ensure your gutters stay clean and avoid costly damage. Every installation comes with a lifetime, no clogs guaranteed. Leaf Filter uses award-winning patented technology to keep out everything but the water. Over a million homeowners have already trusted Leaf Filter. So, protect your home and never clean out the gutters again with Leaf Filters,

America's number one gutter protection system. Schedule your free inspection. Take advantage of the spring spectacular sale with up to 30% off your entire purchase at leaffilter.com slash ed. That's a free estimate, free inspection. Take advantage of the spring spectacular sale with up to 30% off your entire purchase at leaffilter.com. That's a free estimate, free inspection and 30% off at leaffilter.com. See our representative warranty for details. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Who's your support system? For me, it's my family and friends. And you know, one of the things I get asked often is what are all 800 people that have been guests on your show have in common? And not all of them have this in common,

but the thing that would surprise most people that many of them have in common is they've been to therapy, including myself. That's something most people don't talk about. You know, therapy can help you from things like you're working through some trauma from childhood or a difficulty that you're going through right now, but it could also be just to get clarity of thought, a sense of direction in your life. Talk out loud about your goals and dreams or your issues and problems with somebody. Therapy from BetterHelp is helpful because you can do it online. And if you

don't vibe with your therapist, you can switch out any time and get one that you do work with well. You can access a diverse network of 30,000 credentialed therapists, a wide range of specialties and easily switch, like I said. So build your support system of BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.ed.show to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHELP.com.ed.show. That's BetterHelp.HELP.com.ed.show. I wanna ask you this, because I did not know anybody called you this.

I just wanna understand, they're calling you now like a modern day Shawshank redemption. No, but like legitimately, like this is what people in the media are saying about this man who, by the way, I think Damon probably asked to come on the show, you guys. I don't know. So many times that I literally stopped checking the messages because I wasn't going to have him on.

And then we had a cancellation and I said, if you can get your butt to Los Angeles somehow, not knowing he had to get permission from a parole officer He got there got on the show and I'm telling you of all the shows we've done. It's in the it's in a handful I'm not gonna rank shows of people went. Oh my gosh. Did you hear the Damon West had my lead episode? What what's the Shawshank thing though? What does that mean? So here's the deal and One of the things my dad now when we I, when I got out of prison, my dad recorded every prison movie while I was locked up. He wanted me to watch them with him too.

He's like, tell me who got it right, Damon. So we watch a movie a night. This is another story I didn't tell the last time on your show. So we watch all these prison movies. We started with his favorite, Cool Hand Luke. And so we watched every single prison movie and the one movie about prison,

I've seen them all that got it right, was Shawshank Redemption. Shawshank is about hope. And actually the movie Shawshank, I've seen them all that got it right. Was Shawshank Redemption. Okay. Shawshank is about hope. And actually the movie Shawshank, it's not even about Andy, the guy that went to prison that was the innocent guy, you know, for 19 years, Andy tunneled through a wall, he swims through 500 yards of sewage to escape prison, but the movie's not even about Andy because Andy didn't need redeeming, Andy need escaping. The movie's about Red, Morgan Freeman's character. Here's why it's about Red.

Red has no hope. Red's a dead man walking. He gets denied parole. The first senior meeting in the movie Shawshank all the men he hangs out with. They're dead on the inside. They wager on who's going to break on the prison bus first. Brooks, the guy that made parole after 50 years, he lasted two weeks in the free world, couldn't take it.

He wrote a letter back to the boys in Shawshank told him he was going to kill himself and why he did it. And as Andy read that letter out to the men in Shawshank prison, every man in Shawshank understood why Brooks did what he did because they had the same hopeless mindset as Brooks. Red is our narrator in the movie though. He tells us, he said, Andy, I wouldn't make it out there either. I'm an institutional man now. Red said the words out loud, Andy, for you to truly understand. Red said hope is a dangerous thing. Remember when he says that in Shawshank? But Andy tells Red, no, man, you get busy living or you get busy dying.

And when Red finally walks out of Shawshank prison towards the end of the movie 40 years later, we don't know if Red's going to make it right. He walks by the pawn shop, the guns are in the window. He stays in the same room that Brooks hung himself in. But Red makes it. He makes it to that rock wall that Andy told him to go to. And that rock wall was that letter Andy left behind. And that letter had the words that Red needed to hear. Andy said, Red, hope is a good thing. Maybe the

greatest of things. And no good thing ever dies. I always tell my audiences, go back and watch the last scene of Shawshank. Remember that last scene on the beach in Mexico? Yes. Zihuataneo, Mexico. Ed, that's what kept Andy Dufresne alive for 19 years in Shawshank prison. That's what kept me alive for seven years in a maximum security prison I could always see myself in a better place Andy always saw himself on that beach in Mexico working on his boat in the darkest of times in the worst of life He saw himself in a better place winning and thriving

That's what we all have the power to do but we get so caught up in the moment. We forget to do it Let me ask you a question about that stay in this moment When you're talking right there, I never thought about this first time we talked or the hundred times we've talked as friends at dinners and stuff. Man, I think a lot of people live in prison. Oh, they aren't behind bars. I meet more people out here in the free world that are locked up than I ever did when I served time in real prison. More people are imprisoned by their thoughts, their things, their prejudices than by steel bars and bar, bar and concrete combined.

Limiting thoughts, negative thoughts about themselves, a lack of hope in their life. Is that what you mean? Everyone listening close to a man who's actually lived in a maximum security prison. You're saying more people out here in the free world are locked up by their thoughts, by their things, their prejudices, whatever it is, their iPhone, whatever it is. More people out here are walking around locked up than in a real prison and you can be physically free but spiritually and emotionally just caged and that's the worst kind of prison there is, the spiritual, the emotional, the mental prison. Hardest prison to get out of, tough to get parole out of there, Ed. Wow.

Okay, that just shifted right there for me. That might be my favorite thing you've ever said on the show. What about being in maximum security prison would surprise someone who's never been there before. What about being in there? Is there, I have to imagine it's a very hopeless place for most people. It is the most violent. It's the most hopeless and violent place I've ever walked into. And that was the, that was the thing about the Shawshank reference is, um,

Ed, red got his hope back. And if you listen to the last scene of Shawshank on that beach in Mexico, red's whole dialogue starts off with two words. He says, I hope, I hope I make it across the border. I hope I see my friend again. So I could shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it was in my dreams. I hope last two words, the movie.

I have been in a position in life to become a modern day Shawshank because Andy Dufresne was about hope. My life has become about hope and is set inside of a prison, just like Shawshank. Now, listen, when the reporter that said that from USA Today said, Hey, this is the modern day Shawshank and he's, he's a modern day Andy Dufresne. I pushed back a little bit. I said, listen, man, I get where you're going with that, but, but Andy was an innocent guy and I was guilty of everything I did. And I want you to honestly know that because Andy was innocent, I was guilty, but I understand the Shawshank reference. I walked into prison. It was the most

hopeless world I've ever been into. That's why prisons are so dangerous, Ed. Because when there's a lack of hope, a void of hope, negativity, evil, darkness fills the void every single time. That's why prisons get so dangerous. Because when you have no hope, you have a dangerous world where evil thrives. I walk into prison for the first two months, I'm fighting every gang in there, man. It's like Muhammad said, you're going to fight the white gangs first. Then if you survive that, you're going to fight the black gangs. And if you survive all that, you'll earn the right to walk alone. And he's telling me the strongest man in prison always walks alone, doesn't join a gang. And that's what your mom had made you commit to.

So you had to go through all these fights. Basically, you probably otherwise join the Pecker Woods or something. Right. 100% cave. Yeah, 100% I can. And most people do. And Ed, I cannot tell you enough about how grateful I am for my mom for telling Yeah. 100% I cave and most people do. And Ed, I cannot tell you enough about how grateful I am for my mom for telling me I couldn't get into one of these. She's like, you weren't raised to be a racist. I mean, you're not

going to start that stuff because you're going to prison. Don't become something you weren't. I can't tell you how grateful I am for my mom for that. When I was getting ready to leave prison, fast forward to when I'm walking out, I'm walking up to a table with these Aryan Brotherhood guys that are also getting ready to leave prison. They look miserable. I walk up to these ABs. I'm like, hey man, what's wrong, man? What's everybody look so down for? And one of the guys, man, he said, oh man, we got a report when we get out. I said, I got a report to my PO too, man. I got 48 hours to do it. He's like, no idiot, we got a report to the gang when we get out. And I'm like, report to the gang? You mean this stuff y'all were playing in here, this gang stuff's not over with? He said, this is for life. You got two weeks to report. If you don't report in the two weeks,

they come into your family, they come after you. And I said, then you're going to come to prison for the rest of your life if you don't die young because it's a criminal organization you're going to be a part of. My mom standing on her ground telling me I couldn't join a gang was a life changing moment, a fork in the road, Ed. Because if I go down that other fork, which I promised you, I just told you I would have because prison is hard. Even if you got out, you'd be committed to a life that was a life and you'd have all these tattoos all over you and stuff like that. Damon, how did you though, we've talked about this over glass.

This isn't in any of our notes and it may not even be in the book. They're going to get the book, right? They get, it could tell, like they should get the book, but? They could tell, like they should get the book. But they should really book you to speak. But I wanna just picture this. You're a young dude, you got a drug problem that's severe. Because this is the after, you're way after the after, so you gotta go back there for me for a minute, okay?

Because these are, there's a lot of people in their own way, they are in prison, but they're also down or addicted to thoughts that don't serve them. So you're young, you're, you were a promising college football player, a really good one, right? You piss that away. You get into the drugs. You've now disappointed your family. You're publicly shamed. You're addicted to drugs. You're now convicted. The truth is you're being great, but your sentence was severe for what you did.

It was an over sentencing in my opinion, from what I've read and what you did. We both you probably Yeah, okay, he agrees. Okay, so now you've been kind of like, justice probably wasn't necessarily served, even though you did some bad things. Now you're locked. Now you're in life. Now you're around these guys, you don't know you're going to get out. You think you're never going to get out. And now every day you're taking an ass beating or giving one to somebody daily In your life and then going back to your cell

with your thoughts How did you not I mean I'm being serious Did you have moments for your like effort my life is over like days down or did you somehow? Have some mental fortitude that came from this coffee bean story or other things during that time? Great question Ed. I can tell you the day it happened. This is six weeks in the prison. All right. I'm in there for six weeks at this point in this maximum security level five called the Mark Styles unit. You can look this place up man. It's one of the toughest prisons in Texas. It's one of the toughest prisons in America and Ed, I can tell you a lot

about tough prisons man. One of the things I did when. And I can tell you a lot about tough prisons, man. One of the things I did when I got out of prison, I went back to school, got that master's degree in criminal justice. It became a criminal justice professor at the university of Houston, amazing teaching a class called prisons in America. I'm the only professor on the planet to teach a prisons class who lived in prison, right? So I'm in the styles unit six weeks in two weeks is what it took me to get

through the white gangs after that. They tapped out and then they sent the black gangs. So Mohammed told me the black gangs are coming because the white gangs are going to send them and everybody's going to work in concert to get you going with your own race because everybody wants everybody belonging to their own race. That's how it is in prison. Race runs everything. That's just the way prison works.

Six weeks in, I get up on a Monday morning. I'm this close and I'm holding my fingers up an inch apart for the people listening to this. I am this close to being the broken my fingers up an inch apart for the people listening to this. I am this close to being the broken man from Shawshank with the man with no hope. The violence, the terrorists just too much. Ed, I made a decision that Monday morning and I'm still fighting the black gangs at this point. I made a decision that Monday morning to use the only thing I haven't used to earn my respect in there and it's my athletic ability.

God blessed me to be a tremendous athlete in life. And I was a starting quarterback in division one college for about 20 years old, man. I can ball, I'm a baller. But man, the rec yard where you play sports, it's the most intimidating place I've ever seen because it was the most segregated place I've ever seen. Every sport on the rec yard is segregated

by the color of your skin. It's like going back in time, Ed. The sand volleyball court for the whites and Hispanics. Handball, everybody can play handball, but if you want to play doubles and handball, your doubles partner has to be the same skin color as you. The weight stack just like you see in all those prison movies that everybody wants to push out iron in prison and all the races can lift weights. But

if you want someone to spot you or work out with you, your partner, your spotter has to be the same skin color as you. You can't mix a race. The chow hall Ed. In that chow hall, you cannot sit down, eat your meal at a table with people from a different race. Races, everything, every race wanted that way too. It's not like one race said we're going to do this and everybody can do it. Every race wants it that way. Everybody separates. And so that Monday morning, six weeks in, I make the decision. I'm going all in, I'm going to play sports. And if this doesn't work for me, I'm going to die anyway. But I got to go do this. I can't become that version

of me that I promised my mama wouldn't. So I go out to the rec yard that Monday morning, I faced my fears and, um, I pass up all the other sports I just told you about, and I went straight to the basketball court, Ed, the blacks from the basketball court in prison, no white boys allowed that basketball court. But here's what I'm thinking as I go to the basketball court that Monday morning. Before there was Martin Luther King Jr., there was Jackie Robinson. Before you integrated lunch counters in the American South, you integrated locker rooms.

My dad, my dad was a sports writer in the South. He was the first sports writer to put black athletes on the front page of sports pages in South East Texas in 1971. Ed, sports is the great uniter. Sports is the one thing that brings us Americans together like nothing else can. Think about it, man. Not even religion brings people together like sports. You can self-segregate religions in America, and we do, but you cannot self-segregate the sport. Sports are the melting pot. I knew sports would do it for me, and I go out there then Monday morning, I got myself in a game of basketball, and man, I got in way over my head. Those guys let me play

some basketball, but it wasn't five on five. It was nine on one. I don't belong out there, but I show up every day. I take a beating. I give it back when I can. I get a little bit better. I get a little stronger. I get a little more confident because I'm keeping the prompt. Like you said, confidence is keeping the promise you make to yourself. I make that promise every day after I would walk off the rec yard. I'm coming back tomorrow. And I tell those guys I'm coming back just so they can hold me to my promise. No, I white boy will see you tomorrow. You know, I learned two things about adversity that week.

I'll never forget. And I tell this to every audience I speak to adversity is never as bad as you think it's going to be. And you're always capable of more than you think you are because your thinking matters and sometimes we allow overthinking to get in the way of overcoming when we see adversity and you can't do that. Sometimes you just got to shut the thinking off. Chapter 11 of the book, by the way, Six Times and Nicholas, do things you're afraid of so you can do things you're, what does that say? Do things you're afraid of so you can do

things you're afraid of. Yeah. That's really good. That's what my dad used to tell me, man. It is so wild, like so much knowledge. My dad passed on to me about, you know, doing things you're afraid of is, is so you can do things you're afraid of. That means the more you do the things that you're afraid of, the more you'll be able to do other things you're afraid of, you know, you say it in a different way. I mean, voluntary adversity is another way of saying this thing. Put yourself out there, man.

Find out what you're made of. This is a mini meditation guided by Bombus. Repeat after me. Put yourself out there, man. Find out what you're made of. One purchased equals one donated. Now go to bombus.com slash listen and use code LISTEN for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash listen and use code LISTEN at checkout. I get it. You're dreaming about vacations. Ooh, baby, that's my jam. With Sunwing's first dibs on summer savings, let us curate something stronger than what you've been listening to. Because while your playlist screams, I need a vacation.

My algorithm suggests book before March 30th. Remember, Sunwing, save more, do more. Book with your local travel advisor or at sunwing.ca. Well, what's crazy is what comes back to you. So you're on my buddy Andy's show and you're talking about... Well, you tell him. I want you to tell it. I don't want to get... Who really you think has some credit for saving your life? Oh man!

This is really insightful of you though. It says so much about your character that you would credit these guys with saving your life. Cause that's not what most people would say to the SWAT team that arrested them. No, man. And this is another thing to create. This is like coming back on your show. We're unpacking stuff that has happened in the last three years, man. This is you, man.

You got me on Andy show. You called up Andy, say you had him on the show. So I get on Andy's show and I know that Andy's got a lot of listeners that are in law enforcement. And so I just throw out there in the, in the podcast, hey man, if anybody's from Dallas SWAT, I'd love to come talk to y'all, man. Y'all saved my life in 2008. Are you hearing what he's saying? He's telling Dallas SWAT who arrested him in a SWAT raid that they saved his life. You didn't just arrest me that day, you rescued me that day. That's what I'm saying, man. They're my angels. My angels, they don't have wings. They have assault rifles and shields and helmets. And I want to meet these angels. That's what I

told him. I said, I want to meet y'all. Somebody from SWAT was listening, hits me up on Instagram messenger, man. And, uh, man, we set it up. I go talk to the Dallas SWAT team and, and you know, the body language was tough that day, man. There's a lot of, a lot of those SWAT guys who got their arm, men and women got their arms crossed. And it's kind of like, almost like this thing that the cops call hug a thug, man. We don't want to be there for this hug a thug session. So they came in, some of them came in, you know, closed off body language. And I didn't care, man.

The only thing my job was that day was to, to pour into them and thank them for what they did to me. And I, and I told him, I said, look, man, I was a bad guy. Here's why I wasn't life when you met me, when you pulled me out of that dope house that day, and you probably don't remember it, but I remember it. And you saved my life. And if you don't do that, I don't get out of that situation alive. And I want to thank y'all.

And I told him, I said, man, as a, as a criminal justice professor, one of the first things I always told my class is that this slogan that you heard going around of defund the police was one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Right? I mean, because I lived in a world where there's no police, it's prison. You don't want to live in a prison. And I said, I just, I'm the opposite of that, man. I'm a very low on order kind of guy.

I just got off on the wrong path. I think you can see that, but I want to fund the police. And in this case, let me fund y'all. If give me a list of all the equipment you need to get right now that you can't get your hands on, I'll buy all your equipment for you. Let me be your guy. Ed, they sent me a list of about $20,000. They took you seriously. And I brought you something today from that list. So one of the things, here it is. All right, I'm going to hide this one. So they asked me to get them breacher bags and plate bags and stuff like that.

Breacher bags, what's cool about this is a breacher bag is something that carries explosives. They carry flashbang grenades. Ed, my entire life changes from a flashbang grenade going off in my face on July 30, 2008. This flashbang grenade, boom, and life changed. It was God sending that flashbang in. And so I said, guys, send me the list. I'll get it for you. But Ed, I wanted to bring you one of the backpacksacks one of their plate bags. Wow. This is what we have carry

That's right. Yeah, it's got this got to be a coffee bean patch that that you know, it's watching guys Yeah, put a patch on there. They put the patch on there. They told me to get the patches Maybe we'll see how many of them wear but that's cool. If one SWAT team guy wears a be a coffee bean patch imagine Right there. Yeah, I got you. I got it right there. Yeah, you got it. We got it. So imagine, you know, get them going on raids.

If anybody's wearing the Bia Coffee Bean patch, how cool that would be like, oh, my God, the former uptown burglar gets to work with Dallas SWAT. And my thing is this, send me a list of things that you need to come home to your family alive so you can save other people. Couple things happened, Ed. They got thanked for a job they did that no one's ever come back and thanked them for. They also got to see the example of someone who got it right. And I speak to a lot of law enforcement groups.

And if you're law enforcement, listen to what I'm telling you right here is that you need to see the example that someone can get it right. You need to see that there's another Damon West out there maybe because you need to know your job matters because if all you do is just take out the trash and sometimes the same trash keeps blowing back on the road, you start feeling pretty negative. Start feeling like an egg. I wanted him to see the example that someone got it right. So it's been really incredible. I mean,

you don't give her, you always give all the credit. You're incredible. Like what you've done and how you've turned your life around, by the way, and he's given you the lessons. He's told you what you had to do. You got to be a coffee bean. You got to ask the question. You got to get in the room. You got to follow up with this stuff. You got to do that extra mile thing, like leaving the coffee bean key chain. You got to be able to work for nothing in the very beginning. Let me tell you the bottom line with this dude. Okay. Let me give you the real,

the real deal. This dude's a hustler and I bet you were a hell of a criminal because this dude is a hustler. He busts his tail, he's always after it, he out works everybody in this space, he also gives back which we should probably talk about now. This man's given back, he's created great experiences for me. He's had John and I at Dallas football games because he's doing a thing with Dak Prescott. We've been down on the sidelines. He invited me to go play Cypress Point golf with Jim Nance from CBS, which I couldn't go play. So he ends up taking my son Max on what is... We had an incredible time with Max. He's such a good golfer, but any better human being?

Thank you. Well, you're the great I agree with you on both those things But this man took my son on a dream trip those of you that don't know golf That's like literally saying I'm gonna take your son to heaven for a day He played heaven with the most famous golf commentator of all time Commentators, oh by the way, I actually have some mentioning that I want to thank you for commentators. Oh, by the way, I actually have some mentioning that I want to ask you about one of your swings. So I want to play a video for you here. I want your

commentary on this. But this is you. I think Max is filming and you're in Jim Nance's backyard. I'm allowed to show this clip. I can't show clips from the golf course, but this will give you an idea of how Damon plays. He's got that famous hole from

Pebble Beach number seven in his backyard number seven half the distance. Number seven. Half the distance. And let's see if you hit the hole. What did you hit here? Let's just watch this video. We're showing it on the YouTube, everybody. Here he goes. Here's Damon.

There's Jim Nance right there commentating. So just so you all know, the YouTubers know, but he didn't hit the whole hit. He hit Jim Nance's house. I hit Jim's house. Did you play that bad on the golf course? Man, I did not play well in the golf course. And I, when you're on the road a couple hundred days a year, you don't get a lot of time to play golf.

I probably play six times a year, but I tell you, man, my dad used to say a bad, a bad day at the golf course is better than a good day at the office. So I had a great time. If you don't have a bad day at the golf course is better than a good day at the office. So I had a great time. If you don't have a good time at the golf course and Cypress points, your own fault. You went from you guys, by the way, is that not hilarious? Everyone on YouTube and they can, they're going to hear the, they're going to hear the audio.

Jim is narrating it with the master's music in the background. Oh, I know brother. They're going to hear it on the audio too. They're going to hear it. But think about this, everybody. He went, this is just incredible. He went from being life in prison, to being one of the most book speakers, to playing Cypress Point with Jim Nance, to going into the SWAT team that arrested him

and bringing them gifts and speaking to them, going into the very prison type environments that he was in, it's unbelievable. What other lesson, Damon, help us here, man. There's someone listening that's going, I'm down too. I got self-doubt too. I'm living in the prison of my own mind. What other lesson in the book or out of the book would you give to somebody who's like, man, I have got, I'm running out of time. I got changed my life right now. I'm living my own life sentence, so to speak,

and it's not the script I want. Yeah. Like yours wasn't. What would you say to them? There's a principle I try to live my life by and it's a principle in the book. Um, it's, it's about integrity. And I believe integrity is who you are when no one else is watching you. Integrity is that little voice in your ear that says, we're going to do the right thing, even though we could get away with the wrong thing right now. This is the situation that's integrity. It whispers to you. And hopefully it's louder than the other voice that tells you, man, do it. Just do it. You know, one of the biggest things that's happened in my life since we came on

the show and it, it applies to the question you just asked about someone really in a rut trying to figure it out. One of the biggest questions has ever been asked of me is have you found Muhammad yet? You know, people want to know man, where's this Mohammed guy? What's he doing now? And the truth is Ed, I couldn't find Mohammed right at first because Mohammed's not his real name. It's his Muslim name. You know, person converts to Islam, they get rid of the real name, they take on a Muslim name, kind of like Cassius Clay became Mohammed Ali. And so I go back to Dallas County jail when I get out of prison and I ask him, I said, I'm trying to find my friend Mohammed. Dallas County jail is like, hey man, listen, we don't have a record of this guy.

We need a real name or a birthday. We can't find him with a Muslim name. So I don't have any of that. So I have to hope he finds me. And um, three years ago, Ed, he finds me and here's how he finds me. I get a letter from an inmate, the Texas department of criminal justice. Y'all, I get a lot of inmate mail. Ed, men and women, all of the American prison systems write me letters all the time because to every man and woman

in prison, I am hope. I am Andy Dufresne. I'm the real life Andy Dufresne to them. And I'm the dream. And that's one of the reasons why, Ed, I make myself available every month to voluntarily walk into a prison somewhere in America is this phrase that I heard on your show. I have to make myself available for them to touch the dream. Yep. You told a story about going to the Ritz Carlton when you had no money with your wife, remember? And you went because you wanted to touch, touch your dream.

I listened to all your stuff. Had it in it. And that is the reason which pushed me into doing this thing every single month. Man, I don't have a lot of time on my schedule, but I make time for them to touch the dream. This inmate writes me. There's no return address, has one sentence. The one sentence says, find James Lynn Baker and you find Mohammed. Seven years of waiting on this clue.

I go back to Dallas, I get with my lawyer, we get a private investigator. The first thing the PI finds is his criminal record and it matched everything he told me in and out of prison his entire life. Had him in county jail in nine when I was there. So this is my friend. I know it's my friend. All we have to do is find my friend's current address, right? But we couldn't find his current address, Ed, because James Lambecker, the second Mohammed, he died of an opioid overdose in Dallas

on May 9th, 2017 Mohammed has been dead for eight years now. He was a drug addict just like me, but he never got to a program recovery and he died his addiction. There's a big lesson there, Ed. This man sat on the coffee man's just his entire life, but he couldn't apply it in his own life. You can sit on all the knowledge and information in the world. You can read all the best self-help books. You can listen to all the best podcasts. You can quote your Bible, your religious book, whatever it is, scripture and verse. But if you can't apply the knowledge, the knowledge does you no good. You have to apply knowledge.

So now that I know who this guy is, I mean, I know that I owe my life to this guy. The world has a new message because of this guy. I told my lawyer, I said, well, if he's dead, then let's go find his family, because I need to find his family. I need to tell him about what he did in my life. I need them to understand who he was. You know, lawyers are very risky first people. My lawyer's like, I don't know, Damon. I don't think this is the best idea in the world. Look what part of Dallas he came from. Are you sure you want to go find this guy's family?

I'm like, man, I don't think God brought it this far just to bring it this far. Go find his family. I need to, I need to find him. I need to find him so I can tell him about my friend. He came from a dynamic family, Ed. His little sister is a woman named Von Seale Baker. Von Seale Baker lives in Dallas right now.

She's in her seventies. Von Seale Baker is the first Dallas cowboy cheerleader ever. Look at that. First woman to ever wear that uniform, Ed. His mother is a pioneer of civil rights in Dallas. She's a historical figure. In 1948, Bertha Baker, his mother, opens up the first licensed black daycare in Dallas is she's a historical figure in 1948, Bertha Baker, his mother opens up the first licensed black daycare in Dallas.

This man came from an incredible family, just like I did. The substance abuse addiction, right? So I reached out to his family. He's got three living sisters, Visha, Von Sill, and Videsa. I called these ladies up one night. I tell them the story about the time I met their brother in the county jail, the message he gave me and what I've been able to do that message both in prison, out of prison. And I told the sisters I said listen Your brother saved my life. He met me at the most

Vulnerable time in my life and he'd share with me the message that helped me change my life And I'm changing the lives of others and I'm gonna impact the entire world with the message you gave me But I need to impact your world. I said here's what I want to do I want to start a scholarship in your brother's name We'll call it the James Lambega the second be a coffee bean scholarship and I said every year's what I want to do. I want to start a scholarship in your brother's name. We'll call it the James Lambeker, the second be a coffee bean scholarship. And I said, every year I'll fund it. I'll put $10,000 into a trust. You tell me where to put it. I'll put the money in, but I want your family to pick that winner every year.

So that every year one little boy or one little girl that grows up in his own neighborhood, that goes to his old school, they get a better chance of life through an education because these two guys met up in County Jail in Oh nine. Ed, the sisters took me up on it, man. I've got, I've got a new family. I mean, the Baker family is like my family now. They're incredible people. They picked these winners.

One of the winners is this little girl named Megan. Ed, this little girl named Megan, her mother's a school teacher, her dad's a disabled veteran. Right now, Megan's sitting in class at Texas A&M. She's gonna be an engineer one day, Ed. I finally found Muhammad. That's what I'm saying to anybody struggling out there.

It took me seven years to find my friend. It took seven nos at night Houston to get the one. Yes, I needed with Davos. When it took seven years to walk out of a maximum security prison, some of your goals in life take longer than others, but you don't quit. You don't give up before the miracle happens. Hey man, you're doing it again. This is like an all-timer. Look at Stephen.

This is an all-timer. By the way, you're a movie. Well, by the way, he actually literally is a movie. I can't give you all the details on that, but like, bro, I'm just listening to you. I'm absolutely overwhelmingly proud. Proud almost sounds like I'm judging. I'm proud of you, but like, I'm really, uh, I of you, but I can really, I can actually say this over the last, I'm really honored with friends.

Oh, yeah. I'm really fortunate you're my friend. Hey guys, back at the playground again, huh? Yep. You know what this playground could use? A wine country. Heck yeah, and some waves so we could go surfing. Oh, I love that!

A redwood forest would be cool. I'm in! Ah, ski slopes! Let's do it! Um, can a girl go shopping? Yeah, baby! Wait! Did we just invent California?

Discover why California is the ultimate playground at visitcalifornia.com Like, you're such a good person. You're doing so good with your life. You know what I mean? Like you're doing so good with your life. And you weren't. No. And that's what I love. The other thing that you know, you have in chapter 10,

which is, you know, you credit me in the book for saying, but just that you're most qualified in life to help those you used to be. And I quote you. I know you do. But you're doing that. And the used to be isn't just prisoners or people that have messed up It's people that live in the prison of their minds. Oh, yeah, and that's what you're doing today

That's where this has gone to a new level Well, that's why you said to write the book because she said Damon the stuff It's I never forgot you said the stuff that's happened in your life since prisons bigger than the stuff that happened in prison It will listen to you It is like you're right Ed and it's but you gave me the formula. You're like, man, tell stories. You said stories sell. That's what you always have said. Facts tell, stories sell.

That's what you always say, man. The thing about your stories is, they're overwhelmingly real and mind blowing. I wanna share something with you today. You asked me your question, but I wanna share something with you that I've never shared with an audience. No, share it.

It's in the book, but you have to get the book to understand the context of what this is gonna be. Give it to us. It's one of the chapters in the book called The Healing Power of Forgiveness. Yep. All right, so. Chapter eight, which is my number.

Yeah, that's your number? Yeah. Mine's seven, man. We're close to each other, right next to each other. So, and in Texas, they have a hall. If you have a victim of a crime that you go to prison for, you get convicted, you cannot apologize to the victim of your crimes. That's why you set through an entire podcast today,

and you set through the last one. If you remember when I was on three years ago, I never made an apology to anybody I did any harm to because I can't. The state of Texas says it's a felony to apologize to the victim of your crimes. They'll send you back to prison in Texas if you make an apology. I believe the law has got good purpose. I think it's really made for victims of violent crimes, people that have survived rapes, murders, assaults with the family members, whatever. But they just lump every criminal in. They just say, hey man, if you committed a crime, you can't reach out to your victims. So I'll never be able to apologize to my victims. I work a 12-step program recovery. The 8-step

says you make a list of all the people you harm. The 9-step says you go out and make the apologies, except when to do so would cause you or them harm. So in that case, they have what's called a living amends. Living amends in the program recovery means that you go out and do good deeds, you expect nothing in return. You've seen the theme throughout my life. And I'm just doing these deeds because that's my living amends to the world. I've got to do this to stay sober and to pay back the debt that I owe. So for the victims, I can't ever apologize to, I go out and do living immense. And I did this news story in Dallas back in 2020. And I didn't want to do a story in Dallas, Ed, because my victims are all there.

And I thought, man, I just don't want to be in their faces. But this reporter just got him, Kevin Reese, great storyteller. He said, we're not here to tell the story of the uptown burger. That's been told. He said, we're here to tell what the uptown burglar is doing now. And he said, that's a great story. This is five years ago, you know? And so he does this story, really good story. And even in the story, I was like, man, you got to let me say in there, I'm a bad guy. And I do I say I'm a scumbag. I was a bad guy. So I got it out. And I felt good about the story. And I went home that night. And then I opened up my email and there were two emails and

the first emails from one of the detectives that took me down and It was not a good email. He's basically saying the email. I don't think you're a good guy I thought you were I think you were a bad guy then and I think you're probably a bad guy now and Basically, he says that I don't believe any of this stuff and I sat with that for a second I thought to myself, you know what? He's entitled to his opinion. And this is another lesson in life, Ed. Other people's opinions of you are none of your business.

He's entitled to his opinion. And he represented society. Whenever I was breaking the law society, I broke the social contract. He represented society. He brought justice to me. He can feel that way if he wants to. It's none of my business.

Besides, I'm not a criminal. He has no power over me. The other email was from a name I didn't recognize. And I opened it up and it said, Damon, I forgive you. The biggest victim of any of my crimes. I won't go into the details about this victim. I do in the book, but I want to share this with your audience. She writes me an email and Ed this is the

This is the person that I think about every day. I'm in prison. Hmm, and I didn't ever physically hurt anybody remember that I didn't ever physically hurt anybody, but it's it's what was stolen from her and Man the negative role that I played in her life and I thought about her every single day that I was in prison and it was like a toxic a toxic friend to brought with me and I thought I'm supposed to carry this around because I was a bad guy and this I deserve to carry this around and she writes me this email and she's telling me about what she thought about when she walked in her apartment and this item was gone and man I'm I'm struggling reading through it and she gets

to the very end and this is what she says to me, Ed. And I don't know if I'm gonna make it through this. With that, I'd like to say, I forgive you. I'm moving on in the hopes that you're a genuine person with a good heart and the hope that you put others before money or fame as you share your story and the hope that you and your family never experience great loss or violation most importantly and the hope that you feel peace in knowing that we are saved from the mistakes we make in this world thanks to the unfailing love of Christ life is such a gift may you live it to the fullest, Damon. Oh, that's beautiful. That's awesome. I don't know if I was going to make it through that.

I'm glad you did, bro. Oh my God, but I've never shared that with anybody. It's going to come out. It's in the book. Thank you, brother. I can't apologize to my victims, and I can't reach out to them when they reach out to me, but I can share with you what they say to me. This is the one victim that I never thought I'd hear that from.

That's awesome. And the message is this to your audience, Ed, if that person can forgive me for what I did to her, why can't you forgive someone else that you're holding a grudge against? Because resentments are the most poisonous thing in our lives. They're like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. And the people, the places, the things that we resent, usually don't know we have this resentment. And if they find out they don't care, let go of your resentments. Why are you holding on to them? And forgive yourself. Yeah. You can forgive yourself for mistakes you've made or failures you've had as well.

Man, thank you for doing that. I didn't know that you were going to do it either. I felt it in the moment. Yeah, brother. I love you. By the way, what I was going to ask you about was recovery and the most important step. And you've clearly said it's immense. So you answered my question. I don't know, man. I guess it's probably. I don't know. I don't know how you could have a better podcast than this. But I said that to you. I said that to you last time. We did better than the first time. Yeah, we did.

Well, I just said I just literally got to be here. I just feel like honored that I was here. I'm really proud of you. And so, uh, so happy for you. And I hope that what you gave everybody today, some of the lessons for sure, but is hope, is hope. If this man can change his life, so can you from the darkest of the dark spaces of his life to bring in light to literally millions of people. So thank you, brother, Damon West, for being here today. Ed, man thank you and my mom told me to tell you thanks too. Tell mom I said hello. Max told me to tell you thank you.

Oh yeah. And he actually sent me that video that we played. He said you got to ask him about this video. It's so great man. I'm glad he sent you that video. And my mom, Ed, I want to share this with you real quick because without the influence that you've had in my life, we came on, I came on the show, it changed the, it changed my space in the speaking world. I mean, it literally took me from doing really well to like just crushing it and then still crushing it. But because of that, my dad died is another, uh, my dad passed away. Your father passed away.

So, and I remember we talked right after my dad, thank you for the condolences. And, um, my dad told me before he passed away, he said, you gotta take care of your mom. And I didn't really know what that meant. Ed, my mom was about 10 or 15 minutes away from me, you know? And, uh, my wife and I just built this house on this piece of property. We got four acres. Yeah. Thanks, man.

And I realized what it was. I was supposed to take care of my mom. My mom was very lonely after my dad died. And even though she's just 10 or 15 minutes away, when you're gone, you know, when you're home 36 hours a week from a road trip, 10 minutes might as well be, you know, 10 miles. So, or a hundred miles. I didn't see her as much, but when I saw her,

I could see that she was lonely. And Ed, this summer I told her, I said, "'Kendall and I are gonna build you a house "'on our property, and we're gonna put you "'at the front of our property, "'and you'll be able to watch your granddaughter, "'Clara, grow up, and you'll be able to watch your granddaughter Clara grow up and you'll be able to hang out with your daughter along when I'm home. I'll stop in every

time say hello and I'll stop out on the way out. And December 23rd she moved into her new home. I mean, what boy doesn't want to build a home for their mom? That's just freaking awesome. And by the way, you've climbed in the speaking ranks not because you're on my show, you climbed through the speaking ranks because you're an unbelievably great speaker and people are moved after you speak. And those of you that want someone

to come speak to your organization, you know who to call now after listening to this today. So by the way, go get Six Dimes and a Nickel, pre-order that book. And where do they find you to speak or just follow you on social, you want to come to Instagram? Uh, find me to speak at my website,

Damon West dot org D a M O N W S T dot org. Last time I was on your show, I said the WWW. You're like, don't do that. So you don't say that Instagram and X and everything else is at Damon West seven. But my website is where people find me to speak all the time and I don't have an agent. It's just my wife and how that run it. So thanks for this experience. It was awesome. Thanks for letting me come back.

And I got to meet your wife today, which is great. Awesome. On your private jet. Hey everybody share today's episode. If you're not on my email list, by the way, I've been pushing this lately cause we get the show out to you earlier. If you do it, just go to edmylet.com, put your email and we'll get you the shows quick. All right, max out, God bless you. This is the Ed Mylan Show.