Join host Steven Pesavento and guest Dre Baldwin in a deep dive into the journey from professional sports to business success. Dre, a former pro athlete turned mindset coach, shares insights from his childhood influences, the competitive nature of sports, and the crucial role of discipline in achieving success both on and off the field. From the importance of structure to the power of perseverance, learn how to apply lessons from the athletic world to excel in business and life.
Key Takeaways
Resources Mentioned
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About our Guest:
Dre Baldwin is a former professional athlete turned mindset coach, entrepreneur, and author. With a background in basketball, Dre leverages his experiences in sports to help individuals and businesses unlock their full potential. Through his platform, "Work On Your Game," Dre empowers others to cultivate discipline, resilience, and confidence to achieve their goals in various aspects of life.
Are you looking for High-Performance Business & Mindset Coaching? Schedule a call now and see how we can be of service to you. http://www.investormindset.com/discover
00;00;00;23 - 00;00;08;27
Steven Pesavento
Welcome back to the Investor Mindset podcast. I'm your host Stephen Bento. And today I have Dre Baldwin in the studio. How are you doing today Dre?
00;00;08;29 - 00;00;11;15
Dre Baldwin
I'm doing excellent. Stephen. How you doing?
00;00;11;17 - 00;00;41;20
Steven Pesavento
I'm doing excellent as well. I'm excited to talk. You've got an interesting journey and interesting story. I know you've been helping people with their mindset and, getting into that business space. And you come from, from a professional athlete type background. So there's a bunch of cool stuff we're going to cover today. before we get into all that, what I'm curious about is when we look back at earlier in your life, what events, your influences from your childhood shaped who you are today.
00;00;41;23 - 00;01;00;10
Dre Baldwin
Man is did question. We have a whole conversation just on that. But I would say, just, always being into sports and being a competitive person, I think it was a good amount of competitiveness as wired in me. But then getting into sports, you see the competition aspect of it. luckily I had some good, athletic genes.
00;01;00;16 - 00;01;20;29
Dre Baldwin
So then that's what really kind of led me to sports. And at the same time, my parents were they were steadfast, making sure that their kids, one sister was a year older than me, making sure that we got a good education. And we went to school and college because neither my parents, when we were born, had finished college.
00;01;20;29 - 00;01;43;21
Dre Baldwin
So they wanted us to go to school and get, you know, good grades, graduate, etc.. And I would say those two things because the education angle led to me reading a lot, and that led to writing, and that plays a big role in what I do in business now and then. of course, the sports angle and just having just being a young boy, you know, boys can go in all different directions without the proper guidance, you know.
00;01;43;21 - 00;02;01;12
Dre Baldwin
So having both parents at home, I had the proper guidance and where I was never going on the wrong path, I got showed something a, what do we call it to say? A useful way to use that energy, that youthful male energy and that became sports. So the sports and the reading kind of everything that we do now.
00;02;01;14 - 00;02;21;10
Steven Pesavento
Yeah, there's something really powerful about having that container or something that, you know, you can pour yourself into and learn the skills that lead to a great character. What was it that that propelled you or pushed you towards getting into sports and using that as a vehicle to become the man that you are?
00;02;21;13 - 00;02;38;10
Dre Baldwin
You mean as a kid or in your adult area? Yeah, as a kid. I don't know if I chose it. I think it's it's got shown to me. I think it was, you know, your parents look at you or this young boy and young males have a lot of energy. I got a son who's not even two years old yet, so he has a lot of energy.
00;02;38;10 - 00;03;01;29
Dre Baldwin
And as he gets older, he's going to need an outlet for that energy. So usually parents synergism is for males. I don't know about the females, but the males usually get sent to sports events to try it out because the way to let that energy out. So whether they're doing some type of, combat sport, no karate, something like that, swimming, soccer, baseball, basketball, boxing, whatever, just to get that energy out because it'll drive the parents crazy.
00;03;02;07 - 00;03;22;17
Dre Baldwin
So I think that's was the thing with my parents was I go outside and play. It was what we did back in the 1990s. Back in the day, we would go outside and play and that's what everyone was doing in sports. So no kickball, basketball, etc. and again, I just happened to have some good genetics. I ended up being pretty tall, so it eventually made my way to basketball.
00;03;22;20 - 00;03;53;10
Steven Pesavento
Yeah, I think there's something really powerful about starting in that place because, you know, fast forward, you jumped into the world of being a professional athlete and working to get onto the teams and be able to kind of create a career. But it really starts with a competitive nature. There's something unique that I see very prevalent in both athletes and people who are very successful in the military, and it's a level of discipline and it's a level of commitment where they don't give up.
00;03;53;12 - 00;04;04;26
Steven Pesavento
So what do you think and what have you seen that people can learn from professional athletes, from that mindset that they can then bring into their personal life or their careers?
00;04;04;29 - 00;04;21;29
Dre Baldwin
Well, number one is the performance mandate that in the sports world, there's a mandate that you have to perform and is a results based business, and you are measured by the results you produce. In sports where we have a scoreboard, you know, it's a different from the business world in that in business, not everybody has the same aims.
00;04;21;29 - 00;04;38;17
Dre Baldwin
Not everyone has the same scoreboard. People are doing things for different reasons. Whereas in sports world there is one drug, one judge and jury, and that is the scoreboard. There's a winner, there's a loser, it's a binary. Whereas in the business world everybody can win. Theoretically in sports where everybody can not win and it's not supposed to be like that.
00;04;38;24 - 00;04;59;25
Dre Baldwin
So, that's the number one thing I would say from the athletic world that you had to perform, you have to produce a result. And then of course, the means to the ends of performance and producing result would be things like showing up every day and doing your job, which is what a lot of business people, especially in the sales world, you need to have that skill because you can door slam in your face all the time, though.
00;04;59;26 - 00;05;23;18
Dre Baldwin
Again, people telling, you know, you people not following up with the ideals following through. So how do you get up and go to the next one as if the last one didn't happen. And that's also contributes to the concept, the mental toughness and then the concept, the confidence. Rather, just putting yourself out there, putting your work out there, putting your, your offer or yourself out there bottling authentically so that people can see it, knowing that you're going to be judged, you're going to be observed, you're going to be critiqued.
00;05;23;21 - 00;05;42;04
Dre Baldwin
people are going to be poking and prodding and looking for no, maybe a weakness or looking for something to criticize just how it is. It comes with attention when you're a high level performer and understanding this is all part of the game. And then also in the something that I eschew, either from the sports world that I know the business world uses a lot is just that initiative.
00;05;42;06 - 00;06;04;03
Dre Baldwin
It's just that willingness to even and just go and get started, not wait for an opportunity to come find you, but actually go and create opportunities maybe where there was nothing happening going and kind of just being at fire starter. How can I start a fire here where nothing was going on before I started doing it? So I would say those aspects, because that really became the foundation of what work on your game was about.
00;06;04;06 - 00;06;07;26
Dre Baldwin
When I started giving it to people who were not athletes.
00;06;07;28 - 00;06;27;26
Steven Pesavento
Yeah. When when somebody is an athlete, what I'm what I've seen is that they have a discipline, they have a drive, they have a commitment to doing the right thing over and over again to practice in order to become the best at that skill that they're working towards in order to win the game. But you don't always win.
00;06;27;26 - 00;06;38;14
Steven Pesavento
You have to keep going. And, no matter how hard it is, you you almost have to fight your way to it. Like even to become a professional athlete. It's super competitive.
00;06;38;16 - 00;06;39;20
Dre Baldwin
So what?
00;06;39;27 - 00;07;03;05
Steven Pesavento
What is it that somebody can do immediately that will lead them to to being able, being able to actually start bringing some of those characteristics inside of them? Maybe. Let's just start with discipline. As one of the first, because I think that's one of the hardest things, to teach yet, one of the most important things when it comes to business.
00;07;03;07 - 00;07;24;20
Dre Baldwin
Yes, I 100% agree that discipline is the number one. I would say if someone asked me, Jerry, what's the number one asset that you use your entire just adult life to create? I guess what we can call success is discipline. That's number one. And discipline is about how I define it is abundance to show up every single day and do the work and do your job, whatever it happens to be.
00;07;24;23 - 00;07;40;24
Dre Baldwin
And the biggest challenge that people have with discipline, Steven, is that people try to everyone understands they need it. If you were to stop ten people in the street and ask them, hey, do you feel you need more discipline in life? Or do you ever see on social media, people do those street interviews. They just walk up to random people and ask them questions.
00;07;41;01 - 00;07;59;14
Dre Baldwin
So if you did that and just ask people, hey, do you need more discipline in any aspect of your life? Everybody would say yes. Nobody would say no, I'm good. Everybody says yes and then uses asking which area and everyone has something different. But I would guess because I've had a lot of people say it to me, that is a couple common areas, usually fitness, finance.
00;07;59;17 - 00;08;18;10
Dre Baldwin
Usually those are the top two that I hear and mindset usually those three and the thing is, the way people mess it up with discipline is that they try to force feed it. so they say, okay, I need to be more disciplined. I say, okay, when someone tells me that, I say, okay, well, what are you doing now to get more discipline, what do you need to do?
00;08;18;10 - 00;08;34;27
Dre Baldwin
What needs to happen in order for you to become more disciplined? And they usually give some answer like, I need to just push myself or I got to get more motivated, or I got to be more locked in or I got to be more consistent. It's usually circular answers, which I got to do more of the thing that I'm already not doing right.
00;08;34;27 - 00;08;53;29
Dre Baldwin
So they're not getting there because they're trying to force feed discipline. That's not the way discipline works. So the key thing people need to understand about this one is that discipline is a result of structure. When you have the proper structure in place and you follow the structure, discipline is a natural byproduct of the filing of a structure.
00;08;54;01 - 00;09;10;01
Dre Baldwin
So anyone who's ever played a team sport, the coach presents the structure. The coach gives you the structure. As long as you follow the structure of the coach, you will be disciplined in doing what the structure says as long as you follow it. Now, if you try to not follow it, and then that's a lack of discipline. Usually you end up off the team.
00;09;10;03 - 00;09;31;28
Dre Baldwin
If you had no parents at home when you were growing up, who raised you since they provided the structure and if you followed it, then you would be disciplined because you followed the structure. We went to school. If there was a you were in second grade and the teacher was not there that day, and you see a substitute walk in the room all the kids start grinning because we know that that day the classroom is going to be a zoo because the teacher represents what structure.
00;09;32;01 - 00;09;47;26
Dre Baldwin
And that day everybody was acting all bad. But then the next day when the main teacher comes back, everyone getting it. So what happened that the kids just forget how to behave that one day? No, they didn't forget. They just realized there was no structure today. So we can do what we want. But as soon as the structure comes back, they go right back to behaving in you.
00;09;48;03 - 00;10;11;16
Dre Baldwin
So structure creates discipline. So the most important thing anyone needs if they want to be more disciplined in life is they need the proper structure to follow. And this is the reason why, courses and programs and coaching and consulting exists because the people who create those things are providing a structure that assuming that there's structures in here that will produce a certain predictable result.
00;10;11;18 - 00;10;33;20
Steven Pesavento
Yeah, it's fascinating because you know, growing up I didn't have a lot of structure. It was very freeform. and when I, got into college and then into the business world, I realized the thing that I had actually been yearning for was the thing that I had rejected for so long. And it was that structure. And it was the irony of that.
00;10;33;20 - 00;10;55;06
Steven Pesavento
Once you put that structure in place and you start following it, and you have that commitment and you have that discipline, then you actually start showing up and realizing that things are actually easier from that place rather than harder. But there's a bucking bronco type energy at first whenever you're coming in or stepping into a structure. So what do you recommend to the leaders who are listening?
00;10;55;06 - 00;11;11;21
Steven Pesavento
The business owners who recognize that they're missing this in their company, and that the team actually needs this to succeed? How can they go about implementing it into a way that people are going to love the fact that it's in place?
00;11;11;23 - 00;11;27;20
Dre Baldwin
Oh, they just call me and I'll come in and teach it. but other than that, the number one thing is they got to have a reason. that's the most important thing, Stephen, is they gotta have a reason and that nobody's going to follow a structure unless they have a reason to believe that Starbucks is going to get them something that they want.
00;11;27;22 - 00;11;46;26
Dre Baldwin
So the thing about discipline is, and I talk about this, whenever I discuss this point is that you got to have an anchor for your discipline. Anchor for your discipline is what is the outcome that you are, that you want strongly enough, that you are willing to endure discipline in order to get it? So somebody may, for example, not like working out somebody just they hate doing burpees.
00;11;46;26 - 00;12;06;26
Dre Baldwin
They hate the treadmill, feel stupid to do push ups. They don't want to listen to a trainer. They don't like any of that stuff. But they're about to get married in six months and they want to lose 25 pounds. So you got good photos, so their desire to look good in those photos will help them deal with the, the discomfort of working out, even though you don't like they still don't like working out even after they do it.
00;12;06;29 - 00;12;22;17
Dre Baldwin
They want the result badly enough that they're willing to deal with it. So it's about what is the anchor? What do you care about enough that you're willing to go through it? If someone has a company, for example, there's several things you could use. You can find out what each individual wants and kind of get on their level.
00;12;22;17 - 00;12;36;03
Dre Baldwin
So let's say I'm the boss and I can get on the level of all my staff and find out what they want to show them, how getting what they want will occur if they follow the structure and get the discipline. I can also just make it about what I want. Listen, if you don't do this, you're fired. That can work too.
00;12;36;05 - 00;12;58;23
Dre Baldwin
All right? So whatever it is, use that to figure out what's the anchor that will move someone to take an action that they may otherwise not be so keen on taking is I'm the type of person who that discipline almost comes natural to me. So it doesn't bother me to go in and work out, does it not? a drain on me to go in, go find some leads and put them in a CRM?
00;12;58;26 - 00;13;18;03
Dre Baldwin
That can become tedious, but you get it. I don't mind doing it. I don't mind doing the same things over and over and over again. So I refer to myself sometimes as a robot, and most people are not like that. So you have to figure out what is the anchor that you care about enough that you're willing to do the things that the structure requires in order to produce discipline in order to get the outcome.
00;13;18;03 - 00;13;20;26
Dre Baldwin
So basically reverse engineering the whole process.
00;13;20;29 - 00;13;55;00
Steven Pesavento
Yeah, it's it's amazing because when you put this foundational piece down in a company or you put it down in your own life, it really is the foundation that you can build everything else off of. Because once you build that structure of the discipline and you can build it into a habit so that it becomes easier, and it then is simpler to add in some of these other characteristics or skills or habits that you want, because you're in that state where it's easier to be able to say, hey, you know what?
00;13;55;03 - 00;14;06;28
Steven Pesavento
I really want this outcome. It's really important to me. It's well worth it. I want the pain more than I or I want the pleasure more than I want the pain. And I'm willing to put myself through that in order to come out the other side stronger.
00;14;07;01 - 00;14;27;17
Dre Baldwin
Right? More of you don't want the pain. Yeah, right. So. Right. You're on your way on the deal with the pain in order to obtain that pleasure. So it's getting clear on those things and understanding that it's going to be, along race. Usually when we're talking about this, we're looking at like a wholesale change in your life overall.
00;14;27;17 - 00;14;43;19
Dre Baldwin
So there's going to come a point that when you first start, maybe it's a little bit easy because you haven't done it before is new. But when that novelty wears off are you going to keep showing up? So that process there, we call that third day are you going to show up on that third day when it's not so new anymore, is not fun anymore.
00;14;43;19 - 00;14;50;12
Dre Baldwin
This is now become a job. Can you still show up? And that's really what separates the pros from the amateurs.
00;14;50;14 - 00;15;17;06
Steven Pesavento
So when you were on the journey towards becoming a pro athlete, you didn't you weren't the best player. People didn't know who you were. What, what did it take in order to finally be noticed, to step into that role and start feeling like you're making progress towards the thing that you wanted? At the time, it was being a pro athlete.
00;15;17;07 - 00;15;19;18
Steven Pesavento
We'll wrap around and talk about business from there.
00;15;19;21 - 00;15;40;01
Dre Baldwin
Yeah, yeah, so I started playing pro ball and I give people time out because it matters. It was 2005, so I got out of college in 2004. nobody was checking for me because I came from a Division three college was doesn't really produce pro players. So the first thing that I did was I went to a couple of local tryouts for local like semi-pro type teams, but nothing really came from that.
00;15;40;08 - 00;15;47;28
Dre Baldwin
So then a whole year goes by, I'm working a couple regular jobs, then I go to this event called an exposure camp. You ever heard of those? You know there?
00;15;47;28 - 00;15;58;29
Steven Pesavento
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a place where all of these people come together who have the relationships, the connections, and most importantly, they're looking to see if they can find the players no one else is seeing.
00;15;59;02 - 00;16;15;05
Dre Baldwin
Exactly. Right. So it's basically like a job fair for athletes. So we, me and 200 other guys who all think they're good enough to play pro, but at the time we didn't have a contract. We all show up to this one event and we're all trying to showcase ourselves for these decision makers. So it's like a casting call, I guess you could say.
00;16;15;05 - 00;16;32;21
Dre Baldwin
But the sports version and I played pretty well at that in it. So that was really my first step, because that was an exposure camp that was designed specifically to showcase pro-level players. So that was the first thing that I really did that was move me in the right direction. Now something had to happen here. I had to actually play well.
00;16;32;23 - 00;16;46;18
Dre Baldwin
So had I go in there and play terribly, then this wouldn't have been the first step. So I had to go there and I had to play well and these events are not. It's not like you get a whole month to grow on people. These events are two days is Saturday and Sunday. You just play two games on Saturday, two games on Sunday.
00;16;46;18 - 00;17;00;05
Dre Baldwin
So whatever you do, you do. And I played pretty well there. So I got a good scouting report, I got some good footage and then I was that to go get me an agent. An agent in sports is just the middle man who is knows that a lot of people with the jobs and he knows the people who want the job.
00;17;00;05 - 00;17;17;03
Dre Baldwin
So they're a middle man. I got with an agent. An agent helped me get my first contract. So that's how I started playing pro in 2005. but, soon I had to take all these steps. Number one, find the exposure camp. I was going to go to number two, save up the money for my dream. A college graduate with no work in a couple of videos.
00;17;17;04 - 00;17;40;20
Dre Baldwin
I don't have any money. Those are the save up my money, even go to the exposure camp. It was $250 at the door, which I paid in cash. I didn't have a bank account or credit card at, 23 years of age. And then I had to play well over two days. Then I had to take whatever I got from the camp and find a, a middle man, either a team to sign me directly that didn't happen, or I had to go find an agent who could help me get a contract.
00;17;40;22 - 00;17;59;15
Dre Baldwin
I went and called agents. So anybody who knows anything about the sports world, I'm just saying that when you're a high level pro athlete, the agents are calling you because they want to represent you, because if they help you get a contract, they make money. No agent was calling me. I had to call them. All right. So I sold myself to an agent.
00;17;59;17 - 00;18;08;02
Dre Baldwin
And then that agent started making calls on my behalf after I sold him on me. Then he went and sold them on me. And that's how I got into Pro Bowl.
00;18;08;05 - 00;18;32;29
Steven Pesavento
What I think is so powerful about this examples that it's a perfect example of what work to get you into that door. But that same exact strategy will get you into the next door, whether it's speaking on the stages, whether it's growing your business, whether it's getting investment, or maybe it's getting a job or a career, it's like you need to find a way to get in front of the people who have those relationships and those connections.
00;18;32;29 - 00;18;50;03
Steven Pesavento
The people can say, yeah, this guy is really good. We want him to be on our team. We want to make an investment, we want to do this. And then you've got to also come in with the skills, right? You had to practice. You had to do the work for a very long time in order to come in, to be able to perform in front of that audience.
00;18;50;05 - 00;19;16;16
Steven Pesavento
But then finally you had to actually do the work of going out and doing the business of making those connections, doing those follow ups, and truly selling yourself. And I think a lot of people don't realize that they might do that first step. They might have shown up to that event, they might have played well, but if they don't go and do the follow up, if they wait for things to come to them, you're not going to be successful.
00;19;16;16 - 00;19;23;05
Steven Pesavento
You might be lucky by being able to attract something in your life, but you actually have to put in the work.
00;19;23;07 - 00;19;42;07
Dre Baldwin
Yeah, exactly. So it's the work of in several pieces of work here, because in the sports world, Steven, I know a whole lot of athletes. So I can say this, most athletes just want to play and let that be enough. They just want to play. And because I'm talented enough, because I'm good enough, because I have game, then all the opportunity will come to me.
00;19;42;07 - 00;19;59;11
Dre Baldwin
All I got to do is sign the contract and then I just go play, let them take care of that. And ideally, Steven, that's exactly how my career would have went to. But it didn't go that way. So I had to put my my marketer and my salesperson hat on because I had to go sell myself just to get an opportunity, you know, the court and do the game part.
00;19;59;11 - 00;20;19;29
Dre Baldwin
So for me, they kind of got me started on the business journey already when I was still playing basketball, because I had to sell myself even to get in because, you know, coming from the level that I came from, every player thinks every college basketball player in the world right now thinks they can play pro basketball and is probably about 100,000 players in college basketball right now.
00;20;19;29 - 00;20;35;08
Dre Baldwin
It's just males worldwide. There's about 5000 jobs for an American born male who has an American passport to play professional basketball in the whole world, about 5000 jobs. That sounds like a lot. That's not a lot. And mind you, that oh, go ahead.
00;20;35;10 - 00;20;59;25
Steven Pesavento
Well, I think the thing that's so fascinating about it is what it really comes down to. It underlines that anchor that we talked about earlier where you had a burning desire. I want to be a pro athlete. I want to move forward in my career as an athlete, and I'm not going to give up. And anyone else would have given up after being in Division three, they would have given up after doing the practice and not getting the deal.
00;20;59;25 - 00;21;18;24
Steven Pesavento
They would have given up after not getting the deal by showing up and paying money to be at the event. And then you went one step further and found somebody who would sell you to the world, and that got you the opportunity to then go and play in the European leagues and start getting your foot in the door to make that move.
00;21;18;24 - 00;21;35;04
Steven Pesavento
So tell me, you wouldn't play in the European leagues. What was that point after you were playing professionally that you realized, you know, despite my burning desire, maybe it's time for me to make a pivot.
00;21;35;06 - 00;21;53;01
Dre Baldwin
Well, there were a couple points there. So about five years, 4 or 5 years into my career, at some point I was a free agent. Phone was not ringing, so I wasn't sure if that was the end of my career. So I started focusing on building what became my brand. So I started writing more blog posts. I started putting on, I was putting videos on YouTube.
00;21;53;01 - 00;22;13;11
Dre Baldwin
At this point, so I was stopping videos out every day. And this is right around the time that watching consuming social media started to become popular. People weren't really creating much, but consuming was going up. So this was great for me. And at the same time, I started making my own products, and my first product was a $4 and 99 cent programs for basketball players, one for Germany and one for shooting.
00;22;13;11 - 00;22;30;15
Dre Baldwin
Those are the first things I ever created, and I started selling those because I started to focus on, hey, how can I take some control over my situation just in case this phone number rings again? I never get a chance to play pro ball again. How can I still make money from basketball? So that's when I started to build out my brand.
00;22;30;15 - 00;22;50;03
Dre Baldwin
Also, you can make money off YouTube ad revenue and stuff like that. That all started around 2009, 2000, ten, then self-publishing came out, started writing books. So I found it really and luckily, and I kept playing till 2015, but by that point I already had already had products out that I was selling. So I thought those first two products came out and they did pretty well.
00;22;50;03 - 00;23;20;04
Dre Baldwin
I made like 100 more. I mean, anything you could possibly do on a basketball court, I have a product for it. I made products or we've seen them in condense them over time. But I made a lot of products and then I started writing books and self-publishing was a thing. And then I started talking about the mindset aspects of basketball, because the players started asking you about it, because what happens is, over the years on YouTube, I started putting videos on YouTube when it first came out, 2005, and the players clearly saw that I could teach them the skill, but they are their talents was great.
00;23;20;05 - 00;23;37;18
Dre Baldwin
I had the skill, but I'm still not doing it is something. Something is happening up here in my mind that is causing me to not apply the tools that you're teaching. So can you explain some of the mindset pieces of the game? They asked for the athletes. So when I started talking about that, I started doing these videos called the Weekly Motivation.
00;23;37;20 - 00;24;04;07
Dre Baldwin
And it was this mindset, just a little 2 to 5 minute mindset selfie video before selfie videos were a thing and I did those every Monday for 400 Mondays in a row. And as I started doing those videos again, this is not talking about basketball. It was just on my mindset by itself for basketball players. People who didn't play ball started fining me from those videos, and they're the ones who told me jury, this message applies outside of sports.
00;24;04;10 - 00;24;21;01
Dre Baldwin
So that's how I knew what my segue out of sports was going to be, because I always knew I wanted to do something outside of the sports realm after basketball. So that's exactly what I did. When I stopped playing in 2015. I jumped into everything I'm doing now. I mean, it wasn't like this when I first got out, but this is what it morphed into.
00;24;21;03 - 00;24;29;12
Steven Pesavento
The key thing that I want to underline here is that you started building that bridge to the next world before you actually needed to go over it.
00;24;29;14 - 00;24;30;04
Dre Baldwin
That's where it started.
00;24;30;04 - 00;24;48;05
Steven Pesavento
Building the skills. You started building the brand, you started building the connections, and then you listen to what other people actually wanted. And you had a testing approach. I think it's it's a really great example for those people who are listening, who want to make a change in their life, that the change doesn't happen, have to happen in a snap of a fingers.
00;24;48;08 - 00;25;02;24
Steven Pesavento
It can happen over a period of time of continuously taking new actions, testing the road, and then at some point, those things are going to work because you're going to receive the feedback and you're going to kind of go all in in that direction.
00;25;02;27 - 00;25;24;09
Dre Baldwin
Yes, absolutely. So the good thing about even social media, even today, it's been many years, but social media is a great testing ground. You can just throw stuff out there as much as you want, is free and see the feedback. And usually people who are your audience or somewhat adjacent to your audience, they're the ones responding. So you can use social media as a way to test out your stuff, and it's completely free.
00;25;24;09 - 00;25;31;24
Dre Baldwin
So there's no reason anyone can be should be in the dark about what a certain audience of people might be interested in.
00;25;31;26 - 00;25;53;24
Steven Pesavento
Yeah, well, I think it's really cool. So you've built a business, you you're having success. You're making money. What role has investing played in your life at all? Have you started investing in the market and real estate and private equity and funds? what types of things have you gone to get your money working for you, or have you focused on pouring that money back into the business?
00;25;53;28 - 00;25;56;14
Steven Pesavento
Because that's the thing that you control the most?
00;25;56;16 - 00;26;13;13
Dre Baldwin
Well, both. So I wish I had known about investing earlier. I wish someone had told me when I was a kid about investing is I would have started 20 years sooner than I did. But once I got to understanding how it worked and what it did then yeah, I definitely started to invest and, simple investments, I mean, nothing complex.
00;26;13;13 - 00;26;31;17
Dre Baldwin
So getting into, S&P 500 and things like that, just buying stocks, buying some, most of the coin bitcoins. I don't pay attention to the stuff that much. I just let it automatically get taken out of my account. And then it just goes into those accounts. And every once in a while I look at it. But I heard someone say it a long time ago.
00;26;31;18 - 00;26;51;13
Dre Baldwin
The best way to invest is just invest and forget. So buy and forget. So that's what I do. I just ready to invest. So I let it sit. Every once in a while I look at it is growing cool and that's what I did. As far as the investing, if you're talking about financial investing. But when I talk to, my audience, I tell them that the most important investment you have to make is an investment in yourself.
00;26;51;15 - 00;27;13;29
Dre Baldwin
That's where you start. Had to invest in yourself first, which is about going to programs and conferences and buying books. And though you get to the point where maybe you can hire a coach or join a coaching program or something like that, investing in yourself, because that makes you a more valuable person. And now you can go out to the marketplace and get more money, and now you can use the money to invest in like, tangible things, whatever that's going to be, or intangible things.
00;27;13;29 - 00;27;33;02
Dre Baldwin
So for me, the most important investment is always in myself. Of course, investing in the business. And then as I learned and continue to earn more investing in other types of vehicles out there. But as far as no financial investing, I'm far from, what's the word? I'm not advanced, but I understand the basics.
00;27;33;04 - 00;27;56;00
Steven Pesavento
it's a it's a great place to start because, you know, when you invest in the index, the S&P index, you invest into all the stocks that are that are out there and and over time, that's probably one of the best ways. If you're not sophisticated, if you don't understand a specific business or you don't have some unique knowledge in the market, to be able to pick winners, and that's one of the best ways to park your money.
00;27;56;00 - 00;28;23;04
Steven Pesavento
And so very much, a slow growth, you know, wait it out, let compound interest do its thing type methodology. And then of course bitcoin. I think crypto can have a key role in your portfolio. I think a lot of people end up doing way more than the 1 to 5% of their portfolio that I think is a safe bet to take on something that's that high risk, but it can absolutely pay off it because we've seen how much it's grown.
00;28;23;04 - 00;28;48;06
Steven Pesavento
I think, you know, I have a small portfolio of ETH and some other things, and it's tripled in the last few months. Right. And yet a year ago it was worth way, way last year to use that roller coaster. And so for me, if I'm too connected to the volatility, it kind of drives me nuts. Which is why I like can real estate or businesses that I have some control or influence in and the returns are stronger.
00;28;48;09 - 00;29;17;28
Steven Pesavento
But I think people do make a mistake where if they're not investing into themselves, if they're not learning the skills and knowledge to understand how to select an investment, how to go and find the right piece of real estate or the right partner to invest in, that's when they get into trouble. So you absolutely have to start from that place of doing the thing that you do best to make the money, and then learning a skill, or finding the right people to help you in order to build that income into wealth.
00;29;18;00 - 00;29;40;13
Dre Baldwin
Absolutely. So that's investing in yourself to make yourself more valuable while at the same time again, for my son, for example, he's not even two years old yet. I started an investment portfolio for him and just putting a little bit of money consistently but consistently. And I wish I had been doing that when I was no. 18. I'll have a lot more money had I known.
00;29;40;13 - 00;29;58;04
Dre Baldwin
Know what I know now. So just even if you are starting small, I mean, you could start with five bucks, a dollar, even and just slowly investing in yourself over time. And once you see what it does, then when you have more money, you can put more in, but absolutely investments in yourself pay you back later in the future.
00;29;58;07 - 00;30;22;12
Steven Pesavento
So if if we're talking to somebody and, and they're listening to this and they're thinking to themselves, hey, Dre, you said a lot of stuff. I agree with it, but I just feel like I, I know what to do, but I'm not doing it. What is that first step that you recommend to get them on track towards creating more of a life that they love.
00;30;22;15 - 00;30;37;28
Dre Baldwin
And get clear on what your outcome is, where you want to go. Because if anyone's knows what they need to do, but they're not doing it, then there's some resistance with the doing it part. So what do you want? if you were to do that, where is it going to take you? And then where does that take you and where does that take you?
00;30;37;28 - 00;30;56;19
Dre Baldwin
What's the ultimate outcome here? What do you want? Excuse me? Because, the main thing to stop people from doing things when they know you're supposed to do them. Stephen, is that they. There's a resistance in the activities. Why am I know what it is? If you want to do it, you just do it. So what is behind that activity that you actually want or maybe is behind the thing is behind the thing.
00;30;56;19 - 00;31;22;21
Dre Baldwin
But we need to figure out what is something that's behind one of these closed doors that you actually want, because that that is what we can use to anchor you and move you through these other activities. But if there isn't anything, then, we got to rework this whole thing because we just got a bad goal here. Because if there's nothing that's going to pull you through the challenging times or the things that you have some resistance to, then, this is just a bad form of, call it an inaccurate formula.
00;31;22;22 - 00;31;26;23
Dre Baldwin
So no matter how motivated you get yourself, this is not going to waste.
00;31;26;25 - 00;31;34;20
Steven Pesavento
Yeah, yeah, I couldn't agree more. Starting with clarity. Knowing what you want, why you want it is starting point that you can build everything else off of.
00;31;34;27 - 00;31;35;07
Dre Baldwin
That's right.
00;31;35;07 - 00;31;41;28
Steven Pesavento
I got one more question for you, Dre. Before we go. Where's the best place for people to follow you or get in touch?
00;31;42;01 - 00;31;59;21
Dre Baldwin
I'm on all the social media is probably most active on Instagram, Instagram, just my name at Jerry Baldwin. And then, as far as our stuff, you can just go to. Let me see. Can I get people a free copy of my book for sure. Okay, so this book today is all about how you show up and give your best effort when you least feel like it.
00;31;59;21 - 00;32;17;22
Dre Baldwin
So kind of what we've been talking about. So when you meet that resistance and you're not really doing the stuff that you know you need to do or you think that may happen, get this book right here. How to separate themselves from amateurs or difference between pros and amateurs. It's all about decision. There's not a talent. It's not about motivation is a choice.
00;32;17;22 - 00;32;29;27
Dre Baldwin
And there's a system. So the book is called Third Day. You can get it for free. Discover the shipping. Just go to third day book.com. We will send a physical copy of this book to your doorstep. Third day book.com.
00;32;29;29 - 00;32;40;18
Steven Pesavento
Absolutely. Go grab a copy of that book. And as we finish let's find out. Other than your own books, what single or two books made the biggest impact in your life?
00;32;40;20 - 00;32;53;12
Dre Baldwin
Wow, there's so many women in media too. I would say, 48 was power, where Robert Green is my favorite book of all time. number one for personal development, I would say the law of success by Napoleon Hill.
00;32;53;15 - 00;33;05;10
Steven Pesavento
Both both incredible books. Well, Dre, thanks so much for joining us. It was amazing talking to somebody who who has a similar outlook on life and, look forward to, the next time we get to hang out.
00;33;05;13 - 00;33;10;04
Dre Baldwin
Well, I appreciate the time and you sharing your platform, your. Stephen, thank you for the opportunity.
00;33;10;07 - 00;33;11;22
Steven Pesavento
Thanks. We'll see you guys next week.