Dave Austin and Extreme Focus

FFL 06 | Extreme Focus

In this episode, Coach Jason interviews his mentor, colleague and friend, Dave Austin, creator of Extreme Focus and the Be a Beast principles. Dave is a “Mental Performance Coach”.

Listen to the podcast here:

Dave Austin and Extreme Focus

This week, we’re back with a special guest, Mr. Dave Austin, who’s a mental performance coach. In fact, he was my mental performance coach when I was a member of the Texas Rangers. I had hired him when I had gotten sent down to Triple-A back in 2007.

He went to work on with me, building my mind. It was something I never experienced. I didn’t know what a coach was when I hired him, but I’m so grateful for that time. I’m even more grateful for the relationship that has developed over the years.  He went to work on me and my mindset back there in 2007 and teach me how to use positivity and how to deal with adversity, how to deal with setbacks, and really built up a momentum in me that it was the best I think I had ever played at that point in my career. It got me back to the Major Leagues. I’m very grateful for that.

FFL 06 | Extreme Focus
Dave’s worked with a lot of high level guys in the Major Leagues, in the NFL, with the Olympics, US Army Rangers, part of the best of the best competition.

Most importantly, he also planted a seed to do the type of work and the type of coaching that I do now. Dave’s worked with a lot of high level guys in the Major Leagues, in the NFL, with the Olympics, US Army Rangers, part of the best of the best competition, as well as now with a lot of high level entrepreneurs and CEOs. He’s a man who walks his own talk. I think that’s one of the things I respect and admire him the most. I wanted to bring him in here today to share some of his Be A Beast principles and to teach us especially RESPA. Of all his principles, I think RESPA is the one that if you only had a chance and the time to learn one, RESPA by itself could change someone’s life. That’s what that system is all about. Hopefully, it’s what this show is all about. Helping people to be the best they can be or put them on a new course, because that’s what Dave has done for me personally.

Let alone that time in my career, when I was playing baseball, the changes that he made in me and the dreams that he planted in me. To tell you even a little more personal story. When I made the decision to reach out to him and say, “Hey, Dave. I want to become a coach. I was hoping that maybe you could teach me more and mentor me and show me the roadmap of how I can create this and become an actual business.” I signed on for basically a year of training under him. Within a couple of weeks, I made the decision to separate with my wife, run away from home. Maybe some of you have been there before. You’re sitting alone in a hotel room, scared to death basically, everything is completely uncertain. You’re uncertain about the relationship, uncertain about your own future, uncertain about your own finances and what’s all going to go down.

I had my third call with him and I’m like, “Dave, I don’t think I can do this anymore. I don’t know if this is what I want. I don’t think I could pay you. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know.” This is the beauty of Dave, the beauty of his courage, his wisdom. The beauty of what he does and provides as a coach was somehow he was able to figuratively reach through the phone and say, “Stop running, Bottsy. Stop running.” He said, “I know this isn’t the first time that you’re running, you had this habit before. Stop running. I want you to grab this moment by the horns and it’s going to transform and change your life. We’re going to get you to stop running. We’re going to have you to face what’s going on in your relationship. You’re going to face what you want for your future and your business, what you want for your family.”

It was a moment that transformed my life. That’s looking back. I want to make it clear, whether you’re battling depression, whether you’re going through one of these life transformations, maybe a new career or you’re coming out of a divorce or the end of a relationship, success or change doesn’t happen overnight. I had this magical moment looking back with Dave and later that day was just as bad. To be honest, the next couple of months were a lot worse than that moment. It was even more uncertain. If it wasn’t for that moment, that moment put me on a new course, looking back. It was a pivotal moment. I was trying to run away but he turned me around and had me face my fears. Yes, I went through more pain but I was growing through that pain. That pain and that direction led me to where I am today with the business that I have, the family that I have, and the relationship with Brandy that I now have.

For me, that was one of the coolest parts of sharing on the last episode, was the vision that she and I created now that we’re in such a significantly greater place. A hundred times better than where we were back then. Even though we’re not together anymore, but our family is so much stronger and so much better off.  That was one of the pivotal moments that I owed to Dave for that one moment, if not all the other things he’s done before then and after then. I want this to be about Dave and his unbelievable tools and his knowledge. Without any further ado, I really want to call him up to the plate here. Now batting, Mr. Dave Austin. See you guys on the other side.

 

Welcome to the show, Mr. Dave Austin. Are you out there?

Hey, baby. I’m here Jason. Great to be on. I have a lot of pressure though, I have to admit, being on the show with you because I watch your Facebook Lives with your sons. I just don’t know if I can compete with them, they’re just so good, but I’ll do my best.

They are becoming quite a show. We’re going to get into family at some point of this too and I can’t wait to share some of the stuff that you’ve taught me in terms of working with them. I’m curious about your own family as well. The one thing I do want to ask you and start this thing off was, tell us a little bit about you growing up. I know you moved around a lot because of your dad and being in the military. Your career in sports at that time, you seem to be up and down depending on where you live, on how you played, and how you performed. It’s your story, maybe you can start the ball rolling by telling us a little bit about that background.

FFL 06 | Extreme Focus
It started as a child because I was an athlete. I played baseball. That was my calling card with my dad being in the service.

That’s why I’m doing what I do today. For the last 30 years, being a mental performance coach, believe it or not, it started as a child because I was an athlete. I played baseball. I played football. That was my calling card with my dad being in the service. He was a Navy chaplain. We moved every two or three years. I remember being in Fullerton, California, I think I was ten at that time and I was a little superstar in football. I’d run for touch downs and everybody would cheer. That was like the mark of a man, “I know who I am, I’m this football stud.” In baseball, I had a lot of success.

Then, my dad got orders and we moved to North Carolina. I’m just ready to go be the stud there too. Wake up call. The first day of football practice, I got a marine sergeant out there going, “Austin, you’re slow as molasses.” I’m like, “Jesus, I was fast in the West Coast, what happened to me? Oh my gosh.” He did it in such a way that I just went, “Oh my gosh. Something’s wrong here.” When I started running the football, I started looking over my shoulder who was going to catch me. That’s a concept I never even thought of before. I became worried about what might happen in my lack of speed, where before I only saw myself as being fast. I only saw my objective. I only saw the gold line. That’s where I was going and no one was going to catch.

It just shifted my whole way I looked at things. All of a sudden, I performed differently. I was no longer this superstar. I was a guy that had all this stuff in my head that gotten in the way of me performing at my highest. That really threw me for a loop. It threw me for such a loop that I even looked at myself so differently that I gained weight. I actually put on weight because I’m going, “I’m this slow sluggish guy.” I didn’t understand. I’m just a kid, absorbing what a coach tells me who I am.

Then as luck would have it or whatever you have it, we then moved to Hawaii. After two years, we get stationed there. The very first day of football practice, the coach didn’t tell me, but I overheard the coaches saying, “Hey, that Austin kid, he’s quick.” I’m like, “Thank God, I have no clue why, but I’m quick again. Thank you, God. Thank you.” All of a sudden, you know what I did? I shed all my weight. I went back to being the good athlete again. I just went, “Wow. That’s amazing.” That young, I go, “Coaches can have such a big influence on our lives.”

If you think about it just in life, those we surround ourselves with, as we’re growing up, we listen to who they say we are and we’ll totally just say, “Oh, that’s who we are.” That’s stored in our subconscious mind. As we grow, we’ve got this image of ourselves. I became fascinated of why in one place I had this image of greatness and this other place I had this image of slow and sluggish and not good. I decided in life that I really wanted to be a coach. That’s really what my mission was. I wanted to be a good coach. I wanted to understand what makes people tick and how to bring out the best in anyone instead of letting their conditions tell them who they were. They told the conditions who they were. They became the creator of their destiny rather than the reactor. That was my mission.

As it turned out, as I became a better athlete in high school, I went to college on a football and baseball scholarship. I thought I was destined to play professional baseball because I was a shortstop. That was really my first love. I got in a car accident. During the time of having to recuperate, I actually played tennis to help myself recuperate. Because of my baseball skills and maybe the others, I just picked it up really quickly. When I transferred to San Diego State, I was a walk-on on the tennis team rather than going there to play baseball and football. I had to work that first year, but then I earned a scholarship. Then I went on become a world-rank tennis player.

I got a degree in Psychology. I got a degree in Physical Education. But because tennis took a boom, I never went back and then just became a teacher or a coach. I went out and played on the tour. Once that led me to different path and different path and different life experiences to bring me all the way back to where I am now as being that coach. In sports, as you know in business, with Army Rangers, with the Navy Seals, because your mind, when you get it to work for you, is so important in whatever you do, whatever your endeavors are. It works no differently.

For me, that’s such a profound story because it doesn’t have anything to do with being a child. We do this in all different parts of life and a lot of people do it where you let the environment dictate what you think, what you feel, what you believe. I just appreciate you’re sharing that story. It’s such a profound story. Now, going on with tennis, did you work with anybody during you career in terms of this mental performance?

FFL 06 | Extreme Focus
We’re just having fun playing golf. He was like, “Wow, we should teach this stuff.” I’m going like, “Yeah, maybe that would be good to teach this stuff.”

That’s the funny part. There were many times like, “Gosh, I wish I had me when I was playing.” “Wait, aren’t you you?” yeah, but I didn’t know, even though I already had a degree in Psychology. Psychology in school and everything, they don’t address the stuff that you’re doing now, what I’m doing now. It’s interesting, recently my agent invited me. I write books, so I have a literary agent. He invited me to play golf and the guy I was sharing the cart with who happens to be the head of the Psychology department at San Diego State. We’re just having fun playing golf. He was like, “Wow, we should teach this stuff.” I’m going like, “Yeah, maybe that would be good to teach this stuff.” It’s not really complicated. It’s simple but usable.

I’ve come full circle to be exactly where I am now. The fact that I had the chance to work with you when you were playing for the Texas Rangers was such a gift, because you were like a sponge. They were such fascinating conversations that I loved it. It’s so neat to see you now moving forward and now bringing this gift, of not only your playing experience, but your life experiences and how you’ve used these mental triggers to advance you in all aspects of life.

I appreciate you saying that. You definitely planted that seed in me a long time ago to do this type of work as well. You mentioned working with a wide variety of different athletes. I know you worked with people in the MLB, in the NFL, the Army Rangers, and the Olympics. I know now you do a lot of work with CEOs and some big time entrepreneurs as well. I think to a lot of people who might be listening, you think those are completely two separate types of things. The principles that you teach, can you teach us maybe or share with us some of the similarities between this group, the business world and the athletic world? It’s really the same background, the same foundation.

To tell you the truth, when I first started, I thought there were two different worlds. I really focused just on athletes. My whole first part of my career was nothing but athletes. Then, I got invited to speak at a big business convention. There were 1500 people there and they were all CEOs and entrepreneurs trying to move their business forward. I thought, “Wow, I’m going to speak about the sports world. Hopefully, it’s relatable.” Actually, to help me, I brought a Super Bowl winner and the best hitter in Major League Baseball at that time, the whole second half of the season.

I thought, “There are a lot of really great speakers here. I better have some ammunition.” I brought those guys. It ended up, it opened my eyes. Part of this talk that I was giving, it was something where you had to sell something. I never had sold from stage, but I had to create products. One of the things I decided is that I take four individuals and coach them in business. I’m thinking, “I don’t even know if I can do this.” I had to offer something, that’s one of the things I offered, then four CEOs went over and signed up. They liked what I had. I’m going, “This is going to be interesting.”

One of the things that I found for me, I didn’t want to just do it for money. When I do things, I want to be sure I have impact. I’m giving value. They’re giving me a value of money in exchange. I want to be sure I’m giving them more than what they’re paying for. To be honest with you, I wasn’t sure whether I could do it. We started working and I started working with these four, and it was just magical. The other thing I wasn’t sure of, in sports, being a pro athlete and you being a pro athlete, you know what this is. There’s an energy. There’s an excitement. When you go in game time, there’s this feeling you have, game on. I found that through working with athletes, I was able to play the game still. When you retire from playing a professional sport, you have that, I don’t know if you call it a need or whatever, that, “Gosh, I’ve got to go out and compete.”

I was able to do that through you and through the other athletes I worked with. You mentioned the Olympics, I had a chance to work with one of the US Olympic team and go to the World Cup in a sport I’ve never even seen before. It’s all the same. I was on the field and it’s like I’m playing. This is a gift of doing what I do now, to be able to bring out greatness in individuals and then a whole team collide to use this stuff. They had the best results ever in the World Cup, utilizing the methods that I was teaching. My concern was, can I have the same passion working with business people as I do with athletes? I decided, I made it only a three-month period that we were going to do this, because I didn’t want to go on if I wasn’t passionate about it. I had them all sign up. All of a sudden, as I got into it, it was like game time, baby. We got the field to play. It was no different to me. It was so much fun that it opened my eyes that after those three months I re-signed them up because I thought, “Wow, I’m loving it. They’re loving it.”

This was ten years ago. I don’t work with him daily, but I still work with him. He’s a CEO of a company. We’ve become close friends. It really opened my eyes that it’s all the same because in business you have fears. You have to perform. If you don’t focus on your objective, you’re not going to succeed. All the same elements that we see on the athletic field are within business. It’s almost easier for me, I have to say, to work with someone in business because maybe they haven’t competed at the highest level.  Some of these concepts are like, “Wow, this is like the secret weapon.” If I use this, all of a sudden you start seeing the transformation within their business and I love it, to open their eyes for what’s possible. With an athlete, they’re expecting more because they’re at the highest level. They know my reputation, so it’s game on. I provide that, now you’re providing it for those. In business, a lot of the times, they don’t know what to expect.

When they start using the principles, all of a sudden, they start opening up to a world they didn’t even see. Because I’m outside the picture frame, I can see things and I’ve got a lot of experience in it. All of a sudden they discover that there are some things within them, patterns that are blocking them from having the success they seek. When you open your eyes to them, then you have it consistent. When you became a Major League Baseball player, you didn’t go, “I know how to hit. I don’t have to go in the cage anymore, because I know how to do this.” No, you’ve got to keep working at it. The same thing goes in business, even though you learn these things. Even for myself, no matter how long I’ve been coaching this, I still have to apply these principles. I still have to practice. That’s what creates success.  Maybe that’s an element that surprises people in business.

FFL 06 | Extreme Focus
I think that’s what the whole Extreme Focus does, is give triggers and principles that you can use daily so that you become the champion in your business.

They think, “Once I know something, that’s all there is.” If you take it in the form of an athlete to your business of, “Okay, now I know this and I can keep applying it. I need to practice it and keep having ways to practice it.” I think that’s what this whole Beast program, the whole Extreme Focus does, is give triggers and simple principles that you can use on a daily basis so that you become the champion in your business.

You had me chuckling pretty good there because when you’re talking about getting to the Major Leagues, when I got to the Major Leagues I was thinking about I better go hit more in the cages. I want to stay here. Maybe that needs to be a principle too. You mentioned the Be A Beast. I wanted you to share one of the steps, because I wanted everyone to see how this does apply whether the listener is into sports, whether it’s professional life. When it comes to RESPA, I use it as much in parenting than anything else. Before we get into RESPA, I want you to cover quickly the Be A Beast principles and how you and Roger Anthony came together and Roger bringing these animal triggers to your steps, just the magic that was created when those two came together.

It is magic. I call it divine collision of something that was always meant to be. It was December of 2006, I was speaking at an event called CEO Space which is for entrepreneurs. It’s all about business. Roger was speaking there. They had every major speaker that you could think of at that time speaking at this event. A lot of great speakers. I knew them all. Most of them had been in the movie, The Secret. I’ve seen them on Oprah. I’ve seen them on Larry King. I never heard of Roger Anthony. Roger Anthony stole the show in my book. The guy was so incredible and so humble. It was like, “Whoa, this is like Yoda.” I spent time with him and I go, “This guy is incredible.” We had this connection right from the start. It didn’t happen overnight where we decided to bring our businesses together. He had a way of anchoring. He brought animals to a principle that triggered it. If I go to a seminar or you go to a seminar, if you retain 12% or 13% a week later, that’s pretty amazing. That’s more than the average. By Roger developing these trigger anchors with the animals, it tests out at 92%. Look at the margin of difference. I’ve never seen anything like it.

I had to learn how to use it. At first, I didn’t use it with my athletes. As I was around Roger more, I started understanding more of how powerful it was. Then, we finally decided that, “Okay, let’s bring the two worlds together.” That’s what is now called Be A Beast. We have a number one best-selling book. In seven countries, 22 different categories, it was number one because of these animal triggers. It’s the same principles that I taught you, but back when I was working with you I didn’t have the animal triggers. It just up-level everything. I think that’s what excites me in life. Always, every day is a new day, there is a new way to up-level. I never want to stop up-leveling. I never want to become complacent. That’s what me and Roger did, was up-leveled everything. These animal triggers are so powerful that even in the moment of the highest degree of pressure, we’re able to utilize these to respond.

I do have an example in my own life that I had just recently. As a thank you for the work I’ve done with the military, the high ops guys allowed me to come out and do some pretty radical stuff. I have to be honest with you, it was fun, it was exciting and scary. The big part was when I had to rappel down a 120 foot cliff. I’m an Extreme Focus coach. I should be able to deal with this easily. Here’s the truth be told, I’m freaking afraid of heights. I can’t figure that out. I can master so much but I had never mastered that. God gave me this beautiful opportunity to master it. Normally, I will say, “No, I’ll do all this but I ain’t going to rappel down this 120 foot rock cliff.” I had to say yes because they expected it.

As I came off the top, I had somehow lost balance and all of a sudden I’m hanging upside down, 120 feet above rocks. My first instinct was to absolutely freak out. Think about the helicopter coming and rescuing me on this, or worse, dying on the cliff. I just went, “Wait a minute.” It was really good because the army ranger who was at the top, and I’m really close to the top, he puts his head over and he looked at me and said, “Dave, extreme focus.” I went, “Okay, give it to me good.” It was absolutely what I needed because the only thing that breaks you from your success is lack of focus, lose your focus. What happened was, in many times, our worries, our fears, our emotions, get in the way of our objective. In that moment, I was letting it all get in the way. I had to just go RESPA, which we’re going to talk about why that works. I took a deep breath and I was able just to say, “Okay, I need to stay calm, collected and focus on how to get out of this.”

Now, the ropes were tangled in between my legs and I’m dangling. Because of the principles, because I use the principles, I was able to finally, it took me about 15 minutes of struggle. I kept myself composed. When the fear hit, I go, “No, get behind me. I’m looking at how I’m going to get out of this.” Then, I was able to rappel down, get down to the bottom. Believe it or not, I just go, “Wow.” I’m so glad to have that opportunity, even in that radical situation. Sometimes in business we might feel like we’re hanging upside down. It takes courage. The truth is, courage is not the lack of fear. It is how you face fear and walk through fear. Fear doesn’t have to grip you and take you down.

That’s beautiful. In fact, I saw the video of that rappel and I wanted to take a snapshot of it and make it the graphic for this cover of this podcast or make it a t-shirt. “Big wave Dave #Extreme Focus” because that was Extreme Focus in action. Let’s RESPA here. I think it’s the perfect time to explain what RESPA is and maybe give a little background of what RESPA is and the animal. Then, if you could go back to that situation and walk through the steps of RESPA and the letters and apply it to that situation where you’re hanging upside down off a 120 foot cliff.

FFL 06 | Extreme Focus
RESPA is a crocodile. When you look at a crocodile and you research crocodiles, they were here with the dinosaurs.

As we say, using an animal trigger, one word and that’s RESPA. I also talk about practice. I constantly practice saying RESPA so that now when I say RESPA I don’t even think about it. There’s no thought involved. I take a deep breath. My mind has been trained to do that. What does RESPA mean, using it with the animals? RESPA is a crocodile. When you look at a crocodile and you research crocodiles, they were here with the dinosaurs. In fact, they’re relatives of the dinosaurs. They’re feeding on the same grounds of the dinosaurs, living that life with the dinosaurs, but I haven’t seen a dinosaur lately. What happened to the dinosaurs? Why did the crocodiles not only survived through time, but they’re thriving? I think there’s over 23 different species of crocodilians.

How did they do it? If you study it, crocodiles are able to slow their heart beats down to three to four beats per minute. That’s amazing. When there’s no food, it just hibernates. It also was able to develop a skin that even in the great freeze they could keep their body temperature warm. Then, when they go into murky water, they even have these lids to come down that are better goggles than anything we’ve ever made, so they can see in murky waters and still feed. Really quite remarkable, the crocodile. They became adaptive to an ever changing environment. How can we apply that to our own lives? Think about what’s happening in our lives right now with technology. How fast are things changing daily? How fast are the things changing within our businesses? To become adaptive in an ever changing environment is a real tool that will change everything as far as succeeding in your business, no matter what hits you. Even if you feel like you’re hanging upside down.

What does RESPA mean? First, the R is that in any situation, relax. Now, for me, since I use this daily, and we’ll talk about how to use it daily, that R just represents for me a deep breath. It just happens. The less I have to think, the better off I am in pressured situations. I say RESPA, all of a sudden I breathe. I haven’t even thought. That breathing gives me calm. From that calm, it brings me into the now of the moment. Now, I can E, evaluate for what’s happening right now. I’m hanging upside down, I’ve got to get out of this situation. Here’s another thing I didn’t mention, I’m on blood thinners because I had a blood clot from a flight. I’m thinking, how long can I hang upside down before I pass out? I was evaluating.

Then, I started strategizing, how do I get out of this instead of freaking out? Because R, relax, then I could clearly see and evaluate, then S is now strategize. Once you go through the strategy, you then get to the P, which is patience. In patience, you can reflect back just for a millisecond to go, “Yeah, okay. Got it, got it, got it.” Now, when I act, I act fully committed, not the commitment of, “What if this goes wrong? What if that goes wrong?” because that would be tentative in my commitment. My commitment becomes bold and strong because of RESPA. It makes all the difference in the world.

I have a client who’s the president of his company. He told me and he had sent me a picture of it. He has RESPA on a little sticky pad right on his dashboard of his car. Every time he goes into a meeting, when he’s feeling pressure, he looks at RESPA and it just reminds him to stay present. It gives you a calm strength. If you let your emotion or your fear or your nerves get in the way of that, all of a sudden you’re not in the present moment to evaluate properly. RESPA is an amazing tool in sport and in business, in life. You even mentioned for your kids. I hope that explains how this animal trigger works.

Absolutely, that was beautiful. One of the big beliefs that I have and that I like to share with people is, I have a belief that the difference between a good season and a great season or a great season and an outstanding season, it doesn’t have to be season like for a sport. It can be a year, a great year and an outstanding year. I think the differences between moving up levels is keeping ourselves from cold streaks, from dry spells. When we get down ourselves and we beat ourselves up or we lose our emotions, maybe we get angry or frustrated. Shortening down those times I think is what makes the biggest difference rather than just playing better than we’ve ever played. I think RESPA for me has been that tool that helps me shorten down or eliminate times that aren’t going well in my life. I wish I had that tool in between pitchers and the batter’s box. That’s the great thing about RESPA too, is you can do it an instant, in a nanosecond in between pitches, and just relax and get yourself centered. Or you get in an argument or something, give yourself 24 hours before you reply or send back an email.

I have mentioned it’s something I have taught the boys and I use it probably more in any area of my life, as a parent. My boys right now, they’re seven and five years old. On a daily basis, something drives me up the wall or they make a mess. They do something. I take that deep breath and go, “Okay, relax. What’s really going on here?” Evaluate the situation. Nothing’s broken, no bones are broken. What’s the next step? Let’s not make things worse than they are. Come up with that game plan and take action. I always tell people, when it comes to the Be A Beast system, you learn that the sum of it all is greater but if you just, at the very least take RESPA, ingrain it in your system and utilize it daily, that it could change your life. I’m really grateful that you’re able to come here and share RESPA.

The next big question, I’ve started talking about the boys and I’ve always admired you and your family. Having the boys, having the amazing wife that you have, what is important to you about family and creating a successful family? Because I see on Facebook, and I know two of your sons really well and how highly they speak of you. These aren’t little kids, these are adults now, these are men, and how highly they speak of their father. I see you guys getting together all the time on ski trips and camping and festivals and all kinds of really cool stuff. I don’t know if that’s too big of a question, but what are your thoughts on what it takes to have this successful family that you do?

FFL 06 | Extreme Focus
Like anything else, it takes focus. It has to be a priority.

Like anything else, it takes focus. It has to be a priority. I went through my first marriage, I was married for seven years and I got a divorce. I had one child from that. I didn’t know anything about the importance of focus, our intention, and our priorities. I played professional tennis. I was this or that. I learned a lot through that, you would call it I guess, failure of a marriage. When I met Cathy a few years after I got divorced, I made a conscious decision to make family number one, above everything else. Before I’d BS myself, I said it was number one but it wasn’t true. It takes effort. It takes a focus. Just like anything you’re going to do. Set goals, set things. I wanted it to be number one. I have little reminders so that when I’m on the road, I’m out some place, if I have a choice of doing something that, does this serve my family or does it go against my value of my family? I always look at that first.

Now, to sit here with four incredible boys. My eldest son came through my first marriage, he’s remarkable. We had to go through our own thing because through the divorce there was this or that. He’s come out on top just awesome. He has his own business. He’s a great, great kid. He’s no longer a kid. He’s a great adult. Then each one of my other three, they’re all unique in their own ways, but they’ve grown up in this. I sit in awe. As you know in the Beast program, gratitude is a big part of life, a big part of what we teach. There is such a powerful energy in gratitude. I just got to say, I am so grateful for each of my sons. I think that comes through and I think they feel that because I’m sincere about it. I am so grateful. Even when we have arguments, we know that there’s such a deep rooted love that it’s okay to have a difference of opinion, because we know that we’re always going to be united in love even if we’re not united in this particular, whatever the situation is.

By having that, it has just been a blessing. I’m so proud of them. I think of Jesus, “You’ll do greater works than I.” That phrase comes to me all the time. You will do greater works than I, each one of my sons. You know the story of Daniel, my fourth son, who was given no chance of survival, zero. Medically, it was impossible for him to live. Yet through a positive attitude, we were surrendering to whatever it is. We knew that anything could happen, but we just didn’t take it. Medically it said he’s going to not live. We decided that we don’t have to let our conditions tell us what’s going to happen. We’ll focus on what we see. Today, he’s eighteen years old, a remarkable kid.

They even did a TV special on him when he was five because how impossible it was for him to survive, and he had survived. I have one son that plays professional football, another one that played college football but now has got injured and now he’s a drop out, making really good money. He’s a drop out because he was so talented that a company came along and said, “We want to offer you this position.” He could graduate and not get that kind of money or that kind of position. He decided, “All right.” He still doesn’t know, maybe he’ll go back to school. He’s had two years in college. He’s running a department on a company and he’s a rock star in the company. He just said, “Over the last eight months, I’ve learned more getting paid to learn this than paying for it, within the business world.” He was prepared for it. He grew up with an open mind. At times, it has closed down. He’s around this constantly.

One of the things I know about your boys, they’re going to grow up to be remarkable just because they’re around you and these philosophies. It doesn’t mean that somebody who might be a parent right now might say, “Maybe I’m starting too late.” It’s never too late. It’s never too late. You can learn so much at anytime in your life. There are some people who lived one year in 90 years. There are others who live a lifetime of newness for 90 years. Choose who you are no matter what age you are. I’ve learned so much later in life. This is where I can joke about and say, “Gosh, I wish I had me when I was playing professional tennis.” It’s okay. I learned so much through it, so that now in my coaching, I’m better as a coach. Because of some of the struggles I went through, because of some of the own blocks that I didn’t know at that time that I was putting on myself. I didn’t allow myself to go to that next level.

It’s funny, and I even had to go out and prove it to myself, when I was 36, I got invited to play a professional tennis tournament because the sponsor knew me. I’m like, “Hey, I’m retired but if you’re going to pay my way and all these, yes.” I love tennis. I went up and I actually won the doubles. In the finals, we beat the number one team in the world. They were the number one seat in the US Open. Here’s the funny part about it Jason, when I was playing the tour I would have never been able to do it because I didn’t have the mindset. Now, since I was coaching and I understood so much of it is your mindset, I guess I always had the physical ability but I never allowed myself to take it to this level. I had to laugh. I just beat the number one team in the world, and I’m 36. When I was playing on the tour, there’s no way because mentally I would have been taken right out of it right from the beginning, because I can remember doing that.

It’s fascinating and so exciting for me to keep understanding and learning more of how we can use our minds and teach our subconscious mind to support us better. I’ll be honest with you. I say that my sons, you’ll do greater works than I. Jason, I’m going to say the same thing to do. What I’m watching you do, you’ve tapped into this earlier than I did and you’re so passionate about it. I am just so excited to watch you do your thing, because you do it so well. You understand, to get to the Major Leagues in baseball, it took special extra effort to get to that level. You’re bringing that same passion, you’re bringing that same knowledge of knowing that if I keep growing and if I keep expanding, I’m going to be better and better for everyone that hires me. I see that in you now, and that excites me.

I really appreciate you saying that. I admire you immensely for your job and your family and the role that you played for the boys. I’m such a strong believer that parenting is not about, “Listen to what I say.” They’re going to follow what you do. They’re going to model how you act and how you behave. It shows me that you’re someone who lives these principles and someone who truly walks their own talk through it all. That’s one of the reasons why I wanted you as a mentor. I really appreciate it. Is there a next Beast Mode ON challenge? I wanted to give you a chance to share more about this group coaching opportunity. Has there been any date set, and more about what goes on with it?

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Who’s the elite? Anyone who decides they’re going to be elite. It’s their choice. It’s not my choice.

Yes, we have a new one coming up in March. I should have been better prepared giving the exact date. I’ll just go back a little bit how even Beast Mode ON got started. I do private coaching, so I get to work with the elite of the elite. Who’s the elite? Anyone who decides they’re going to be elite. It’s their choice. It’s not my choice. They become, because these principles work. Whatever you do in life, you want to take it to the next level. These principles absolutely work, you just have to commit. Then, I have to commit, or they come to you Jason. It’s that same commitment. Learning when those, I want to say distractions, come without us even knowing it, keeps us from the focus of what we truly want. You’ve got the tools. I’ve got the tools to give them. I wanted to create a way that was not going to break the bank, so to speak, that others could learn what we do in the private sessions. It was about three years ago that we started the Beast Mode ON 30-day challenge, so that you can get every principle. We have two calls a week, and then we have all the videos training.

I am so grateful that before we knew Roger even had cancer, that we were able to film all the training videos when he was healthy. It would be not that long a time after that, that we found out he had stage four cancer. Now, he’s doing his work from beyond. I feel his presence in it. The magic that happens in these 30 days is remarkable. We have two calls a week and then we have the video training. You really get out of it what you put in. We have so many amazing stories and some will say, “Yes, but can that really happen to me?” That’s not up to me. It’s up to you. You’re part of the Beast Mode ON 30. You do some of the teaching. You bring your brilliance. Shane, my son, brings his brilliance. Tony Bodo brings his brilliance.

Some of the Extreme Focus coaches also share their brilliance which I love, but it’s really up to the individual to break through barriers and understand that there are probably some blockages going on that they might not understand fully, but if they allow themselves to maybe see things through different eyes, that’s when the change is going to occur. Those 30 days tend to be a new awakening. It’s not the end though. It should be the beginning. In those 30 days, it should wake you up to your true self, to what you’re really capable of. Every one of us has this “I’m not worthy” in us. There are degrees of that in all of us. When you start learning that that just comes from some of the stuff you’ve been through earlier in life and you recognize it, “Wait a minute, I don’t have to live in that anymore.” Then you can start really bringing your true gifts.

I completely fully believe that everyone has a genius in them. It’s just about how you awaken that genius in them. We have Major League Baseball players who are on those calls. We have NFL football players. We had the cook of the President. We had recording artists. We’ve had actors. Most of them are entrepreneurs or are business people on the calls, but we all share a common ground. A common unity in that life is so much more rewarding if we’re always advancing, learning how to advance and having tools to advance.

If someone wants to know more, you can either go to ExtremeFocus.com and you can sign up on our newsletter, because we have a blog that comes out a week. I know you’re doing a wonderful blog. I don’t think you can get enough of good information. We also have there, how you sign up for Beast Mode ON. It’s all you have to do. There’s a special link to go right to it, and that’s GetBeABeast.com. It will take you to the link to tell you more about how and when the next one is. There is always a countdown clock that’s showing you when the next one begins. I will make a powerful guarantee that if you jump in to the Beast Mode ON, do it and for fourteen days, it’s a 30-day challenge, for the first two weeks, take it and if you’re living it fully and you don’t see that your life is shifting, you don’t see the value in it, we’ll completely refund 100%.

I make a living doing this, but I’m living and doing this because I want to see change in people. The change that I’ve been able to come through myself, in my own life, the change I’ve seen from the clients that I’m privileged enough to work with. There’s really nothing you can lose by signing up for it. You say, “Is this really true?” Jump in. This is something new that we just decided to do. I hadn’t really offered that before. I just figured that if you don’t know, if you haven’t taken the first half and you don’t feel like you’re gaining an amazing value, no questions asked, let’s just give you the money back and you go still live in your conditions. That sounds cruel. That really came out bad. I didn’t mean to be so cruel in that, but that’s what it is. Some people are afraid of their own success, more than you even know.

Absolutely. I fully believe it in as well. The first one that I took part in, I watched all the training videos. I remember I was so excited. Each video, five, six, maybe seven minutes at the most, the videos explaining the principles between you and Roger. I remember that I had to go to the airport and pick someone up that night. All I had time was to watch every single video. That’s probably just the overachiever in me. I think I was supposed to watch the first three videos but I watched all fifteen, back to back to back. I didn’t take notes, which I remember feeling bad I wasn’t taking notes because usually something like that I would watch it once or twice and take notes through out. I was so excited. I wanted to watch each video at the very least and see what the step was, what the animal was, what it’s going to be about.

However many minutes, I had just that much time to watch it and I would go to the airport. At the time, I picked Brandy, she had gone on a trip or something. We come back and we had the boys and we’d do dinner. We do everything, get caught up in life. I remember laying my head down at night on the pillow thinking about some of the animal principles. I recalled every single one except for one animal, fourteen out of fifteen. When you talked about the recall rate, the recall rate is what makes it absolutely amazing, and what Roger had discovered with the animal triggers and his actual testing that he did and found out that it was a 92% recall rate. That was just after one day. Anyone who spends anytime on the calls, watches the video. You will know the animals, the names and what they’re about and then it’s just up to you to use them. You will know them. You will remember them. It’s not like going to a normal seminar where, “He had some really great information, but what exactly were they?” These animals, you remember and they’re going to be right there. 92% an amazing, amazing gift.

I wanted to ask you another little fun question. It just shows how much you and I are always on the same page because you’ve already hinted at it. The thing that popped in my mind was I was going to surprise you with asking you two things that you’re grateful for, since your gratitude is such a huge part of what we do and what we teach. You’ve already mentioned one with your sons. Do you have something else you can share with us that you’re really grateful for?  

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Every time I think of gratitude, I think of my family.

It’s hard for me not to. I have to keep sharing that, because every time I think of gratitude I think of my family. It’s interesting, I’ve been married for 30 years now to Cathy. In a relationship, you sometimes have arguments. It happens, we’re human beings. The moment I stop and I think about what I’m grateful for, my first thought is Cathy. All of a sudden, even when I’m mad at her, it’s just like that whole anger goes away. Then I think about my kids that we’ve been able to have together. That is number one. Number two is getting to do what I do. I pinch myself that I have chosen to be in a field that I get to change people’s lives. It’s so exciting. I just had a call today where I have two clients here together. They’re coming together, working together. I know what they’re putting together is going to change the world on a very profound way. I get to be a part of that. That is such a gift.

My dad, when he was a Navy chaplain, he didn’t have to take the first boat into Iwo Jima when they were hitting the beaches. He said that’s where he had to be. I love the story because when the beaches were cleared, the admiral goes, “Where’s Chaplain Austin? We’ve got to go to shore.” A sailor came up and said, “Sir, he was on the very first boat this morning.” He was leading the charge. We heard that and then we heard the story he did the same thing at Saipan, another bloody battle. Then he did the same thing at the Korean War. When I was being born, he didn’t see me until I was six months old. My brother actually, I was there, I remember my brother asking, “Dad, why did you do that?” We’re thinking like, “How are we even alive? How do you do it once but keep doing it?” His only answer was, “Because that’s where I was needed most. I love God and I love my marines.”

For me, that question of where am I needed most, I get to live it in doing what I’m doing for athletes, what I’m doing for businesses, what I get to do for the military now. There is no greater gift. I am so grateful that I chose to dive into this and learn and every day I’m learning more. I keep coming up with new stuff that helps advance. Just even talking to you, I learn things from you. Every conversation is an opportunity to learn something more. When we do Beast Mode ON, you know because now you’re not only a participant, you’re a teacher in it. I get as much value listening to you as maybe you get listening to me, or when Shane or Tony or any of the other certified coaches. I sit there in awe. I just go, “Wow, this is so cool.” I’m just grateful to be in a position I’m in.

Did you mention that your dad was thrown in those beaches with only his Bible?

Yes, and with a big cross on his helmet. He was target practice. They wanted to take down the medics, or those out there with a big cross on it because they knew that had something to do with the morale of everyone. I didn’t even learn that until I read an article about dad with the big cross on his helmet. I knew he was out there with the Bible, but he was also giving communion. When they put up the flag at Iwo Jima, which is the symbol of our freedom, when they first put up the first flag, there was machine gun going on. He was at the foot of that flag giving those guys communion, which is his way of giving them encouragement.

He always taught them in the foxhole the eleventh commandment. “Eleventh commandment? I thought there was only ten.” My dad had the eleventh. He’d hit the foxhole, and this is the eleventh commandment. “Stay loose and don’t get shook. Bend with the bamboo.” That was my dad’s favorite thing. They would go, “Wow, all right.” Being a mental performance coach now, I’m just carrying the baton that was passed on to me without me even knowing it. He was talking about RESPA, baby. He was RESPA.

That’s beautiful. I didn’t mentioned this before, but I was just thinking, we didn’t even dive into visualization and the power of that. Dave is known for his game readies. I was hoping that you would honor us here with a little quick game ready. It’s a visualization, powerful. You’ve got to tell the one story too of the guy in the NFL who just pays you for the game readies, he doesn’t talk.

That’s pretty funny. I’m known as the Vis guy. I think that’s funny. Even those that don’t even know that, I get invited to a team banquet or something, they’re like, “Let’s introduce the Vis guy.” I’m like, “Wait, I do more than just visualizations.” That’s the ultimate story. I won’t tell you who it is. I will tell you he plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s all I’m saying. He decided that all he wanted was these game ready, these visualizations before you play. It’s interesting. They go out for pre-game and they come in the locker and they’re just going to be walking out on to the field to play the game. I’d get a text going, “Now.”

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I would give him a visualization. The moment I’m done, I just hear this click and then I go to the TV and I watch him play.

I would call him. He wouldn’t say a word because he’s got a headset on. Everyone thinks he’s listening to music, getting heaped up to go out there and play. I would give him a visualization. The moment I’m done, I just hear this click and then I go to the TV and I watch him play. It was so funny. I’d never had that experience. He just paid strictly for that. I tried to call him outside that, he would never answer it. I just get the text, “Now.” That’s all he wanted. I went, “Okay. I guess that’s what I’m going to do.”

This might be a bold move because I got some clients that listen to the show as well. My game readies are going to be outdone by having you on here. It’s a risk I’m willing to take. Hopefully, I’ll continue to learn to grow and improve it. 

You’re already a monster in it. You’re doing great. You’re a beast. Like anything, the first step for us in a game ready is gratitude. If you’re feeling pressure, let’s say you’re going to a meeting coming up. If you just take this moment and think about what you’re grateful for. I’ve done this with athletes because they get so caught up in the, “Oh man, I’ve got to perform today.” Just think about how grateful you are to get this chance to perform. Just fill yourself with gratitude. There’s a magic to that. Now, in that feeling that you’re feeling just by thinking about what you’re grateful for, go ahead and close your eyes. As you close your eyes, I want you to see a gate. Any kind of gate, you’re the architect. As you see the gate, pass through the gate and as you pass through the gate, you come into this place in nature. It can be a place you’ve been to before. It could be a combination of places. You’re the co-creator. Create a lush beautiful place in nature. Because nature has such a gift to give us that we walk right past. Just appreciate the beauty that’s in front of your eyes. It’s so uplifting. Nature loves to be appreciated, so it’s radiating an energy out. It’s give and take.

Now, just breathe that in. Breathe through your nose all the way to the pit of your stomach, and then breathe out. With every breath, you’re breathing on strength beyond your own. You can feel a power. This is your bigger self showing up so brightly that you can just feel yourself in this strength of this energy. You feel completely connected rather than apart from the beauty that you see. Now, walk in a new found strength. Walk in that power that you feel in this moment. Keep taking these deep breaths so you’re feeling yourself all the way to the depth of you, the strength that’s given to you. Now, see another gate at the other end. When you walk through that gate, there you are in the field you play on, whatever sport you play, your sport could be business, whatever it is in life.

Now, see yourself executing and doing it at the highest degree. See yourself. You’re well prepared to perform this well. Just enjoy, absolutely enjoy yourself performing so well, seeing yourself absolutely hitting your goals and celebrating each goal that you hit. Take that in and just breathe that in so your subconscious mind can get completely familiar with this success. You’re just accepting it and allowing it. You prepared yourself. Now, you’re just living into this video that you’re creating. See it and own it. What a glorious feeling it is, man. You’ve met the challenges and you see yourself performing. If you’re in business, see yourself absolutely taking your business to that level that you dream of, because now you can see it. You can see it clearly. Each step you have chosen to celebrate. Celebrate each step because it’s all those little steps that create the big success. See that and feel that.

Now, go ahead and come back through the gate. Come back into this place of lush and beauty that you’ve chosen to put yourself in. It’s so awesome to see yourself performing at your highest good. It’s always there for you. It’s just a matter of allowing yourself to focus in on that so there aren’t any distractions. You have seen it, you own it. You see running water that’s so clear, so refreshing, and drink from it. It’s so energizing, you can feel it running through your veins. There’s something different going on in you right now that you can feel and you can absolutely feel that power beyond your own. Now, you can walk in that strength. You have this inner peace, because you’ve lit the flame deep within you. You’re now the fire rather than reacting to the fire because you’ve lit it deep within you. You’re so game ready to bring your best to every situation. Walk in that knowing, walk in that strength. Walk out through that first gate. Open your eyes. You’re game ready to take on the world in such an awesome way.

You’ve got me in a trance now. I appreciate it, Dave. High five.

High five.

Very well done. I just want to thank you for being on the show today.

Hey, my pleasure. I am so grateful that I even know you. Watching what you’re doing, man, it just gets me excited. Keep doing it. Keep bringing it. You are living a Full Force Life.

Thank you, Dave. All of those who are still listening, you guys put in one heck of an effort too, staying all the way to the end. I’m proud of you guys. Until next time, aim high, swing hard and smile often.

Amen.

About Dave Austin

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DAVE AUSTIN brings out the best in his clients, many of which are the elite and professional athletes you watch on TV everyday. He is a highly sought after “mental performance coach” who has worked not only at the professional sports level, but also at every other level along the way. Being a former professional athlete and world-ranked tennis player himself, he knows how to fuel the fire during competition. He is a multi-sport athlete having played football and baseball at the high school and college level, and who also surfed in the Makaha International Championship in Hawaii when he was just 15.  
Dave is not only an international best-selling author, he has developed “The Process” which is a unique method that helps his clients play “in the zone” and stay there longer. His trademark “game ready” visualizations have helped many NFL, MLB, Olympic, and college athletes allow their true talents to rise up and shine. Dave has worked with professional teams such as the LA Dodgers, Texas Rangers, a U.S. Olympic team, the United Football League and D1 college level as well.  Dave is truly passionate about training his athletes to “think less” and allow their minds to play at the highest levels imaginable. He is the secret weapon when it comes to a competitive edge.

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