Hello, my fellow extraordinary Americans. Welcome back to the show for today’s guests. We have David Carter. David Carter is an ex-NFL player who played in teams such as the Arizona Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys. He is also, at this point, an entrepreneur, and a coach. He has this College credit course, called the game within the game, which he has done with another person I have interviewed in the show, Reggie. Reggie Walker is also another NFL player. 

There, he also has this Course called the top at life, which teaches you how to be the top athlete in your own life. Whether you are an entrepreneur or an Engineer or Doctor, it teaches you the top 1% how the top one percenter thinks and how to fly it. And since he has been in That bill, he thinks That and then that is pretty Awesome, right? 

David has gone through a tough childhood and despite that, he has succeeded despite all the odds of going to college football and NFL and all of that. And he has the mindset and the thoughts and actions necessary to be. An extreme American. So, I am glad to introduce David Carter on the show. Uh, David, are you there?

How are you doing, man?

Hey David, glad to have you at the show.

OK.

Yes, so practicing here. Yeah, I know that you are. You are and you have been an NFL player. You played for the Arizona Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys. You are also like an entrepreneur right now. You are also a coach, so can you tell us a little bit more about yourself, how you got started, and like, how, how all of this came to be?

Yes. So, I came to Los Angeles, CA, which is where I grew up. It was not necessarily the best area. It was a very, very violent area where they made movies about how bad it was, about how bad it is. And it is changing. But you know, football was the way my parents put me in football to keep me out of that environment, you know, the gang and life environment, things like that like because even if you weren’t, or trying to be a part of it like it would find you some sort of way, unless you had extracurricular activities to keep to, to take your time away from, you know, just being a kid playing outside, because that’s the kind of the place that I grew up is like, you know, they’re drive-by shootings. There are a lot of gangs in the area and neighborhoods. They recruit kids you know to be a part of the gangs; they would Pressure them and with like…  we could be a part of our gang; we are going to hurt You or one of your family members, you know? 

There are a lot of drug houses and stuff in the area, like right across the street where I live there was, you know, a crack house that would get rained on like every month. You know, it is just crazy. There are bullet holes in my house, just from Dr. The first time, you know, I had a gun pointed in my face. I was in the 4th grade. And I was waiting at my bus stop at Crenshaw High School and some dudes drove up and, you know, he was getting it taken by the police. And he pointed the gun at me to like if you Don’t let me go home. Shoot him. Do not let me call the shooter and then the police ended up arresting him. I ran off and almost died. It was crazy, but. 

So, to the point, it is like, yes, it was not the best area, but, you know, luckily my parents did the things that kept me and my brother and sister out of that environment. And they really educated us and instilled a great foundation in the US.  

And so, you know, that was great. You know, education was key for them, doing something with yourself and presentation and all that stuff is good. It is big. For them football became a big part of my life that way. And I, you know, my brother and I, my brother, football too. And you know, we came up playing football together and we ended up getting scholarships. We created a little group that we called the lab, right? It was headed up by coach Miller. It was our friends, who were our cousins, and Lonnie Miller. He came over to the high school and his dad was a coach. Right? And he Coached him up for running back. And we just created a little community where it was just like about Eight of us, or nine, or ten of us, and we would, you know, every day after school we would go and train for three hours, and then we would go study for three or we would study for three hours and then we would go train for three hours. 

So, we recruited our math teacher to come and coach us and math and stuff like that. So, we would get better because you know we needed to Grade just as you know as high on the list as we wanted to play football, which you know is the game that we love. 

So, if we did that and then from that group, other people started coming in from other schools and we all ended up training together and then, you know, a lot of the people from that group ended up getting scholarships to Division One schools. And it was not anything like we were not trying to, like, monetize it. It was just like a community, just like a meet-up. And we did that and let us see. It was me and my brother Lanier, Tito, deuce, and Joshua, so it was like eight of us got scholarships to go play football. 

So, our school was paid to go play football at these schools. And I ended up going to UCLA and my brother ended up going to Fresno. And, you know, I am not going to go down the list, but then also from that group. Because of that mindset and you know the discipline that we were that we just built in that group together also from that group, a number of us went to go play professionally as well, like three or four of us…. like five of us ended up playing professionally as well. And so that is how that happened to me. And you know, me and my little brother, he is one of the guys in that group. He ended up playing professionally as well. We got drafted on the same day to the NFL. So, he went to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I went to the Arizona Cardinals. And then so that’s how. Worked out and then. So that’s kind of my story, but oh, and yes, I mean and there is more to it. 

While I was in the NFL, I was in no stack. It was 320 pounds and It’s kind of like the spin on my story. I was a 320-pound nose tackle and then you know I was dealing with it. I was in my early 20s dealing with high blood pressure tendonitis because it was not supposed to be that big naturally, not me. Not my friend, at least. 

I went vegan in the middle of my career and figured out how to do that. I lost some weight, but then I figured out how to put the weight back on to be 320 pounds as a vegan, meaning no meat, no dairy, no eggs, and no fish. None of that, you know, just vegetables and grains and legumes and things like that. And you know, then the whole big thing started, and I started becoming a spokesperson for the plant-based vegan community and then started producing documentaries that are on Netflix. One is a kind of game, the game changers with, you know? Yes, just a lot of people. James Cameron is also on that. And then you have Arnold Schwarzenegger and, you know, Bill Clinton is A and a whole bunch of professional athletes and. And then what the health is also on Netflix also, and I am in that one and so. And then from there, that sort of, you know after football, that is where my whole entrepreneurial, you know journey started. And then I’ll just save that for later in the interview.

Oh yes, so. So how long have you been playing football?

So, I have been playing football. I started playing flag football when I was like seven 6-7 years old. So, I started there, and it was just like, you know, like, like I said, just to keep me and my brother in a, you know, do something was doing something fun and not being in that environment. I’ve been playing since I was six or seven and then I stopped playing when I was 27 . 

Yes, that’s a long time.

Yes, that’s a long career. I mean, I do not know if you really count   or you count popcorn, but like flag football. I do not know if anybody really counts, but yes. So, you know, football is a great tool. It is great. It was a great tool and a stepping stone too; you know what I learned. Right. Just about being on a team and understanding you know how to evaluate yourself, you know, be critical be, you know, constructively critical of yourself in a way that’s productive, right and working with others and an understanding also being able to what are you, what are your strengths and what are your weaknesses and how developing those to develop those things to be better, because in football it is like, in business, you know how they use it when you are doing research development the build, measure, learn feedback loop right and so with and sports. It is the same thing.

You watch your film, you know you get ready at the beginning of the week on Monday. Whatever, you are getting ready for the next game that you play on Sunday. You must evaluate your opponent. You have to evaluate yourself. Do you have to see what you are doing wrong? What are you giving away that your opponent can use against you, right? What do you know? What can you do that you know, and you have to make improvements on that, and you have to make those adjustments on the fly. 

And so, and then perform that within the next seven days, right? You only got 7 days to get ready for it. To do this on stage in front of thousands, depending on which state you know the level, you are at millions of people, right? So, I really appreciate that and just being a part of the community and the network of that as well. It was amazing.

So, dude, Well, you went through lower negativity in your childhood and adolescence, and there were a lot of push backs like what drove you. What do you do? Succeed and become the top and what you are doing in spite of All the negativity and pushback that was out there.

I guess haters have always been an inspiration for me, you know, like we are just like, oh, you think I can’t do it. And because I have always been a big believer in myself, right? And so, understanding that and you know I wanted to do IF you know I love football. I love the game of football, right, the business of football. It’s different. That is a whole different animal, right? And the political side of things, the game of football. I loved it. And it really, you know, it was. It just turned out that not only it was like, yo, yes, but people also were like, oh, you cannot do it, or you are not, that you are not good enough. 

Like people are or it does not matter what you do, people are always going to say that, right? Like there if you can be done being on whatever your entrepreneurial endeavors, people are never going to see your vision the way you see your vision. And that is just something that you have to accept in life. But with football, it was for me a way to. You know the stress of life, right? Life is hard like everything wasn’t great, right? Like, you know, I have a good family. And, you know, but there are just other stressors in life where, you know. You know, like it is 20, like where it’s 2022 right now. And you know there’s a lot of things about communication and mental health that I did not have. You know when I was growing up and looking back on that now and just seeing it just like when I, I didn’t know how to communicate the way that I communicated on the field, right? And there was a way for me to release the anger and release and release stress and not get in trouble for it.

So, because it’s like off the field, I’m a very nice guy and look like a Teddy bear, but on the field, there’s just like it turned into just like an animal. Just go crazy. Like Reggie will tell you about it… Man, David is a nice guy, but on the field he is crazy. I’m glad he’s on my team Guys! That’s a lot of guys who say that they’re so alike and they’re like, I’m glad he’s in front of me, man, because I know he’s going to. He’s going to scrap. He’s going to fight like…. And that was my mentality on the field. It’s just like, and my brother, you know, he’s like saying the same thing. He was just like. Man, you know when you’re on the field. Quickly, everything in the backpack leaves on the side of the building when you get on the field, just go play and then that’s what I would do. I would just play. It was like my alter ego and so you know. And that was a great, great thing for me with football. So yes.

So, what was Your overall arching vision and goal when it came to your career playing football?

Just, you know, make it as long as I could, you know, play my best, you know, and just be a valuable asset because I wasn’t a high draft. Right. I was a sixth-round draft pick. They did not think I was going to get drafted at all, but I played very well in the Senior Bowl game, and I got the best player on the West team. Yes, yes. Senior or yes. East West Shrine game. Nothing really. I played very well in the East-West Shrine game, and I got the best player on the West team. My brother got the best players on that team and the interview was great. It was dope and I ended up getting drafted from there. And you know, I realized that you know, like when I played, I was a defensive lineman, but I was, I was playing nose tackle, but I was an undersized nose tackle. Right. And usually, nose tackles are 300 and 330 pounds to 360 pounds and when I came into the NFL, I was 290 pounds right? And I did not get to be 320 pounds until after I went vegan, right? Which is funny and then. 

So, you know my role. I was like I was a first little player. I played the nose tackle position and that’s actually the first position I started in, even though I was undersized, I started in my rookie year at that position, but I also played all the other positions on the defensive line, the DN, the three-technique and so My strength was my versatility. Not only was I able to play there, but I was also able to play on special teams, which gave me a spot on the team and playing in the 53 because not only was our key back, uh, our key backup for the deepest line, I was also a part of the special teams and one of the only big guys who could run fast enough to play on the special teams and move. 

So, you know that was a blessing and so my goal was at that point, it was a survival game because, you know, I was not a high draftee. So naturally, like I was saying on the political side of it, you could bail out and do all that. But you know, they are going to pay in the NFL because they are financially obligated to do so. Right. And they have all these resources. So really it was just like in the NFL. Once I got to the NFL, it went before I got the NFL. Like I am going to go out here and I am falling in the play. And that was before I understood the business side of things. And then it was like, let me understand this business side of things and last, as long as I can and do this.

When I went before getting into the NFL, it was like, yes, I’m going to go out here and I’m a fall. And then when I got to the NFL, it was like, let me understand the political side of things and understand how to do the inner workings of this because the guys who understand that are the guys who last the longest. You don’t even have to be the highest-paid player in the game is that and then and that’s what Reggie understood a lot more than me at A fast. I mean I, you know, at an earlier level in his career. And it really did a lot for him in his journey, and he played for seven years and left because only he wanted to do so right.

It was not. It’s not necessarily About the talent, it is about politics, whom you know, and connections.

And the next level is how you play, right? But it is also The Who you are The Who, you know the game right? It is like you got to get in there and get chummy with the coaches, you know, cause the coaches got to know that they can depend on you to do what it is in that way. But also, you are smart enough and intelligent enough to do these things, right? And that you’re easy to work with because it’s like, even if the coach is just like them, it’s like a, you know, it’s a, it’s a who, you know, game and it’s A and what you know and do you know how to work the system well enough because if you don’t then the system’s going to work you.

And then even in the NFL, the same politics and those same things apply.

It is a business. I mean, think about it like they are paying these guys a minimum of $350,000 a year for a rookie contract, right for use for every higher than that. But it is a business and so that’s what you got to you have to understand and you know. And it’s great now because a lot of guys are understanding that and it’s and at an earlier age, you know, in high school, especially because of the name, image, and likeness deals that they’re doing with the college athletes where they can sell their name and their image and their likeness and make money for, you know, through brands and things. Like that, sponsorship deals and so it is a tide is turning because there is information knowledge downloads that people are starting to get and understand the business side of things as well because you know you know social media, and everything is changing everything now so. Knowledge is waiting, which is readily available.

I see. So, David, what is the biggest? The lessons you have learned over the years like playing college football and in the NFL.

The biggest thing that I learned. Playing college football. One is just time management. And then. Man, just like the biggest thing that I learned, really gone from college football and then the NFL is that college is not the real world, especially when you are playing football. And then when you are going through the NFL, it is like the real world, and then you have to get ready for it. And I am grateful because it really made me hyper-vigilant to know what is around and then. It made me happy. It made me very resourceful. 

Because, you know, just kind of just being plunged into that environment and being plunged into that space so. That was really good for me, and you know, it really made me. You know, start realizing like, OK, how am I going to? How am I going to build myself in this space? Right, because there’s a building myself from college to the NFL. Those were two different environments at college. I didn’t even know if I was going to make it to the NFL. When I got to the NFL, it was all I was all this, this information and all this stuff that I just did not know. I didn’t know that I didn’t know, right? And you know, that was the hardest thing for me, not knowing what I didn’t know, I wish I had surrounded myself with more mentors at a younger age and really started to seek the information that I needed or and knew more. Of myself and knew who I was in college. And so that I could start seeking those answers. You know, I did not ask myself those deep questions in college. It was what it was then. But I’m glad that you know, I was able to at some point in my journey, you know, ask those questions, and surround myself with those resources and that information to make that happen.

So, what was the biggest challenge you had to face during the years of college football and the NFL combining together?

The hardest situation, the hardest situation.

Like the biggest challenge you had to face, and how did you overcome it?

Learning how to transition right because you know that was the thing is just like I wasn’t sure because football is so time intensive and then school, you know, I went to UCLA school was a lot, you know, it was hard to do to balance school. At UCLA, which is a prestigious university, and playing football at the same time and doing it, you know, balancing life there, like, that’s like 2 footballs, that’s like 2 full-time jobs in life. And it was a bit overwhelming for me. And then so you know, you kind of lose Yourself in all of that activity, right? And so. As I said, the hardest thing was, you know, building myself up with the tools and the perspective and the knowledge and the information to transition correctly. 

So, I did not know that the first time, you know college to the NFL was different because I was kind of there. It just kind of happened and I was like, all right, cool. But then, you know, going to college into the, I mean, after NFL too, after real life, you know, going into real life, it was different because, you know, my identity has completely changed, right? 

Like, I’m not playing football anymore. Right. Like I don’t have a set schedule anymore, so I had to really do an identity check like a self-check within myself and really figure out like OK this is a pivot I’m pivoting. I’m transitioning in my life and all right, do a, you know, do you know, you know. Itinerary check or not do it. You know. Do you check my list off all right? This is what I have. These are my skills. These are my resources. This is the direction. What do I see myself doing for the rest of my life, right? What’s my business plan? What’s my strategy to do that? And you know, I found myself doing a bunch of different things right at one point, because I was trying to figure myself out. 

I started doing production. I started doing production with, you know, with the movie, with the movies, and started doing documentaries. And I had already started transitioning from the whole plant-based spokesperson, that being a spokesperson doing public speaking. And you know, speaking at a bunch of universities and other documentaries and stuff like that. But I still felt as if, you know, this isn’t what I want to do with the rest of my life. Right. Like this isn’t what I’m not like. Yeah, you know, like it’s cool, but I don’t feel passionate about this, you know, and when I was doing production for music events and music festivals, right and working with the city in New York, and I was doing events with, you know, Erykah Badu and Anderson Pop and a bunch of other music artists, you know, cute tip. Most definitely it was while I was doing that in New York City. And you know, that was cool, and I might even go back and revisit that, but I didn’t think, you know, at the time it wasn’t, I wasn’t fully prepared to do it all the way I did it. I did. We did like 5 events, but I just wasn’t ready to take that to the next level there. 

I was really trying to find myself at that time and find out what I wanted to do. And I would like that the hardest thing was like really doing that. And you know, it was a, it was fun like, you know it it’s it was hard, and it was fun. Like, I really like really recreating. I pivot and buy and that’s where you know it. It found me. That’s why I’m doing it. You know now what I’m doing today which is coaching. Because understanding what that strategy is like, putting together the strategy and having that strategy and understanding who you are, understanding your why, understanding your strengths. That really makes all the difference, because then you are able to set a structure. You’re able to look and take and you know, take, you know, take note of what it is that you want to put on the Grease board, paint your picture and then start walking in the direction that you want to be in it and thriving in that. Because, you know, instead of hitting your head on the wall a bunch of times like, you know I did, and I’m glad I did it because that was just really. And then that’s it. Any entrepreneur. 

That’s the common entrepreneurs. Right. But just having more strategy and having some things to understand, like, OK, you got to know how to look at it this way. You got to know how to position yourself. You have got to know how to work with the people around you. You gotta know why you know, because if you don’t know you’re why? As I was telling you earlier. With the documentary stuff and all this stuff, I was like, oh, this is. Yeah, I’m good at it. I did it. It’s on Netflix. You know, I did, you know, concerts and festivals. Like, I created those concerts or festivals. That was me. It was my idea, my pitch. I created it. Right. With the top artists in the world, right like Anderson punt, Erykah Badu, Most DEF, and Tyler Kelly, cute tip come on man. Like they’re legends. All of them are literally legends in the game, and it was just like, you know if you don’t understand your why and your passion. You know, then you’re not going to be in it the way that you want to be in it. That you should be in it. That’s going to be long-lasting. So yeah.

No, totally. So, you know David. They say that success is a state of mind and it’s a process and not an event. However, a lot of successful people can pinpoint a time or day when a certain event, like when a certain mental shift happened, and then from that point on they started succeeding at whatever they did. What is that moment?

That moment when the mental shift happened for me was when I really took it to another level of believing in myself. Right, like, Oh yeah, like… I can do this right. Because sometimes you just get down on yourself, right? That’s just normal, right? 

But when I was able to take it when I was able to have more compassion for myself and be more patient with myself and take a step back and really. You know, like I said, when I found my why, right, and I was able to put myself in a position to win. When I really found my why.

Because I started marching in the direction where everything just sort of kind of made sense. And then you know, I was able to… I found myself picking up more energy, right, picking up more steam. And you know, taking it an incentive, you know, in, in, in certain things like, you know, you know and. And finding ideas where I didn’t know that there were like, Oh my gosh. And then acting on those. Creating strategy and plan around that idea and then acting around those ideas and then manifesting those ideas into reality. 

And so when you’re able to do that, that’s when you’re able because you’re able to start seeing things from a from when you find the way around what it is that you’re doing, you’re able to look at .. If you say for instance, you have a product… you’re able to look at your product through the lens of your you know you’re able to open your mind. Trying to in your imagination around it and you’re able to wrap your brain around it and work around it all day because you don’t care anymore cause just you know your why is so strong right and you’re able to look at it through the lens of the demographic or the OR the purchaser and you’re able to find all these different ways and approaches that really. You know, improve your business, and really help you to reach out to the demographic in such a way.

Just finding all these different ways to fly. You know how to do that and then just take your wide and just run with right and that’s really it because when you do that, it just really opens up a lot of parts of yourself that you didn’t know were possible. And it really brings energy to whatever your business idea is. And it really brings passion not only when you find your why, when you’re able to sell when you’re talking, or you’re pitching to someone about your business idea. It just organically when you’re telling them about it, why you’re doing what you’re doing and then you tell them what it is you’re doing and then you know, then you grasp them, and you pull on their heartstrings and then they understand your why. 

And then when you’re telling them you’re why, right, and then you’re looking at it through the lens of the person. That you’re talking to or the lines of the end users, or whatever your demographic is. Right. Then they’re looking at it in a way where they’re buying into it now, right? They’re personally buying into your story. Your story is not your story anymore. It’s now their story too, right? And then they’re looking at it and they’re like, man, I can see how this story can be everyone’s story because you’re sharing your why with them. And you’re really not just communicating with them on a business level. You’re communicating with them on a spiritual level, right? Then it’s a lot easier to do what it is that you want to do and get your message out there and build community and all that.

I totally agree. Like, why is the why is for a lot of people they Don’t seem to Know their why or they think they know their why. But it’s superficial. Level, but it’s like going to those layers. Deep and then. That’s when the emotions come out. The passion. So, I totally agree with what you’re saying.

Right. Because could someone tell you they’re why you’d be like, yeah, that was deep at all? You know, that was space. Like you get like.

You have this great product, but you give me some BS reason as to why and then it’s like man.

It’s like a lot of people say money, but like, I feel like. That’s pretty superficial, you know. Like they need to go deeper than that.

Right. What is the problem you’re solving? Right. What are you doing? Why is it so important? You know. Right. Look, there are a lot of coaching programs out there. There’s a ton. You know, and they’re all great. A lot of them are, you know, really great. Well, why is Tony Robbins selling the way you know? Why do you know what is the thing that separates them? What’s the what’s the what’s the differentiator? You know, like the solid that the thing that anchors you to, you know the general public, you know, mind likes to make you that thing that pops up. You know the household name. What is that? What is that?

No, totally. Yeah, it’s it. We have to go deep into it. But so, David, what’s the one thing you wish you had known before you started playing football? And what would you advise somebody that’s just starting off in your field and like them, they need to know something before they start off.

Build a Google around you. And what I mean by that is to build a community of living people around you whom you can go ask questions to and learn good knowledge from, like solid information from the right. If you’re in whatever your field is like, build a Google around you so you get your football player. Or whatever, right? Just for example, or entrepreneur. Right. All right, so I want someone who knows business law in my circle. I want someone who knows, you know, IP. I want someone. Those you know, sales or whatever, build a community around you of people who are just really cool, that you can even hang, that you can hang out with or you know from time to time you go meet up at conferences or whatever, build that community with you even when you’re in high school, right, join all the groups. 

Because those people are going to grow up to be somebody someday, and usually the ones that are in all the extracurricular activities are going to want to grow up to be the ones that are going to be something someday, right? 

Build those Google people when you’re even when you’re young. Put people in your circle who are lawyers, who are doctors, whatever, and build that Google around you so you can go ask the questions. You know and get to know because you can when you have those people and you get a strategy from those people, right, you get first-hand experience, you get knowledge, you get contacts, you get connections, you get internships, you get. You know all that’s how that happens, right cause, and then when you do that and you build that Google around you, you build that community around you. 75% of jobs are gotten by people who you know where they’ve gotten by, there’s gotten by someone who knows them, right, that you can look that up. It’s on Google. 

And so, build that Google around you at a young age, so when you’re going, you already got this system down the pack. You have a community with you ever. Wherever you go, you know how to tap into other communities and that will make you very strong and A and whatever it is that you’re doing, whether it be business, just that, that, that weapon, that tool, that tool in your toolkit, understanding how to communicate and build the community, that is one of the best things that you could do for yourself because. You know it. It’s about whom you know, not what you know in a lot of cases, and you know, you have to make sure, you know people. Straight up. I mean, it is what it is bro. You’re not getting in the club unless you know the bouncer. Where you know the owner of the club. You know, like a, it’s kind of like.

A harsh reality that’s not about meritocracy. More than it’s, I mean. It is part of it, but it’s also about whom you know. So, David, they say that America is the land of the free and the place where dreams are made. Do you agree or disagree with that?

I mean, you can make a chance, you can definitely do whatever you want to say the land of the free and the home of the brave. But you can definitely come here and, you know, because you know politically, there are just things that are going on. But that’s just that’s what it is. 

But business-wise and you want to create. Something out here, right? And you have and you. You have a plan, right? If you don’t have the money. You can if you’re creative and resourceful like I was saying. It’s who you know right…  Then you can figure out a way to make it happen to manifest it. If you have a plan and you have the resources. Whether they are monetarily and if you don’t have monetarily and you can figure out a way to partner with somebody or do something like that, then you can do it. Is there information you know? Yes, you can do that if you want to come out here, be an entrepreneur. And you’re creative, and you’re resourceful then yes.

So, you know, a lot of Americans, they’re like they have challenges, like when they come to realize the American dream. Right, so what do you think is the biggest hurdle that they’re facing, and how do you think they could overcome it when it comes? To the American greed.

Like the American dream, like. You mean, like, just come out here working 95 and live and support your family type of situation.

That I’d say I would say it’s different. For different people. Right. For some, it’s like the white picket fence. The White House, like the fence with the house, has two kids. For others, it’s achieving their goals and dreams. Like whatever visuals. That they have.

Yeah. So. Yeah, like I said, you can come out here and achieve your goal, and there’s always somebody you could sell it. Whatever it is that you want to sell, right? Like, if you want to come out here and create a business. Absolutely come out here and do it. Come prepared, you know. And have your business plan ready and you know, come in when you can just make sure you come into America and make sure you have your business plan ready. Start reaching out to people in America, wherever you’re from, and start building your network before you come out here. Right. 

So, you can start because like, if you want it as you said, you are just the white picket fence and all that or, you know, your career goes, you know, start reaching out. And I hope I’m answering your questions or starting to reach out to people so you can start building the resources that you need so when you get here that the American dream is actually the American dream and you’re not. You know you don’t hit the ground and stumble and fall and end up on the street somewhere. 

You know, like, start coming out here. Build your resources like you. You’re extremely resourceful, bro. And you have a lot of people around you and you know, like whatever, you know, and it’s just like. And I’m sure that helps because it helps me, right? And so and that is one of the good things that’s like one of the best things about you is that you know everybody you have a lot of people around. 

So, it’s just like. That helps and I’m you know. And you know, it just helps you branch off into whatever it is that you want to do, but just, you know. Reach out to people out here. Start building those connections in that community with yourself already, and then, you know, come out here and visit America and then visit your friend, the pen pal, right? And then or whatever it is that you want to do. If you do, that’s it. If you have those resources available to you, but you know, tap your toes in the water. Plan out your vision. You know because you know hope is not a plan, right? Plan it out. Plan out your vision first. Start reaching out to people in the Americas or whatever that already are in the same way that you’re doing, and use them as a resource, as a mentor. People in America love to mentor people, right? 

So, start, start. You know doing that is like I’m coming to America, and I wanted this. I just want to take some. I just want to pick your brain for some information and I’m looking for some knowledge on how to do this because I want to come to America and do this. You know, they might hire you. They’ll be like, man, you know, you know, hey, you know, you can come over here on a working visa, you know? Right. I mean because people in America go to other places and do it. So, it’s like, you know, they’re going to South Africa, they’re going to Spain, they’re going to Europe and they’re doing that.

I see. So, David? And you know American identities about the pursuit of happiness and opportunity. For a better life. Right. So how do you think the lessons you’ve learned as an NFL player can be applied towards achieving that idea? Because a lot of Americans want to achieve happiness and they Don’t know how. How to go about it? Doing that and regarding the opportunity for a better life like regarding all the inflation and debt and the stagnant wages that are going on in the country, they feel a lot of very disheartened. So, what would be your advice?

I kind of didn’t understand that question.

So, please.

Basically, like a lot of people, they want to achieve like they want to perceive happiness. Know American identities. About freedom of opportunity for a better life and to perceive and pursue happiness. But a lot of Americans are due to the COVID pandemic and due to inflation, and they’re like they are pretty just hard about achieving their goals and their dreams. But as an NFL player. You have this thing of. Like succeeding no matter, no matter what, you know like. The like. It’s like a kind of like. A1 percenter type of thinking, because otherwise, you would not. Have been in the. NFL So what advice would you give to Americans about this?

Yeah. Yeah, no. The problem so well about that is like, yeah, you know, recessions happen all the time, right? You know you have 29 the Great Depression, you know. And then you have all the others that they’ve had over the decades, right? And all that’s happening, it’s just the shift and the energy bubble, right? The revenue and all that and how it’s happening you know just like the industrial same thing that’s happening and now you’re saying like you know in a minute, robots are going to be, you know, serving all the restaurant, those jobs are not even going to be a thing anymore. 

It’s just like finding out how you know it’s online, a lot of its online education, online platforms drop shipping or whatever it is, people are finding jobs everywhere else. Now they’re working online and so it’s just like they’re or they’re working in some other technology or whatever it is. You just got to find. You know where the energy is shifting right and how you fit what your strengths are, right? What are the skills that you have that can be applied to there, whether it’s a service, whether it’s a skill or you know whatever it is like that, that’s all, that’s all that you got to do.

Because it’s not like, yeah, you could be worried about all of that, but that happens all the time, and it’s going to and, you know, America’s not going anywhere, you know. So you just gotta do it that way, bro. And because that’s what’s happening and you just got to be prepared to and the way that you prepare is exactly what I was saying, right, build your resources to get to know some people, right? Because you can’t. You’re not going to end up anywhere if you don’t know anybody. And to get in the door and then. It’s like, all right, well, what’s going on? Understand the surroundings and then understand how you fit into that, right? How do you improve that environment, right? What are some of the things that you can bring to the space to just make things a little bit easier for everybody? And that’s really it, bro.

So, you know, in the last few years, there’s obviously been deterioration in the car. But not only that, also in the family unit and the government. Where do you think America is headed and should we? Be optimistic about the future.

Yeah, you should be optimistic about the future, but you should also be careful because you never know what’s going to happen and you know, just like I said, be prepared if you’re going to enter into a space, make sure you enter into a ground space and not something that’s, you know, on its way out. And you know, I feel like it’s pretty easy to identify what that is. Now, this is something green or technology or, you know, whatever is something like that online-based education, whatever things like that. Yeah, but I think it’s going to be fine. It’s just making sure when you’re prepared when you come in here and you’re preparing where you’re going to place yourself, place yourself in a place that’s thriving and nutrient-dense soil so you can continue growing. Well, you know, everything else is sort of drowning out.

So, David, I know that you’ve had, you’ve done this college credit course called the game within the game. Can you tell us a little bit more about that and the premise of it and how you Got started regarding that.

Oh, most definitely. So the game within the game is a college-accredited course for knowledge, innovation, and Forbes business tool and it’s a course that’s for student-athletes by professional athletes Reggie and myself, and it’s a six-week online course and you could take it at your own pace, but it really helps you to understand who you are, what are your strengths, your you know your weaknesses. 

And then like we were talking about earlier, what’s your why right? Why are you doing this right? Not just within the sport, but then outside of the sport as well. What’s your reason? You know, it’s so it’s just. And really giving you the tools and the structure that you need. And really introducing into a fluid strategy and coping mechanisms to prepare you and also you know some understanding like your environment, your you know communicating with your coaches. And communicating with your teammates and understanding the roles between you and your coaches and their situation. They’re not you, you’re not your parents, you know they’re not your uncle. You know they’re not you. This is in high school. They, you know, their success or their job, this is their job for them. If they don’t win, then they get fired. Right. 

So, if you don’t win, you’re not producing, then you’re getting fired too. You’re not in your position anymore. And you know that’s the same thing as it is and your career as well. And so. That’s what this course is. And you know the reason why we make this course is that we like we were talking about, there are a lot of people going through things, a lot of student-athletes that are dealing with this, these things that in coming that coming up through high school and college sports that really sent a lot of people off edge. Because they’re not prepared, they don’t have a friend for themselves, a structure, or a framework to help guide them and keep them on the straight and narrow and they end up getting distracted by everything else absolutely everything else around them and then they end up falling off, you know, so you know, even at UCLA, where I was at, you know, we have resources there, but there was, you know, there was no real structure and the people weren’t really communicating to the heart of the athletes with this issue and that’s what we did with this today. 

So and it’s not just for the student-athletes, it is for you know our, you know for high school and college. Because it’s a dual credit program, which means that high schools that offer the bridge program or dual credit their high school students can take it and receive college credit for it as well, right? It’s a high school and college period at the same time, but it’s also for the parents because the parents of these student-athletes need to know this as well because you know you need to be a resource for your child’s rights, because. I know that was an issue growing up even with my brother and me luckily, yeah, we made it. We both made it. We all made it, but my mom and dad did not know what they were doing. They were literally just kind of swinging in the dark and hoping that they figured it out right and hoping they made the right decisions. And then when they didn’t and they, you know, then they’re like, oh, my bad. You know, they, I tried. You know, I checked my bag. I tried my best. But you know, and that and that’s something that is commonplace. There are a lot of parents that are moms and yours and fathers are messing it up for their kids. So having that framework and then also it would help with communication as well. We’re not just between the parent and the student-athlete, but also the student-athlete and the coach.

No, totally, yeah. So, David, I know that you’re doing this course. Called the top Athlete life, can you give us? Can you give our audience a little bit more glimpse into what that is and what that is about?

So top athlete life is the is, it’s very similar to the game within the game and really under giving you that same you know, professional athlete mindset right, giving you that framework hitting then like I was saying, and this is more corporate wellness driven.

And like I was saying. You know, especially in the corporate space, a lot of the companies or tech companies or, you know, research and development companies and they do a lot of like you know, tech sprints and code sprints and, you know, week turnarounds and it’s a lot of research and development you know build measure, learn feedback loop and football. That is that that’s what football is. It’s a constant build measure, learning feedback loop that you’re doing for 16 weeks out of the year and you’re doing it on a huge stage.

So, giving him a top athlete’s life. It’s to be the top athlete in your life that is giving you that mindset. The framework that you need to, you know, evaluate yourself and like I said, constructive criticism, productive, constructive criticism because a lot of people are thinking that they’re, you know, doing constructive criticism that you’re not. You’re just criticizing yourself and tearing yourself down. You’re constructively criticized. Yeah, you’re constructively criticizing yourself with the purpose and moving forward, identifying with your issues is identifying who you are, what you’re, and what your lane is. You know what your role is in this lane and how do you move forward in this and be as a, you know, to be the best part of the team, as you possibly can, and while being the leader to yourself and the people around you. And that’s how that’s what the top athlete’s life does. And it’s really, you know, it’s really doing a lot of that working on communication between the team and the coaches, coaches, and team and or you know the team. And the team. So, that’s what a lot of that is. So, we’re doing that as well and that’s also online. And you know, we’re doing that as well.

So I would definitely recommend this to my audience because it’s about like what? You could be. In any field or industry, and it still applies, it’s because of the top 1 percent way of thinking.

Right, right. That’s why when you look at sales, you know when they’re doing sales, you know they go after the sale, the athletes, you know, former student-athletes because they want that mindset that so, I mean, yeah, so that’s what we’re definitely teaching that as well. But it’s elevated. But also, we’re identifying where those tools are, right where those skill sets translate into the business setting right into the corporate setting as well, so.

OK, so where can our audience go to connect with you and get to see more of The work that you’re doing?

So I’m available on LinkedIn with David Carter and then also on thegamewithinthegame.com 

I would, I would like to, this is like the end of the show, and I would like to conclude by saying thank you so much and we definitely would like you to come back to the show at a later date. I want to conclude by telling all my extraordinary Americans there’s a fellow Extraordinary within each and every one of us, and it’s our job to unleash and empower them. And that’s all I have to say for now. And thank you, David, for coming to the show. I appreciate it.