020: Win From Within: Transform Your Mindset To Awaken Your Hidden Potential - with William Deck

Meet William

William is the founder of Mind Business, LLC, and his calling is to help individuals and organizations remove their own success barriers. How the heck does he do that? Excellent question! He does so by educating them on the mental foundations for success. He has many years of leadership, sales training, and consulting experience and he has come to understand that the most common causes of personal dysfunction within an individual are thoughts and feelings of unworthiness and unforgiveness. 

Let's get the show kicked off here a little bit by talking about your sports career! What got you involved in sports and how far did it take you?

Yeah, so for me, sports have been a part of my life since I was nine years old. I began to play basketball watching Michael Jordan back in the mid-90s. I also grew up in Houston, Texas, so I was watching the Houston Rockets win championships with Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and all those guys. So my very first love as far as sports was basketball. My neighbor had a basketball hoop and I was over there pretty much every single day, hooping and putting my skills together and learning how to do layups from different corners of the backboard, and all those things at nine years old. When I was 10 years old, I tried out for football and made the team and the interesting thing about football is that for whatever reason, it just was something initially that I did not really take to a whole lot,  I would say I was a little timid. I had tons of physical strength and I was physically stronger than the other kids my age, but I was timid and so even though I lived in the suburbs, my mom took me to play with this inner-city team and these guys were knocking me around and things like that. It wasn't that I couldn't hang, I just had that timidity. So long story short, one day I came home from practice, and I had my head, "You know what? I'm done, I'm going to go ahead and hang them up and go back to the basketball court," and my mom was in the kitchen cooking so I kind of walked in there to let her know I'm quitting. So I went there, I said, "Hey, Mom, I don't think I want to go to practice tomorrow, I think I just kind of want to quit, this is not working out for me." She basically said, "You're not quitting," and she turned back around and kept on cooking. She let me know that if you quit with this one thing, then you will basically think that it's okay to quit with other things. So I went to practice the next day, pissed off at her and what I said to myself was, "You know what? I'm going to prove her wrong and I'm going to take out my rage on all these guys out here because this is ridiculous." So I went after that practice, and I was fired up so I went out there and I just started lighting people up. After that day of practice, the defensive coordinator had never seen have from me and they wanted me to bring that same energy to practice the next day. After that, I never looked back with football specifically. I continued to play basketball, but with football, it was just so exciting. It was something that I was good at and so I defensive MVP as a 10-year-old and our team won the city championship! Then after that, I really begin to lose weight. I was a little husky when I was younger and I slimmed off and eventually made my way to running back by the time I got to middle school and did really well in middle school with football. So I got to high school and during my senior year, I'm being recruited by some schools like Kansas State, Rice University, Tennessee, and a few others and I tore my ACL halfway through the season, on this crazy play. At that point, I had to make a decision as I was doing rehab for an ACL tear, am I going to continue to train to try to get back out there by the next fall. I got back to about 90%, but the schools that I was talking to many were trying to do partial scholarships, preferred walk-ons, and many of them were out of state that was still potentially considering a full scholarship, but it was going to be a long shot. In my head, I think it was a combination of being a little immature, but also thinking about my parents are going to have to pay state tuition, which I think was a mature decision and I made the decision to go to university, Houston. So I play some Semi-Pro Football after that, but I never end up playing at the collegiate level. So it was just really interesting how I knew that I could have played at the college level because I was getting recruited to do so, but life had a different path. It really began to force me to think about what I wanted to do beyond sports because I was totally identified with being an athlete. That led me on this life journey that has led me to now being a mindset coach. I began to have this mental transformation, especially in my mid-20s. I just had a calling that there was something more that wouldn't let me go back to the mindset that I am an athlete because there was something deeper within me that was saying that you're so much more than that and you have a different destiny.

How would you describe the switch that flipped that transformed you from a timid little kid into the athlete you became, and how do you carry that same mindset into what you do in your professional career?

I think ultimately, what that moment as a 10-year-old showed me is that there was so much potential within me. Now, of course, this was specifically around sports, but it opened up my mind to where there was more potential and power and ability within me that I have not figured out. It's in there, but I just had to bring it out and I think for me, that experience as a 10-year-old really helped to spray my confidence in many things, not just sports, but with everything from academics to overcoming the adversity that I've had to face in my life. Everybody faces adversity, but it's how you deal with it and so that's really what opened up to me. I could never look at myself as being this limited person that can only do so much because I saw something absolutely explode within me which was a big motivation for me to help to inspire my siblings to really push themselves in whatever they do because when my younger sibling wanted to hang out with me, I was always training so I would be doing cone drills, doing agility work, doing explosive work all the time because I really wanted to be this great athlete and have my mom not have to pay and worry about me going to college. So I did not know that at the time but it actually really lit a fire within them to become competitive and to do their very best and whatever they set their foot in. That one day in practice lit a fire inside me and now it's being transferred into helping to support people to become the best version of themselves. But the energy is the same, it's this unwillingness to compromise, unwillingness to say "this is all I have, this is all I can do, this is all I can become," and because that light burns within me, I have an affinity to do that for other people. When I see people doubting themselves, underestimating themselves, I already know that that's a false sense of self and I always encourage others to be able to find that power within themselves because ultimately when you do that all the things that you need in life are within that space of realizing who you are.

Do you ever find yourself looking at your mom and thinking, “Hey, thanks for making me stick out,” since she was the catalyst for your transformation?

We've actually had that conversation many times so I definitely attribute my mom as a catalyst for my overall success and just ability to stay focused. Her voice has always been echoing in my head. First and foremost, she still reminds me to this day, that from the first time she laid eyes on me when I was born, she knew that I was going to be someone special, she knew that I was different and she knew that I had a great destiny and a great calling on my life and she's always told me that she's always envisioned me being up on stage. She says she would actually have visions of me being up on stage talking to millions of people with them chanting my name, over and over again. It's very interesting to where now I'm on the path of actually utilizing the spoken word to inspire people. She had this vision of me being this great speaker and influencer many years ago, way before social media, anything like that. So who would have guessed it? Of course, we have many years to come to see all those things through, but I think that also just is another indicator of how important parents are when it comes to kids, whether it's involvement in sports, or whatnot, your voice will echo through their heads for their entire lives, good, bad or indifferent. As I teach a whole lot about, subconscious programming is powerful which is your habitual behaviors, thinking, and actions. That's based on what you believe to be true and the first seven years of life is when you're being programmed into that default, whether it's positive, negative and parents have almost complete control of that outcome, and that is carried with children for their entire lives. Even as adults, we are the older version physically of those children and so if we're broken as children, until we wake up, we have no opportunity to become the best version of ourselves, and to let go of those childish thoughts and belief systems that are keeping us held back. You can be in an adult body, but not have an adult mind. To me, an adult mind is any individual that can think for themselves and galvanizes the courage to be able to take action when they have a vision, no matter what. That is something that I've had to learn very early in life, and I struggled with it until probably about age 30. But to be able to think for yourself, and be willing to take action when you have a vision, and you can trust that small voice is overwhelmingly powerful, but it can be scary as hell. So of course, you have to do that in life all the way up, even in sports, as a kid, when you get knocked on your butt and get back up. That decision is made in a split second, but as you get older, as an adult, there are more strategic decisions you have to make that can scare you away from your destiny. If you have a little bit of practice when you're young, you have an opportunity to be able to have some subconscious programming that will support that. Parents are extremely important to kids’ development, and not just to be able to perform on the field, but also in life. Because one day, no matter how you live as a parent, you're not going to be there and your voice is still going to be with your children, and will many times be spoken to their children. So make sure that those words count, because they can be a star athlete, great attorney, or just a great human being, which you're going to help to determine that.

Switching gears here a bit, but you’re very active on social media which has garnered you a large network of followers. How much do you attribute that to your success, the relationships you have been able to create, and Young Guns? 

I would say that the single greatest thing that I have accomplished over the past four months has definitely been the Young Guns main event. Being in the final three initially, and having to compete and get over 2000 votes, and being able to come out on top and have the opportunity to then present my message to the world about the power of the subconscious mind has been the high as far as a singular event. But overall, I would just say, when it comes to the whole social media space, I've been very pleased to have done a deep dive in three different platforms. So it's been on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. On LinkedIn specifically, I've gained huge momentum and it's been really awesome to be able to see the feedback that I've been able to get from people, whether it's direct messages or otherwise, as far as how the content is being able to support them, has been a great reminder to stay focused, to stay encouraged to, and to know who you are, as far as the power that you hold within to become anything that you want. I would say overall, it's been exciting and it's been invigorating, because it lets you know that you're doing something right to help support people and it gives me a tremendous opportunity to give out good energy to as many people as I possibly can touch, knowing that that energy is going to come back to me and manifest in beautiful, wonderful ways that I won't even necessarily even know for some time. But I'm building up tremendous good karma for myself, but also passing it on to other people so that they can be the light for other people in their own lives. Social media gives you an opportunity to get your message out there. Of course, you have a decision on what that message is going to be and mine has just been one of transformation and empowerment. I know people need that anyway because I've needed it many times over the years and I think in a way I'm giving other people what I wish I had at certain points in my life. Thank God I made it through! But if I was able to connect with certain individuals who were publishing this kind of content, it would have helped me so much in times past so I'm also making sure that I'm doing that for that reason. Now, don't get me wrong, I was able to go to YouTube and find some great pastors and other folks who really encouraged me, but there was not anyone that was individual as like a content creator who was like this bigger than life figure, it was some of the more preeminent names, which still helped me a whole lot. So every time I post, I try to think about it from the perspective of what can I present to the world today that is going to help someone? So I have curated content three days a week, but the other one or two days that I post it's literally me sitting in my office or in my room first thing in the morning, and just kind of taking a moment to meditate and say, "I am trusting that the words will come to me that I need to say at this moment for somebody." This may only need to be for one person and that's okay, but it also could be for 10,000 and that's also pretty dope. Either way, I am willing, so let's go! Many times, those messages have been the ones that have impacted people the most. I don't necessarily have this secret formula, it's literally being available and being willing to speak truth, willing to put myself out there, and people may or may not love what I have to say, but I'm willing to do it. I'm betting on myself that this work that I'm doing is going to not only be able to inspire people and to build them up but also build a strong financial future for my family and I firmly believe that both can get accomplished and still be pure.

This show is all about bridging the gap between sports and professional careers and there are a lot of athletes out there who are constantly in this battle of having to figure out how to prioritize themselves. You yourself are working full time while running your business full time as well so what has the journey been like for you? What are the tools that you have put in place to balance those two worlds to ultimately set yourself up for success? 

One of the best things that I can respond within that regard, is what I do each and every day when I wake up first thing in the morning. Most days, I don't have my mind racing with tons of things flying through it. I cannot say that until maybe two and a half to three years ago as far as waking up with a clear mind and I would say that, because I've gotten to this space, it's a little easier to kind of plan my day. But I know most of us to wake up in the morning with racing thoughts about all we have to get done and stress and so on and so forth. There are days that I have that too because I have a lot to get done and I'm balancing two worlds, not even including being a father and a husband and all that. So waking up with a daily practice has been most helpful, meaning what I do every morning, I wake up, I have written affirmations that I've written out that talk about things in the areas of business, of family, and of relationship building that I want to accomplish over the next year. I rehearse that script or those affirmations and speak them out loud to myself every single morning. I also take some time just to pray and meditate to clear my mind as opposed to trying to envision how am I day to go, which is very effective, I try to just clear my mind first. I try to have my mind clear and get some feelings of love and excitement in my energy and then I began to meditate specifically on things that I want to see like envisioning my day, envisioning specific conversations, envisioning this podcast and how it's going to go. It's really about being able to take some time to meditate for me, and envision positive outcomes for my day and positive outcomes for my week, because each and every day, we have things that have the opportunity to distract us. The only question that we have to answer in that regard is how we're going to respond. That is something that's very, very important for me. So having those written affirmations or reading them, taking some time to pray and meditate, specifically on positive outcomes that I want to see come to pass in the next day or the week is also important. Then I end that meditation session with two questions before I get my day started. What do I see for myself and my life and what do I believe to be true for myself in my life? You can believe something to be true, but if don't you have a vision for it, you're in trouble. That's why it says in the Bible, without a vision, the people perish. So I need to be able to see it in my mind and also affirm it through words. There may be something a little different each and every day, but it's consistent with abundance, health for myself, and my family, and peace and goodwill to everyone around me. Now to be a little less complex, especially for those young people who are in sports, one of the best things that you can do to help put yourself in a position mentally to be successful, is to expand the vision that you have for yourself. So if you have specific goals, you have to be able to envision yourself accomplishing those goals in order to get there. All the great athletes specifically at the top of my sports have done it and they talk about it very openly. Whether it's after winning a championship or after winning a big game, they always talk about things like we prepared all week, we knew what the team's defense's weaknesses were and we knew if we execute our plan to perfection, they couldn't beat us. What are they talking about? Not just practice, but they had a vision for what they believe to be true what was going on, and the outcome, right. Michael Jordan talks all the time about he knew where he was going to hit the shot on the court, he practiced this specific shot at the end of the game, it just so happened he got to a spot he knocked down that shot. Kobe and LeBron talked about it as well, they're talking about having a strong imagination and being able to see themselves there in advance. So young people, if you can see it in your mind's eye, you can accomplish it. That also applies to adults. But more than anything, if you don't see it, you can't be it. If you do see it, you have an opportunity to accomplish it and it is very strong from a possibility perspective, that you will do those things, you will accomplish those things in your life. I don't care how big the goal is, that is a formula for success that goes back to the beginning of time. Whether you are a young person or an adult, if you read any of these spiritual books, whatever it is, go back and read it. What are they talking about all the time? Having a vision! God gave Moses vision, God gave all the prophets of vision, a mental picture of what was going to happen, and then it happened because they took action to follow through and believe that it was possible. I don't what the story is, and what the background is, the core understanding is they had a vision and once they got that vision, they were able to accomplish it. There are infinite possibilities within you so there's a whole nation of infinite possibilities, which could be represented in a nation of people who are all unique as individuals that are possible. But if you don't have a vision, a plan, and the ability to see something happening before it happens, you basically disqualify yourself from accomplishing it and if you don't know where you're going, how are you going to get there?

And so much more…

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