Discover how Coach Derrick Mason's journey from athlete to mentor has transformed countless young lives, and how his leadership philosophy can reshape your own approach to guiding others. Engage with an episode that promises to provide unique insight into the art of positive coaching and the undeniable impact of daily self-improvement rituals. As Coach Mason shares his story with me, Greg Hunt, we delve into the heart of what it means to cultivate a supportive environment, where respect and positive energy outshine the common 'tough love' coaching trope.
Dive into a masterclass on personal growth and leadership with Coach Mason's recommendations for literature that inspires success and effective communication. His emphasis on simplicity, understanding, and the ability to distill complex ideas into actionable wisdom provides a roadmap for both coaches and leaders in any field. As we explore the off-season growth potential through reading and networking, prepare to be inspired by the power of knowledge and the mantra "keep it simple, stupid" in creating a winning mindset.
This conversation is a treasure trove for anyone looking to influence and mentor young athletes or enhance their leadership skillset. Coach Mason and I dissect the philosophy of continuous 1% improvement, the resilience needed to embrace rejection, and the adaptability to pivot when necessary. Our discussion culminates with practical strategies for motivation, goal setting, and the relentless pursuit of personal success. Join us for an episode that not only promises to enlighten but also to inspire action and reflection in your leadership journey.
Stay in the Hunt!
Discover how Coach Derrick Mason's journey from athlete to mentor has transformed countless young lives, and how his leadership philosophy can reshape your own approach to guiding others. Engage with an episode that promises to provide unique insight into the art of positive coaching and the undeniable impact of daily self-improvement rituals. As Coach Mason shares his story with me, Greg Hunt, we delve into the heart of what it means to cultivate a supportive environment, where respect and positive energy outshine the common 'tough love' coaching trope.
Dive into a masterclass on personal growth and leadership with Coach Mason's recommendations for literature that inspires success and effective communication. His emphasis on simplicity, understanding, and the ability to distill complex ideas into actionable wisdom provides a roadmap for both coaches and leaders in any field. As we explore the off-season growth potential through reading and networking, prepare to be inspired by the power of knowledge and the mantra "keep it simple, stupid" in creating a winning mindset.
This conversation is a treasure trove for anyone looking to influence and mentor young athletes or enhance their leadership skillset. Coach Mason and I dissect the philosophy of continuous 1% improvement, the resilience needed to embrace rejection, and the adaptability to pivot when necessary. Our discussion culminates with practical strategies for motivation, goal setting, and the relentless pursuit of personal success. Join us for an episode that not only promises to enlighten but also to inspire action and reflection in your leadership journey.
Stay in the Hunt!
Welcome. Welcome back to Train the Mind, Not the Brain podcast. This is your host, Greg Hunt, and, man, I have a special guest in the building tonight. I have coach Derek Mason. And welcome, man. I appreciate you carving out the time to spend with us and just kind of share some of your thoughts. Man, Thank you for coming. Thank you, I truly appreciate it. So, guys, we got a great topic to talk about and we're going to be talking about leadership and coaching and some reading. But before we get into that, let me just go over my man Bio.
Greg Hunt:He has a crazy bio in coaching. I mean, he had coached at every level, starting at youth league as a defensive coordinator. He also coached at the high school level as a defense coordinator and also as a head coach at the JV level. But he's currently with John Hopkins University as the assistant defensive back coach and special teams coach. And, man, they just had a tremendous season this past season. They was in their preseason ranking. They was ranked number 18. Their final ranking was number eight. They won. Their conference went 6-0. Their overall record was 12-1. Their whole staff was the coaching staff of the year in the Centennial Conference. And, man, I had the opportunity to watch some of the games, and it was man. They was a really good football team. But man, he has a lot of experience in coaching and leadership and that's why I wanted to bring him on, so we could talk about that and just kind of get his viewpoints. But with that being said, man, let's dive into this. What brought you into coaching?
Coach Derrick Mason:I knew once I was finished playing, I knew that I wanted to give back to my community or just give back in general, and I decided to start coaching baseball. I went to baseball first.
Coach Derrick Mason:I went to baseball first and then, you know from there, coached some years of baseball and then, you know, I got into youth league football through my cousin and you know from there, just continue to keep on coaching and giving back to the community. You know Glen Burnie High School and North County Meade High School and Youth League, so that got me into coaching. You know people poured themselves into me when I was young and that was one of the things I wanted to do to give back Gotcha Gotcha and you can tell, I know you're passionate about coaching.
Coach Derrick Mason:So that brings me to what do you love about coaching, building young men, helping them, being a resource to them? You know I tell stories of when I was younger and going through high school, even a year, playing college baseball, and you know I just try to guide them in the right direction and help them as much as possible, love them up, give them discipline, be tough on them, but at the end of the day, you know, I just want to be there for them and help them along the way.
Greg Hunt:Gotcha Now doing all that. How do you see that being impactful for them? Because you said that you know somebody poured into you. Now you want to pour into them.
Coach Derrick Mason:What's your mindset behind that? Basically, you know, I look at it like if I can lead and guide them in the right direction and it starts with me, as far as the way I go about myself, as far as a person and a coach, and leading by example, if I can lead them in the right direction, be a great example to them, a great role model. Also, you know, be there for them, because there's going to be ups and downs throughout life, and if I could just be there for them and let them know that I'm there for them and help them through anything, through the ups and the downs, and just not be there and wanting something from them. Let me be a resource to you, let me help you and guide you and you know it's not always be, you know, good days, it's going to be some bad days but just letting them know that I'm there for them.
Greg Hunt:Yeah, and I think that's important, you know, because a lot of time, coaches always want to be there in a good time and when the light is shining. But what about those moments of setbacks and and the moments of kind of defeat that you know where are you at in that moment? Because that's where, especially some of these young men and women as coaches and leaders, that's when they're going to need you more because of your experience being where they was at.
Coach Derrick Mason:Right, right.
Greg Hunt:So let me ask you you know, because you talked about leading people Like, what's leadership to you?
Coach Derrick Mason:Leadership to me professional lead by example, respect, energy, enthusiasm, trustworthy discipline. Those are just some things that I think about leadership Me. I try to be as professional as possible every time, Even from the way I'm around my team, my image, the way I dress, make sure I'm clean, cut, just doing the right thing all the time, being energetic out on the field, being positive. Those are just some things that leadership respect. You know I don't have to be yelling and cursing at anybody. At the end of the day, they're humans, you know, just like I am.
Greg Hunt:So you know, you give respect.
Coach Derrick Mason:you get respect. But the biggest thing is I try to lead by example, and when they see that they're like, okay, you know, hey, coach, going about it this way, then I can do the same way. I can do the same thing. I can do the same thing. And that's what I think about leadership.
Greg Hunt:Okay, All right. Well, let's drill a little deeper on that, Just for you. What is your leadership style? Because you talked about coaches yelling and cursing and there's a lot of different leadership styles out there, Not saying that one is better than the other. Now, there are some bad leaders out there and that could make leadership look bad partially I wouldn't even say as a whole, because I think we have a lot of great leaders that overshine some of the bad leaders. But what is your leadership style when it comes to, you know, coaching young men and women?
Coach Derrick Mason:I think you know my style is I'm going to put pressure on the young men and I'm going to just start from a staff. You know I think you got to be a great manager of people. You know my staff. You know I'm not going to micromanage people. You have a job. Do your job the best that you can. That's what I believe in. Do your job the best that you can. I don't have time to micromanage. I'm going to give you a job. Do it. Work hard. When we have meetings, let's go over some things this is my idea, this is your idea and then let's go about business at the end of the day. Now, with my team, the same thing. Hey, we're going to prepare you as much as possible and practice. Practices are made for us as far as the staff, and then the games are made for the kids, student athletes. If I think I can prepare you and practice, give you every situation, put pressure on you, push you hard, then the game should become easy at the end of the day.
Coach Derrick Mason:So my leadership style is I'm a team guy. Look, everybody has an idea. I don't want to be a. I'm not a guy that is going to be. You know, it's one way or the other. I don't believe in that. You know, I may have been like that before and that's how I thought. But, as you know, you grow older, you learn more, you watch different people, you're around different people, you're reading certain things. Your style starts to change a little bit. I think mine's changed as far as watching. You know a couple coaches where they gave us things hey, this is you own, this, go about your business. You know, I'm going to check in with you, but if that's what you believe in and this is how you're going to do it, hey, I trust you and I'm with you, I'm good. So that's my leadership style. There's no just one person or hey, this is the way it's going to be. One way or the other.
Greg Hunt:No, no, yeah, and you brought up something that kind of jogged my memory, you know, because you talked about, you know, understanding people and different people having people skills and one of I remember this conversation I had with a gentleman who was a very successful business owner and he had said to me he said, greg, what type of business that you do? And I told him I do this, I do that. And he said no, that's not the business that you do. And I'm like what are you talking about? In my mind I'm like how are you going to tell me what I do?
Greg Hunt:He said, no, man, you're in the people business and anything that we do is all about people. So even from coaching, from business, from you know you, being a teacher, you know I don't care if you, it's all about the people and understanding people can help you with your leadership skills. But that was interesting that you say you know it's about the people and over time that you change the way you think, because it's not necessarily your way or the highway, but having that collective, you know, group of masterminds to say, hey, you know what is the best situation or scenario for us to grow and move farther.
Coach Derrick Mason:You got to be personable. People got to be able to come up to you and talk to you. Yes, you're in a position of leadership at the end of the day, but you got to be personable. You got to love. You got to also discipline and people got to feel as though they can come to you. And if they feel as though they can't come to you I'm talking about student athletes, I'm talking about your staff if they can't come to you, then you know, then that's not a good situation, that you, that's going on right there yeah yeah, uh, I like something that you said I'd rather be respected than fear, because somebody that respect you, they at least, can come up to you have a conversation.
Greg Hunt:Somebody that feared you, they, they, they just going to try to avoid you and it's just going to be that disconnect of you. Know what's going on, right?
Coach Derrick Mason:And I learned over a period of time. I learned too, as I've gotten older and to coaching, that sometimes you're going to be wrong and there's nothing wrong with saying I'm sorry. You know, going to a student athlete or staff member, hey, man, I apologize about that. And you know, hopefully we can move on past this situation. But there's nothing wrong with being wrong and being able to go back and say, you know, hey, that's my fault, I'm sorry about that, and I think that's key.
Greg Hunt:I think that's key, so let me ask you this how have coaching impacted your life and your career?
Coach Derrick Mason:Every day in coaching and in life, you, you have life situations that that is given to you and you know you can only control yourself, Um. But at the end of the day, um, you have certain things that go on, Um, and it's how you respond, and you can respond in a negative fashion, or you can respond and not say anything, or you could just ignore the situation. But it has helped me out a lot, I mean totally day-to-day, just putting things into perspective on, hey, some things don't need a response.
Coach Derrick Mason:You don't need a response on certain things you know, and just it's going to be ups and downs, trying to stay positive through it all, and you know the opinions of others it doesn't matter, at the end of the day it's what you believe in. You believe in yourself and you know, through all of it has made me a better person and just I'm glad that I got into coaching. I truly appreciate it. It just helped me to handle certain situations. I've been through a lot and it's like, okay, if I can get through that then I'm fine, I'm pretty good, Nice. But having a lot of downs on the high school side. Like I give you an example, I was playing one high school side. Like I give you an example, you know I was playing one high school where we lost, scored 78 to nothing.
Greg Hunt:You hear it from the crowd.
Coach Derrick Mason:You hear it from the crowd, man, don't let those guys back on the bus. I mean the first thing. One you question your coaching, yeah. Two, you're like yo, am I fit for this? And then, three, you know you're hearing from the crowd, like, at the end of the day, I always look at that and I'm like I got through, that I could get through anything because you're at your lowest.
Greg Hunt:Yeah.
Coach Derrick Mason:At that point you're at your lowest.
Greg Hunt:Yeah, especially at a score like that. Yeah.
Coach Derrick Mason:I mean, you're at your lowest, so you know, I think about those times and I'm like, okay, I'm fine, I can get you stuff.
Greg Hunt:How does? Because I always see that you know you're posting, you know, positive information or positive affirmation. What keeps you you know positive, especially as a coach, when you go through those rough moments, or those you know because obviously you game plan for that particular game. You thought you probably had a great week of practice, but then that practice and the results didn't match up. Like how do you keep yourself positive and move on to the next even though you might didn't receive the results that you was looking for? I try to.
Coach Derrick Mason:I try to prepare one day at a time. I take it one practice at a time, one play at a time. I take it One practice at a time, one play at a time and at the end of the day I use the example of baseball Batting 300 is great and you're getting 10 at-bats and you're getting three hits out of those at-bats or being successful three times, but those other seven times you weren't successful and you got to reflect on that. You got to, hey, that's over with. And you got to keep on moving on to the next thing. So I try to be, you know yeah, it happened, but hey, look myself in the mirror that I give it all At the end of the day. I did. It didn't go well that day but hey, we got another, we got another chance next week to improve. Let's get to, let's continue to keep working, let's get on the field or whatever you're doing, hey, keep on striving, keep on working at it. You know, in due time is going to happen, it's going to. It's a circle of life. It's going to change over in due time, but you keep on being persistent, perseverance and due time is going to work. So I just try to stay positive.
Coach Derrick Mason:You know every day and you know what the biggest thing is. It's hard to stay positive. It is every day and know what the biggest thing is. It's hard to stay positive. It is Like anyone will tell you like it's hard because you're going to go through. It could be anything that just something negative happened. Just pee you off and you're like the first thing. You're thinking like, man, I could, I could say something, but you're like, nah, why even waste your time with that situation? So it's hard to stay positive.
Coach Derrick Mason:But every day, you know, I wake up and I pray. That's the first thing I do. And then I try to read. I read a Tony Dungy daily book and it has like a story and it has a scripture at the at the end and some advice and I read that every day. And then you know, um, I read the Bible every day and, um, you know that's when I'll tweet out something.
Coach Derrick Mason:As far as you know, I thank God for this day. Um, it's a new day. And then I always talk about a stay positive, a quote that I send out. And you never know whose life you could be touching or somebody's reading that, and they can be in a bad situation. Or they could just be in a great situation and like man, you know, hey, coach, that was nice and I had several people come up to me, man, like I read that. Or or man, that was, that was a great, that was a great little passage that you tweeted out, or whatever. But you know, at the end of the day, you know, I just try to keep going and staying positive. Like I said, it's tough to do, but if I can have more good days than bad days, then that's a good situation.
Greg Hunt:Absolutely. I want to come back to a mindset, but you talked about reading. So obviously, as a coach, you read, yeah, and I'm big on reading. I mean you're in my office now you can see. I mean there's tons of books, thousands of books in here. I probably said I read probably about 70% of the books that's in my office, you know, slash studio. But how has reading for a coach, as a coach, how has reading, you know, helped you in your coaching world, your coaching profession?
Coach Derrick Mason:Ideas You're getting. You can learn something from anybody and just different little nuggets I know you like to say that like nuggets, um, but different ideas that you, you, that you pick up while reading. I love reading, I try to get my hands on anything to just, you know, you know, pick up ideas and also, but it's also reading with understanding, because even certain things that I may read, it may not, it may not apply to what I'm trying to do, but just also just understanding it is very important. And how can that apply to me? Can I use that? Or this is how they look at it. I also could shape, you know, I may have looked at something this way.
Coach Derrick Mason:And then you know, reading a book or something and talk about this subject or that subject, it could say, okay, this is how they look at it. Let me think about that. Maybe that could have some type of influence on the way I think about a certain subject or anything like that. But definitely reading has helped me a lot. Just different books that I've read Um, I try to read a lot of, uh, um books on leadership. Um, books on football. I read a lot of football baseball books. Um, I I try to read a lot of team books, you know, as far as about team um culture, um just different books, so I could continue to learn and add to me as a, as a coaching a person.
Greg Hunt:Man, you, you, you said you dropped a lot of great nuggets. One of the things I like when you talked about reading to understand and not just reading just to be reading, or reading to go through the emotions of just reading, but really reading to understand I remember my mentor said to me one time. He said, greg, it's not about how many books you read or how many books you go through, but how many books actually go through you Right, meaning like are you understanding? What are you taking away? How can you apply this to your life? Or to share with other people, because it's also no good to have all that information and don't share it with nobody else.
Coach Derrick Mason:And that goes hand in hand with coaching. You can be the smartest coach in the world, but how can you relate all this stuff to your student-athletes? And you could be saying all the coach in the world, but how can you relate all this stuff to your student-athletes? And you could be saying all the plays in the world, but do they understand that? You got to be able to dumb stuff down and, like they say, kiss, keep it simple. Yeah, it's stupid. Yeah, so if I have all this knowledge and you know, I know all this information, I'm the smartest coach in the world, but you can't apply it and can't get kids to play Because, at the end of the day, you want kids to be especially on the football field or whatever it is. You want them to be able to play fast without thinking, you know they'd be able to see something. Boom, and I know it.
Coach Derrick Mason:I went through this yeah but if you can't relate to kids or whoever, on whatever level, if you can't get what you know and be able to give it to them on the easiest level possible so they could be able to know what they're doing, then you, like you said, having all this knowledge and not being able to transfer that over and give it to them. Yeah, it's very important.
Greg Hunt:Yeah, you know, as we heard that quote before, you know knowledge is power, but that's not the full sentence. Applied knowledge is power, so, but you talked about culture. You talked about leadership, so, but you talked about culture. You talked about leadership like what's some leadership books or authors that you'd like to read on leadership or culture, things of that nature. Because I think, you know, maybe this for somebody hearing this for the first time, or another coach or somebody in leadership, you know they say, man, I like that. You know I want to be able to read more. Like that. You know I want to be able to read more. You know what books have you read or what authors that you like? You know in general, if it's on leadership or culture and I know you have a, you know I know one of your favorite authors, but what's some of the books that you might like to read?
Coach Derrick Mason:Positive Leadership by John Gordon. John Gordon is my favorite. Leadership by John Gordon John Gordon is my favorite and you introduced me to a couple that I haven't read, but I love his books. The Energy Bus is one of my favorites.
Greg Hunt:I think that was the first book I introduced you to the Energy Bus.
Coach Derrick Mason:First book, first book that you introduced me to that Relentless Tim Grover. I'm looking at that book right now. I read that you Went in the Locker Room Training Camp. I also read let's see, I'm reading a Tony Dungy. I love Tony Dungy. One one. I love Tony Dungy. He has given me great insight and has things that he talked about, like he talked about not cursing.
Greg Hunt:Yeah.
Coach Derrick Mason:Don't need to talk to people that way. It's, it's um. I'm not going to say that he said this, but, like I'll say, ignorant, yeah, like to talk that way, um. And he feels, though, like hey, I could be able to talk to you and, as in leadership, respect, respect between, uh, people. You know I love his books. Tony Dungy and John Gordon are probably my top two.
Greg Hunt:And I think the Tony Dungy is that the Quiet Storm you're talking about Quiet Storm and it's another book.
Coach Derrick Mason:Actually, my sister, my older sister, she just got me a book on teamwork. She got me a book on teamwork, tony Dungy. I read a couple pages of that. I haven't finished that book. During the off-season is a great time for me. Off-season is the best time to learn. Off-season is basically right now, all until I say august 1st, and that's when we usually start back with uh, football. But this is off off season time. It's the time to learn, time to clinic um, time to talk to other coaches from whatever level, youth league to the NFL, and pick up different things, little nuggets. I even ask them hey, what books are you reading? What can I read? Good question, that will give me some more ideas, insight and stuff like that. But John Gordon, if I recommend him, tony Dungy, tim Grover, I think it's like Ian O'Connor. He has a Belichick book, yeah, yeah.
Coach Derrick Mason:I've read some of that. I also read Urban Meyer's book Pete Carroll. I try to just anything dealing with football. I try to read. Even baseball, I try to read.
Greg Hunt:And it's funny. And you know, as far as me like for leadership, my go-to is John Maxwell. I love John Maxwell, books on leadership, man and just his thought process and the way he thinks. Man and just his thought process and the way he thinks. And it's funny because you know, for 15, you know anywhere from 15 to $25, you can really dive in the minds of great leaders on their experience and really you know, cut down the time that you had to go through that trial and error because you're reading from some of the greatest minds and I always encourage people to read because people put their life experience in these books that we don't have to go through some of the same mistakes, mistakes. And so, as a leader and as a coach, you see, reading or any type of self-development is important to coaching. And if somebody that's a new coach is getting into coaching, what would you say to them to help develop their just self-development, to grow as a coach, read network clinics.
Coach Derrick Mason:I started reading. That was like the main thing of reading, that was like the main thing. And then you know a couple coaches that I know they started some clinics, virtual clinics, and that was another thing where I, you know, got to meet different coaches. And also, you know, my dad told me this a long time ago you got to get out there and hustle and you know I jump in my car and I drive anywhere to go and network and watch practice and meet different coaches and at the end of the day, you know I'll text and I know sometimes they'd be like man, will this dude leave me alone? I'll text a bunch of different coaches about different things.
Coach Derrick Mason:As far as, like, db play or it could be coaching style or it could be, hey, like, did you watch that, why did he do that? Or something like that. But if you want to get better self-development, read network. You got things on YouTube that you can watch. Development, read network. You got things on YouTube that you go watch.
Coach Derrick Mason:You know, talk to different people. At the end of the day it's like I may and I'll say this, like I'll send out different things to people and stuff like that about what could possibly happen, but you got to want to do it yourself. Yeah, at the end of the day, yeah, if you love and you want to get better, then you'll do it. If you don't, then the game self-development you got to always. The game is always changing, so you got to always be learning is always changing, so you got to all. You got to always be learning all the time and remain humble.
Coach Derrick Mason:Humility is very important and be grateful for opportunities as far as like when you get a chance to, you know, network with people and stuff like that. You know I thank, I thank people a lot. You know when I talk to them. Hey, thank you for your time. You know I think people a lot, you know when I talk to them. Hey, thank you for your time. You know I think it's very important to thank people. But if you want to get better, there's a lot of books, a lot of clinics and networking will help you.
Greg Hunt:Okay, let's transition a little bit here. Let's transition a little bit here. You know, especially as and maybe as a you know you could be talking to a young coach, or even for yourself, you know what, what habits or behaviors might or have hindered you or might be a hindrance to your progress. And then how did you try to, how did you address those so you can, you know, move past it? But how did you address those so you can, you know, move past it? Because everybody have habits and and those habits, you know, can kind of make you or break you, and sometimes people don't understand is the little habits that could, you know, throw you off, and that could be on social media, could be watching too much tv, that could be, and those type of habits could derail you from reaching your goals. And what you know, whatever, whatever entertains you, trains you, right. So what, what? What habits or behaviors that that probably hindered you from getting to where you want to be a lot quicker.
Coach Derrick Mason:Um, I would say probably my, my, my study time, my study time studying things, was kind of um, a hindrance. I will, I will also say this Belief in yourself. That's key, Believing in yourself and not worrying about the opinions of others and sometimes not being selfish because you may want, you may do so much for other people that you forget about yourself.
Coach Derrick Mason:You understand what I'm saying. Like, yeah, you become like so loyal, loyal, loyal to, uh, you know certain stuff and then you forget about you know, like at the end of the day, like you have dreams, you know like, at the end of the day, like you have dreams and you're inspired to be certain things that you know, there's nothing wrong with being selfish at the end of the day. So sometimes you know, you got to believe in yourself and you got to jump out there by yourself.
Greg Hunt:Yeah.
Coach Derrick Mason:And go about your business. You can't worry about the opinions of others. You can't be like oh man, well, he didn't do this, he didn't do that, it happens. It's not nothing against anybody. But sometimes you can't worry about oh man, he's not a good coach, or he's not this or that, I don't worry about that, I don't worry about. Or man, he's not a good coach, or he's not this or that. I don't worry about that, I don't worry about nobody else. And what they got going on right now is all about me and my team that I'm with right now, and that's who I worry about at the end of the day, I can't worry about anybody else's situation, how they coach, what they do.
Coach Derrick Mason:I don't worry about that at the end of the they coach what they do.
Greg Hunt:I don't worry about that.
Coach Derrick Mason:But if they need help then I'm all for it. But I think sometimes you got to be selfish, like I said, and you got to believe in yourself and my study time I have increased big time just to get better and I think that's going to help me in the long run.
Greg Hunt:Excuse me, I think that's a. That's a nugget in itself, because a lot of times people don't put the work in the time to study and whatever that. That is for the thing that you're doing. You have to put that work in. And if it's study time if it's, you know whatever you have to put that work in. And if it's study time, if it's you know whatever you have to put that work in. But something that I really like, that you said, and I'm a big believer on this is just self-belief, just believing in yourself. And most people, most people, doubt themselves, most people think about, like you said, what other people think, and it really don't matter. They probably try to, you know, judge their success to somebody else's success.
Greg Hunt:And you know, you don't know how they built their success. It could be not on good foundation, but you're thinking that things are happening for them but they're not happening for me. And I always tell people it's the tortoise and the hare, it's the person that stays steady, the person that stays consistent, the person that stays persistent. Because you know the hare obviously could beat the tortoise physically, could beat the tortoise, but he, the tortoise, but he wasn't consistent, he wasn't persistent. Right, he didn't stay, he didn't have the, he didn't stay on track and that's why he lost.
Greg Hunt:So self-belief is so big in anything that we do. Like you said, I don't care what it is, if you don't believe in yourself, it's not going to happen. It's just not going to happen because the way your mind starts to think and your subconscious mind, and people don't really understand how powerful their subconscious mind and I'm big on. So two things I'm big on when you talk about self-belief. But you also have to have, like that, self-positive talk. Yes, because you always the person you talk to the most is yourself and that little you know talk or that little, that person that you hear the most is yourself.
Greg Hunt:That's got to be more powerful than anybody else's voice. It's got to be louder than anybody else's voice, anybody else voice it's got to be louder than anybody else voice. And it got to be speaking prosperity. It's got to be speaking positive so you can start to believe in yourself, because the subconscious mind doesn't know any right from wrong. It's just going to believe whatever you program it to believe. And that's why I'm big on positive self-talk and people always say to me man, you're just a positive person. Every time we talk, life is good. You're always positive because I program my mind and life is good. I don't have issues that most people concern themselves with because of the way I think.
Coach Derrick Mason:Yeah, definitely. How can someone believe in you if you don't believe in yourself exactly? And, like you said, comparisons are, are the devil. That's why I believe, because I think a lot of people. Just social media has made it where, man, you see a lot going on, I just give you like, uh, as far as, like, I may see someone getting a job, getting a job, getting a job, but I don't know what you're doing, and stuff like that. You just see him gradually moving up and you're like, oh man, like I'm doing the same thing, I'm doing this, but you don't know at the end of the day. So then you, you start to compare yourself on, like, uh, this is going on, this is going on, but hey, like you said, gradual, slow and steady wins the race at the end of the day. And, like I said, comparison, you don't want to do that, that's the wrong thing to do. So if you be persistent, you'll get to where you need to go.
Greg Hunt:So I guess, as far as you as a coach and as a leader, what are challenges or obstacles that you face in reaching your goals and helping you know these young athletes to you know, ultimately reach their goals? Because some of these people or student athletes you might coach, they might have dreams to, like man, make it to the next level. But we know a lot of people don't make it to the next level. But what do you do as a leader to help prepare them to be actual leaders? Because most people in life do not try to teach other leaders. They always want to try to stay on top. But to me, a good leader is somebody that's developing other leaders. So what do you do to help develop other leaders?
Coach Derrick Mason:Being a resource for them, because at the end of the day, I think it's always think about being a resource to them, because it's not like trying to get something out of them at the end of the day. Especially student athletes, young men, you are like you've been, I've been through some things in life and I've seen some things in life and I look at it like if I can kind of guide, if I could guide them and lead them and not I would say warn them, hey, like you may go through this, and this is how I handle the situation.
Coach Derrick Mason:Or you may do this or do that, and this is how I handle the situation. So I'm just always trying to be a resource to young men, not even just at Johns Hopkins, but at you know, because I'm a crisis interventionist at Chesapeake High School in Pasadena. Even with them, because I think I'm in the best of both worlds because you have young men at Johns Hopkins. They're about to go, once they've done their four years, you know they're about to go in the working world and adult life.
Coach Derrick Mason:And then you have the kids that are in high school, they're about to go on college and still kind of the working world and you're leading them through that and they're still in, I would say kind of like the, I would say kind of like the baby phase. You're still. You're still Like kind of mold, the baby phase you're still. You're still, um, like kind of molding them, molding them to get to where the kids at, like Johns Hopkins and university and stuff like that going into adulthood.
Coach Derrick Mason:Um, so you know, I'm kind of in that best of both worlds where they are going out into the world and they are coming in. I mean, they're going into the world and I'm like, okay, I'm helping both. So, like I said, I just try to be a resource to them and guide them, and I'm always available.
Coach Derrick Mason:I still have former players. They see me. Hey, coach, how you doing? The first thing I say to them, I ask them how they're doing. I say, if you need anything, you can call me. If you need anything, you can message me on any of the social medias that I have. Some ask me to be a reference for them. Hey, coach, can you be a reference for me? Or, coach, can you write this for me? Hey, that's what it was about at the end of the day, um, helping them out, you know, because so many people helped me out at the end of the day nice, nice.
Greg Hunt:I like that. So what? What keeps you motivated, keep you going as a coach, as a leader of a young athletes.
Coach Derrick Mason:What keeps you motivated? Just giving back, wanting them to be successful, wanting them to be better than me, to continue to keep on going be better than me? What keeps me motivated is being denied.
Coach Derrick Mason:That keeps me motivated, I think about that that's, that's interesting, it motivates me I don't need like, at the end of the day I don't need anything to motivate me, but being denied certain stuff that keeps me motivated, I think about it. I wake up every morning, I look at my goals, um, and I'm like I'm up energized and you know days, some days I'm tired, some days you know I could. I don't want to do it, but I get up and I keep on rolling and my dad used to always tell me like man, don't make money laying in the bed. So I get up, I I'm like okay, let's get to it. I get to the field, I'm pretty much excited, try to have energy all the time. But the biggest thing being denied that keeps you motivated.
Greg Hunt:I hear that I, like that, can't make money laying in the bed. You talked about goals and you say you look at your goals every day and people underestimate goal setting. How, as a leader, as a coach, and especially especially in leadership, how is goal setting important? And then how do you look at approaching your goals?
Coach Derrick Mason:Well approaching my goals. I try to get better every day 1%, you know and I try to the little goals that lead up to a big goal, breaking it down like what things will help me get to this goal, like I need to do this, this and this to get to this goal, and sometimes you reflect on it and sometimes you got to, you got to move back as far as like, hey, you know, I may have not done this that well, that's why I haven't reached this goal yet, but I try to make big goals and then break those goals down to smaller things to be able to reach that goal. So, with that, that's how you make those goals attainable by breaking them down smaller to be able to get to those goals and reach those goals.
Greg Hunt:Yeah, and I like what you said just getting 1% better, I think in the book I read I think it was Atomic Habits, if I'm not mistaken the author talks about getting 1% better, and you're right. I also heard the saying before how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time and a lot of people? Even when it comes to lifting weights, you're not going to lift 500 pounds on day one. It's one of those gradual build know, get up to that level.
Greg Hunt:And goal setting to me is underestimated. If you really want to achieve some success in life, you have to have goals, you have to write them down, you have to look, just, you know, speaking it out loud and just dust the little things I'm talking about when it comes to being persistent and moving on and being consistent. When you do that type of work. A lot of times people miss that. They might write goals down but then they don't look at it every day or speak it out loud every day. Those are the little things that you know you want to do when you want to have success, especially as a leader. You want to teach that.
Coach Derrick Mason:Right, and you know the same thing. We have goals on like our defensive sheet, on the defensive side of the ball that we try to hit. And you know, I remember Coach Wodica like he goes through them after the games and he's like, oh, we got this, this and this, but we didn't get this real close to it. And he says some positive things and then he says some things that we need to work at and then, hey, we get another opportunity to go at it next week to be able to hit those goals.
Coach Derrick Mason:We get another opportunity to go at it next week to be able to hit those goals. So, like you said, breaking those things down and smaller and sometimes you got to be able to go back and look at the smaller goals and, like I may need to twerk this, yep, maybe try something different, because this didn't work to be able to reach this goal, mm-hmm, you know, mm-hmm, because this didn't work to be able to reach this goal, because you didn't hit that goal right away. Don't just give up. Keep on reworking the goal and see if that works the smaller goals to be able to get to the big one.
Greg Hunt:And that was another that you just dropped. You talked about don't give up on it. A lot of times people give up on it Because it didn't work. Yeah, it didn't work. Another book come to mind Three Feet from Gold.
Greg Hunt:People quit right when they already have success and it's all about okay, let me rework the goal. And winners they never quit, they just figure it out. Let me do something else different to achieve that goal. Because when you break down that goal, you can see the mistakes or you can see that did not work and you can readjust. And that's why it's so important, like you said, to break it down, because if you have a big goal, you don't know where you need to adjust. But if you break it down, you know from a weekly goal to a daily goal and you say, hey, I didn't do this daily, that's why I was off the mark. You can make those adjustments, but coming down, we kind of wind it down here. But coming down, we kind of wind it down here. And I want to ask you you know, and I think this is self or new coaches that want to be great leaders, they want to be great coaches, but using your past experience to inform them. So what past experiences that you can share to a becoming leader or coach.
Coach Derrick Mason:Don't be afraid to change. Don't be afraid of change. Don't be afraid of change. Always be willing to learn and grow. Be humble, Be thankful, Be grateful for opportunities, be humble, be thankful, be grateful, um, for opportunities. And hustle, like and don't take just because you may get one. No, that's not the end of it, Mm-hmm, no, Um. And also, you know, somebody told me this um a while ago, um, you also. You know, somebody told me this a while ago you can skin a cat several different ways, it's not just one way.
Coach Derrick Mason:So don't don't just lock into one thing Like this is the way I was taught and this is the only way that I'm going to do things like.
Coach Derrick Mason:You're never going to grow that way, you're never, going to be open to, because you know what Life is a copycat. A lot of people see a lot of things. It may not work for them, but if you'd be able to tweak certain things, then it would be able to work for you. Yeah, yeah, a lot of people copy off a lot of people, especially in coaching. A lot of people copy off a lot of people, especially in coaching. A lot of people copy off a lot of people. It may not work for you, but if you tweak this or you tweak that, so be able to be open to change and be able to learn and grow, if you continue to do that, then, like I said my past self to now, those things that I just said, that's what I would say now, like, be able to do all those things and learn, grow, humility, being grateful, always hustling.
Coach Derrick Mason:Don't just take one. No, continue to keep, you may be exhausted. Like man. This guy said no, this. Take one. No, continue to keep, you may be exhausted. Like man. This guy said no. This guy said no, keep on going, never give up.
Coach Derrick Mason:Yep, because that one opportunity is right around the corner. It's not that far away. It's not that far away.
Greg Hunt:And it can change the whole dynamic of your coaching.
Coach Derrick Mason:Yep, yep, yep, it's right there.
Greg Hunt:Awesome man. Hey, coach Mason, coach Derek Mason. Man, I really appreciate you stopping by on the podcast Training to Mind, not the Brain podcast. But if somebody wants to reach out to you to just ask you coaching questions or leadership questions, what socials that they can reach you on so they can reach out to you?
Coach Derrick Mason:Yeah, they can hit me on Instagram at Coach DA Mason, they can hit me on Twitter at Coach DA Mason, and then I have a LinkedIn account too. They can, you know, contact me on there, okay. And then, like, I'm always willing to, you know anybody in coaching. I'm always willing to help out and always willing to talk ball, and it's not even coming from me as far as like them learning something from me. I'm always trying to learn something from somebody else else, so they may have something about the way they coach or their leadership style or, um, a book that they may be reading or some drills that they may be doing that, you know, I could definitely take from them. But at the end of the day, you know, reach out, um, I'm always willing to talk, always willing to help and try to get each other 1% better, nice, nice, well, man.
Greg Hunt:Thank you again for stopping by, truly appreciate it. Good, good, well. Hey guys, I hope you learned something. That was an impactful talk, man. I love that conversation, so thank you for listening. Once again, hit that subscribe like button. Also comment with your thoughts on leadership, with your thoughts on self-development. Once again, this is Greg Hunt on Train the Mind, not the Brain, podcast. Bye.