TrueLife - Jared “JDaredevil2” Dillinger - Athlete, Entrepreneur, Communicator

Episode Date: April 4, 2023

One on One Video Call W/George https://tidycal.com/georgepmonty/60-minute-meetingSupport the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_US🚨🚨Curious about the future of psychedelics? Imagine if Alan Watts started a secret society with Ram Dass and Hunter S. Thompson… now open the door. Use Promocode TRUELIFE for Get 25% off monthly or 30% off the annual plan For the first yearhttps://www.district216.com/https://twitter.com/jdaredevil2?s=21&t=l-RuYzZ5-PN85Y-SxI7OMwhttps://superlink.me/?code=DAREDEVILJared Dillinger is a 14 year professional athlete, 9-time champion, and medalist. Acting as co-captain of Barangay Ginebra, the most popular team in the Philippines. Former national team player of Gilas Pilipinas. Attended the United States Air Force Academy and finished my studies at Hawaii with degrees in international business and finance. Currently the Coinsph and Tier-One Alliance KOL, helping to educate communities of the ebbs and flows of nfts + cryptocurrency. Building web3 projects for the sports communities here in Asia. One on One Video call W/George https://tidycal.com/georgepmonty/60-minute-meetingSupport the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_USCheck out our YouTube:https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPzfOaFtA1hF8UhnuvOQnTgKcIYPI9Ni9&si=Jgg9ATGwzhzdmjkg

Darkness struck, a gut-punched theft, Sun ripped away, her health bereft. I roar at the void. This ain't just fate, a cosmic scam I spit my hate. The games rigged tight, shadows deal, blood on their hands, I'll never kneel. Yet in the rage, a crack ignites, occulted sparks cut through the nights. The scars my key, hermetic and stark. To see, to rise, I hunt in the dark, fumbling, fear. Fearers through ruins maze lights my war cry, born from the blaze.

The poem is Angels with Rifles. The track, I Am Sorrow, I Am Lust by Codex Serafini. Check out the entire song at the end of the cast. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the True Life podcast. I hope everyone is excited. Is as excited as I am. We got a great show for you today. We got the one and only Jared Dillinger, which might be the great.

greatest last name of all times, Dillinger. You know what I mean? But you know what, Jared, for those people who may not know who you are, would you be so kind of maybe give a brief introduction of who we are? Sure. Sure, George. Thank you. Thank you, man. I'm really happy to be here. So everyone, yes, my name is Jared Dillinger. And for the sake of this certain podcast, I went to school in Hawaii, went there for about three years. So I have a, a, a, a a deep love out for the Hawaiian islands. In fact, when I'm done with my professional basketball career out here in the Philippines, I'll be moving back to Hawaii. So, I mean, that's partially a reason why I chose to talk to you just because I saw that you are residing in Hawaii.

So I was like, dude, I got to talk to this guy, at least at some capacity. So I did talk about a professional career. I'm a professional basketball player. I've been playing. for 15 years out here in Asia. I'm also obsessed and very much into the finance industry, whether that's cryptocurrency, trading, building products, building communities, if you will, in the finance industry and having a lot of fun doing it. And also talking. I love talking. So that's partially why I'm here too. So you give me a mic. I'll probably say some words on it for sure it's beautiful man and i i i want to say what's up to everybody in hawai it's it's such a beautiful place and uh you may agree with me or you may not but it seems like hawaii

changes you when you come out here you really begin to understand not only where you came from but who you are and it's just it's such a beautiful place one of the things i have noticed is there's no billboards or there's no real commercialization and and it's interesting everybody has a different story about how they got to Hawaii. But maybe we can start with your story, man. What brought you to Hawaii? How did you find yourself out here, man? Right.

Well, in high school, I was keen into following the footsteps of my family. My family was all in the military, whether that's Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, fought in wars in the past, working as a civilian, or as an officer or as enlisted. My whole family did that. So I followed a little bit down that road and was smart enough to get into the Air Force Academy. And I spent my time and energy there for a couple of years.

And I decided to pivot and change the trajectory of where I wanted to go in life. And it was mainly through sports. Now, coming into the military, I thought, like most young, confident men that I was going to make it to the NBA. Sure, it doesn't matter what school I go to. And by the time I reached my sophomore year at the Air Force Academy, they were telling me that I can't go play professional ball outside of the NBA. And that I must first serve four to six years in the military after I graduate. So that was a big issue with me.

And I told my family about it, about my situation. They weren't too keen on me leaving because it's such a good institution, but they still believe that you make the right decision. You own up to your actions and everything will be okay. My father was like that with me. So he supported me wherever I wanted to go. So as a kid, I could have gone anywhere out of the Air Force. I could have gone to Ivy Leaks.

I could have gone to some really high-end public institutions. Instead, I choose Hawaii. So my dad and parents weren't that excited, but they just told me to own up to what you want to do and we'll support you. I think just being in the military for X amount of years, being told what to do, where to go, I think going to somewhere a little bit more liberal was just something that I wanted to have because I didn't have it in my

life. I didn't know that I would be doing what I'm doing currently today had I made that decision. But I'll tell you one thing. Going from a military institution to Hawaii, it's like night and day. And I had a lot of fun, a lot of fun to say the least, my university days in Hawaii. It's beautiful, man. I'm hearing a lot in there. And one of them, one thing I hear in there is like a really decision for a young man to make. Like there's a couple big decisions you've made in there. But to have this idea, like I'm going to the NBA, I'm in the Air Force, and then all of a sudden to be told, hey, you can't go and do this thing. Like, that had to be a pretty big decision point. And I love the way you talk with your parents or you had at least you had people in

your life that you could talk with to help make that decision. But was that one of the first big decisions that you had to make that kind of like was like a first roadblock in the path that you, that you were on? Absolutely. It really was. I mean, when I was in Hawaii, that first year, I would have nightmares that I was making the wrong decision. Wow. You know, my, my fellow classmates from Air Force, they were graduating. They were becoming lieutenants and captains and either flying planes or playing for the all Air Force basketball team in the service around the world. Whatever may be, it just seemed like they were doing. well and I was here red shirting in Hawaii, busting my butt trying to get a scholarship all over

again. And I definitely had some doubts. I was like a normal kid. Like coming into the military academy, they treat you like gold. You know, you're the best of the best. And you're the, you're leading our generation into the new era. You know, they really put that in your head over there. Here in Hawaii, I'm working at the mall at Hollister with my shirt off, trying to make money on the side while taking a bus to school and working out at the same time with low cash, low, gee, it was tough. It was tough. So I definitely had my doubts. But what I didn't know was all of that stuff that I did that put me through definitely built me. It built my mind. It built my. It built my. my my my toughness if you will physically and mentally that that I did found a way to make things work and to make things in my favor so when I did complete all of that the way I wanted to see it through it gave me so much confidence that man I really got up myself out of the mud from there like I whatever challenges that will come my way like I think I can figure out a way to get through

these in life. And it definitely was a big pillar that I established in terms of my mental fortitude and how I handle problems for the rest of my days after that decision. It definitely shaped it, for sure. It almost sounds like a rebirth. You know, like I'm a big reader and I love like Joseph Campbell and myths and stuff like that. And it seems to me like sometimes like the main character goes through like a death and a rebirth where they live this life and then everything they have is taken away all these things that they thought who they were all these things that they thought what they can be is stripped from them and then they're forced to build themselves back up from the ground up it sounds like that's kind of what happened most definitely I mean I didn't know

at the time but I talk about all the time in speeches or moments that I have where I can speak on the mic to people, you know, in life, like if you want to get good at something or if you want to get through adversities and to be on top, if you will, you have to go through pain and suffering. There is no other. In my head, in my book, there is no ways to get through challenges in life or being successful at your craft, whatever that may be, without an exuberant amount of pain and suffering. Now, I don't mean that physical. It could be physically if you're training for a sport. But just pain and suffering, whether that may be mentally, physically, spiritually,

you're going to go through some hardships. And the better you can just embrace all of that and understand that's just a part of it. It kind of makes things a lot easier in retrospect when you're trying to reach a goal, if you will. Yeah, absolutely. it's almost you know I heard this great quote that said you know suffering is one of the highest suffering may be the greatest thing for man to do and it sounds kind of it sounds sinister in a way like suffering is a good thing but the truth is every time you suffer you're making yourself stronger and it's suffering is not something you want to do it's something that you

maybe you're driven towards or it's something that happens to you but it's something that builds character and it makes you stronger and it's something that you can draw on forever, whether you're in sports, whether you're in a relationship, or whether you're mentoring somebody else. It's this idea of suffering and making it through that gives you the tools to help other people through it. Would you agree with that? Yeah, facts. Facts. I mean, you've got to take the good with the bad, right? I mean, yeah, it's just the way our kind of world operates. You got to take the good with the bat. If it just, if it ever, thing was peaches and roses the whole time. They're not going to feel the peaches and roses,

right, without the darkness and the bad part of it. So it takes a while for people to understand this, but just that whole embracing the journey and the process, that's, and people are right when they say that. And the wise ones that's been there before and they're trying to tell people about embrace the journey. That's what it's really all about. It's true. It really is true in so many more ways than what. Well, like, so as we're sticking at this phase of your career right here, like if you, if let's say a young man is playing basketball right now or a young man is playing sports or a young girl's in a relationship, what advice would you give to someone who would say, I don't know, between the ages of 17 and 19 and making a big decision right now? Like,

what kind of advice would you give them? Sure. And that's such a broad question. I know, I know. It's a big brush. No, man. No, no, it's cool, though. I'll say for one, Like don't make any decisions whether you're really happy or really sad. Like if this is a very important decision, your mind needs to be very clear before weighing in which direction you want to go. And I'm sure people have heard this through social media, obviously, that when making decisions, you want to be pretty even keeled, right? You don't want to be way too happy or down in the dumps when you're making life decisions. So I would say that would be one most definitely to kind of clear. your emotions before making the right move properly. And just also understanding that there's going to be

a lot of turmoil and a lot of friction, a lot of tension when you want to do something different that's out of your norm, that whatever choice you're going to make that you're trying to change up or level up or something that you're trying to make better, there's going to be tension and friction along the way. So I think when you feel that that feeling of being uncomfortable, I think that's giving you a cue that you're on the right track in terms of growth. So, so I think the last thing I would want to say to is just this acronym that my coach has been telling me for years. This coach out here in Asia, he is like, he is like the Phil Jackson of the Philippines. This guy's got like 30 championships.

He knows what he's talking about. His name is Tim Cohn. But he tells this acronym to us to us players all the time. And he says, kiss. And what he means by that is just keep it simple, stupid. Like, as humans, we tend to complicate things so much more than they really are. And the more that we can just keep things a little bit more simple than than making them more complex, it makes life a lot easier.

And you'd be surprised by that, you know. Just keep it simple. Usually more times than not that you're able to find your way a lot better. That's a great point. I've often heard something similar, like get in your head, you're dead. You know, so many times we start thinking ourselves into oblivion, or we start thinking about all these possibilities. We end up way out on these tangents.

And next thing, you know, you've gotten so far away from the truth or from what is real or what's important. that you're just kind of out there. But if we pivot a little bit, so you're in Hawaii, what's the next step from Hawaii? So you're in Hawaii and how do you end up? What's the next step from Hawaii? Sure. So I was ideally just going to try to play professional ball in Europe.

Back then, 15, 20 years ago, there was no smartphones or GPS. And it was hard to look up information about other countries. like it. So for example, if I'm in the United States, it's going to be hard to do research about a professional league in the Philippines. It's just, it's just, the internet just was not built out that great back then. It was hardly any information. Sorry, my son and my mother-in-law's are you kidding? No problem at all, brother. No problem at all. I love it. You're okay? Yeah, yeah, of course you can. Don't worry. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, how's it?

Yeah, how's it? Congratulations, man. That's awesome. Yeah, thank you. Just no sleep. You know how that is. I know, man. I know the feeling.

But, yeah, to get back on track, I thought I was just going to play in Europe. And I had no idea that the Philippines even had a league to begin with. Did not know about it. So it was near the end of my junior year. A lot of scouts and coaches started coming to watch my kids. games and my practices. And they're all Filipino. And they were giving me the idea that, look, you can make some good money. You can play in our professional league that we have here. We even put you on the senior national team right away. And we think you're that good,

that you can immediately help us and try to help us win some games. And I didn't know how big of a decision that was going to be, I didn't even know, to be honest, that Philippines was crazy about basketball. So as soon as I finished with my studies in Hawaii, flew over to the Philippines, played on the national team right away, won a couple championships right away, and now it just seems like I blink three times, and now I'm in year 15, going for my 10th championship. And now I'm nearing the end of my career and I've got to pivot and reinvent myself all over again for life after being a professional athlete. So it's been crazy. It's been a really, really fun journey.

I'm still loving it. I'm still embracing it. But man, it's been a wild ride so far. What an exciting ride, though. You know, I'm always, it's such an inspiration to see people who are willing to take a chance on them. themselves and how well it pays off. You know, I think one of the hardest things people can do is truly believe they're capable of being the best they can be.

So many of us get into these spots where we start second guessing ourselves or maybe we have somebody in our lives that's kind of a downer or whatever, you know, and they start filling our head with these things. But it's an inspiration, man. I'm thankful to get to talk to you. And I think that any young man or woman or an older guy like me that's watching this can see what is possible if you're willing to do the work. If we jump back a little bit, like how much of a culture shock was that going from like Hawaii to the Philippines?

Like all of a sudden you're submerged in a whole other culture. That's got to be a pretty big two by four. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think, I think for one, like being in Hawaii for a little bit before going to the Philippines, dampened my culture shock if you're in the Philippines. Because for people that I don't know about the Philippine Islands, The Philippines wants to emulate everything about America. Philippines, Filipinos, they love America.

They love Americans. And when you come here, everyone speaks English, in Metro Manila, I'm speaking up, in the big cities. Everyone speaks English, all the food that you're accustomed to in America, they pretty much have it here. I'm talking about every single fast food, all the really nice restaurants is the exact same as the states. So that barrier of entry into the language, into the culture, it already emulates a lot of the states.

So it wasn't that hard. Now, don't get me wrong, it still was an adjustment. But it's a lot easier going here than going to Russia. And everyone speaks Russian. You got to eat Russian food. Way different. Way different experience. So coming here, it wasn't that bad.

I think the biggest adjustment was just getting used to being a public figure or a national icon and learning how to manage fame and glory and not chasing the wrong things in life. And that was a little bit of adjustment. But the Philippines, it was great. It was easy, easy, easy to adjust to. Okay. So that is fascinating to me. Like, it seems to me that, you know, the media is filled with people. In America, we seem to chase.

There's people that love fame. There's magazines and, you know, media everywhere. And it's probably very difficult to be an icon in your own country, let alone be an icon in your country and in another country. How do you balance, like, that sort of media attention, continuing to have a good work ethic and family and relationships? I mean, I think you can understand that you want to sit around yourself with good mentors, people who've been there before, so they can keep you down on earth when your head starts floating up into the sky, when you start feeling yourself. Because there will be moments that everyone loves you, everyone says yes to anything that you say.

And a lot of people love you and want your attention, but you just have to understand that can all go away so quick. based off decisions that you make. And I think keeping you on your toes that there's always work to be done, there's always progress to be made, is something that can keep you grounded for your day-to-day type of regiments, just keeping it really simple of, man, I just need to get 1% better today. That's it. That's it.

That's it. If I can get 1% better today than I was yesterday, good. And then I'll just do that, the same thing. the next day the next day. The more you can just keep yourself in this little world of having a routine, having good people around you, and blocking out all the other stuff that's noise. You know, social media, people making fun of you or or elating to your success. Because that stuff doesn't last. It's always, what have you done for me now? What have you done for me? Not what have you done for me lately.

if everyone's loving you right now, there's going to be a time when everyone hates you at one point, right? So just managing that from a distance because that's really not that important and just staying on top of what's important, which is your family members around you, your close friends that are important to you, and your routine, whatever your routine that may be, just build that out and just stick to that. and everything else kind of just falls in place. Yeah. You know what? In the beginning of her, when we started talking,

you told me about when you came to Hawaii, you had to make a very difficult decision, and it kind of changed your life. Did you have like a difficult or a life-changing decision that happened when you went to the Philippines? I mean, I had to learn how to be more of a man in terms of I am on, I am on my own. I am on my own.

Like, I don't have family here to fall back on. And every decision I'm making, I'm on my own with it. I can talk to people about it, but I'm the only one running my life out here. And it's as real as it comes. Yeah. And I had to figure that out as someone in their 20s, in their early 20s of just trying to surround yourself with the right people and how to speak up for yourself, how to protect your value. A lot of these things, you just had to kind of learn on the go or learn through mentorship. So it definitely shaped me into who I was today of all the trials and tribulations that I've come across from the beginning of my career to now.

So most definitely just learning how to be a man is really the biggest thing since I've been out here. You know, it's interesting to think about, too. you had mentioned that you have to surround yourself with good people, and sometimes people love you, and sometimes people dislike you. I think it's difficult for the average person to think about what it might be like to be a professional. Like, does a professional basketball player, are people mean to them?

Are they yell at you? Like, the answer is probably, of course. But the average person wouldn't think about those kind of pressures on you. Like, it's interesting, right? Right. It's very fascinating. People, and to tie, people see athletes. leads as entities sometimes and they don't treat us like real people that we have a family and we have

kids who look up to us and we're taking care of a grandma that has cancer or whatever it may be, right? Whatever it may be, but they don't see us like that sometimes. They just see us as these sports entities and we have no feelings and that they could say whatever they want to us because they're behind a keyboard or behind a phone and you see them and look at them in the face as they're trying to degrade us or say some negative things about us or our family. So it's hard for people to understand that because not many people get to be in the position that we're in as athletes, as professional athletes, as idols, if you will. So people talk that, oh, you're so lucky that you're famous.

There comes consequences and cons with being famous as well. So it just depends on your perspective, if you will, on if this is something that's really cool or really awesome or something that people don't really care too much about. It just really depends, right? Yeah, it seems like there would be lots of people that try to take advantage of you. Oh, most definitely. Most definitely. You don't know who's who's who most of the times. And that's, you know, a lot of the times people tell you.

just keep your inner circle as small as it can be because just everyone has ulterior motives not everyone is in your best interest though he will appear to be nice but really they'll have something else in mind and you can't control any of that you know you can't control any of that other than who you let into your world and and and that's really it you just got to be the gatekeeper to your own energy and and and and and just acknowledge and accept that that not everyone's out for your, you know, not everyone's on your side, if you will. Yeah, it's true. It's, you know, there's another parallel that I was thinking about.

Like, I drive a truck for a living and I work for a UPS. And sometimes, like, I look at this multinational corporation like, God, these guys just see me as a number, man. They don't understand how hard I work or they don't understand I've been here for 26 years. and you know sometimes I look at myself and don't laugh at me here but sometimes I look at myself as like an industrial athlete you know what I mean like I'm out there pounding the pavement and doing things and I'm curious if it on some level is it similar for people that play sports is it like a corporation that looks at you guys as numbers sometimes instead of actual people and you're constantly worried about your health absolutely absolutely we are we are just a number we are just I don't want to say we're cattle stock to them. But we are, they see us as assets. That's all we are to them.

Assets. And some are good, some are bad, some are interchangeable. And we're just a bunch of names on a piece of paper that these people get to shuffle around and change up because it's a hobby for them. Because this is just fun for them. Because they're really rich, right? They got a lot of money. Yeah. And this is wealthy.

And this is just fun for them. them to own a team. I'm not speaking about my bosses. I'm just saying a generality in sports. Sure. And yes, they as an athlete, your body is your job. So everything that you put into it is going to affect your play. Everything you eat or put into your mind is going to affect how you play, how you heal. And if you can't be healthy, you may not get a contractor. You may not get paid the money that you want. So as an athlete, you're always thinking about your body and your mind because that's what makes you the money. So understanding how the game works behind the game is important as an athlete. Just so the better you can see where these guys' minds are at about you help you make the right

decision in terms of how you want to treat yourself and how you want to go about this business part of sports. Yeah, it's a marathon, not a track meet. You know, you have to do what's right for you and your family as well as the organization and the coaches and your team. You know, it seems too, like it's such, you know, sports of all kinds seem to me that everyone focuses on working out and you have to. You have to be at the best peak of your physical, you have to be at your peak physical

abilities. But I think that it is all. also a huge part of being at your peak mental abilities, too. Are there some strategies that you use to kind of harmonize your mindset and your body? Yeah, most definitely. When you get to the pro sports, it's like 80% mental. Everyone is good physically. Everyone's fast.

Everyone practices a shit ton of their craft. Yeah, everyone is motivated. Everyone watches Kobe Bryant highlights and speech. about working out at the crack of dawn. Everyone does that part. I promise. All the good players that want to be good, they all put in the work. So how are you going to be any different from all these other guys who are just as motivated

as you are, waking up early and taking care of their body and lifting weights and shooting a thousand shots? We all do it. So the only thing that's going to separate you now is your mentality. How strong are you in the mind? mind, what games, what mental games are you going to play with your opponent to get him off his guard so that you can have that mental edge over him or her. There are definitely exercises you can put yourself through to increase your mental

toughness, if you will, in the sport. So whether that may be studying basketball film more than the others, or putting yourself through so much physical training that you can mentally put yourself in a different place while you're basically going through a lot of pain and suffering. Like I think that if I knew that I am going through more pain and suffering than my opponents, that that will give me more confidence that I can beat this person somehow, some way, right? So it really is the mental game that really everyone tries to focus on once you reach it to the professional level.

Yeah, it makes sense that the higher up the ladder you go, the more even out it is. And it kind of becomes a game of who wants it more, who, you know. I just read your last tweet too about, you know, it's Holy Week over there in the Philippines. And you're like, look, I'm working twice as hard. It's Holy Week, but I'm going to be out there shooting a lot of shots. What is Holy Week in the Philippines?

Oh, well, for our culture, we are very religious as, as, you know, Filipinos, Filipinas, we're very religious here. So every year, we have Holy Week, which gives us about 10 to 14 days where we disconnect. And we spend time with our families. We spend time at churches, retreats, masses, just to, you know, praise the Lord. and just give time away from our daily schedule of working usually. You know, people work so hard out here, long hours. And I think this time just kind of resets everyone and kind of fills their spiritual cup, if you will, to get right back at it.

So it's been going on for since forever. So it's just a part of our culture when we have this big break in between the year. Yeah, it's, so 14 years, nine-time champion and medalist, co-captain, like, what was it like to, like, you've obviously played all the roles that you can play as a professional. But now you find yourself as a co-captain. What does it like to become a captain and start becoming a mentor to some of the younger guys coming up? I mean, you take it as. a responsibility and a privilege right when people want to give you respect you know

first of all it's not given it's earned earned so and throughout my career in sports I don't know if it's just the way I was raised by my dad but through every level that I've been on I've always found myself by default being a leader or a captain of the team and I do wonder understand the constructs of being a leader. You know, you have to not only lead with your voice, but you have to lead by example. You usually have to have a higher sense of value and accountability than those below you. You have to also show them that you're just as much capable as doing the work than telling them to do the work.

And you usually have to be the one, the first one to arrive and the last one to leave type of mentality. not saying that that you do that all the time but just a generalization and and you know of course you have to perform you know in whatever role that you have you got to perform and perform it well and you have to do it for a long period of time to show some sort of consistency in terms of wanting to have people listen to you or to galvanize behind you or just to identify if you as their leader. So just in this situation right now that I'm in on this ball club, I'm not, it's nothing new to me, if you will. I've been doing it for such a long time. And at this stage in my career, I don't play that much anymore. So that's, it's pretty easy at

this point for me. I'm almost, I'm pretty much a coach. So even though I am on the active roster and I am playing, but I just give value when values needed to the younger guys. Just if they're, if they have a little situation in the game that I can see that they can, I'll tell them how they can be better and something that they can look at differently from the perspective that I see. But I think it doesn't seem very pressured to me to be a leader. It's just, I'm just being myself, if you will. And I find it, you know, like I was saying earlier, I find it a privilege when people want me to lead them. I don't take it for granted.

I don't think I'm better than people. I don't think like that at all. I'm just another piece of cog in the machine. And that's just my role. So I'm just trying to do that role the best that I can. That's all. Man, I wish the corporate leaders of America and the world will come and visit you to learn how to be a leader. There'll be some terrible leaders out there.

They don't have a better work ethic. They don't treat their employees better. You know what I mean? Like show up early, be the last one to leave. Easier said than done, right? I can say this real easily, but to do it consistently, you know, it takes a lot out of you. it's a lot of sacrifice away from your personal time. It's not easy, I would say, through actions to be a leader, if you will, right?

Yeah. It's not for everyone. That's for dang sure. Like, you just can't ask to be a leader and ask for respect. It just doesn't work like that. Yeah, it's like you said, I like the way you would put it. It's never, respect is never given. It's earned.

And, you know, you can tell who the leaders are, whether it's on. a court or whether it's on a battalion or whether it's in a workroom or something like that. You can see people gravitate towards those whom they respect. And that respect is something that's earned. It's respect through experience. It's respect through actions. And, you know, words are loud, but actions definitely speak louder than them. So a lot of people, they get to a point in their career and, you know, they start missing it a little bit. All of a sudden, they start getting little antsy. They start getting a little older. You know, Michael Jordan wants to come back and play for a different team or, you know, is, is, and I, like,

it's amazing to me. Like, I'm a big boxing fan. And I remember seeing some of the big box. You always see the heavyweight boxers come back and they, they come back and they fight. And like George Foreman comes back and he wins. You know, he beats these young kids. But is there ever, do you ever feel like that call back? Like, hey, coach, I'm ready.

Let me, you know, one. Let me show these kids a lesson right here. Do you ever get that call back? No, no, unfortunately not. I'm sorry to dampen your question. I think because for one, basketball is really for a young man's game. And there have been too many moments in my career, especially the past five years, where my mind wants to do something on the cord, but then my body won't follow.

Or I'll be guarding against a really young guy and he will really take me to school. And in my head, I'll just be like, man, I could have stopped this guy. How did I? Why did I what happened? And and that is happening way too far often. And that that is a direct cue to me that, okay, man, your time, you've had your time. It is not your time anymore. Just respectfully bow and let the next guy have his time. That's really all it's about, man, just acceptance. I mean, we've got to do that in life in general, you know, like life, death. It's a lot of acceptance, a lot of embracing. for what it is and what it's going to be.

So it's just a small part of acceptance there. That's all. Yeah. Like I like the term surrender. Not like surrender like you're quitting, but surrender to the idea of like, okay, it's time for me to chart a new course or the world's telling me something right now. It's a beautiful thing. It's hard to surrender, right?

Oh, for sure, especially for athletes who are alpha male, ultra-confident people. Naturally, that's, they wouldn't. be where they are if they weren't like that to begin with. So the tell a person that with that type of confidence about them to calm down and to stop, sometimes it doesn't click too often, right? So it is hard. It is an adjustment if you don't go about it the right way mentally. Yeah. It seems to me, though, like you found another, it seems to me there's a pattern in your life. And that one of those patterns is that you're constantly reinventing yourself. And all of a sudden, like I've seen these, this, this turn towards crypto, this turn towards e-sports and stuff

like that. Can you tell us a little bit about like what, like, I don't know which one you want to take first, but what is this new pivot all about for you? Well, um, well, I just understand that for one, as an athlete, I'm a depreciating asset. I'm not getting better. I'm getting worse. It's really quite logical if you ask me and that I do need to change and adapt. And in life, that's all we do in general. We're constantly changing as humans as we get older, learning new things, trying different stuff, if you will. So I knew that that was coming for me on my plate. And I just needed time that I can start putting towards that instead of basketball. And that moment came during the pandemic when everything stopped in the world. And now all of a sudden, I had a lot of time to

myself that I can focus my energy towards something else for once. So once I got back into finance and started getting into the groove and having some momentum of what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go and the information that I needed to learn, as soon as that kind of filled up into a space in my head, um, You know, two years or two, I guess fast forward two years from the pandemic to now. Man, I've done so much. I can't believe the amount of stuff I've built or I am building or that I am doing. And it's so fun.

And I'm having so much fun doing it. It feels like a sport in terms of me competing against the other person or having an effect on a community of people. Like, I love it. I love it. So sports and businesses, they are very much related in so many more ways than you would imagine. So I'm just taking all of the concepts that I've been learning in sports and utilizing in business. And it's been working so far. Yeah, this idea of making everyone around you better seems to be a recipe for living a life worth living, right? Anything that you apply yourself to. If you just be a service to others,

somehow, some way it does come back to you. I don't know when. There is no timeline of when that does come back. But the more you can be a service to others, good things happen. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I agree. It's, it's, I've been, I've been, let me throw this out here and see what you think.

I've been twain with this idea of like, everybody you meet is like a mirror. And like when, when you see somebody and like that person is kind of acting like a punk or something, like that person is kind of acting like a punk or something. Like that person, at least in my opinion, is showing me. Like, I recognize that thing. And I'm like, oh, this guy's being a punk because he's talking like that. But I'm the one who recognizes that. So in a weird way, he's showing me what I am. On the flip side of that, when I see someone that's super kind, like I recognize the kindness in them.

And the only way I could recognize the kindness or the punkness is because those two things exist in me. So I just wanted to throw it back to this idea of, you know, you when you see people out there realize that they are somewhat of a mirror image of you and if you're noticing bad people and bad things maybe that's a sign that you need to kind of check yourself a little bit what do you think is that too far out there no no no no I see that I see what you're saying that's very that's a really cool observation you would notice I think I think you're right in a lot of ways I don't I think if you see someone with body language of confidence, but they're really genuinely nice and they're really pushing off these good vibes.

It's going to be infectious. Yeah. And you can feel it too when that's happening, as opposed to you meet someone with their arms crossed and their hat is down. You can't see their eyes and they have a low tone and they're speaking to you with some discernment, disrespect, whatever it may be. It's going to keep you guarded, right? You might be a little guarded as you're speaking.

because and then that that's not every situation obviously um but i i see what you're saying and yeah there's a lot there's a lot to that i think um you know i i always push for this mission that i have towards people that like look man i want to show people that being kind will take you far in life and that i noticed that every person i'm always being kind to and spending good quality energy towards like everyone's always positive back towards me everyone i always get positive feedback oh you're so cool bro why you so nice and and it's just it's infectious it really is and it's such an easy thing to apply and and once you just kind of figure out it's really not about you you know these people that you can't affect or can control their energy or vibes and you're just on

your own wavelength man it makes life a lot simpler Yeah. You don't care of much, right? Yeah, it's a great point. I always wonder, like, so looking back at some of the milestones in your career and looking back and taking an honest look back at your life, Jared, the highs and the lows, the goods and the bads, looking back on your life, knowing everything you know now, would you have changed anything?

Oh, I think anyone that says no, they gotta be lying to themselves a little bit. There are so many moments that you wish the kids like, man, I wish I did that differently. Because I mean, that's the whole part of growing. You got to make a shit time of mistakes. Like I always felt that the wisest of the wise are people that have gone through hell or the darkness and came back. And like, I don't think the wisest people are the ones that have not risked anything in their lives or having gone through. any type of adversities. It's really the ones who've been through the shitter and came out

shining or figured something out and came out better for it. So I guess in one piece I would say, no, I don't regret it because I wouldn't be this person right now who I am if I didn't make all these mistakes down the line. Right. So it's like a two part because there's also part of me us is, man, there's a couple ones where I wish I could have back. You know? Yeah, of course. For sure, most definitely. But ultimately, I'm grateful for those mistakes that I did make because it did,

it made me into a stronger person or it made me realize some things that I need to be more mature about or it made me, whatever it did to me, it definitely helped me grow as a person or as a human being for sure. Is that like would you consider that kind of like a mindset you take through life like it's it almost sounds like it's a test and we're being tested all the time and whether there's no rule failing there's only learning is that is that a mindset that you use all the time I tell it to my kids all the time just like I embrace failure like like I love to see you fail and it sounds like a terrible thing to tell your kids and without any context it sounds so negative but If you can see the bigger picture, and of course, there's some context behind it of why I want you to fail, you can understand the beauty of it on how it does mold you and shape you into a better, whatever it may be that you're trying to strive to be better at. So I've noticed that the more that I failed as something that I ultimately would get better at it eventually.

And I mean, with my kids these days, I always give the best example of like, look, when you first started Minecraft as a kid you didn't know how to build anything that's it was very complicated you didn't know the buttons you didn't know how to make a house or a castle but given some time and energy and practice look at you now and and you know they're amazing you know they can do all these things with minecraft and i'm like look it's the same thing in life in the beginning you're gonna you're gonna fail a shit ton of times on your face because you didn't you haven't done it before it would be weirder if you all of a sudden was amazing at something the moment you picked it up that would be crazy but that doesn't happen um so so for sure failing is like that is my motto i want you to fail it does it does like without any context it sounds odd but it's so true it's so true i mean imagine if people

gave up tying their shoe the first time or walking the first time you know what mean like no one would have walked or tie their shoe. It's crazy. Oh, shit. Sorry. I just got out. Text from the wife. Oh.

A second. Thank you sure everything's okay here. I know the feeling. You know the feeling. Yeah. My fault. My fault. Yes, dear.

I think if I apologize if we could wrap this up. Of course, man. You know what? You've been gracious with your time. And I just want to, is there, before I let you go, where can people find you? What do you got coming up and what are you excited about? Sure. First and foremost, everyone, sorry, cut this short.

I have a newborn. So she is my priority right now. I have to, happy wife, happy life. But back to this. You know, everyone I, across all my social medias, I go by my name here that you can see on the left part of the screen. Jay Daredevil too. That was my nickname here as a basketball player. And you can find me on any one of the platforms. I'm on all of them. I've been building myself as a finance person here in the crypto, NFT, stocks type of industry. I do have a CNN show that's coming out that I will be hosting.

So I'm really excited about that. It's called Creating the Future. I hope you guys tune into that should be some fun. But other than that, if you guys want to hit me up, reach out to me. I'm always a message or a DM away, and I'll try to hit you guys back. But George, I really appreciate your time. I love talking about myself. Obviously, you are a very good, gracious host. So thank you for your time and energy about this.

The pleasure's all mine. You've got a big game coming up against T&T, it looks like, in about a week or so. Best of luck. All your links are going to be in the show notes. Everybody who's watching this, if you're from who, Hawaii. This is the guy right here. Let's support them. And if you're listening to watching you, just reach out to Jay. He's an amazing guy. He's a dad. He's a pro. He's an awesome guy. He's one of us. And he's got a great mindset. I hope you learned some today. That's all we got for today.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your time. Aloha. All right. All right. Cool. Thanks.