Mentorship with Dwayne Taylor

Dustin Steffey: 0:00

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Jaden Norvell: 0:53

This is the best stop for entrepreneurship in self development talk hosted by the doctor himself Dr. Dustin Steffey co hosted by entrepreneur and sports talk host, Jayden rush Norville, this is choppin with Fire.

Dustin Steffey: 1:31

Today's episode is going to be awesome. We are joined with a guest one of my closest friends, Dwayne Taylor, Dwayne, how are you, buddy?

Dwayne Taylor: 1:40

I'm good. It's good to be here this morning on this Sunday morning. Looking forward to talking with two of the best in the business. Dustin and Jaden. Let's do it.

Jaden Norvell: 1:49

Yeah, so currently, guys, we've raised over $500, you guys do an amazing. If you want to donate cystic fibrosis, what it is, is a terminal lung disease that affects the lung capacity of its victim. It makes it hard to breathe makes you feel like you're going climbing uphill, but you're breathing through a straw. My mom's actually had this disease my whole life. So I'm doing my part and giving back you guys can donate cff.org backslash donate really easy type of name doesn't matter the amount, you can donate $1.50 Or you can donate $100,000 It really is up to you guys. So we appreciate all the support tab nation and we love the great job you guys are doing. Yeah, and

Dustin Steffey: 2:25

add to that we appreciate everything that you guys have done thus far, we will have a link up on our Facebook page as well, to donate straight to the site. Keep doing what you guys are doing because it's working. Absolutely.

Jaden Norvell: 2:37

So appreciate it too.

Dustin Steffey: 2:39

So today we are going to have a discussion on mentorship and we're gonna dive into Dwayne's world a little bit his path and journey, what he does, how he attributes self development, personal development to where he is today. And I think I think it's gonna be a fun conversation.

Dwayne Taylor: 2:58

Yeah, but I think there's a lot. There's a meeting of the minds taking place right now. And I think we're going to just share all our own experiences and best practices that we hope, you know, someone out there is listening and can incorporate into their, into their lives. So yeah, let's let's get started.

Dustin Steffey: 3:14

Yep, that's what it's all about. So let's dive straight in. Dwayne, how about you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?

Dwayne Taylor: 3:21

Yeah, man, I've got got a pretty thick, I would like to say unique story and background just real quick. I'm from California, I was a college football player played football at New Mexico State where I had some success. I was a four year starter, set numerous records. And I played in the Canadian Football League apple. So I did that for 667 years. And during that time, you know, I always knew I wanted to, you know, further my education, I had a bachelor's degree. But I wanted to build on that. And I knew that as a player, I didn't necessarily want to become a coach, and I didn't want to be a trainer. So I needed to have some type of skill set that would allow me to work in a more traditional line of work outside of being an athlete. So my first thing was to be a general manager. So with that, I knew there was a certain level of business skills that I needed business acumen. And so I looked into enrolling in grad school to get my MBA, which is where I met Dustin. And this was part of this was like, the real start of the journey, like I was transitioning from, you know, being a player into, you know, the next phase of my life. And, you know, that in itself was a was a difficult time, but at the same time, it was exciting, because I had chance to you to set a goal, which was, you know, become something beyond the football player and, you know, wanted to be a general manager, as I mentioned, started on that path didn't actually get there. But I did get into being a I was a scout and I used a lot of those experiences along with that. Education to me in my current role as a facilities manager at the University of California, San Francisco. So there's a lot that happened within there. But that's kind of the start in where we're at presently.

Dustin Steffey: 5:12

I'm sure we'll dive into filling in the blanks throughout this episode. So thank you for that. Absolutely. Dive in diving in. As you're aware, our podcast is about entrepreneurship and personal development, what does personal development mean to you, buddy?

Dwayne Taylor: 5:32

Personal Development is awesome. To me, it means, you know, understanding who you are. And then understanding where you want to go and identify the, the, I don't want to say deficiencies, but the skills that are going to be required to take you from today to tomorrow. And self development is everything that comes that's along that continuum. So for me, in my story, it was about establishing a new set of skills, and knowledge that was going to help me in my pursuit of, of my pursuit beyond football. And so, um, you know, I think it's taking time to, to learn about who you are what you want, and figure out creating a plan to go attain it, and it could be something small, it can be learning how to, it can be increasing your vocabulary by 10 words, right? Over the course of a month, you know, how are you going to go about doing that? Well, let's see, you'd have to create a plan. And so I think self development is truly about setting goals, and creating plans, and a path for you to attain them and get there. And I think that's what self development is really all about. It's, it's really goal setting. But you can only go set when you have, when you understand where you're trying to go, right. You can't do it if you don't know where you want to go. Because then you're just moving aimlessly, without any real purpose. But the goal setting is what gives you the purpose. And at that point, you can decide how you're going to get wherever you're trying to go. So hopefully, that wasn't too long of a answer. But, you know, it's, you know, that's kind of how I see things. You know, I

Dustin Steffey: 7:16

think it was a great answer. I think everybody, everybody has a different perspective. And it's always fun, especially for Jaden and I, when we interview different people, and we kind of get into their mind a little bit in their world, and it helps us to be better. I mean, I know it shaped myself. For Jaden, I know, he's, he's learned quite a bit to with all the different people that we've spoken with.

Dwayne Taylor: 7:42

Absolutely. Yeah, you know, and as we think of like, self development or personal development, I just think about, like, when I played football, right, you know, you're like, damn, I want to, I can only lift, you know, 250 pounds, I want to get up to 300. You know, you're like, how do I get there? You know, what do I got to do. And so you start thinking about, Well, maybe if I do more curls, you know, I can get my biceps stronger. Maybe if I do more Skoda raises, I can get my shoulder stronger, and that that might help me get, you know, get out, get up beyond 300 pounds, and you might talk to the strength coach, you're gonna talk to some of your buddies who maybe are lifting a ton of moving, moving real weight. But what you'll come to realize is like, Okay, I know where I'm trying to go, I just need to figure out how to get there. And you're going to start looking at all the different hard work, all the different exercises, all the different lifts, you can you can undertake to get to your goal. And I think that's, you know, that's part of the development process. It's not, it's not something that's done, like, in isolation, there's a lot of different pieces that have to come into play as part of like your Cynthia self development journey, right? There's a lot of things that make up that experience. And, you know, it's really, it's really exciting. I mean, the journey is what's probably the most fulfilling, you know, the end result is one thing, but the journey to get there as what makes the whole time special. And, you know, that's, I mean, as athletes, you know, we we are definitely well aware of like all the different trials and tribulations with accomplishing goals. And, you know, that's, that's something that's really shaped me as a professional, you know,

Dustin Steffey: 9:33

athletes are, in my opinion, a perfect example of personal development, all these women and men, that are athletes that are trying to better themselves. They are the definition of self development and personal development because of everything that they go through to get to that next level whether it be little kids I mean, they're learning at a young age to be able to develop themselves are grown adults like Gus, I mean, that's what makes it really fun. And I think that's why a lot of people in our society today when they watch sports, they aspire to be an athlete, because athletes are setting the bar in the standard to that next level.

Dwayne Taylor: 10:15

Yeah, no, I agree. Athletes, you know, we're unique, we're special. And a lot of times people aspire to do the things that we do. And a lot of times, they come very easy for us. It's not like, it's difficult. But I think one of the things people really admire about athletes, and I'll speak from like, a workplace perspective is that, like, we really like, are like, go getters, so to speak, like we really, like, once we have a vision, we can channel that focus, and we really go hard to attack it and get it, you know, and it doesn't matter necessarily how successful you were on the field, meaning that you had all these accomplishments, you were the, you know, number one player there. It's just something different about us. You know, no matter where you were on the team you're standing is just like, the athlete is just going to be resilient. They're gonna be persistent. And when things look bleak, they don't usually waver, they just kind of just stay the course like, nah, this is what I set out to do. And I'm gonna get it done, by all means. And I think that's why people enjoy being around athletes is just like, our whole like, outlook on the on life, really, you know? So yeah, that's, you know, we're special man, we're a different breed. And I'm not saying that, from a cocky perspective, I'm just saying that, from my experience, being an athlete, and then just working next to athletes being involved with athletes, you know, it's, it's just something different about us.

Dustin Steffey: 11:44

Biggest key point that I took from that is the discipline, and the ability to be able to really train at that high level, and you said it perfectly right. With, even in the business world, a lot of these companies like hiring athletes, not only for the competitiveness, and how competitive we are, but the drive and motivation that athletes bring to the table. I mean, I see a lot of athletes going into sales jobs, because of the competition and the competitiveness.

Dwayne Taylor: 12:19

Yeah, I think you're right, because and a lot of times, like, I want people to understand that competitiveness is not saying, Oh, I'm competing against Dustin or Jaden, it's the competition with yourself, right? It's the competition to say, you know, I'm not gonna let myself I've got a certain standard that I stick to my internal constitution won't allow me to go out there and give 50% effort on a job that's going to require 100%. Right. And people understand that about athletes. You know, we don't, a lot of times athlete doesn't cut corners and is not going to, you know, from the coach's talk, take plays off, they're going to come in, and they're going to be consistent in what they deliver it from an effort basis on a day to day basis. And that is what, that's the discipline, you know, if the standard is whatever the standard is, that athlete is going to make sure like he or she meets that standard and those expectations day to day, and really in sports, you know, you go to practice, you're judged every day, you know, the coaches are gonna go in, and they're gonna watch the film on practice or the game. Every day, you're gonna watch it amongst your peers, and they're gonna tell you, Oh, Dwayne, you didn't drop to the right zone. Oh, Dwayne, you didn't go to the right gap, or Dustin, that's the wrong drop. You did that yesterday, you did it the day before it, what's going on? And so we kind of get ingrained to understand that, well, look, I can't, I can't not know my responsibilities, I can't let these people down. I've got to be the best at what I'm supposed to do. And a lot of times we translate that into, like, you know, our lives away from the sport, you know, and that's one of the things you know, and I and I heard this from a former employer, you know, that's what they loved about athletes, like, there's not any one task that you don't believe you can accomplish. And that not being cocky, is just kind of like your approach to the work. Like, if we have clear direction, we can get it done. And it's infectious sometime too, right? Because other people see it, they're like, wow, you know, Dustin or J man, they, they just, they just methodical, they just get things done. They just accomplish tasks, you know, regardless of all the outside noise, they can stay focused and get things done. And, you know, that's, that's one of the things I've taken away from sport, you know, is the informal lessons and like, goal planning and goal setting and reaching these accomplishments that I've set forth for myself? And so I operate like that, and I'm sure other athletes are doing the same things. Maybe not as deliberate as I am, but they might, they might actually have that set. kind of like mentality and thought process when they're when they're engaged in any activity. Right? This is just kind of who we are. It's innate to us.

Jaden Norvell: 15:11

I think it kind of the word is work ethic, right? I mean, listen to the guys. And would you guys talk about his work ethic in athletes have that built in? And through years of practice and ridicule, right? They have that get up at 5am. Every day, they've been doing it since they were little. So any test, like you said, is just a piece of cake. Because you have that work ethic that was instilled in you through sports. That's the reason why sports is an elective in high school, elementary school and through college is because it's important, we had a great episode about goal setting is probably one of my favorite episodes. And we talked about, like you said, having that play, and being able to, to get things done and why sports is so important. And everybody should play sports because it has a depth chart, right? There's a guy who's first and there's a guy whose last and your amount of work sometimes talent work out with our does tout sometimes, right, and you see that a lot in a depth chart. And I think it really prepares you for life and gives you that competitive drive because life is like a depth chart, bro. There's a there's a boss top and then there's a janitor, nine man janitor, there's the intern at the bottom right or whatever you want to say. But you got to work outwork the guys around you and the guys above you to really move up. And it's the same in sports. So I think that's kind of where you guys are getting out with with the work ethic of stuff.

Dwayne Taylor: 16:34

Absolutely. I mean, it's, that's exactly it. Like you said, in your in your, in your assessment, like, Hey, you got the boss and they've got the intern. You know, the interns gotta gotta be able to work. If he was he or she wants to get up there to the boss. You know, it's not gonna come easy. You're not just gonna get there because you've been there, right? You've got to work, you might have to figure out how you're gonna get up there. You know? Like, what's it gonna take? You know, they might not tell you, you just kind of got to figure it out.

Jaden Norvell: 17:05

They're not gonna tell you because they have a job.

Dwayne Taylor: 17:11

I remember man. Sorry to cut you off Jaden. So I had when I was in the Canadian Football League, right? I went to a, I was a new player. I had been in the league already. But I was going to a new team and incumbent playing my position. And it was day two, right? We had installed a bunch of plays. And I was like, damn, and he played same position to me. I was like, Hey, what are we supposed to do on such and such play? Now? He had been on the team, like, five or six years, right? He's like, Oh, man, oh, no, oh, no. I'm like, Oh, you don't know, you've been here five or six years. But it goes back to what you just said, like their interns? Like, well, I'm at the bottom, how do I get to the top? Nobody's gonna tell you, you kind of just got to figure out what it's gonna take. So that's where like, the work ethic comes in, right? Like, what are you gonna do? How are you gonna figure it out? You know, you might have to study, outside of practice, or outside of your work hours, just to get to the point, get to the place you want to go. And so, you know, that was, you know, that was an experience, I had playing sports, right? Same way as saying that they that post scenario plays out in the workplace, whether you work at a bank or radio station, you're in education, the sooner

Jaden Norvell: 18:27

you can recognize that for our listeners that are still maybe in college and still, you know, in that world, the sooner you recognize that and you kind of look at things through that lens, the more successful you'll be, you know, cuz again, talent. There's always guys that are smart, right? You got the kids who are millionaires, you know, 18, right. But hard work can can out beat talent. Um, a lot of times, I mean, you know, especially in football, you know, Dwayne was an undersized linebacker, right. But he got into into he worked hard. And he was a four year starter because he figured out his niche was I can cover like a safety from the linebacker position. And when you run the spread offense with case you don't know what that is, it's when you pass the ball a lot. That's really speed kills. So hard work and finding your, your niche, almost where you fit in. And whatever you do is really important. And you'll be successful if you just realize that nobody has to help you at all,

Dwayne Taylor: 19:30

right? Nobody's gonna nobody is has to do anything. Right. So that's why a lot of times we have to do things. You know, you always hear people talk about like, entrepreneurial spirit or entrepreneurial approach, you know, really what they're saying is like, you're in business for yourself, and you're gonna have to develop and design everything, you know. And so that's, that's how we have to approach most situations, you know, and do things the enterprising way We might not have, you know, somebody to hold our hand and show us like, Okay, you need to do X, Y and Z, you might have to figure it out on their own. And that's okay, that's fine. As long as we know, going into the situation, it might be like that, we won't be caught off guard when when the when the when the environment is dictating that those circumstances to us. So

Jaden Norvell: 20:21

now is the easiest time ever to do me and does not finish the easiest time ever. Because what you don't know you can just Google. Right? What do I help you? But Google's free? Yeah, go go. Oh, my, just a quick little search. Anything you have any question? You have the internet, it's amazing. And it really opens the doors to a lot of things. But it also means like we talked about earlier, you know, in the sports world, you know, I'm taught 200 podcasts, but it's not easy because of the internet. And because people have access, anybody can do it, you know, really got to be a lot of my athlete, right? And I come from that background where I don't take no for an answer. And I, I hustle hard. And I play hard. But you know, we, you got to? Yes. It's it's a funny thing that sports plays a big part in our lives, even after the field in ways that I don't even realize until I sit here and really think about it. Am I yeah, I kind of it kind of does prepare you for life. More than school doesn't in some ways. I mean,

Dustin Steffey: 21:29

Im okay with the school is not teaching entrepreneurship right now, because that's the whole point of us and our podcast, we're trying to help others not only go through a journey, but we're giving them door three, right. So door one, historically has been go to school, get your education, go find the best job that you can in the field that you studied, and move up from there. That's door one, door two, as we discussed last week, with Grayson anything his go to school, maybe you're not meant to go to college. So you find a trade that you like, you get really good in that trade, and you make money that way. And then you have door number three, which is my favorite door, I am not a fan of chasing other people's dreams, Dwayne knows this, from getting to know me and my masters, Jaden, you know this as being my business partner. At the end of the day, I'm going to chase my own dream, and create my own success, because I want to be in control of my own destiny. And that is, what most athletes are, is in control of what they can control in order to be great at what they want to be. And so that's store three for us. So chasing your own dreams, develop yourself, learn something from others, read books, listen to podcasts, understand what others are doing, learn from their mistakes, so you can move forward, maybe you create your own mistakes, and then you move forward from those, but at the end of the day, it's all about upscaling yourself. And that's a perfect transition, I think into mentorship, which I think Dwayne, you're, you're a good poster child of mentorship. I think you mentor a lot of people. Plus, you're also a scout plus everything that you've been through with your journey. So what are your thoughts on mentorship?

Dwayne Taylor: 23:25

Oh, man, I think mentorship is, you know, it's really, it's, it's really a blessing to have a mentor, particularly one that can help you move to the next phase, and whatever your goals are, like, um, I've had, you know, a couple mentors, and the mentors might be, it could be someone who comes into your life for a brief period of time, I'm saying like, three weeks, three months, three years, right? It doesn't have to be like a set amount of time. That could be somebody who gives you sage advice, you know, and talks to you about whatever might be near and dear to your heart. And I know for me, you know, I had, I seek out information from a lot of different sources. And one I can think of right now with my current job I'm in right now. Um, I had a mentor. He wasn't an athlete like us at a high level, but he's into like, you know, Jujitsu, right. And that was kind of like his thing. And he gives back and he teaches it to kids. But I used to talk to him about, you know, what he thought about my career aspirations, and I dove I dove deep into it with him. And he gave me a lot of insight on things I should do from like, what kind of certifications I should be looking at pursuing? What kind of a you know, extra, what kind of work experiences I should be looking for on the job. And these were all helpful because I didn't know Right? So he's helped me in more ways than he probably knows, to get to the point I'm at today, and he was a mentor. And this was not somebody I had a long standing relationship with. It's not a family member. It was just somebody I met on a job On a previous job, right, and without his assistance, you know, I might not, it might have taken me longer to get to where I'm at today. Right. But by having him, he was able to help me God navigate some of the challenges of, you know, of the work world and of, you know, the life's transitions. So yeah, so I think mentors are extremely helpful. And I know, for me personally, like, you know, I do some, I do some scouting with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. And I talk to the players sometimes, you know, after we have workouts, you know, they'll ask like, hey, what do I need to work on? You know, I'm 27 years old, do you think I should be continuing to try to play ball? I mean, these are the questions I have. So at this point, I've transitioned from being a scout, to kind of providing counsel and like insights into like, what I think might be best for them. And that's like the mentor, right? You given it by someone who's seeking it out. And that's, that's what mentors doing, sometimes you can stick with them longer than just a informal conversation. So, um, you know, I think, you know, mentor mentors are critically important to our own development and success. So if you can somehow find a mentor, I would say, do it. And it's not showing that you are inadequate, or aren't competent. Everybody has mentors, you've got the CEO of Amazon has a mentor, I'm sure. So I'm 110% in support of people having mentors, and mentors, as well. So

Dustin Steffey: 26:38

I agree, I think that there's there's two different facets, right, you have the mentor mentee relationship, and then you have the mentee to mentor relationship. And I think, to get full perspective, you got to be able to do both.

Dwayne Taylor: 26:54

Absolutely. Absolutely. I think to be to be a good mentor, after I've been a mentee, you know, and, you know, I think they just go hand in hand, and there's got to be a willingness to give back, right? I don't think we should be so narcissistic, that we can do it all on our own, without anyone's help and support. And at the same time, we shouldn't be someone that's unwilling to give our our attention, our support, and share our experiences with those who are seeking it out. You know, I just, I think we should be more more open with that. And

Jaden Norvell: 27:28

the people who succeed the most are the people who asked for help, you know, as as destined for a lot of a lot of Hell, yeah, people ask, you don't ask for help, you're not really getting get, you'll get where you want to go. It just might take you longer. Right, good. No, you don't want to ask, and that's, some people struggle with that, you know, I kind of want to ask you this question. Have you ever had a bad mentor,

Dwayne Taylor: 27:54

a bad mentor, uh, I can't say I've had a bad mentor. But what I can say is that you mentioned it earlier, like, now we've got so much access to information, like with Google YouTube. If I did receive information that I questioned from somebody that I trusted, or how I was looking to have as a mentor, I could do a quick Google search and see what Google has to say. Right? So, I mean, in all honesty, I haven't necessarily I can't say definitively that I've had a bad mentor. But I think you do at the same time, have to be cautious and be discriminant on what you allow into your mind. And will you spend time with you know, because you kind of take on, you know, the the qualities and the traits of the people you spend the most time with? So, you know, with that being said, if I'm looking for a mentor, you know, I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna make sure that there's someone who, you know, I not only respect but like I am, you know, almost admire in a way some of like, what they what they stand for. And then at that point, you know, I'm gonna, you know, see if I can go ahead and cultivate, you know, the mint, the mentorship with them, so, but no, I haven't had a bad mentor, but I'm sure they're out there because not everybody's got the best intentions for you. You know?

Jaden Norvell: 29:12

Yeah, I've been thinking about this the whole time. It's just totally off topic. But Matt master Miyagi we all know. Right? That mentor would be the Cobra Kai instructor right the other dude is don't want maybe envy you a little bit want to be one mold you and how they mold you it's very important. I like like Dwayne said you pick your friends very wisely because like those saying you are who you hang out with, you know, and that's it's very true and if you don't think it's true, go try it bro. And just kill you're gonna be back like there

Dwayne Taylor: 29:50

Yeah, man you Right on man. Like, you really have to, you know be like, judicious and really watch who you spend your time with man. Just like You know, whatever your dating preference, you know, you don't want to date somebody who doesn't support you is always arguing with you, you know, to say, with a mentor, you know, you need to get somebody who's gonna, you know, support you and you know, share your vision of your own future, you know, and

Jaden Norvell: 30:17

man is stronger woman, that's usually how it goes. All these guys that you see are successful, because they have their partner, that's half their team, you know? And, you know, we're for our younger listeners, you never really got to worry about that right now.

Dwayne Taylor: 30:34

Go ahead, finish school, or whatever it is you do it,

Jaden Norvell: 30:37

do you want to do it? Yeah. and gain some, just like mentors can come from our peers, too, right. And I think that's my sports and you know, as much as fraternities, right, and your classmates are very, very important to get around people and get out of the house and make friends good or bad. You learned something from either way, you know, and, and that helps you eventually become a mentor to somebody else. It we're, I think we're kind of a special kind of mentor, right? Because we don't necessarily see the people that we impact, right? We see comments and stuff, but me and us, and we don't actually see all you guys right now. So it's I don't, it's a special kind of relationship when you get to talk to people, but you don't really, you don't know the impact of it. But you can kind of see it in, in, you know, the success of the podcast.

Dustin Steffey: 31:30

So I have a couple of things that I've been stewing on with this conversation. So I'll take it one at a time, right? First, in a world where information is readily available. Not all that information that's readily available is accurate. And so as I'm thinking about this, yes, you both are right, we can Google search, and get information. But if you don't know what information you're trying to find, like, there's, there's wrong and Miss information in there. And I think we do a very good job here, of trying to provide the most accurate information we can for the people that we're trying to help upskill. So I just want to remind everyone, first and foremost, like, while information is readily available, and we do have Google, not all of it is accurate. And so you have to be able to vet that out and be able to have an understanding to be able to vet out what's right and what isn't. So that that's kind of the first thing that I have. Secondly, when we're talking about mentorship, relationships, I've had plenty of mentors, I've had really great mentors, and I've had not so great mentors. And usually what separates the not so great ones from the great ones, is their ability to be able to mold to who they're trying to mentor and being able to create success based off of building a relationship. So the most integral part of my mentorship relationships is building that relationship first and foremost, and then you can move forward. Yeah. And then the third thing that I've kind of been stewing on a little bit with are comment with respect to our conversation, it goes back to what Jaden brought up with Mr. Miyagi, Miyagi versus Cobra Kai. He, he spoke by saying one was the right way, and one was probably not a conventional way to learn. But I have a different perspective of that. Because when you look at it, there, there, of course, is a right and a wrong way. However, you can take the good out of what the wrong way is, because there are still some lessons to learn and apply that to be able to move forward. So I look at that relationship, but based off of that show differently, right. I look at it as Yes, I I gravitate towards Mr. Miyagi. But I also gravitate towards some of the key concepts within the Cobra Kai portion to that you can integrate in with that to be even greater and create your own path. And that's the whole point of our podcasts. That's the whole point of us as humans is to create and pave our own path. Yes, we can put a roadmap for success up and you can follow it to the tee if you want, but I don't want you to follow it to the tee because I don't want you to be the same as us. I want you all to create your own path and be better than us.

Jaden Norvell: 34:50

Yeah, what did you think about? So do what do you think about this new age? He said, The fake news right? And all this misinformation? So being a podcast, what do you think? What type of mentorship is that, like, it's just, it's different, right? Like, it's a new thing, it's a new thing. And it's kind of new to the world, we've always had radio, right. But now we have, you know, these podcasts that people listen to religiously and, and follow, like you said, we don't want to follow it to a tee, but it's gonna help Steven, your self development journey, I think it's special that with so much information in the role, if you can weed out the bad stuff, there's really a lot of good information out there that can help you succeed.

Dwayne Taylor: 35:36

You know, I think, you know, when, when, when we're looking at, like, all the different information that's out there, yes, there is a lot out there is a lot of misinformation out there. And really, whatever information or news you want, or whatever thought process or beliefs that you have, you can find it online. So you can find detailed information on anything. So I think it really boils down to, you know, sifting through all the minutiae and trying to be as wise in the information that you're receiving, and you're gonna take in as possible. Because there's so much out there, I mean, previous in previously, I mean, you go back 20 years, you don't have to go back 20 years, you know, you didn't have, Google wasn't as pervasive as massive as it is now. Right? I remember back to when I was a kid, if you wanted to find, if you wanted to do a research project, you had to have like, a, you had to have an encyclopedia, you had to have access to the library, you know, there was there were limited sources for the information you wanted. So the information could really be like channeled to one, there was one like central theme, right, you didn't have all these like, now you have all these alternate views on any topic. Whereas that just wasn't the case. 25 years ago, you know, now, and with the podcast, everybody has a has a forum to discuss issues that are near and dear to them. And so with that, you know, somebody can be easily influenced as well. So there's a lot of potential problem that could arise from all the access, we have to information. And you really need to be someone who is like I said before, like really discriminate on what you allow into your mind and what you're spending your attention on. So it's kind of just a really unique time we're in right now. And, you know, there's good and bad, but you have to make sure the information that you're you're you're searching for, is aligned with who you are as a person. And that could be from a digital source. So that could be from someone you'd seek out as a mentor, or someone that you, you know, are looking to call to bait some type of relationship with. So

Dustin Steffey: 38:03

when I look at everything that we've discussed, so far, I look at it as I'm a very analytical person. So with numbers, you can manipulate data, however you want, okay? So I can take a number set that has favorable and less than favorable numbers, and I can manipulate them to whatever story I want to tell. So if I transition that into readily available information, like Dwayne was saying, you can find whatever you're looking for, and manipulate the story according to how you want to manipulate it. At the end of the day here, chopping fire, what we would like to do and what we do pretty well, in my opinion, is we go out and do the research for everyone and try to provide the most relevant information that we can Are we right? that's up for debate, because everybody has a different perspective. But I know at the end of the day, we're providing something that I can stand behind. And that's what it's about. So when I talk about going out and finding information, and when I talk about doing research, yeah, you can find whatever you're looking for, but you got to kind of figure out what story you're trying to tell and then find the information that tells that story the best.

Dwayne Taylor: 39:27

Absolutely.

Jaden Norvell: 39:31

and it's almost like a mentor itself, you know, with so much information, it's getting to be that point. I mean, I remember I moved nine times, Dwayne Dustin knows the story, but I'll stay in there, you know. And the kid the the love story, you guys heard this before, you know, not knowing anybody right at lunch, right? And so I googled, how do you make friends and it told me it was like, Hey, if you ask a kid in your class right before lunch, if you could sit with them at lunch than it solves a problem, right. And I use Google a lot of the times as a mentor to, to figure things out when it comes to social stuff. You know, even with women, I went on a date last night is Google just to refresh? I was like, tips to have a good day. Right? And I got some conversation topics now. Okay, yeah, well ask her these things. And if you can use it, when it's supposed to be used for, then it's good. But like you said, when 20 years ago, this wasn't a thing. And I was, do you guys are older than me, but I was right on that my mom did let me how I didn't have electronics, I was about 14 years old. So I grew up old school, right, going to the library, you know, playing outside doing all these things. And it's really kind of like a trial period now for this new generation is, how is this gonna affect them? As a mentor? Almost right? Because we've never seen this much information be readily accessible anybody before?

Dwayne Taylor: 40:53

Yeah, it's a different time. And, you know, there's no, there's not a lot of regulations to the internet, you know, so, you know, nothing, nothing is, there's really no barriers to what someone can post, like, the content is almost, with the exception of like some really egregious things. And I don't need to mention what those are. But, you know, there's really, there's a lot out there. And I think, knowing that, it helps to have gone back to what we were saying, like a mentor that you can, you can trust someone that you confide in, and you can really trust the things they're saying, because we have family members, we have parents, and that's awesome. You know, the parents are generally, you know, the mentors, and they're the ones who kind of help mold us to who we are, because we're in their environment, you know, at least between the ages of one and 18, you know, on a regular basis, but then there are all those other resources that we use. And Jay, you mentioned it earlier. A mentor doesn't have to be someone that's 20 3040 years older than you, it could be your peer, right? They could be some laying off like information, you know, or they just always seem to have good advice and wisdom that you wouldn't expect out of, you know, someone that's, you know, your contemporaries. So, you know, I think, um, you know, we just really, like it's really surrounding yourself with good people, and using the mentor to help you help you create, like a roadmap to accomplish your goals. And I mean, goal setting is something that, you know, I really, I'm really like interested in, I'm always looking to hear how other people set goals for themselves, and what's their process of going through it to accomplish it. So, you know, I can't, I'm not the host, but I'm kind of posing that question to Jaden and Dustin, because you guys are doing great things for this podcast. And I'm just wondering, like, how do you guys what's your, how do you plan for it? Like, that's the that's the goal, though, it might be short term, right? from episode to episode, you know, for the next three months of episodes, like, you guys have a system that you use, and that's, you know, I think that's, you know, people like myself, you know, I might take a little bit of that and put it into my own life, how I how I roll. So, you know, um, you know, I think that's, that's something that, you know, I like to hear about and I'm sure you guys have a lot of experience with that. That's the best part

Dustin Steffey: 43:11

of this is Jaden and I are complete and total polar opposites when it comes to planning. Yeah, so on one end of the spectrum, you have a person that is just, I plan the last six months out and I have this I have like 500 million questions and this and that and everything else. And then the other end of the spectrum, you have the methodology are the you have the person that's not the person you have the person that is chronologically like putting things together and putting the pieces in place. And when we combined our strengths together, it creates a final product that is amazing in my in my humble opinion, I can't be too narcissistic today, but I feel that Jaden and I just click on similar levels and different levels and it makes it work for are planning some of these planning sessions are really funny like between Jaden and I, I laugh every time like one one time will be like off the cuff. The next time we'll plan like weeks in advance. And then another time we're like the complete opposite and we still make it work but at the end of the day the strategy sessions and the planning is it's real fun.

Jaden Norvell: 44:36

We taught you got to be consistent we talk every day we we keep each other updated on you go I'm the guy looks ahead. Okay, I plan I for end zone for my sports Podcast. I'm on a six month schedule right now that I'll reassess here in a couple months to add another six months for the season, but I already had the whole year planned. And that makes it easy for me because then I can get months ahead on interviews. I have time to do my spawn stuff I my gaming channel and, and my superhero podcast handle I'm trying to start so it doesn't like the guy who's like, Okay, you got the plan, but you know, there's 800 steps here that lead up to it and it works. I feel like, like you said earlier, Dwayne, when we first started, you said, you gotta have a plan, right? And we touched on that, and our, you know, our goals and our goals episode, is you got to have a plan, right? You have a six month plan Great. Would you also got to be adaptable? And do like, Dustin doesn't go through it. Right. And, and you don't have to know everything, we didn't know anything. And it's kind of crazy even asking us because we don't even you know, we didn't know everything. When we started, you know, we, we kind of go with the flow, but we haven't, we have a template of how it goes. And I feel like if you have a plan, and you start it with consistency and effort, things will fall into place, and then you'll understand it. Goal setting is awesome. I love it. I love the idea of it. I when I was 15 through 22, I wrote on my whiteboard that I want to be millionaire by 30. And I looked at it every day. And that's just kind of that's my goal is I want to be a millionaire, right. So I do things to get towards that goal. And I think I kind of want to ask you, how do you? How do you go set with your career? You know, I liked your story, kind of fill in your story a little bit on how you got to your position, like you told us earlier and what it took to kind of get there? Yeah,

Dwayne Taylor: 46:33

um, you know, it's funny, you mentioned that you, you you, you have a whiteboard, and you wrote on there, I want to be a millionaire by 30. Because I kind of do, I do something similar. I don't have a whiteboard, I'm not that I'm not that fancy. But I do have a notepad, right. And I will write down like, all the different things I want to accomplish in the year. Some of them don't take 12 months to accomplish, it could be something similar. Something like I want to read 30 minutes a day, right? So that's, that's a goal of mine, you know, I want to exercise my mind just as much as I do go into the gym to lift weights or go jogging, right? I want to work my mind in that way. So that's something that I put on my goal, my list of goals for the year, right? And then I have others that are more like, say, I want to pay off a credit card, you know, in six months? Wow, what am I steps gonna be to get to that point? What do I have to do? The balance is, let's say $1,000? How do I pay that off? In six months? What do I gotta do? Like, how do I how do I get to that point? So I have this list of goals that I look at it every day, every morning, I get up and every time every whenever I come home at the end of the day, I'm looking at that, and I'm you know, strategizing on what kind of progress Am I making with accomplishing everything on this sheet? And I think the best part about it is looking at it after a year, and seeing how many things I crossed off the list or put a check next to like, oh, yeah, I did that. I think that's the best part of it. And I use that same process, really, when I was making my transition from being like a professional athlete into working like a regular job, you know, because I had to, I had to establish a new set of skills, which I started with the idea the year I was injured from a with a with a tricep injury in 2007, I made the decision that I was going to go, I was going to get my MBA. And then from there, I knew I was going to have the tools to be able to transition out of being a football player into like a regular job because I knew there was going to be times people will say, Oh, he's a football player, you know, he can't do XYZ can't work in a bank can't work. In a hospital, he can't work in an academic institution, the only way he can work an academic institution is he's a coach, he's a trainer. And I didn't want that, you know, so I knew I had to establish a new set of skills that was gonna cause me to become someone that I currently wasn't right. I had to learn a new, I had to get a business degree, you know, I had to get these experiences under my belt, I had to increase my vocabulary. So I knew I had to read more often. I had to, you know, speak with a different vernacular, I guess that's what they say. So I had to become someone that I hadn't been, you know what I mean? And that, that goal setting, you know, and that's, that is what helped me get to where I'm at today. Because during that process, you know, I started to see things differently. I started to see what other opportunities will be out there that would be benefited by the skills and experiences I had. Like as a facilities manager, I'm really part of a team, right? I have there's a lot of different people I work with, whether it might be engineers, painters, carpenters, custodians, and we all have the same vision and mission. And that's to make sure the building the building operates in the in the fashion that it's supposed to. So the people working in there can do the work they need to so it's kind of like Being on a football team, right? You know, you're gonna, you've got the offensive guard offensive tackle the running back the receivers, they're all working together with the same goal of getting a first down and then a touchdown. And so somebody's got to help facilitate every move that is made. I do that as a facilities manager. So we have a graffiti on the side of the building. Okay, well, I've got to work with the painters to go out there and get that clear that get that paint removed. But first of all, we got to buy the right paint. So I got to figure out, Okay, what's the right paint, we need to purchase? Hey, Jaden, we got to paint that we should use this paint, because that's gonna, you know, we'll be able to cover up the the graffiti without the issue. And let me know when you're done. So they go out there. They make it happen, right? I mean, it's been now it's not a sports team. But we're working collectively to accomplish a goal, right. And the goal is,

Jaden Norvell: 50:56

I want to, I want to say something, yeah, it's important that you like the analogy, getting the first out of the touchdown. But when you go set, you don't want to put a cap on your goal, there's no football team that goes, Okay, we're gonna get a first down and then score one touchdown, like, that's the goal. No, there's no end, there's so many instances you want, you don't go into the game in, you know, I'm only gonna score once. In a same thing life, when you go set, you got to just have a for this podcast, I have no expectations of how far it will go. I don't put a cap on that. Because there's no you shouldn't put a cap on your goals at all. And, and I think that's the way that you achieve them is when you don't put a cap or you don't put an end goal up, it's a lot easier to, to achieve it. In my opinion. I mean, I'm always been a kid that does the, even when my mom was little, I do chores, and she'd she'd put them on a paper and with the little box and I've checked them off. And I do the same thing now. It's about getting those little things done. versus putting a end goal up, this just makes it a lot more stressful, especially with sports, too.

Dwayne Taylor: 52:06

I think I think you've got a point. I think, with that analogy, I think it's about its consistency, right? If you're consistent, and meeting what every goal is somewhat different. But in football, if you can consistently accumulate first downs, right? You know, the outcome change? Yeah, oh, you're gonna get to the end zone, you know, and if you can kept keep replicating that same system, you can you can start to predict the outcomes. Right. And I think that's the the consistency leads to efficiency and effectiveness. And I think that's too

Jaden Norvell: 52:45

I mean, we've done together the bits and pieces, right, but we got three or four more coming out that are in production. But now that we've done this one, we're gonna we know how that we know, the template, we know how to get the first round. You know, you score?

Dwayne Taylor: 53:01

Absolutely, I mean, I think that right, there is the essence of the goal setting, right? You got the consistency, you've got the efficiency, and it's effective. And if your podcast is effective, you can continue to grow it. Like you said, there's no cap on it, there's no ceiling now. You just, it's just growing. And because

Jaden Norvell: 53:22

I had this saying that I've been using I came up I'm pretty proud of myself for this time plus consistency equals success. And that's like he said, If the more time you're gonna be just gonna hit on once or twice, I mean, everybody, Gamble's gets gets paid eventually, you know, just don't gamble. But I'm just saying like, Man,

Dwayne Taylor: 53:50

I mean, goes back to like, look, we're sitting here talking about how to be successful, you know, running a podcast, I'm telling you about success as a facilities manager. And it's amazing. And it's really beautiful, that we can still tie it back into like, sports. And like, you know, just examples of like, first downs. And, you know, it's there's just more similarities into like, what we experienced as athletes. Then there is dissimilarities within the workplace in, you know, more traditional settings. And I think that's what a lot of people fail to realize who haven't been, who haven't, you know, done the things we've done putting on cleats, shoulder pads, you know, they wouldn't necessarily know but I think

Jaden Norvell: 54:32

I've done I've done the opposite to I've acted in play in high school and email on the chess club. It's the same thing for any team thing and you're in play. You play rehearsals every week. You memorize scenes, you get through it scene by scene, and that anyway, oh, we just did it. Right. Yeah, it's the same thing with chess, right? You do move by movement, and I would

Dustin Steffey: 54:57

it's safe to say that there's a lot of Common themes that we can apply where our experience have been into other experiences. So like, even in a relationship, right with a man and a woman, I can tie football to it. Yeah, I'm gonna score first down with you. Yeah, baby. I mean, there's, there's so much that you can tie together, it's, again, it goes back to perspective. And to close everything out, I want to come full circle. So we discussed a lot of key important things. And I just want to zone it in in one brief synopsis. So one thing that we did discuss was consistency, consistency is key. And that's important. We discussed how to find information and the difference between finding misinformation versus finding information that really paints the story that you're trying to tell. And we discussed mentorship, and the importance of finding that key person or people, I mean, multiple people, I've had multiple mentors lane you have and Jaden has as well, that helped define who you are, and moving forward and push that needle forward. So I just kind of want to make sure that those key themes are, are briefly touched on which we did. And moving forward, I'd like to also give you a platform, Dwayne, if people are inclined to get ahold of you, what's the best way to get ahold of you? Probably not a phone number.

Dwayne Taylor: 56:35

No, but you can find me on LinkedIn under Dwayne Taylor is my name. You can contact me there, that's probably the best way.

Dustin Steffey: 56:44

Perfect, and you'll also have a link on our website as well, too. He's gonna He's gonna make sure that we can post that up on the website, so that way, if you guys related with him, or want to just have a conversation with him about sports, he's really good at talking about sports or anything. As far as mentorship, I'll reach out.

Jaden Norvell: 57:04

Yeah, but yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Facilities Managers.

Dwayne Taylor: 57:10

Yeah. Yes. A lot of a lot of us out there. So this probably the

Jaden Norvell: 57:15

Are you a Giants fan yet since you're in the Bay.

Dwayne Taylor: 57:21

I'm an Oakland A's fan, baby.

Jaden Norvell: 57:26

I lived in Oakland for a little bit. That was the first game I went to was eighth game, but I'm a I'm a Dodgers fan. So I'm still in the area, but we're a superior team. But it's

Dustin Steffey: 57:37

well, you know what, you know what Dwayne as of today like Jaden is no longer my partner.

Jaden Norvell: 57:42

Oh, wow. Are you, Are you a Giants fan?

Dustin Steffey: 57:45

I am a Giants fan. I hate the dodgers!

Jaden Norvell: 57:49

we're opposites. I don't know what's wrong with this kid.

Dwayne Taylor: 57:52

And look why is there so much I don't know why the Giants and Dodgers are just like

Jaden Norvell: 57:59

nobody likes the Giants

Dustin Steffey: 58:03

it's not even a it's not even the Giants to the Dodgers, but the Giants to the Padres to I hate the Padres as well. Who who?

Dwayne Taylor: 58:13

Do they still have a team?

Dustin Steffey: 58:15

Not not anymore. What? Hey, thank goodness that's one wild dare you. How dare you? How dare you? That's an insult right there!. Are you serious?

Jaden Norvell: 58:31

The reason we don't like each other is because we both know the other teams good. We're actually tied for road series pennants right now. That's why they don't like each other. If they're like.

Dustin Steffey: 58:42

hey, just this year only until the Giants win it this year, so it's okay.

Jaden Norvell: 58:47

Stop the cap bro. Stop the cap.

Dustin Steffey: 58:53

Anyway, let's let's close it out. So today was a great episode. I enjoyed this conversation. I really enjoyed all talking with my body for sure and really enjoyed kind of the key concepts that came out of it. Ah, closing out. We love to be able to communicate with our listeners. So please find us on any one of our social media friends. on Facebook. It's at chopping with fire. On Twitter, it's at chopping fire. On LinkedIn, it's at chopping with fire. On Instagram. It's at CHOP With fire, and then we do have a website as well, www dot choppin with fire.com. That's where all the podcasts are house. And we are excited to announce that we did just open up and release our Patreon. And how our Patreon is gonna work is any donations that we received from our listeners, we're going to give back a portion of that to cystic fibrosis and Boys and Girls Club. So we're looking at really trying to make an impact and a footprint with our podcast not only developing ourselves, and helping each other develop, helping others within the community as well.

Jaden Norvell: 1:00:42

Yeah, that'd be awesome. Yeah, we've raised almost, I think over Yeah, over $500 So you guys are doing great. We appreciate all the love and support for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Again, you guys can donate to our Patreon or you can donate directly to them@cff.org backslash donate. Anyway, thanks again for coming on brother and Dwayne will be on my my first podcast we're gonna talk about the Canadian Football League, which I don't know anything. I'm super excited for that one. That's gonna be super cool. So you guys, you guys want to hear more from Dwayne he'll be on end zone podcast. It's www.nzonepodcast.com.

Dustin Steffey: 1:01:19

has to try to find a way to make sure end zone makes

Jaden Norvell: 1:01:22

it gots to

Dustin Steffey: 1:01:25

thank you guys for your time. Thank you Dwayne for being on with us and we will see you all next week.

Dwayne Taylor: 1:01:32

thanks for having me. Hope you guys enjoy the rest of the rest of the day and you know we'll talk again soon

Dustin Steffey: 1:01:54

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