WEBVTT - Pivoting, with Cedric Thompson Jr. 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:06.559 Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:13.800 Good Morning, This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.479 Today's episode is going to be a longer one part 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.960 of the series where I interview fascinating people about how 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:23.919 they take their days from great to awesome and any 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:27.120 advice they have for the rest of us. So today, 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:30.040 I'm delighted to welcome Cedric Thompson to the show. Cedric 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:34.199 has pivoted from a career in professional football to content creation, 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:37.879 sharing his videos on family life on social media with 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:39.000 millions of people. 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:40.640 So Cedric, welcome to the show. 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:42.960 Hey, Laura, thank you so much for having me. 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:45.159 Yeah, so, why don't you tell our listeners just a 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:47.280 little bit about you the quick bio? 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:50.240 Okay, well, my name is Cedric. A lot of people 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:53.680 call me said, I'm emerging from California and I moved 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:55.760 out to Minnesota because they got a Flora scholarships. Played 0:00:55.760 --> 0:01:00.720 football out here. I met my then girlfriend freshman year, 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:03.240 who is now my wife, and we have three daughters, 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.440 three beautiful daughters. I was drafted to the NFL and 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:08.680 twenty thirteen. Played for a few years, and now I 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:12.080 transitioned over to doing full time content and I share. 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:18.920 There's my perspective on fatherhood and family and marriage and 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:21.959 self development, and I really enjoy what I do. 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:26.240 Yeah, well, I love that you've made this career pivot. 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:29.440 A lot of people have to make pivots in life. 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:31.480 But obvious, say, football isn't the kind of thing that 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:35.199 people can do forever. You know, our bodies won't won't 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:39.040 allow that. But so I'm curious how you decided what 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.560 you were going to pivot to and what that process 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:42.039 was like. 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:45.399 So it's interesting. That's a great question, and we can go. 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:48.440 Man, we can talk for hours on that, I'm sure. 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:51.720 So I'm from California, like I said, but I'm from 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.520 the inner city. I was born in Englewood, raised in content, 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:57.120 like moved around and like sports were something that we 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.720 were put into, like essentially stay out of trouble. And 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:03.240 I just happened to be athletic and I enjoyed being 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:05.200 a captain, and I just kind of kept doing it 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.120 and it worked. It obviously worked out for me, but 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:11.919 it wasn't. My goal was never to go to the NFL. 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:13.800 I didn't really understand what that really was. It was 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:16.080 just to work hard and being around my teammates, and 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:18.000 I loved the community aspect of being on a team. 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:20.160 It wasn't until my junior year when I was in 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:23.040 college where NFL scouts will come to see the juniors 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:24.880 and they realized, oh, this guy has potential, and I 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:27.160 was like, oh, I got potential. Okay, cool, I guess 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:29.440 the next thing is the NFL. So then I went 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:31.880 to the NFL, worked really hard to got drafted. Only 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.320 is like zero point one person that people get drafted. 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:36.480 And when I got to the NFL, that's when I 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:38.040 realized that, Oh, I did what I wanted to do. 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:39.639 And when I got there, I was just like, ah, 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:42.840 this doesn't feel like me, you know, like it just 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:45.360 feels like I'm kind of living in a dream that 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:48.880 a lot of my period growing up said that we 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:50.480 were supposed to do. When I got there, I saw 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:53.880 how political it was, how it was all about money 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:56.880 and status and not really the camaraderie of being around 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:01.760 the team a team, you know, And I kept playing 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:03.800 for a couple of years when I didn't want to play, 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:05.480 I just kept doing it because it was kind of 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:08.440 all that I knew and part of pivoting from it 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:12.280 was scary. My last team I was with was with 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:15.680 the Cincinnati Bengals, and I ended up getting hurt. And 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:19.160 when I got hurt, my first daughter was born too, 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:23.280 got around two weeks before I was injured, and then 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:25.919 I got hurt. Was able to come back to Minneapolis 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:28.480 and raise her the first seven months of her life, 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.079 and I was like, I'm done, Like, I just want 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.359 to do this, so my daughter, long as you're gonna 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:35.720 say my daughter, I was just like, I just wanted 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:40.360 to be a dad and just raise my babies. Yeah. 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.080 And so then you decided to make videos. 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:45.640 About it, yeah I did, oh so yeah. So when 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.200 I was aimed. When I was playing, I was with 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.880 the Patriots at one point and I got cut from 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.640 the team. I was like, oh, this can be over 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:56.920 with at any point. So I was let me just 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:59.280 figure out what else I wanted to do, and because 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:01.240 football was all I ever did, and I was like, 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:03.880 let me just pick up a camera and start recording 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:05.600 videos and to see what happens. That a lot of 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:09.040 it was for me to just distract myself from not 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.400 knowing that I wasn't playing outside of training, and I 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:14.280 told myself when I got online, I'm here to be 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:18.880 myself and tell my story from my perspective, because news 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:22.000 blogs or sports analyst always told people and I never 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:25.279 said it from my own perspective. And then I started 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:28.520 making videos on YouTube and that just did really well 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:30.760 in the beginning because I always was really authentic, which 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:34.120 is like a rare thing online for whatever reason. And yeah, 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:35.159 I've been doing it ever since. 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:36.120 That's awesome. 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.799 Yeah, well, people definitely flock to these videos. They've been very, 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:44.200 very popular. So we got to talk to each other 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:46.000 a little bit before this. I got to do a 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:50.240 Cedric's podcast. We talked about how when you were playing football, 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:53.280 schedule was very very set. I wonder if you could 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:56.040 just tell people, like what a day in the life 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:57.480 of NFL. 0:04:58.880 --> 0:04:59.839 Training look. 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.640 Yeah, yeah, So you wake up and it's around like, 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:04.400 you know, six and nine every morning, and when you 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:07.120 go in, you don't have to worry about anything because 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:09.800 everything is taken care of. So you walk in and 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.120 there's monitors everywhere and from you're there from you know, six, 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:15.000 seven in the morning till about eight at night, and 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:19.920 every single minute and I'm not over exaggerating, every single minute. 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.200 And I told you on my pack on my podcast, 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.280 you get in there, it's seven fifteen, seven thirty five, 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:30.039 check in, seveno forty to eight fifteen, meeting one, eight 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:33.719 twenty to eight to nine o'clock, Lift one. And it 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:37.080 just goes like that the entire time. And that's really it. 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:38.479 So you don't really have time. You don't have to 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.320 worry about anything. That's the simplest way to put it. 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:43.880 Somebody all the food's made for you. You walk in 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:46.080 up to practice of smoothies right there they have but 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:49.080 your your beat, juice, everything that's just done for you. You 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:51.440 got to just show up and perform and be ready 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:52.560 to work. 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:57.599 Yeah, and that's different from your life now, I think, yeah, yeah, 0:05:58.160 --> 0:05:59.680 So what is your schedule looking like now? 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.520 They say, nobody's handing you a smoothie at a fifteen am. 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:06.280 Nobody hands me a smoothie. Nobody likes making by meals 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:08.360 for me. Nobody's telling me I need to work out. 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:11.200 There's no consequences if I don't get I'm on time. 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:13.680 Like everything is all on me. Everything is all on me. 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:16.520 It's not on somebody else making a schedule or meal 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:17.920 plan or smoothie or whatever. 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:21.040 But you've had to figure out then a schedule that 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.000 works for you and I one of the things I 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:25.040 understand from your videos is you actually do get up 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:27.120 pretty early in the morning. Is that right, Okay, tell 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:28.720 us a little bit about your morning routine. 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:30.599 So yeah, so I get up early in the morning, 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:33.400 and you know, depending on what I'm working on, I'm 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.520 really into self development, and for me, self development means 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.720 understanding like where I came from and the thing that 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:42.360 I learned from my parents and the way that I 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:45.080 was brought up and challenging those things to figure out 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.040 what it is that I actually truly want to hold 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.480 onto and something that to let go and like build 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:52.120 new skills to be a better husband, to be a 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.560 better father, and to be a better person. So most 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:55.880 of the time, I get up early in the morning, 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:57.760 and I had a set of questions that I ask myself, 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:02.240 and I break it down by marriage, it's faith, self 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:06.520 and relationships, and I separate family from that relationship with 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:08.920 friends and stuff, and I write about it and I 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.880 kind of have a goal in mind that I want 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:17.600 to be thinking about actively doing in those relationships. Actually, 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:20.600 I have a sauna in the could hub at my house, 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:22.560 and depending on the day and the weather, I'll get 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:24.400 in there if I'm feel like it I feel like 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.360 and if I don't, I won't and then after that 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:29.960 it's pretty much my well that's that's my morning routine. 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:33.160 Yeah, and then the rest of the day is sort 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.120 of split with running your business. You're doing content creation, 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:39.480 representing brands and and fatherhood. I'm curious how you sort 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:41.080 of make those different pieces fit together. 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:45.080 Well, I'll plan on Friday, that's the first thing. 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:47.600 That's a good idea. 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.280 Yeah, this is great. So what I do is like 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:53.880 I think of my life kind of in pillars. So 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:55.960 in every pillar there's X amount of things that I 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.080 need to do, and some have more priorities, some that 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.880 I don't have others and minds have a deadline. I 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:05.280 will put that thing first, because typically if there's a deadline, 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:07.800 something bad will happen if I don't get it done. 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:10.880 And to me, it's really that simple. It's like deadlines. 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:12.800 Get those in there, what do I want to do? 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.960 Put those in there, and then that's it. And it's 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.280 so funny that I'm explaining it's so simply now. It 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:20.600 was not like that in the beginning. It was really 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:21.360 difficult in. 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:24.840 The chaotic at the beginning. Yeah, yeah, well that's true. 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:27.360 It could happen. We're going to take one quick ad 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:36.040 break and then we will be back. Well, I am 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:39.640 back with Cedric Thompson, who is sharing about his schedule, 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:43.320 how he has pivoted from a career in football to 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:47.280 an in content creation, talking about how he balances running 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:49.080 his business with time with family. 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:51.679 So I have to I'm very curious. 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:53.719 You know, when you put lots of videos out in 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:57.920 the world, sometimes you get reactions you thought you'd get. 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:00.719 Sometimes you get reactions you really didn't think you I'm 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:02.600 curious if you have any videos you put out there 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:04.439 that you were just like, I did not see that coming. 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:08.720 Oh yeah, I mean, what take your choice. Man. It's 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:12.560 like when you like with my content, I'm sharing things 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:14.520 that I'm really going through and doing my best to 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:18.120 articulate it in sixty seconds. Nothing takes sixty seconds to 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:21.439 really explain. So I might say something that comes off 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:25.240 in a way that isn't necessarily what I mean, and 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:27.480 I could have articulated better. But that's part of the reps. 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:32.200 In the practice, I made a video about helping my 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:34.880 wife like clean the house, right, and what I was 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:37.480 trying to say was that we have a lot going 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:39.520 on the house is a mess. I'm going to just 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:41.920 clean the whole thing for the both of us, and 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:45.080 people took it as if I were saying, like, my 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:47.600 wife ain't doing nothing, I'm cleaning house. I'm like, that 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:52.280 is not what I'm saying. What I'm saying, so yeah, 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:54.640 and then people just said they just they just came 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:57.320 after me. I was like, my bad, Like that was 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:59.080 not what I was saying, and that happens a lot, 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:01.520 and like, you know, I can't the message is going 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:03.160 to be for everybody. In the fact of the matter 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:05.000 is everybody couldn't say something. You know, what I mean 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:07.479 is just the name of the game. But it happens 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:09.160 more times than I was like. 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:11.920 Well, I find I feel like people on the internet 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:15.600 are looking to be offended about something. I like, I 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:17.880 mean one of your videos that I was sort of 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:22.040 amazed at the response. I guess you had been parenting 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:24.400 solo for a week or something while your your wife 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:27.760 was out of the country, and people there was a 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:28.880 mix like some people. 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:29.600 Were like, oh, this is great. 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:31.640 You know, he's taking a nice video about how he's 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:34.160 he could run the household while while his wife is away, 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.280 and then others were like, why are you acting like you, 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:39.800 you know, saved the world by taking care of your 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:40.720 own kids for a week. 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:43.160 Yeah, yeah, yeah, And that was another video that I 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:46.040 was going to mention. It's like when I posted that. 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:48.160 When I was making I was like, I know exactly 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:49.560 what's going to happen. I was like, this video's going 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:52.360 to do well because you know, you don't really see 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.360 fathers doing this. But it's also be another of my 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:57.720 wife's gone. I'm like, oh, I got no choice. I 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:00.800 gotta do this, Whereas, like honest with you, I could 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:03.240 have help, but I genuinely wanted to do this because 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:06.559 my wife always expresses me mental load and I never 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:08.640 could really understand it. So I was like, you know 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.240 what you're going for ten days, I'm about to just 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:13.240 do this for myself. I want to help you your mom. 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:14.599 I don't want to help you nobody. I want to 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:16.559 help with a schedule. I just want to do it 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:18.320 by like day one and a half. 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:22.400 I was like, all right, because your mom busy. 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:28.400 Yeah yeah, and then just like powering through to finish it. 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:31.400 It gave me this new respect for my wife and 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:33.360 the things he tried to explain to me to give 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.080 me to understand for a long time, and for me, 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:37.920 I'm somebody I want to kind of like put myself 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:40.760 in people's shoes so I can't have empathy and understand 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.120 that like that's what happens. I mean, I've been doing 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:44.680 that about my life is through sports, you know. 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.280 Yeah, well, let's talk a little bit about that about 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:49.520 you know, empathy and communication because one of the things 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:51.200 you do talk a lot about it is about trying 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:53.839 to communicate well yeah, with the people in your life. 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:57.440 And I'm curious, you know how how that's been as 0:11:57.480 --> 0:11:59.960 it's developed in your life, Like where you think you've 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:01.559 learned communication skills? 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:02.880 Are the ones you're still working on? 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:05.959 Oh man, that's a really good question. I had a 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:08.400 really long talk with about managers today this about communication 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:12.960 because it's so it's so fascinating because I have this 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:18.240 idea that like I realized that, you know, there's one word, right, 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:23.160 let's call the word love. People kind of have their 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:25.120 own definition of love than the one that's in the 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:28.200 Webster's dictionary. And when you realize that, it's like, that's 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:30.800 why communicating is so important to understand. Okay, where are 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:33.120 we at? Like what are we saying? You know what 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:34.680 I mean, and you almost have to come up with 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:38.480 your own definitions within this word or this topic or 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.559 this whatever. And what I've learned is that you have 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:46.640 to really become a good listener one and you kind 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:48.600 of I mean not kind of. You have to take 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:51.920 emotion out of it most of the time, and just 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.160 being able to listen for words, listen and take words 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:57.480 for what they are and almost try to understand each 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:01.160 word that your partner, or your child, or your friend 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:03.200 or the person down the street who's upset because you 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:06.840 cut them off or whatever are saying. And from that 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:11.040 not being emotional, you're able to really understand the root 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.000 of what people actually want and then you get to 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:16.320 choose if you want to give that to them or 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:19.679 Now that's the that's like the and that's for every relationship, 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:22.200 me and my wife, me and my kids, my friends, 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:24.800 people online, it's like, oh, I understand what they're saying, 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:28.120 but it's okay, Well, but how do you. 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:30.600 I mean, that's that's easier said than done, because how 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:32.720 do you take I mean, it is very hard to 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:35.520 take the emotion out of it. Of your your neighbors mad, 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.840 like you're you're you don't want to jump in to defend. 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:39.920 Yourself for something, you know. 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:43.520 How is there a process you have for kind of 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:45.200 calming yourself down in these moments. 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:51.480 So I've tried, Like I've read a book called non 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:55.280 Violent Communication, and it talked about how you basically have 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:59.240 to become a good listener and understand what people actually 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:01.720 want to be honest with you. The only way that 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:05.600 you really get good at it is by putting yourself 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.480 out there to have conversations. Because my problem was I'll 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.080 be somebody who just shut down, and I had to 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:12.800 learn how to not shut it down and give myself 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:17.439 the chance to be able to give myself the opportunity 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.800 to communicate with someone. Like I said, in the morning, 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:22.080 I get up and I write questions. I'm focusing on 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:24.920 how to be a better communicator in those questions, and 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:28.120 I'm being intentional about I want to be warmer towards 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.360 my wife today, and that in itself supposed to me 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.320 look at her through a different lens, and I can 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.440 ignore that the house is dirty or that like we're 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:39.600 tired or whatever, because I'm choosing to look at her 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.280 and a lens of warmth and she's my wife and 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.480 I love her. Et cetera, et cetera. I really feel, 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:49.120 just from my experience that you don't It's easier said 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:52.360 than done, but you really get good at it by 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.760 giving yourself the opportunity to have those tough conversations or 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:59.480 to even just start a conversation about something I have 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:01.240 no idea that made Yeah, it did it. 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:03.600 It makes sense. And I'm curious. 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:05.680 I mean, your kids are still pretty little, right, They're 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:11.400 they're into yes, but I'm kind of curious, like how 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:15.320 you think about spending time with your kids and like 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:17.640 what are your favorite things you like to do with 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:20.040 your kids in the course of your regular schedule. 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:22.440 I mean, I mean, I'm such like, like, what do 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:24.200 you guys want to do? And like, let's try to 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:26.280 make it happen. But my kids are in a lot 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:28.520 of sports, they are in a lot of activities, so 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:31.120 they are always are busy, and most of the time 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:32.680 I know that they kind of have like, you know, 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:35.520 busy lives because we keep them busy. Most of the time. 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:37.320 I'm just trying to wind down with them and figure 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:39.920 out what they want to do. Like anytime, like we 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:41.760 went to California last week, I'm like, what do you 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:44.160 want to do? What's going on? We want to do nothing? Okay, 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:46.360 like let's not let's not do anything. So for me, 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:48.760 it's more about like what what do they want to do? 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:51.440 And then if I've had like if I have things 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:54.040 that I want them to do, then we'll make plans 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:56.840 to make it happen. Like uh yeah, That's how I 0:15:56.880 --> 0:16:00.360 approach parentsing with my kids. Because to be honest with you, 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:04.280 my wife is really big on like camp ten minute soccer, softball, 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:04.880 rock camp. 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:10.280 I'm like, all right, you're the chill parent. You're like 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.720 the sit around on the couch par Yeah. 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:14.640 Yeah, yeah, it's like I want to go outside and 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:16.280 go to the park. All right, let's do it. 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:16.960 Let's do it. 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:18.600 All right, Well, we're going to take one more quick 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:20.520 ad break and then we'll be back with more with 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:31.000 Cedric Thompson. So I am curious obviously, you know anyone 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:34.760 who's had a career in professional athletics that's been a 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:37.760 major part of their life obviously their physical fitness, and 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:41.240 then you're adjusting to life afterwards where where no one's 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:45.040 requiring you to do anything. What is your exercise routine 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.000 looking like now? And where do where do you make 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:48.200 space for that? In your life. 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:51.040 Well, I think the first thing is realizing that I 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:53.560 did not have to work out howard I want to play. 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:55.600 That was the first thing, is like I was out 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:58.440 like running crazy sprints, like I'm going to like go 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:00.480 out there and like tackle people again. So it was 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:02.880 for so for a long time. I had to learn like, hey, 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.880 you can just jaw like it's all right, you don't 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:07.720 have to like sprint around the lake, you know what 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:10.360 I mean. So that was the first thing, and now 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:14.040 it's really it took it took a lot of research 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:17.119 for me to realize what it actually takes to just 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.120 live have a healthy life and a healthy body, you know. 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:23.040 So now it's gone to two to three times a 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:27.359 week of like I would say, like string you with things, 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:29.280 you know, like lift like I don't wait anyone. I 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:30.920 didn't want to such a waiting my life again because 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:33.040 that's all I ever did. So like I'll do like 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:35.560 calistemics where it's like pull ups, push ups and stuff 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:38.720 like that. Not a runner don't like running, so I 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:42.840 don't run. So my cardiovasplas evers like sauna. It's like 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:44.720 the closest that I'll get and I'll try to jog. 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:46.840 We have a I'll ride by a lake. I'll try 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:49.600 to drag around the lake sometimes if only I'm invited, 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:51.200 I won't go out there by myself. 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.159 You're putting it in a different a different place in 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:58.040 your life. You spend a lot of time on it earlier. 0:17:58.080 --> 0:17:59.880 If you spend a little less time on it now, 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:02.480 how do you I'm curious how you see your business 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:06.800 developing over the next few years? Is your you know, 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:09.000 get all these people watching your videos? Where do you 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:10.320 see this this going? 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:13.439 Well? Now, you know, for a long time, I've just 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:16.119 been expressing how I felt, and I knew people resonated 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.520 with it, and through that, you know, I've gotten a 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:20.600 lot of reason. It's giving me great opportunities to work 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:23.320 with like really big brands, and that's been that's been awesome. 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:25.639 But now I feel like I have something that I 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:27.560 want to get to the world that I've always felt 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:32.320 in my core and in my being, and it's I 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:35.800 call it harmony. That we're all looking for harmony out 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:39.280 in our lives. When you think about an orchestra, all 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:42.119 the people who are doing everything that they can and 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:46.080 leaning in their strengths to make these beautiful sounds and 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:48.520 I think about my life and how many things are 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:51.000