Ep28: Your Ancestors' Greatest Gift: Military Vet Shows How Family History Builds Mental Strength | Derick Johnson | Mindset Reinvented

Jack Trama (00:46.097)
As Maya Angelou once said, you may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Derek Johnson to Mindset Reinvented. Derek is a

A U .S. Army veteran, he's a life coach and a trainer who's helped over 500 clients and 50 companies transform their lives and businesses. And Derek's journey is a testament to personal growth. He grew up in a challenging home environment and he learned to stay calm under pressure, a skill that would serve him well in the Army and throughout his life. As a three -time soldier of the year,

For his battalion and recipient of numerous PT awards, Derek has taken his leadership skills, his certifications, his life experiences to empower others in taking control of their minds and their bodies. So Derek, I'm thrilled you're here, man. Welcome to the show.

Derick Johnson (02:01.92)
Thanks for having me, Jack. It's a pleasure being here.

Jack Trama (02:04.273)
Yeah, 100%. So Derek, your journey from a tough childhood to joining the military and having success is very inspiring. How can others use your experiences to shift their own thinking, especially when life gets rough?

Derick Johnson (02:22.048)
Great question. So number one is going to be to realize that everything is perspective. Everything is perspective. So I like to challenge people to look at their family tree, whether they're close to their great grandfather or if they ever met him or not. Same thing on both sides. Because if you learn the things that your grandpa, great grandma and so forth have been through, then you think back to your current situation and

you see that they went through much worse or they would have went through hell for you to exist. And we're not trying to undermine our stress or traumas or anything, but sometimes we just have to tap out of ourselves to see, okay, what did my mom actually go through? What did my grandma go through? And then we really reflect and come back to the present moment. We can say, okay, so am I really complaining about this or stressed about that? And we realized that usually it's a very small situation compared to our family.

So we're not just comparing it to a stranger trying to say, 10 people could have it worse and all that. That doesn't necessarily help in the moment, but at least the perspective of looking at your family history, it might give you some clarity to say, wow, my grandmother endured this for me to even exist. I need to show gratitude and at least show up today, even though I don't feel like it or let me give back in some type of way. But that perspective helps a lot of people, especially with them being able to say, you know what?

Maybe I don't get along with that side of the family and just one side. At least you know that you still exist because of someone. So that perspective has always given me a shift because I would think of my old mom, which is my grandma in Germany on my mother's side. And she survived the Holocaust and was hiding in the attic. And on days or moments where I don't feel like doing something, I'll think of that for like a millisecond. I'm like, OK, am I really going to complain about this because I'm tired or whatever I feel? So it just taps me out.

makes me breathe, reset, show some gratitude and keep going. So this is just one good example of perspective, family, gratitude, get present in the moment and then take action on whatever's needed to fix the situation or just assess what's going on.

Jack Trama (04:34.597)
Derek, I absolutely love that. Right out of the gate, you're coming out and dropping some golden nuggets for the people that are listening. I think really important is to, like you said, go back in time, understand where you come from and the trials and tribulations that our ancestors have gone through because it can make you put things into perspective and realize that what you're obsessing on or stressing over, not to minimize what you're feeling, but quite frankly, it's probably pretty small compared to what they've gone through. I love that.

And as far as genealogy trees and things of that nature, what can you tell people? Like if they don't have access to folks that they can tap into for that knowledge, what resources online would you suggest that they go to?

Derick Johnson (05:19.114)
So resources online, I would see if they can get connected with other family members or maybe even cousins via social media first before I would go down a rabbit hole. But before giving our spit swat or anything else to these companies, 23andMe and so forth, I would first see if you can find like a second cousin and aunt or whoever on social media. And you might peel back the layers or ask like a guardian, hey, did you know my father? Did you know my uncle? And start with social media first to see who you can get connected with.

The other option would be 23 and me. There's others as well, but me personally, I don't want to send out my information. So yeah.

Jack Trama (05:56.151)
I don't blame you. I don't blame you. Yeah, it'll pop up somewhere in another country and they'll end up cloning you somewhere.

Derick Johnson (06:01.49)
Exactly. yeah, you are you committed a crime or somewhere you've never been.

Jack Trama (06:06.721)
Right, right, exactly. So, so you you've had an interesting career. mean, being in the military is no joke. A lot of Americans don't experience that just in general, people don't experience that. So can you share and maybe that's that's a good tie into a specific moment when when you had to change your perspective to overcome something big, a challenge that was right in front of you was insurmountable, but you had to change your mind to be able to to accomplish whatever you needed to accomplish.

Derick Johnson (06:37.194)
I would definitely say that there's an experience. So outside of childhood or teenage years and that trauma dealing with alcoholic family, a lot of people relate to that when it comes to the intensity at home, especially at night after the cookout or party when the last drink was drank. And then your first couple of times seeing your parents that way and realizing that they're just releasing and accepting the fact that you're like, you know what? I'm not the problem. Teenage me is not the problem. They're going through something. They never got the help they needed. And

Sometimes family, they just release and you are, especially as a boy, you are the punching bag of the family. So sometimes that can happen. But in adult life in the military, there's a key experience where we were doing cold weather training. And as a child, I grew up in Germany, so I'm pretty used to the cold. But then my adult life, I've lived in Florida. So I'm a Floridian. So you have the yin and the yang. But at that time, I could remember what I would do to keep myself calm and very crucial.

cold environments, you're dehydrated, you're hungry, you have mental fog, but you still have to do the mission. So we were doing this training exercise and there was a guy that was about six foot four. I'm six foot, so he's four inches taller than me, just big guy. And he was half Hispanic and half Samoan. So you can just imagine just very naturally just big dude. And he was always seen as the toughest one, which he was, but he was never ever in cold climate.

So he started to have hypothermia and everybody was shocked because they're like, how can we pull them out of here? How can we like we can't pick them up? And I realized that, know what? He needs all of us calm. So what I did, I made sure to get my other leaders together and say, you know what? They thrive under pressure as well as myself. So we need to get everybody else out of the way because they were panicking. And if there's a lot of people that are panicking around someone that is also panicking, then they get more scared. It just amplifies the negative emotions or the fear of,

Jack Trama (08:33.509)
Mm

Derick Johnson (08:34.776)
what's actually gonna happen to me. But we kept him calm and we realized that our energy coming from around him at least calmed his mind, like his facial expression changed even though he was shaking and just was not used to it, because we're laying in damp grass uniform. You have all your equipment and everything there and it was just a mental test to see how long we could sit in this position to pull security. So essentially when you pull security, the leaders are in the middle of the circle and all your soldiers are in a circle.

laying on the ground with their rifles pointing out. And we're basically having to pow wow to plan where we're gonna go to next. And this is just a training exercise. And so everybody was freezing, myself included, your hands are numb even though you have gloves on. But this gentleman, it affected him so much, because this is first time ever in his life that he was in that cold climate. And he was about 22 years old. So the first 22 years of his life was never really in the cold, maybe 32 degrees when he visited New York or something, but never in the winter.

And so in that time period, I made sure to keep everybody calm. So I went around the circle and checked on everyone and we didn't tell anyone else what was happening. Some would see it because they look back for a second and they saw him convulsing. But then we came back and luckily a lot of the soldiers had MRE packs. So we actually use the MRE packs, which are the meal ready meals ready to eat. And then we got the heat packs and then we started heating them up and then we placed them around them because he had the uniform on.

Jack Trama (09:56.731)
Mm

Derick Johnson (10:03.232)
And we started to warm him up because you had nothing else out there. You're in the middle of nowhere and we didn't have a heater blanket or anything. And so naturally he just started to calm down some, but it was more so the moment where everybody saw what was happening. You could see the fear in their eyes, but as a leader, you have to have the ability to calm them down to say, you know what? My feelings are irrelevant. I can't feel my hands. My legs are also shaking, but the adrenaline rush of helping him overpowered anything that I'm feeling or experiencing.

And it was very interesting to see that when the leader can be calmer, you can calm the person down when you calm your team down. And it's all even like by the look at the eye. And this is around 2 a So it's pitch black. We have our little lights on. So just to amplify the feeling, the wind is blowing. It's 2 a You're dehydrated in damp grass and you're just freezing convulsing. And so you can just imagine 40 people are all trembling. But then the guy who's feeling it the worst is actually the biggest. And so we're trying to help him.

But just in terms of energy, it was just a key memory that stands out. No violence happened in this scenario. Like he was okay at the end, but it was just interesting because it could have shifted and went much worse because once we got them to the medics about two hours later, they said, yeah, if you guys didn't heat him up, it could have been much worse. He could have had issues or would have not been here anymore. But it's amazing to see what can happen when you at least give somebody the eye contact to say, Hey, I feel this as well. I'm here with you.

Jack Trama (11:21.552)
Yeah.

Derick Johnson (11:30.9)
But we're going to get through this being that reassurance to somebody because if I approach him trembling as well, he thinks, well, this is time is here. So that was one key moment, mainly because of the shock that everybody did not guess it would be him. We we thought it would be the smallest female soldier or male soldier, but it was the biggest guy instead.

Jack Trama (11:50.475)
You know, that's interesting. You know, the takeaway for me is when you're on when you're under the gun like that, so to speak, and you're you've got that much pressure around you, there is an opposing force inside of you. One is, you know, the fear that you talk about kicks in. But yet your logic kicks in also and says, wait a minute here, I've got to be calm. I cannot allow that fear. So it's an opposing force. But your adrenaline is such where it makes it it makes it possible. Now, here's a question.

Derick Johnson (12:10.58)
Yes.

Jack Trama (12:18.907)
So it starts out with adrenaline, that when you get yourself in these situations over and over again, it becomes a learned skill, does it not?

Derick Johnson (12:25.664)
Yes, 100%. You can essentially tap into it like a light switch. So we'll think of the athletes who let's just say they've been losing the first half of the game. They get into the locker room. Some athletes, they'll pace others. They have to move their body. Others have to sit with the calm music on the other guy. Just praise. Everybody has their little modality that they do to get them game ready or focused. But the good thing about the athletes, they know how to flip the switch quick.

to put on their poker face or their game face. So it's very similar without analogy. Every athlete does something pre -game. Some people clap their hands, some move, some are just very serene and calm and focused. So knowing that psychologically, the brain doesn't know is it game time or are we just doing this to get into a powerful state? So it's very similar in the military or even like in the medical field. I have a lot of friends in medical field who started as EMTs and they were in scenarios just like

we had in the military, but they were the ones that stayed calm to make the patient calmer, to make their staff and their team calmer. But it's more so being able to have the ability to flip the switch, to say people depend on me and you tap into a higher version of yourself, untapped potential and you feel that rush. And if somebody is deep into their faith, they realize that those moments are actually what we're here for. And then they see, huh, we thrive well under pressure.

The crazy home life with the parents and drugs and alcohol and all that prepared me for stressful situations like this where this scenario was not as stressful as childhood. So sometimes in retrospect you're like this all makes sense. It was all the training ground and usually the best soldiers, doctors, people in medical field, parents, anyone that's in a profession where they're helping people or even just helping their family. They do really well under pressure and when you pull back the layers, it makes sense. That's why she is who she is.

I would have never guessed that's why he is who he is. And people just see the final product or like, it's he's lucky. He's lucky. Derek's lucky. Jack is lucky. Or they're just, yeah, it probably came from their fathers as a grandpa. And then we peel back the layers are like, he was bullied as well. So yes, being able to tap into that. And there's a term called flow state. So people have a sense of creativity when they're working time almost doesn't exist.

Derick Johnson (14:52.212)
Five minutes could feel like an hour. An hour can feel like five minutes. Maybe they're doing some deep work for their business. Maybe they're hanging out with family and their pets and their present and just time just doesn't exist. But in those moments when we're helping others, it's a very similar flow state where we're not thinking about ourselves. Nothing exists. Politics, time, stress, trauma. We're just there for the person or with the people we love. And those key moments are amazing because humans realize

how powerful we actually are when we're actually present. And that's the biggest issue in the world now is we're distracted by these bad boys and work all over the place. So people are rarely present.

Jack Trama (15:29.457)
Yeah. Well, Derek, you know, that leads me to my next question. And this just came to mind because it's something that I'm always curious about in your mind, how you feel about this. So I had a guest on the show. He's a wonderful human being, and he's a friend of mine, Jason Dennon. Jason, he was a skydiver. He jumped out of 327 planes. He's done it over and over again. And so the last time he did it, it was this gush of wind that

He about 200 feet above ground and he lost control over the parachute. And he literally approached a cattle fence that ran tight on his chest and then he broke through that. 35 miles an hour he hit an airplane hanger, unconscious for nine days. Doctors never thought he would walk again. He was so determined in his mind to prove...

the medical staff wrong and to prove the people that he loved around him that they were wrong and nobody knew his will and his spirit. Do you know after his time in the hospital, it about four months and then about a 10 month rehab, he ran a triathlon.

And so the question is, does it require someone to put themselves, and I'm not suggesting that any of us do this. We, I mean, I hope not. Right. But, does it require something big for somebody to be able to appreciate people in their lives? You say, love you to people that they don't normally say they love. They love too. and just really feel at peace with who they are and step up as a, as a man, as a woman, as a friend, as a.

you know, anybody that you are to somebody. So what do you think about that? Does it require something grandiose like that, or can somebody sit with themselves, understand their thoughts, and then reprogram them and live a life that's serving them?

Derick Johnson (17:34.912)
Great question. I love that you bring that up. I see a 50 50s. There's two ways. One is self -inflicted adversity, not hurting ourselves, but a hard workout. I always recommend that people who maybe were not military, they go on a weighted walks, which in the army we call it rock marches. So backpack with 20 to 40 pounds in it. You can put sand in it, water, whatever you like. And so go walk for 30 minutes straight or go hiking. If you have music, great. If you don't have music,

After 10 minutes, you're not gonna be thinking about the music. But if somebody has not done that, you can even put on a weighted vest. It's different. It's outside of our comfort zone. And everyone feels like a badass when they have a vest on. I don't care who they are. And they just start walking people in their neighborhood like, what is wrong with Jack? What is he doing? What is Michelle doing? And you're just like, we're focused. After about 10 to 20 minutes, the mind is so open. Ideas come to your head, your faith, gratitude, just all this stuff. You're in total flow state.

Jack Trama (18:16.689)
100%.

Jack Trama (18:20.452)
Mm

Derick Johnson (18:33.62)
because you're doing something different. You're moving the body, opening the mind. And when you get home and take that vest or jacket or the backpack off, you're going to feel a sense of release, but you're going to have so much mental clarity. So it's more so for the mind than just the physical training. But something like that is different because usually let's just say Michelle, she goes running and goes across the classes. Those are great, but she's been doing that for three years. So every now and then the classes are slightly harder, but this

She's probably going to be sore for five days straight after that weighted hike because it's something totally different. But she has that adrenaline rush and that remembrance like, wow, I have so much mental clarity that these next five days after that Ruck march that weighted walk, she closed the deal. She had better public speaking her friends and family like something's different about you. And she just tapped into another version of her mind to see what she's capable of. And we're thinking about our goals. So self -inflicted adversity.

always recommend that people start with something physical that could be weighted walk, that could be running one extra mile, that could be joining the class that you've been nervous to, whatever it is that is different, that is going to give you a physical test because it's more so for the mental. Because that untapped potential, especially for individuals who maybe did not play organized sports or were military, they don't know what that camaraderie of having somebody force you to do another suicide sprint on the basketball court and you're just like,

I just threw up three times. There's no way I can. And then you do 20 more somehow and you're like, that's who I am. And then you tap into that. So having that with yourself is powerful. If you have the ability to join a class, you can do that as well because you have that competition or if you have an accountability partner. But I'd always start with the physical first because it's a win win helps the body, but it opens the mind and shows you how much untapped potential you have and maybe that you haven't.

in years or at all ever push yourself that hard. So then when it comes to other situations, the mind remembers, we've had similar experiences where it doesn't just have to be trauma, anxiety, et cetera. We don't wish these experiences on people, but having a combination of both. So the number two would be look in hindsight. So the perspective is technically we're all five hundred and so from a competitive standpoint, like sports, we're five hundred and or a thousand and meaning

Derick Johnson (20:52.778)
We've been through hundreds or thousands of negative experiences, but we're still alive and still blessed. So technically we're undefeated because we're still alive. So sometimes just the gratitude saying, I've made it through this with wild family stuff. I've made it through this with their ex, with whatever experiences they've had in public. And they're like, you know what? I don't really think about these situations, but I'm still standing. I'm still here. So a combination of gratitude of your darkest times and self -inflicted adversity.

that person eventually would carry themselves in a different light. So when they're in that career situation or they're on a roller coaster, skydiving or doing anything crazy and they somehow survive, it makes sense because it's psychosomatic. So I truly believe that the energy of knowing that everything is psychosomatic, meaning thinking and faith can make us heal or make it worse. So a common example I like to use is if we think of a car wreck enough, we will start to drive paranoid.

We will start to grip the wheel and be tense and overcorrect and we can potentially cause a wreck. And the same thing in reverse. If you feel that you're having anxiety that day for some reason, if you open your hands on the steering wheel and just kind of move your fingers, your shoulders relax and you're like, all right, why am I driving so stiff? Okay, I'm stressed about this and that. But being so self -aware that everything is psychosomatic, it makes total sense why some people, it takes them very long to recover from an injury or illness and some

They have a miracle and the doctors like there's no way, but it's all faith and mindset. And I just love those stories because it's never surprising when you look at what they normally do, because they're usually the most consistent and disciplined people or on the flip side, they've been through the most wildest stuff imaginable. And they're like, this is nothing head to airplane hanger. You should have seen what happened when I was 16. They're like, all right, makes sense. Evil Knievel.

Jack Trama (22:39.717)
Yeah, right. Derek, gold, absolute gold, what you're saying here. And I think, you know, a guy like me who's a big hiker, and when I can't hike, I'm out there walking. Walking is boring to me, I'm going to throw some weighted vest on me. That's going to be a game changer for me and my mind and my, not only my muscular growth, but just I think that's a wonderful tip. And then the other piece that you said, which is a phenomenal takeaway as well.

Derick Johnson (22:45.984)
Yeah.

Jack Trama (23:09.745)
is that whenever anybody, any of us are feeling down, if we're feeling insecure about something, we don't have lot of confidence, what Derek said just a minute ago is gold because we have survived. I'm 55 years old, I've been on this planet for 55 years. All the micro decisions that I've made to keep myself alive, I should give myself a pat on the back for that. And I think we all should do that.

Derick Johnson (23:34.854)
yes.

Jack Trama (23:37.457)
And it's little stuff like that. It's a game of inches We should really just celebrate the wins and a lot of us don't think about that including myself Sometimes I forget how how delicate we are as as humans and yet we've navigated life in the way that we have that You know, we're still here, you know knock on knock on wood, right?

Derick Johnson (23:53.875)
Exactly.

yeah. And also on top of that, we're always thinking of the next thing. I could be doing this. I could be doing that, which is great. We have that rush, but sometimes it keeps us away from thinking of the passenger saying, let me pat myself on the back. I've been through some crazy stuff or even the accomplishments. So just, just to segue real quick, something I do with some of my clients is I have them create a badass list. And essentially what that is, is key memories, 10 to 20 key memories where they felt confident, proud. powerful. It's not about the size of the accolade or the amount of money. It's more so about their feeling. So the first time he went across the stage and he's the first one in his family to graduate from college. The first time she held her baby. The first time he got a perfect score on a military exercise. The first time that they met the love of their life, like whatever the experience was and they just felt like this is the moment I'm owning it and they're so present and they had chills, maybe got emotional in a powerful way.

and they write these things down. So in moments and days where they're not really feeling like themselves, they're sitting in their car, they have to give that presentation. like, I'm probably gonna bomb this interview, this presentation, this speech. They can go to their phone and I reckon I always recommend they put it in their phone as well and they go to their badass list and they simply just read it one by one, close their eyes and visualize that memory. I remember 2008, I was doing XYZ, 2011, yeah, that was a powerful experience.

and they go through these 10 different things, then they come back to the present moment, take a breather and say, you know what? I reminded myself who I am. I've done some great stuff. Let's add to this list. And when they get out of their car, their energy is just like, boom, they walk in that building and people like, was it what's going on with Jack? Well, what's going on? And they just got an empowered state.

Jack Trama (25:41.327)
Right. Love that. Love that. I love that. I would actually make a little bit of an adjustment to that. And certainly you could, you can think about this for your clients is rather than waiting to take a look at that list when you feel like you need it, set a calendar entry every day in the morning, first thing, and just put one of those, you know, key confident memory that you've got and let it, and let it shower you first thing in the morning.

Derick Johnson (26:07.745)
yeah, that's amazing. That's powerful.

Jack Trama (26:09.819)
I mean, we use calendars for everything in our lives. Might as well do something like that. That's pretty awesome. I love that. Let's shift gears for a minute here. So you talk about coaching and there's so many online resources that are available today. So how do you blend traditional coaching with the digital tools to help clients change your outlook on life?

Derick Johnson (26:30.74)
Great question. So it's more so utilizing these tools to our advantage that you can honestly give somebody more accountability with apps, programs, and having digital data. So an example, from a fitness standpoint, some of my clients, they wear watches, attracts their sleep, their heart rate, et cetera. So when we have our calls, we can look at charts galore and we nerd out on analytics and then we can just see what subtle changes we can make and they get excited about it. Others that can overwhelm them.

all the numbers and charts. So then we do different things for them, but meeting somebody where they're at with the tools that we have at our disposal rather than just in person is powerful. A combination in both of both works as well, but realizing that there is a positivity of all these apps programs and utilizing them in the right way. So that way we use the tools and the apps and they're not using us, meaning we're not just like doom scrolling and

getting entertained and we're like, you know what, we can get connected with amazing people on these things, but utilizing these things to our advantage to make productivity better for us, our clients, and just make the progress. So that way we're like, wow, we have so much control. We're organized and it just makes the process simpler. not going to say easy, but simple action steps.

Jack Trama (27:47.561)
Are there any tools that come to mind that are recommended by you, digital tools that you find pretty effective in your coaching?

Derick Johnson (27:55.626)
Yes, for sure. So from a fitness nutrition standpoint, I recommend I'm not an affiliate. So there's other apps as well. But my fitness pal is very easy to use. So for people to track their food with whatever their goals are. And I highly recommend that people track their food for one month straight if they've never done it digitally tracking their food. Because a lot of times people say, well, I've been eating healthy. But when they track their food, they might realize they have way too many carbs every day, even though they're eating healthy. But

They're not having the right macronutrients, but it just gives us awareness about ourselves. So I'm not pushing a type of diet or any or eating lifestyle more so clarity to see what you're eating and what you're putting in your body. Cause sometimes we think we're healthy or we think we're not. And we might be surprised about the numbers that we see thinking, huh, didn't realize I have that much protein or that many carbs or didn't realize I don't eat enough at all, which is honestly the biggest issue for most people is like, they're not eating enough. So my fitness pal was a good app.

You can use a free version or premium, very effective, never really have issues with it. Outside of that would be to use your phone to your advantage. So if somebody has iPhone, if you have Samsung, they have apps already pre -built into it, like the health app that'll track steps, calories, things of that nature. So if you'd like to use those, those are already within the phone. And then you have the Apple watch, Galaxy watches, Garmin's, if you prefer to wear watches. But the good thing about

these devices is you can use them to your advantage. Another thing that some of my clients do is they have a woo ring and the woo ring basically I can wear it attracts their stress, their heart rate, their sleep, et cetera. And that's great for them. But if you're like myself, you hold your phone too much. I don't want any devices on my wrist or fingers. So you don't necessarily have to have those things, but knowing that you have options to give you clarity. So I like to see it as life is a video game and your goal.

is to make yourself a level 99 character. You will never be 100 because nobody's perfect, but what can you do? What tools, resources, mentors, communities can you join and be part of to actually grow and evolve so you don't feel like you're doing it all solo and you realize that you have apps, programs and things that help you to become that level 99 version of yourself.

Jack Trama (30:12.305)
Love that. Love that. Yeah, I'm a big fan of all these tools, by the way. They're just amazing. haven't used the Apple Watch. That's the one that I prefer, but it's able to really shine a light on what's going on with you. Shift focus for a quick moment here. Let's talk a little bit about the workplace and culture around workplace. So how do you approach changing mindsets in corporate settings?

Derick Johnson (30:17.011)
Awesome.

Derick Johnson (30:21.012)
Nice.

Derick Johnson (30:35.668)
Great question. So number one would be to figure out one or two things about everyone on your team personally. Obviously, unless you have hundred people on staff, you don't have enough time to go around to everyone, but at least asking better questions. So essentially making your team feel like a human and not a number. Where I understand right now we're about to get into Q4, holiday season's coming up. Some people are already mentally tapped out, buying their Christmas stuff.

Thanksgiving stuff like my girlfriend these past two weeks has been decorating the place and I'm just focused on goals. But in general is knowing things about your people because if you ask them, hey, how's your son doing? Hey, how's your grandma? Little things like that have such a major impact in people's lives because you never know what they're going through. One simple question about something personal. Usually they're surprised that how did he remember that? Because you told that they told them you that maybe six months ago or longer, but you simply just ask.

And then you have a little powwow for a moment, then you get back focused. But those critical moments of just personalizing things, just being a human, and on top of that is asking better questions. So I truly believe the best leaders, they just ask good questions and they actively listen. They listen to understand rather than listen to respond. Because everybody knows how that feels. We're talking about our passion, our goals or anything, and our friends or family, they're just scrolling.

no, no, I am listening. I'm sorry, bro. And then they put the phone down. You're like, this is why I don't talk to anyone anyway, cause y 'all don't listen. So we know how that feels. So making sure that we're present with the person, make them feel heard and understood and just ask better questions. And those simple things can help a ton. The hardest part for some as leaders, especially in business is being able to pause and push their pride and ego out of the way to say, you know what, just learn something about your people.

Jack Trama (32:07.163)
Yeah.

Derick Johnson (32:27.594)
You're too fixated on the dollar amount, the revenue, the ROI, whatever it is that they're going for the KPIs. So I just pause for a moment. When was the last time you talked to your staff or are you just like guys last week we didn't hit the numbers and you're like it's Monday morning 9am. Is that how you really want to start the meeting? Like you just ruin the team morale.

Jack Trama (32:40.529)
It's a big problem. Yeah, yeah, it's a big problem. 100%. No, it's a big problem. And I've counseled many coaches in the online space, and it's the same thing. I hear it over and over and over again. And it's only about the numbers. What did you do for me yesterday versus, let's talk about how you're feeling about things. Let's have an honest conversation. Maybe we could all improve.

Derick Johnson (33:03.384)
yes.

Jack Trama (33:04.421)
How do you, with a team then, how do you measure the impact of mindset changes as a group, so to speak, or is it just on an individualized basis?

Derick Johnson (33:14.976)
I do both. So 80 % is one on one coaching. So essentially I specialize in helping people break old patterns so they can begin to thrive, not just feel like they're just surviving or stuck in a box. So an example would be the CEO who crushes it in sales and business. Like that's like the back of his hand, but he's had three divorces. Why is he struggling here? Or this individual who maybe struggles with their health and physique or this one that from the outside, looks amazing, but they have a drinking issue.

And so really peeling back the layers to see what started that cycle, what started that pattern, because it's always something from their childhood, teenage years, previous relationships, previous workspace, and then giving them that clarity and guiding them in that. So a huge thing would be to just learn more about said individual without making them feel judged and them themselves giving themselves some grace to say, you know what? Two years ago, this wild stuff or things did happen to them, but

Jack Trama (34:08.283)
Hmm.

Derick Johnson (34:14.186)
Let's be present. What do we learn from it? And just reassessing to make the right decision with calm confidence rather than just, we got to platform for mode. Yeah. Suck it up. Drive on. That's only going to get so far. So taking a moment to reset.

Jack Trama (34:26.843)
Yeah.

Love that. And I always tell people, I think we all got to start from a place of forgiving ourselves before we can move on and really learn about the things that are important to us. Because a lot of us, have regrets. We beat ourselves up about certain decisions, certain decisions we didn't make. So it's important to start with ourselves and forgiving us and then forgiving others. Not holding any grudges.

Derick Johnson (34:52.007)
yeah.

Exactly. And with the grudges, I always recommend that people see what they can do to get rid of hate. So if they did not have a good relationship with family and that hold this inner hate, hate and anger and emotions can drive us in the beginning. But after a while we realize, okay, I hit these goals. Did you do it to get revenge? Success is the best revenge? Because when you accomplish that thing, those people, still don't care. So what then? Are you just going to be angry and have that fire all the time?

Jack Trama (35:15.441)
Mm.

Derick Johnson (35:22.378)
but it's more so being able to control that fire. Okay, yes, this happened in your childhood, but can you turn it on or off when needed to work harder or are you doing it just to try to prove yourself to them? So especially to my guys, I always recommend, Hey, here's two perspectives. The average perspective is success is the best revenge. I'm like, Hey, we've heard that since the beginning. The other one is the best revenge is becoming undeniable.

Jack Trama (35:33.424)
Hmm.

Derick Johnson (35:51.978)
where the people that don't like you, cannot escape you. essentially what that means, not to go viral, but you have such a good reputation, you do right by others that people that don't like you hear positive things about you from others. And they're just like, internally, they get angry and it's whatever. That's not our business to want to know what's in their mind, but you're just doing right by others in business and whatever somebody does in their career, where you just go all in and you become undeniable where they're like, hey, you don't have to like Jack or Derek.

We're not for everyone, not everyone is for you and vice versa, but the right people will resonate. So that way they're focused on becoming the best at what they do rather than trying to prove mom wrong, their ex, whoever, because they're gonna hit a ceiling after a while. That helps in the beginning, that little anger, but you can't thrive in life just with that anger. But if you're focused on becoming that highest version of you and giving them back to others, it's a whole different game because then you realize that

That pain can help you with the workout, can help you push two extra hours in business or whatever, but you're not living in that state. Just thinking of that because then you're giving up your power to an individual from the past. seeing what can you do to become the best at what you do. So you're undeniable, meaning you've helped so many people in the industry, family, community, whatever it is that you do. And you just do right by others to the point that positive ripple effect starts and people are speaking highly of you like, Hey, we can depend on him.

So I'd rather you all be somebody that is someone you can depend on and we actually do what we say we're going to do.

Jack Trama (37:26.021)
Yeah, no, it's gold. That's gold. And I also will add to that and say that the idea of never stopping to learn about not only external things in our world, but also learning about ourselves, being curiosity, really having curiosity about who we are. Because if we can have joy from within, then we will never be subject to the ebbs and flows of people's perceptions of us.

Derick Johnson (37:54.196)
Exactly.

Jack Trama (37:55.953)
If you're not feeling good about your weight or the way that you look in the mirror, but yet you see somebody that seems to be in better shape, they look more, you know, desirable to the human eye, you'll put it in its proper perspective and you won't let it affect you because you're not taught, your happiness is not tied into an external thing.

Derick Johnson (38:14.048)
100%.

Jack Trama (38:15.407)
very very important and I think we just live in a society that everything is just all based around external factors.

Derick Johnson (38:21.29)
Yeah, exactly. It's just the quick fix. It's the instant gratification. So these apps and programs, which you mentioned earlier, they're great. But on the flip side, it screws a lot of people because they have no patience because everything is quick. I could order. We live in Palm beach. So if I order on Amazon, I could probably get the whatever I'm ordering within two hours. Sometimes it's not two days or one day. And there's a warehouse like a couple of miles up the road and they probably have everything that I would normally order. And so I can order that Uber eats just whatever so quick. So when it comes to our goals, people are trained for instant gratification, likes and internet validation and now they're like, okay, it's gonna take about a year to get this to go done.

Jack Trama (39:02.001)
for sure. Derek, man, I'm really enjoying this conversation. We're getting close to the call time here. So I want to wrap up with some final thoughts that you have for our listeners of the show. So can you maybe share perhaps some quick exercises or some modalities that folks can try today right now? to help them shift some of their thinking and to help them start to grow personally.

Derick Johnson (39:34.026)
Yes, for sure. So on the personal development journey, I always recommend that we do a process of elimination. So you just grab a notebook and a pen and you ask yourself the question, what are some things that I could get rid of that will help me make more progress and write those things down? So we're going to start with what you eat. Maybe Michelle says, you know what? I need to eat less processed foods and drink less sugar. Michael says, you know what? I need to stop having coffee before I have water because I give myself anxiety.

Write that down, whatever it is. Start with what you eat and drink. And once you wrote a few of those, think about mental. Do you beat yourself up too much? Meaning procrastination, negative self -talk, pushing things off. Okay. Then after a while they start to go deeper and things from the past are popping up to say, you know what? I need to overcome this or I need to get rid of that. So it doesn't always have to be vices. And outside of that is looking at your environment. Are we always

subconsciously stressed about the dishes in the sink or the closet we need to organize or that shed we've been talking about building for six months. And it's just, the wood is just laying in the backyard or in the garage. All these unfinished projects that we have in our environment, either take some time and plan it to do it yourself or pay a professional to do it much faster. And then you're not thinking about the funds, but the time you get back from the investment. But the process of elimination is so powerful, especially getting rid of things.

Because in somebody's closet, they might have clothes from their darkest, most stressful time periods from a funeral, from a divorce, from a breakup, from their own mistakes, where they cause something and they never wear that outfit. 80 % of the things we wear in the closet is only 20 % of your closet. So the 80 20 rule plays into that. But what items do you have? And you're like, I need to hold on this one day. I might use it one day. I might wear this. Will you really? or are you just stuck on something from the past that relates to the energy of that? But I always recommend people get rid of some clothes and I recommend them using a black trash bag. Because some people they'll use a white trash bag and by the time they're about to carry it out to their car they can still see what's in it and they're like, wait, I might need this still. And then they broke the whole process but getting rid of things you no longer need and just donating it at goodwill, you'll feel so much freer. And it's so straightforward and simple but.

Derick Johnson (41:58.642)
So many people, especially in America, they don't realize that they're like borderline hoarding a lot of stuff that think they're going to use it and it's holding them back. So getting rid of that, seeing what you can eliminate in terms of vices, negative thought patterns, and just writing those things out, giving yourself clarity before adding to your schedule, adding to your routine. Because if somebody's already stressed, they're not going to sustain it. So I always recommend step one process of elimination. What could I get rid of that will help me make more progress because if you can free yourself even just a little bit you have more calmness and then you can focus on your goals more.

Jack Trama (42:35.387)
Yeah, I'm going to make a very special reel for this particular segment of the show and share it with people that I know who need to really look at what they have all these old memories and not just clothing, but furniture and lots of things that bring up all these memories. And I love the analogy of throwing things in a black bag because to me, black means death. You're getting rid of it. I love it.

Derick Johnson (43:00.084)
Yes. Exactly. I like it.

Jack Trama (43:04.421)
Derek Johnson, everyone. Derek, thank you. Thank you for sharing your insights and your experience with us today. I am uber impressed with you. Certainly your journey from the beginning, the challenges that you've experienced and then through your life becoming a beacon of growth is inspiring to me and I'm sure to others. So I'm sure that our guests of the show have gained some valuable tools today to help move them from just getting by to really thriving.

For those of you that want to learn more about Derek's work, can visit Derek at fitwithderek .com and we're going to have all of his links in our show notes, including Derek's LinkedIn profile and other social media properties that you can reach out to him. So guys, thank you very much for tuning into mindset reinvented. And again, if you found value in today's episode,

Please please please share it with someone who might benefit from hearing Derek's story and advice and remember Your share could be the spark that someone needs to start their own journey of growth We don't want to judge anybody. We don't know what somebody's going through so so again Thank you for coming to the show and and to remain updated on our latest episodes head over to mindset reinvented comm join our email list and until next time

Keep pushing your limits and rethinking what's possible. Take care, everyone.