Ever wondered how a local player from Brick, New Jersey, could rise to the heights of the NHL and win the Stanley Cup? Our special guest, Jim Dowd, reveals the secrets of his incredible journey, from his initial draft to the championship win with the New Jersey Devils in 1995. Jim's enlightening conversation doesn't just revolve around his wins, but delves deep into the challenges he faced, the essence of teamwork, and his unique drafting process.
As we continue down memory lane, we discover the vital components of success in hockey and life, through Jim's eyes. He provides a fascinating insight into the transformation of a rising team with a strong dynamic, the role of coaching staff, and senior players. Jim also sheds light on the importance of leadership, experiencing a Stanley Cup run early in his career, and why staying in the moment is crucial.
But that's not all! We also take a look at Jim Dowd's life after a successful hockey career. As a performance mindset coach and a founding member of a nutrition company, Jim acknowledges the significance of nutrition and the impact of small actions over time. The riveting chat ends with Jim offering advice on creating personalized wellness solutions. Whether you're a hockey fan, an athlete, or just someone interested in personal development and nutrition, this episode promises an intriguing mix of sporting legends, valuable lessons, and fascinating tales. So, why wait? Tune in today!
How to Reach Jim Dowd:
Email: Jimdowd@me.com
Website: https://jimdowd.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimdowdhockey/
To Reach Jordan:
Email: Jordan@Edwards.Consulting
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ejFXH1_BjdnxG4J8u93Zw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordan.edwards.7503
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanfedwards/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanedwards5/
Hope you find value in this. If so please provide a 5-star and drop a review.
Complimentary Edwards Consulting Session: https://calendly.com/jordan-555/intro-call
Ever wondered how a local player from Brick, New Jersey, could rise to the heights of the NHL and win the Stanley Cup? Our special guest, Jim Dowd, reveals the secrets of his incredible journey, from his initial draft to the championship win with the New Jersey Devils in 1995. Jim's enlightening conversation doesn't just revolve around his wins, but delves deep into the challenges he faced, the essence of teamwork, and his unique drafting process.
As we continue down memory lane, we discover the vital components of success in hockey and life, through Jim's eyes. He provides a fascinating insight into the transformation of a rising team with a strong dynamic, the role of coaching staff, and senior players. Jim also sheds light on the importance of leadership, experiencing a Stanley Cup run early in his career, and why staying in the moment is crucial.
But that's not all! We also take a look at Jim Dowd's life after a successful hockey career. As a performance mindset coach and a founding member of a nutrition company, Jim acknowledges the significance of nutrition and the impact of small actions over time. The riveting chat ends with Jim offering advice on creating personalized wellness solutions. Whether you're a hockey fan, an athlete, or just someone interested in personal development and nutrition, this episode promises an intriguing mix of sporting legends, valuable lessons, and fascinating tales. So, why wait? Tune in today!
How to Reach Jim Dowd:
Email: Jimdowd@me.com
Website: https://jimdowd.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimdowdhockey/
To Reach Jordan:
Email: Jordan@Edwards.Consulting
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ejFXH1_BjdnxG4J8u93Zw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordan.edwards.7503
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanfedwards/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanedwards5/
Hope you find value in this. If so please provide a 5-star and drop a review.
Complimentary Edwards Consulting Session: https://calendly.com/jordan-555/intro-call
Hey, what's going on, guys? We got a special guest here. We have Jim Dowd. He's appeared in over 800 NHL games and most notably won the Stanley Cup Finals with the New Jersey Devils in 1995 in his 17 season career. Also scored the game winning goal of Game 2 versus the Detroit Wet Rings in the 1995 finals. Jim, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I'm great, jordan, and thanks for having me on. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I mean, you had an incredible success so early in your career. That must have been. How was that? How'd you feel in that moment?
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. Born and raised in Brick, new Jersey, being the first and only New Jersey native to do what I did. You know, I just grew up in Brick, one of seven kids playing hockey and baseball and be drafted by the Devils out of high school in 1987 and winning a cup with them in 95. I mean, I had posted these guys on my walls when I was in high school, playing with them, not only playing with them, but winning a Stanley Cup with them. It was so surreal, so to speak, and no one's ever done it that way since. I mean, I never left Brick, I just played local Brick travel hockey and Brick high school and got a scholarship to Lake Superior. And I'm a firm believer, jordan, one person could change your life forever, one human being. For me, that was Lake Superior State University, Frank Anzalon, and you know the assistant coach, jeff Jackson at the time. You know they're the only ones that took a chance on me and the rest is history, as they say.
Speaker 1:I love that, I love that. And then, too, how did that process go when you were in high school? Because I know most people are probably sitting there like I was, and I was like, wait, he got drafted and then he went to college and then he like how does that work? How did that whole process work? Slash isn't the same today.
Speaker 2:Yes, well, so hockey's a little different, excuse me. So like, for example, in the baseball draft, if you get drafted out of high school and baseball, if you don't sign pro, you go to college. Then you go back into the draft after your junior year.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So, like in an NFL and NBA, you know you get drafted out of college you know, and you're a superstar right out of high school.
Speaker 2:You get drafted, you know, but in hockey it's different. So my senior year of high school was 1987. I had committed to Lake Superior, signed my national letter of intent and whatever. It was November and then the 87 draft came. That was the end of my senior year. The Devils drafted me. So they have your rights all through college so they can follow you and track you. Oh wow, so they have your rights for those four years. After my junior year, actually, at Lake Superior, my freshman year, we won the national championship. And another thing that I'm very proud of and I'm not good at talking about myself, but I'm the only New Jersey native to this day to ever win a state championship in high school in 1986, a national championship in college in 88 and a Stanley Cup. Very proud of that. You know what I mean. But we're going back to the process of how it works with hockey is they have your rights all through college.
Speaker 2:They actually tried to get me to sign after my junior year, signed pro, but I didn't mean. It took me less than 10 seconds to decide to stay. I wanted to graduate, I loved college, I wanted to try to win another national championship and New Jersey was notorious for starting guys in the minor leagues anyway because they were very deep. I ended up coming back for my senior year Unbelievable story. We went 28 straight games without a loss. Can you imagine that? Oh, wow. And then we got upset. You know what I mean. We had no adversity during the years. We had a little adversity in the quarter finals. We got upset. But I went back, graduated, had a great year, ended up signing for more money anyway and I still started in the minors and I still played 17 years. So my whole point is there's no rush unless you're going right to the NHL. You know there's no rush, but that's how it works in hockey. They have your rights all through college.
Speaker 1:That's incredible. And for you, what was the headspace like? Like, because I can only imagine a high school running around going. I'm drafted.
Speaker 2:I'm like the idea was the big story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it didn't go too much to your head.
Speaker 2:No funny story. You'll love this. So I just you know, like I said, I grew up in brick, one of seven kids, five boys, two girls in the second youngest, you know and when my college coach called me, like right before the draft, he said Jim, you know, you're probably going to get drafted. You know, back in the day I'm 54. If you weren't from Minnesota, massachusetts, chicago or Michigan, they didn't even look at you. That's what I'm saying. Lake Superior took a chance on me and I was this kid out of New Jersey and nobody was coming out of New Jersey at the time. Yeah, and when he told me that I didn't tell anybody this, but I said it to myself, I said you know what if I do get drafted, the only team I didn't want to get drafted by was the New Jersey devil, because I thought it would have been a charity pick, right, because there was 12 rounds in the draft back then.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:The draft comes. I'll never forget. I get a call about 515 from Marshall Johnson, who was the player, the director of player personnel, and he calls me up and says hey Jim, it's Marshall Johnson, new Jersey Devils. We just drafted you in the eighth round. So you'll get to know me, jordan, I'm a very positive guy. There's a silver lining and everything. So right off the bat it clicked. Oh, it was the eighth round, not the 12th, so it wasn't a charity pick. And then I proceeded to go to a party that night have some fun. But yeah, it's been just a wild ride. It was amazing.
Speaker 1:You know, another thing that was so surreal not only getting drafted, but getting drafted by you know your hometown, the hometown, when people are, because I could only imagine, because a lot of people were coming out of college and they're like I'm worried about my job and you're like I'm set baby, let's go. Were you concerned about injury or anything while in?
Speaker 1:college how did you keep the headspace going there? Because I could imagine a lot of people get very, oh, egotistical, I'm going to the league, like you know what I mean. How did you keep that in college and then also build the leadership in your team to win championships, because that is not an easy endeavor at all.
Speaker 2:No, you know, that's one thing I've never worried about. I mean that's something worry. I mean what is worry? I mean there's no sense worrying, right, doesn't that? A second to your day, your life, absolutely what I'm worrying about. I mean, why would you go outside of the house? I mean it's just, but that to answer your question, that never crossed my mind.
Speaker 2:I always just loved playing hockey, I love playing baseball, all different sports, and love being a part of a team. And you know it just made me tick. You know what I mean Just being around people and trying to accomplish a goal individually and as a group. But that never crossed my mind. I'll give you a funny story too, answering your question. So my senior year of high school, I signed my national letter of intent get a full ride to Lake State and I played baseball all through high school as well. So the hockey season's over and it's my senior year. I'm going out for the baseball team. There was people that said exactly. You said, jim, what are you doing? What are you playing baseball for you? You know I go. What are you talking about? I played it my whole life. This is the last time I'm going to play organized baseball. Plus I loved it. Oh, what if you get hurt? What I just never, I never thought like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean also the fact that at your 18, you could bounce back. It's.
Speaker 2:I mean it's no way to go through life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. I love that. I think it's so important, because there's too many of us who are scared of everything and you're like, nah, you just gotta go out and do it, absolutely. So how would you build the team in camaraderie in college, though? How was that a thing for you Like obviously the program set up, but there's still probably a chip on your shoulder where everyone's like you were the one getting drafted. Like I can't imagine the whole team was getting drafted. Like there's probably a select few kids, and how did you think about them focusing on? Like no, I'm all in on this team. I want to make this special and really make the most of this in college.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, there was a few guys drafted. You know what I mean, and Lake Superior was just coming on the rise. You know what I mean? We're a tiny school. For those who don't know, you learn something new every day, right? Jordan?
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:There's a new St Marie mission, which is the Upper Peninsula, the.
Speaker 1:UP.
Speaker 2:It's right on the border of Canada and the US. There's Sue Canada and Sue Michigan.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:And then the bridge was literally connected to our campus. We're as far north as you get. I just was a kid that you know again, the first New Jersey native to do what I did. I was so excited. I didn't really know much about college hockey and they were just on the rise my senior year of high school. They got upset in the playoffs. They were on the rise but they got upset in the first round and never even made it to the tournament. And we came in. We had nine 12 freshmen come in and nine of us played regular. We had no idea what had happened the year before.
Speaker 2:And the coach was like on a mission, you know what I mean. So he like whooped us into shape real quick and you know I'd run through a wall for that guy and the whole coaching staff. But it was just a total team concept and we didn't really have any blue chip recruits. We were in the same league. It was called the CCHA, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. We were in the same league as Michigan, michigan State, ohio, baldwin Green, my name of Ohio, western Michigan, ferris State, you know University of Illinois, chicago and Lake Superior, and nobody knew how good we'd be. We were all just these. You know, no blue chip recruits, just good, solid players. That turned out to be, as a group, unbelievable and we took the hockey world by storm and I just was one of those kids. I just loved playing sports and getting on a team and just go out and just work. That's all, just work and it's all about what are you doing to help the team win. That's all that really matters when it comes down to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and for the people listening, for the audience, because some of them might be trying to foster their own teams, whether it's in the workforce or whether it's on in a sporting environment. What do you think were some of those intangibles that allowed you guys to do that? One plus one equals three equation where it's we have the synergies of each other, but we're not focused on our own goal, but we have the team goal ahead of our own.
Speaker 2:You know what? The coaching staff had a lot to do with that and the upperclassmen were huge. We only had two seniors, you know, craig Houston and Terry Hosick, who were more. They were role players, but they were our captains. One of them was the captain, the other one was the assistant, and they just led by example. They weren't the most talented kids on the team, but they just built the total team concept there. And again, we had great upperclassmen and they kept everybody in line. We really didn't have many egos at all. And then, you know, for the kids that were sophomores, juniors and seniors, what they went through the year before, you know, getting upset, you know what I mean. That was a huge. What's the word? I'm looking for motivation for them, so to speak. You know, and here we are, a bunch of young freshmen coming in, just you know, it's like, you know, don't think, just go. Do you know? Once you start thinking, you get yourself in trouble. So we were just young and dumb, so to speak.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and for after college you end up going to the league and what happens there and what was the age to, because I want people to understand about how you had success at such a young age and how that impacts you in that journey.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I was again dripped out of high school, went all four years of college could assign that to my junior, didn't went back, signed pro. I was like what 22 years old I think I was. And then, you know, I got sent to the minors because the devils were loaded at center. I signed a nice three, four year deal, three years with an option, got sent to the minors. I got only one game up my first year with leading score down there. My second year went back, got one game up, went back down at leading score again and in my third year that's when I got up full time. Pretty much you know, but you just got to put the work in. I mean, you know it's hey. If the world worked like pro sports, does someone's looking to take a job every day? How much more productive would everybody be?
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2:But it's just one of those things. You just grind it and just work. You know what I mean. Just work and stick with it and do your best to take it one day at a time and try to be in the moment as much as you can. You know, don't worry about the past, don't worry too far in the future. Just enjoy right now and focus on the pro. You know all the cliches you hear. Focus on the process, the end results, take care of yourself. It's so true.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Anything in life, not just sports.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the day in and day out, and what was that Stanley Cup run like for you? What was that experience? Because it was so early in the career.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my rookie year, official rookie year, was 94. We lost to the Rangers in the conference finals. That was our big rival. You know what I mean? Yeah, that was. We had a great run there and we lost in the conference finals in game seven and overtime you know, we go to the finals.
Speaker 2:So that was like you know. Again, that was great motivation for us the next year. But that run was great. We had a great group of veterans, you know. We had a young goalie, marty Broder. We came in together, turned out to be one of the best goalies of all time and again, same thing as in college.
Speaker 2:Well, I just I was fortunate that I played for some great coaches and great teams you know, Blessed to be on championship winning teams and it's just all about the leadership at the top, the veterans. You know what I mean. Then we get good middle-aged guys and we had some really good young guys, but everybody kept everybody in check. You know it's called accountability. You know, if you look at any championship winning team business whatever it is, I mean that's your team. Accountability is probably the number one thing to get you from where you are to where you wanna be.
Speaker 1:And a lot of the time that's missed because people set ambitious goals Like we're recording this now in November, it'll probably release in December, january, but in the new year people set these ambitious goals for themselves and then there's no accountability to the check-in. So that's why this year I actually set a goal for myself to do 300 workouts and on my Instagram you see me every single day. I'm like 384, 385, 39, because it's just like.
Speaker 1:You gotta keep it rolling, you gotta keep that accountability and that momentum that really moves the needle. So when you ended up winning the Stanley Cup, what was that like? Cause the reason I say that is cause what people don't realize is there's so much time where people wanna reach the end of the mountain and they have this ambition to get there, and you just got there so quickly inside of the NHL season.
Speaker 2:And you can't it seems so quickly. But keep in mind I spent two full years in the minors and my third year I had a great champ started. There was up and down a little bit, but that's when I fully got up. But you just gotta put your time in People just it's like an overnight success. We all know there's no such thing as an overnight success. People finally see you successful at the top of your game. But they missed going to college for four years, not leaving after my junior year, going back for my senior year, then coming into camp, having great training camps and getting sent to the minors First year, the second year being the top guy down there and still not cracking the lineup. So it's just. But then when you finally get there, it's just again. It's so surreal and you just gotta just keep working and stay focused.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you do make a major point there that it sounds like, if I'm new to the math, right, it would have been eight years from when you were drafted that you finally-.
Speaker 2:Yeah 1987,.
Speaker 1:right yeah, which is but you look at it, you're like I only had really two years in the league, but I had the four in college, the two under the two. Yeah, people don't see the groundwork, they only see the success at the little pivot, exactly. And that's on top of that. You had another 15 years in the league.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, and I went through a shoulder surgery. One of those years I missed seven to eight weeks on a shoulder surgery.
Speaker 1:So people, they don't see all that stuff that goes into it Absolutely so I wanted to dive into it because one of the major things that I found really impressive about you was the ability to find the proper perspective. Like on this podcast, we talk about perspective a lot. I'm like you got traded to different teams, you faced injury, you got sent back to. How did you think about all of that? Like specifically the portion where you were your first trade. How did you think about that? And then we'll dive into the rest of the story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, they always say you know, especially for the Americans, back in the day I came out of college and there wasn't many Americans or college kids coming into the league and then the kids that are Canadians playing in the junior leagues, you know they might have gotten traded. You know they always say your first trade's the toughest and that was the toughest. You know I went from New Jersey Devils to the Vancouver Canucks. You know I was terrible in Vancouver and you know what people were. You know people that knew me and all their blaming around the coach and this and that Now I didn't blame it on anybody, I blamed it on myself.
Speaker 2:You know I went to headspace and I went there and you know I played 38 games, just didn't play that well. I never got over that hump. I wasn't focused, I wasn't. And then I got sent. Here's the. Then I got sent back, bounced around a little bit, got sent back to the miners and that's when I got into the whole nutrition aspect. That changed my life forever and we'll talk about that in a little bit. But then I'm a firm believer. You know, forget hockey. You get your mind right, your body right through proper nutrition. Life in general just works a lot better.
Speaker 2:But my focus wasn't on the right things. You know what I mean and I just had to reinvent myself, actually. And then, just once, when I realized, you know, when you get to the top, I mean I went from the penthouse to the outhouse. You know what I mean. It's like whoa, when you get to the top of your game and that's taken away from you. You go one way or the other, you know. And I said I gotta figure out how to do this. And it's all who you surround yourself with, you know. I mean personally, I've been married for 27 years. My wife was with me through all that, you know. So I thank her every day for getting me through some tough times.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you brought up a lot, a few major points. It's you reach the mecca in hockey which, if people were comparing that to life, it might be like whatever you want, like you achieve all of your goals, you achieve your dreams, and then it's taken away from you and now you gotta restart that building process by getting sent back to the miners and the fact that you were able to come through that. What do you think was some of the intangibles that helped you overcome that? You speak about the nutrition. You speak about the changing of mindset. What was it? Because, I feel like at first most people would think like, oh, it's unfair. I would like because you're all in on your teams, and then for them to go wait, we gotta move on. You're like no, no, no, I don't wanna move on.
Speaker 1:A lot of people deal with that and it could be very challenging.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I said, it's just a matter of what do you want? You know what I mean. You truly decide what you want, come up with a game plan and take consistent, focused action.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:One of my biggest things is, you know, one of the biggest keys is success. If you think about it as doing the right things repeatedly over an extended period of time and again, just focus on the process, not the end results, and eventually good things start to happen. I just had to go back to the basics, you know. So the bottom line is here's what happened. I had signed two nice contracts, I had won a Stanley Cup I'm on top of the world, 27 years old, was married you know it's my wife, lisa, who I've known since eighth grade. You know we didn't have kids yet and we got sent back to the minors and I got sent back. I got sent to Hamilton, ontario. So we're sitting there looking at it, said like what just happened? We're 27 years old, it was on the last year of my NHL deal, so I was making NHL money, but that didn't even matter, I was out of the league. So when you get sent back to the minors at 27 years old and major league baseball and NHL, you're not getting back. You're done. I had all these teams from Europe calling us. We could have went there and made great money. But I said to my wife I said listen, honey, let's give it one more year. We're only 27 years old. If we don't make it back to the NHL, we'll only be 28. We'll go to Europe play as long as we can and save some money. It's like no problem. So we're sitting there, it's a month and a half into that season and Hamilton, ontario, is 45 minutes west of Toronto. So, like what just happened, we're down, depressed, whatever you want to call it, call it that.
Speaker 2:And then my wife was doing all this research. She wanted to try to get as healthy as can be, to start trying to have kids. I said, listen, I'll try anything late. So we got introduced to this holistic doctor, james Diadamo, right field blood type, and the good news was he had an office in Portsmouth, new Hampshire, but he also had one in Toronto. I said I'm in, I'll do anything. Somehow we're getting back to the NHL.
Speaker 2:So she called up, made an appointment. Lo and behold, right, three months wait. I'm like what we're like. All right, she just booked it. But she said, hey, if there's any cancellations, we'll come right away. You know how God works in mysterious ways. Right, three days later, they called us up. There was an opening. We went right down, drove there and I was hurt at the time actually Went there. We did the whole thing. Within 30 days I went from 192 pounds down to 182. I lost 10 pounds. I was quicker, slower, faster. I cut out all the extracurriculars. I got my minor, I got focused. I got healthy. I finished that year out with the Hamilton in the American hockey league. That's the Emmett Norther's farm team.
Speaker 2:So I finished that year out I got my mind right, buddy, and then that summer I went home. I got up at 5.30 every morning and worked out from six to 7.30 with a trainer.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Didn't. I didn't talk to anybody and I went to training camp the next year, made the Oilers and played the next 12 straight years right out of day in the minors until I was 40 years old, and people were like holy cow. So I went and reinvented myself, but I was just focusing on a mission and if I didn't have the support of my wife and my family, it would have never have happened. Yes, and that's until I was 40 years old, and I almost squeaked another year out at 41. Well, it would be crazy. And then it got to the point where it didn't matter. I just loved being on a team, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then I was a kid, a guy that had success early on. And when you have success like that early on, everybody knows you're a winner and they'll take you on your team. And if you don't have an ego, you can last a long time in pro sports if you don't have an ego.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think the really impressive thing here is that ability to reinvent and it's changing the environment, changing the inputs. But also I don't know if the whole audience caught what you were saying. There is like you stopped going out partying. You stopped a lot of the negative inputs in your life that were very short term and you treated them in for long term. You're like I don't want to be out till midnight, I want to be up at six, like I want to trade to the end.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was a game changer, though that was truly a game changer. Or being consistent and getting up early in the morning, doing my workouts, getting that done, having the whole rest of the day and then just staying focused and, just like I said, you just get focused.
Speaker 1:What's it that you've got from that doctor? That changed the perspective.
Speaker 2:So everything that was 27 years ago. Well, I'm 54, I'll be 55 this Christmas, but everything he told us 27 years ago 100% right on the food system, supplements and all that and it was specifically for your blood type it was eat right for your blood type. Dr James Diadama, the guy's amazing, you know what I mean, and he has a book out. But the only way you get his book is you go see him. He died in his late 90s, he died a few years ago. But he has a son, peter Diadama. He's a little more lenient, but the father's like, right away you go, he does the whole iridology, looks at everything and he's amazing and he gives you a list right off the bat of stuff that does nothing for you, absolutely. Oh, alcohol, soda, this, that chocolate. Don't let anybody tell you that glass of wine is good for your heart. No, not at all. You know what I mean. There's the whole list.
Speaker 1:Oh, so he made it super simple for you, oh yes. Right now with the education, health, there's so many areas.
Speaker 2:Yup, and then he, and the supplementation was the purest supplement you could put in your body. It was for the one percenters. It was very expensive, you know what I mean. But I didn't care what it cost, like I'm doing this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you want to go to the league, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and that's why I'm so passionate about what we're going to talk about here in a little bit. You know the nutrition company that I'm a part of. It's just like I am a firm believer. The bottom line is what you watch, read, listen to and what you put into your body is probably the most important thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah you bring up a major point there.
Speaker 2:You're being successful life.
Speaker 1:You bring up a major point there, and this is one of the reasons I actually started. The podcast is what you said. You can only change the inputs, right. So it's what you can hear like podcasts, what you read books, what you can watch YouTube, and the thing is nowadays that everybody is that.
Speaker 1:Think about it back in the day, that used to be your surrounding friend group, now it is the globe, it has gone global, meaning that you could have people in your inner circle because it's the five people around you affect you the most. So that means if you listen to my podcast every single day, the people and my guests are gonna affect the way you think. So the idea here is that if you could have more positive inputs in your life, that will be better for you, and Jim actually brings up a point that I never even thought about. But the food intake, the water intake and this is something I've been coming more aware about, because people don't realize that the foods you eat, they're like okay, alcohol is bad. Okay, I understand that, so does bad. I understand that, I'm done with so.
Speaker 1:But then you start diving in further and you're like the water composite is so good the toothpaste isn't good the this and it's like how do you even think about going about this and how did you like? So what was that transition like? Obviously, the goal is something that you wanted more than anything, so you were willing to make sacrifices, and I love that, and that's what people need to find. They need to find goals that they're ready to leap and make a change for.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I said, when you have something that you love to do your whole life and you get to the pinnacle, you get to the top and it's taken away from you. Like I said earlier, you go one way or the other but you need to surround yourself with good people and again, thank God, my wife were on the same page with just about everything and that's another thing. You just said the five people you surround yourself with and it really truly is like I mean, my wife and I, we are going this April we'll be four years. No TV, oh wow, or it's not nothing. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:You know we just we researched and all that we got. You know, educated on the whole. You know nutritional, the health, that system 27 years ago, and everything that guy told us is 100% correct. You know what I mean. And but it goes back to you know what do you want out of life? And, and you know the TV I truly believe TV is is one of the worst things. It's in all goes back to what you watch, what you read, what you listen to before you go to bed at night and the first thing when you wake up in the morning you got to set your tone for the day, you know. And then what are you putting in your body? Like pretty much, you just hit the nail on the head. I mean, most of the food is not good for you. I mean, what's killing us is our food.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the fact that you're 54 and still making these changes four years ago, when it's not like, hey, we don't need the money, we don't need this, we don't need that, we just want to live at a higher level, we just want to operate better, we just want to be more present, we want to have a deeper relationship, cause they actually talk about that. And how do you think that no TV has impacted your relationship? Because there's been a discussion about that, where it's relationships on the lowest level are watching TV together or like consuming, but like then you can converse. There's there's like a few different levels to it, but I don't know.
Speaker 2:I don't know. That's a whole big, deep rabbit hole you want to go down. It's just the bottom line is. It's just not for us. That's all I mean. I don't judge anybody, I used to watch it.
Speaker 1:But I'm saying how do you think it's impacted your relationship?
Speaker 2:Oh to me oh amazing. Yup, we're on the same page, you know, with pretty much everything, and it's I mean we look back now like it's just a time waster Probably the biggest time waster in people's lives. You think about it. What's really good on TV? Yeah, already much, hardly anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Hardly anything, you know. And again, you know, I've never judged anybody before I got into this stuff. You know what I mean. I will never judge anybody, you know. Yeah, it's just not for us. You know what I mean and it's, it's made, it's my wife and I have gotten even closer than we've ever been, you know, and we just researched, we just you know, we just want to know the truth about things, that's all. And it started, you know, 27 years ago when we got into the whole nutrition and all that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, the really funny one that you that kind of gets brought up is like a lot of people enjoy reality TV and the thing is, someone brought up the point of like I think it was Grant Cardone, he was talking about it where he was like why would I let anyone watch reality TV? They're fighting about bad relationships. Why would I want a bad relationship. It's just you just say this kind of stuff and you're like that makes so much sense.
Speaker 2:It's all just a distraction. That's all it is, you know, 100%, 100%.
Speaker 1:We don't have that many hours in the day, so what is it that you're working on now, jim, and what is? What is this thing that you're trying to work towards?
Speaker 2:So what do I do post NHL? You know I have I get a bunch of different things going on. So but the two main things I focus on, if you go to jimdowcom, so I'm a performance mindset coach, so I'm basically I'm a certified acceology practitioner, that's the study of values. And again, if you go to jimdowcom, I'm working with 12 to 20 year old athletes.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm a performance mindset coach, helping athletes in their life and sport. Yes, and I'm not. Sport and life, life and sport. You know so. And I use. You know I mean I've been through it all. I have been through all my, both, my boys, you know. You'll see a bio on my whole family up there, my boys and everything I my.
Speaker 2:So personally, like I said before, but for those of you who don't know, I've been married for 27 years. I have two boys. My oldest son's a senior at Penn State playing hockey Incredible, all right. My youngest son is a freshman at ASU playing hockey for rides. So I've been through the whole gamut with them. You know. And and nutrition is a huge part of my program with that. You know so. And then I also have a nutrition company I've been a part of founding member, you know we launched nine and a half years ago. We have the patents on the world's first, ever truly customized vitamin platform, the whole product line of.
Speaker 2:You know the purest ingredients you could put in your body. You know GMO, it's all that. You know. We pride ourselves on having the best, being the best for the best, like. I'm not giving my family and my friends, my kids anybody for that matter. Second, best quality ingredients. You know what I mean and that's you know. I know what it did for my life and you know I know what it can do and is doing for other people's lives. You know, and those are the two things that I focus on my life, 100% you know 100%.
Speaker 1:I mean you bring up a major point here. So you were in the league exponentially longer than most people are what, and most people wouldn't be able to even step away. Most people are like because what I found is, when I interview athletes or different people, their identity is captured inside of this, the sport. You know what I mean. So it's like how do you take that next step and how do you prepare for that next step and how do you think about that? Like obviously it's a year in, year out, kind of thing. Were you thinking about your next steps for a while or did you take a break or how?
Speaker 2:do you do that transition. Looking back on it, you know what I mean. I, looking back on it, I wish I don't ever regret about anything, but I wish during my career, I wish I would have started something before I was done playing hockey, if you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:But, and going back to what you just said, it's not an easy transition for most athletes. You know what I mean and it wasn't easy for me. But then I had to sort of reinvent myself. But, like, people know me as Jim Dowd the hockey player, which is fine. You know what I mean. I mean it's open doors for me, it's given me a platform to help me create myself outside of that. But I'm still. You know when I do my presentations. You know from, obviously, my nutrition, because everyone knows me tell hockey stories. But I relate it back to. You know what the nutrition when I was 27, I sent back to the miners. I mean that story in itself speaks for itself. You know documentation beats conversation right.
Speaker 2:You know, facts and that's. You know. So and again, you know I wouldn't have traded the last 14, 15 years for anything. I coached my boys all the way up. I had offered the coach and you know, four or five different NHL organizations. I could have been coaching an NHL, but I would have never seen my kids grow up. So you know, yeah, it's been an amazing journey. You know, and you know it's just one day at a time. You know you need to take it one day at a time.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I think you bring up a very good point there where it's if people are in a career or if they're doing. Anything like this is what I like to share with the audience is like start building. Like start building whatever it is you want in your dream life, because the reality is it's gonna take a lot longer than you think and it's gonna be a lot more work. So you might as well get a head start and get started, because most people wanna sit there and pretend my life is this forever, and that's kind of what happened with this podcast. It was me just wanting to meet interesting people and hear their stories and then it became a oh, tell me about what's going on? Learning about this, learning about all these different areas of life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know what I mean. Like I said, it's just. And then the best part about it is once you you have to come up with a game plan and you come up with a strategy and then you just got to focus on putting the work in little by little. You know what I mean. One of my favorite books is by Darren Hardy the Compound Effect. That's a great book. Yes, I mean it's so. He keeps it so simple, it's an easy read and it's just.
Speaker 2:You know the compound effect. You know little by little, and it's amazing when you're focused and you get on your little runs there. Because life is momentum, right, there's just. As I tell people, just as fast as you lose momentum, you can gain it right back and vice versa. Just as you gain momentum, you can lose it. But it's you know, and you just got to stick with it and surround yourself with positive, success minded people. You know that. Lift you up, get away from. I tell my kids and kids that I work with. You want to be so positive. Negative people don't want to be around you. That's.
Speaker 2:You want to be so positive because you don't want to be around you, no time for that it takes the same amount of energy to be positive it does negative. Why not be positive, right?
Speaker 1:100%. I think the really interesting thing about you is that you were able to transition from the NHL, where you're giving it all for the team, to transition into the family dynamic where you're like I want to coach my kids, I want to be very present, I want to make like, to give the audience perspective. Here we were literally taught me and Jim were talking last week and Jim was like, yeah, I just drove 14 hours. He said he did a little quicker, but he's like I drove to Michigan to see my son play because I didn't know which game I was going to be able to get to, because he's got the two sons in the top 20 right now in the college collegiate league. And he's like, yeah, I'm going to go see him here.
Speaker 1:And it's just like it's so incredible to see a present dad in those moments, because most people they have the dad title. But it's like, how do you embrace the dad title and how do you rock the dad title? And like, how did you go about that with your kids? Like one of the pillars of Edward's consulting is relationships and it's family dynamic and it's how do you, how do you think about that Cause? I can only imagine how challenging it was for them to play hockey and then, have you like, have you been there?
Speaker 2:It's not, I love it. It's great. I mean there's nothing better than you know. I mean having kids and watching your kids succeed at something they love. There's ups and downs in that too and, like I said, my wife and I are very blessed. I mean my kids are at two amazing schools, you know, and having doing what they love you know, getting a great education and you know, and then to be able to coach them all the way up in something that I did and they, you know, chose to do Like I. We introduced them to every sport too, everything.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, they played hockey, they played lacrosse, they played a little soccer, they played baseball. They love to surf. We live in Point Pleasant Beach, new Jersey, right by the oceans. They surf all the time and they're very close, which is pretty cool. Like they'll get up, you know, before the crack of dawn if there's waves, and go surfing still to this day. You know it's awesome. Yeah, it's nothing more rewarding, you know. You know it's an easy drive nine hours, you know, going to see your kid you know, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I just I just say that because I think there's a lot of people who struggle with that relationship and because it looks like you're doing so well with that relationship and then your wife of 27 years that really like it's just cool to see. Sure, are there any winning principles that you have inside of relationships in regard to having that strong connection with them and making them work, whether it's the wife or your children, or just a family dynamic as a whole?
Speaker 2:No, the one thing that I learned and I learned is from my wife, I mean is listen, and I'm working at it. Trying to get better and better is just. Communication is probably the number one thing.
Speaker 1:Bottom line Okay.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. Simple as that. Communication is the number one thing. You know. And listen, it's being married for 27 years. You know what I mean. It takes work. You know what I mean. And then again, you know it's a crazy world out there. But the number one thing if there's anything I could say to people out there that aren't married yet, or you're engaged or you're getting married, or you are married just for a year or two is, you know, communication.
Speaker 2:Everybody makes mistakes. You know what I mean. We all make mistakes. Nobody's perfect. There's only one person that was perfect. We all know who. That is right. That other than that you know. Learn to forgive. You know what I mean. Forgive yourself, forgive other people that have done you wrong. There's no need to go through life like that. But the answer to your question is the number one thing is probably communication. Hands down, yeah, or any relationship, not just being married. You know what I mean, 100%. You and I are just getting to know each other. Over the last couple of weeks, michael Benson, a great friend, introduced us. You know it's all about communication. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, absolutely, and you let me know if you think this is true or not. But I would say the fact that you guys are both it seems like you're very aligned on your view of the world, not in a good or bad way, but it's just like you guys both have a similar vision of like what you want for the family unit and like what you guys want to accomplish. Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 2:And again that goes back to you. Just, you learn, you look back and you know you don't ever want to really look back on things, but you look back to say, hey, what did we do right? What do we think we did wrong? How can we improve?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the feedback model. Yeah, because most people are just trying to go so fast that they don't even look back, they don't even see the differences. So let me know what's ID life, what's the nutrition, what's the current company you're with and how do you think about that and what is it that they're doing? That's a little bit different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so basically, my one of my best friends is the founder and chairman we launched May 1, 2014. Again, we have the patent. We're the only ones in the world that do what we do. We have the patents on the world's first ever truly customized by a Blatman custom you to me, to my wife. Think about it. No two human beings are alike, so why should you, Jordan Edwards, be taking the same thing as Jim Dall? Yeah, it's a free, HIPAA compliant health assessment. This is our core product. Now that you take right online Computes out for you what you need, and the best part about what we do here is we give you this information Once you create an account. You never have to buy anything from us, but then there's a whole DNA profile to go along with that. To get down to the granular level, and again we have a whole product line shakes, collagen, energy hydrate everything the healthiest stuff you can put in your body.
Speaker 2:It's a really confusing space out there. People just don't know. We break it down to each individual, which is, I mean, that separates us from everybody else. So there's tons of great health companies out there, and then there's a ton where it doesn't make any sense. I mean the ones that have artificial ingredients, this, and that we don't bash them. We just explain what separates us. But I never understood that in the first place. You're a health and wellness company and you have artificial ingredients in your products. That really is, Well, the toughest part. I don't understand that and I'll never understand that, Absolutely.
Speaker 1:I mean, the toughest part is because there's so many quote unquote experts and they're all saying different things and it's like who do we trust? How do we know? How do we think about this? Because it's very challenging and the thing is you want it to be a very simple process where it's hey, this is what works for you, yes, and this is what's recommended, because I actually took the test and I found it very interesting. Where it's just like hey, they recommend this, this, this and this.
Speaker 2:And we explain why. And you see what the deal is. It's not Jim Doud, it's not ID Life Reckoning for Jordan Edwards. We are backed by over 12,000 third-party peer-review clinical studies, which is amazing. And there's other companies out there. Again, we don't bash them. They say they're doing what we're doing, but if they have an assessment, it's not HIPAA compliant and it's backed by their in-house studies. It's like me and you starting a company and we have all the studies done in-house. Of course we're going to say our stuff the best.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:Again, that's the main thing that separates us. That's why we always lead with ID Nutrition. That's our flagship product and the bottom line is we're doing this the home-based business way. Why? Because think about it, you can't put customized vitamins on a store shelf. They can't just sit there. So it really is amazing just building a team of positive, successful people that want to help people do life better.
Speaker 1:How has that experience been for you, transitioning from the NHL to getting back to those nutrition routes that you've always been super passionate about? How has that been for you?
Speaker 2:Oh, it's amazing. And again, you know why I'm so passionate about this is because when I got into, dr James Deodama was doing this stuff. That was for the 1% People. I make it $250,000 or more. What we have here with ID Life, we can literally tailor it down, the customized nutrition to anybody's budget. So this is for everyone Every the person that knows they need supplements, that have been taking supplements forever, and the people because listen, just as many millions of people take supplements, millions don't. For the new person that's just getting into it Now realize that they need supplements, you can tailor it down to their budget. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's like I said we have something for everybody here.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. And what are the different types of items that they cover? I know it's.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, we have a lean 30 program. It's our weight loss program. We have a new fitness slash longevity line we just rolled out. That's amazing for not only the 23 year old gym rat, the bodybuilder, the athlete. It's great for my 92 year old mother. It's great for the 54 year old. That doesn't work out, that just walks. You know. We have again shakes. We have meal replacement shakes. We have collagen, we have hydrate. We have energy drinks, which is one of the biggest things right now. All these energy drinks out there, they all have artificial ingredients in them. You know all the ones you see out there that the kids are drinking. It's none of them really good for you, you know.
Speaker 1:And again.
Speaker 2:We have a whole product. We literally have something for everybody. Exactly If you want to less damage. Who doesn't want to look, feel, sleep or perform better? You know, one of our best products is our sleep strips. You know what I mean? It's healthy for you, non habit forming. I mean. The list goes on and on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and I mean it's really fascinating because you start looking at, like, what is allowed to be served and what is being served, and you got to be careful, you got to be more aware of this stuff because it's and I don't usually dive into health and wellness Like we talk about health a little bit on the podcast but not dive into it that much but it's obviously very big in like mental health and physical health and it's important to understand how the food you're eating is affecting the way you feel, or the supplement you're taking the way you feel because most people are living suboptimally.
Speaker 1:And if there's a way to live a little bit more optimally on a little on, like a pretty minor investment, it's like why not? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I said, and it's just again, we're basically turning the $3 trillion industry upside down worldwide. You know what I mean. Yeah, it's pretty cool, like I said, and again, we're a movement that's just helping people do life better. That's all we are. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so, Jim. Where can people learn more about you?
Speaker 2:Like I said, if they want any more info, they could email me at jimdowedatmecom. My performance mindset coaching business is jimdowedcom. They can actually go in there and email me as well through that. But on the nutrition side, just, jimdowedatmecom, you know, I'm Jim Doud Jim Doud Hockey on Instagram and I'm on Facebook just as Jim Doud. Yeah.
Speaker 1:After all.
Speaker 2:I love the. It's all about the relationship. You know what I mean. I want to get to know you on a personal level. It's one person at a time, because you know the deal one will lead you to three, will lead you to seven. The next thing, you know, but it's got to be my personal belief, it's got to be personal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I'll put all this in the show notes. I think you have been incredible. I appreciate your time and just sharing with the audience your stories. I think it's awesome. I think there's a lot that can be learned from this.
Speaker 2:Well, thanks, jordan, I appreciate you having me on and you know, hey, we'll do some more here.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.