Reginald D: Welcome to Real Talk with Reginald D. I'm your host, Reginald D.

On today's episode, I have John Diggs. John played in both the NFL and CFL and is currently a mapineering mentor and the creator of the I Am System.

Welcome to the show, John.

John Diggs: Hey, thank you for having me, Mr. Reginald D. Yes, sir.

Reginald D: Thank you. Thank you. So, John, let's start out like this. Can you tell us a little bit about your childhood and where you grew up?

John Diggs: Yeah, I was actually born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Specifically in a city called Pacoima, California, which is about maybe 20 miles or so north of downtown Los Angeles. And yeah, beautiful city.

Great city. Little small city in LA that produced a lot of famous people. Actually, you know, I'm kind of proud to say that, you know, we have Heisman Trophy winners, Grammy award winners,

Oscar winners,

politicians, and the light, man, out of this little bitty city in Los Angeles. That's where I'm from. Pacoima, California.

Reginald D: Yeah. Must have been something in the water, man. Produce all those good people.

John Diggs: Yeah, yeah, it was water in the streets.

Reginald D: Yeah.

So, John, I'm gonna talk about this a little bit. Cause I started out and I mentioned NFL and your football career, you know, the business will be like, oh, I want to know a little more about that.

I already know it.

John Diggs: Yeah, right, right.

Reginald D: Can you tell us a little bit about your career in football?

John Diggs: Well, yeah, like I said, I come from a city that was producing athletes all over. We have a Heisman Trophy, couple Heisman Trophy award winners from our city. And I was just one of the lucky ones that was, you know, that was able to get a scholarship to Washington State University.

Played for the Cougs. Go Cougs.

Then from there I went on and played several years in the NFL with the Houston Oilers, LA Raiders. Then I went up to Canada to play a couple of years before I got two screws put in the right kn.

But yeah, so yeah, I got a chance to dabble a little bit and play some, you know, didn't play as much as I would like or as long as I would like.

But, you know, a good thing about it is that I actually got my real estate license before playing any professional football. So I kind of had a plan B in mind, if you will.

And in fact, when I was with playing with the Raiders the last couple of years in LA, 91, 92,

I actually had like 10 listings.

So I was doing real estate deals while still playing football just out of the love of real estate at that time. So,

yeah, that's pretty much what I did. And man, played some football and great memories,

great relationships, great times, a lot of great stories.

Yeah, I'm blessed and grateful for that experience in my past, for sure.

Reginald D: Yeah. So we talk about some experiences. Let's talk about. Let's talk about like two lessons from the NFL locker room that still shaped how you mentor people today.

John Diggs: Well, yeah, you know, one of the things that I was blessed with, with playing with the Raiders back then, this was again, 91, 92. We were actually the oldest team in the NFL and I was just a young guy coming into the league.

But that team had like,

I mean, some of those guys on that team, from Ronnie Lott to Howie Long to Jay Schrader to Willie Golt to Bob Golick to,

I mean, a lot of those guys, Al Davis was playing a pan a gazillion of money to a lot of guys that were great when they were younger. So he was back there hiring all these, you know, getting all these old guys on a team.

So it was very good for me because I was able to understand more the mentality of the game versus just all pure athleticism.

You know, spending time with Ronnie Lott, you know, was really,

it taught me a lot about. It's more than just you can 10x your ability and your results by taking your natural born talent and combining that with the cerebral aspect of the game, you know, understanding more of the game mentally versus just pure athleticism.

And that's really helped me out a lot with my coaching of young athletes now,

which I do a lot of, is letting them know that, look, you know, the athletic part is one piece, but the mental component is really 80 to 90% of your results of your performance is what you got going on up here.

You know, when you get to a certain level, especially in the NFL, you know, everybody's talented,

everybody's fast, everybody's strong, everybody can make big plays. What really separates those regular players to those outstanding all pro players is really their mentality. You know, that Mamba mentality, that cobalt mentality, that Michael Jordan mentality of really trying to be great.

So that's what I've been doing a lot with a lot of athletes nowadays, with one of my books and projects called Big Play Power of helping them maximize the mental component of it.

Specifically get really clear on what are some of the biggest plays you can make in the game. You know, what do you want in the game?

We map that out and get really clear on that. Then I walk them through a process on what Michael Jordan actually talked about.

And that's mentally playing the game in your mind while laying in bed every night.

And so that's what I really teach a lot of athletes to do now, is let's get really clear on what it would be like for you to be the best athlete you could be.

Let's really crystallize that. And now you take that process and every night, don't just go to sleep. Do what I call intentional dream.

Force yourself to dream about making those big plays and having that best game and having that best season, having that best career.

Every night you need to practice that in your mind,

which when the time comes,

you know you'd be in a better position to make those plays. Cause you've already kind of been there, done that inside your mind.

So those are some of the things that I've learned from the Eric Dickersons, who was also on that team. I mean, that team was. When I look back at it, man, you know, I learned so much from them because there was a lot of just wisdom on that team of guys that didn't have the athleticism when they were younger.

So they had to use their mind to just stay in the game, you know, keep that level. It was a lot smarter than some guys did. Like me, that was just like, all right, you know, I could just go out there and make a play.

When guys like Sam Seal, you know, these guys were like, man, 12, 13 year veterans and they were just breaking it down to me, like, look, man, you know, when you see a receiver release, you know, he can't go here, so just get there.

You know, he, he's eliminating stuff that he can do, you know, and I'll just remember that, man, it's funny you bring that up. I haven't thought about that in years.

But yeah, there was some very powerful experiences and memories that I'd love to share with young athletes now.

Reginald D: Yeah, man. And that's very positive. That's very positive too. You said something that was very strong. Because I have people that I lead every day and they always ask me, say, man, you always five steps ahead of us.

And I was like, yeah, when you in bed, you sleep.

When I'm in bed, I'm thinking,

yeah,

yeah. So the next day when I come, I'm five steps ahead of you when it's all said and done. And so I think that's very important if you want to be great.

John Diggs: Right, right. You know, and there is a story you can share with folks that are true about Michael Jordan. I guess after that game winning shot Against Cleveland in one of those playoff games back in Michael Jordan days.

Reporter asked him, you know, what's it like to make that shot? You know, how do you feel?

He's like, oh, yeah, it's no big deal to me because I made that shot a thousand times in my mind,

you know, so when the time came, I knew what was going to happen. You know, I knew it was going in because it went in a thousand times in my dream.

So, yeah, that's something that I think a lot of young people and even older people, you know, should really use their minds properly to create the reality that they want by really creating it here first,

you know,

instead of thinking that it's just going to happen out there first. No, it happens inside first before it happens externally.

Reginald D: Yes. So let me ask you this, John. Was there ever a moment in the league where you doubted yourself and then what did you do in that moment to, like, get out of it?

John Diggs: Yeah, you know, that's a great question. The first time it happened was in Glitch, you know, when I was playing at Washington State.

You know, it's a different step. You know, each step that you go from high school to college, you know, it levels up, so you kind of doubt yourself a little bit.

Am I really ready for this new level kind of deal? And. And one of the things my father had asked me is like, you know, son, what do you really want to do, you know, with this game?

And I said, dad, you know, my dream was to play college, you know, ball. And he said, well, now you're here, so now what do you want?

I said, well, I want to play,

you know, I want to play. Yeah, I want to. I want to play. I just don't want to be on the team, on the sideline. I want to play.

And he was like, well, look, man, you're here for a reason,

you know,

so play. You know, realize that God put you in this situation for a reason.

So what I really did was just understood that I was in that circumstance because I was supposed to be there at that time. And that gave me the confidence and the motivation to realize that I belong because I was there.

You know, I wouldn't have been there if I didn't belong or God didn't want me to be there.

So that really shifted my perspective to realize that if I worked hard to get to the situation, now I'm here.

I gotta trust that that power, that higher power that got me there is gonna make sure I succeed there. If I'm open to.

To that possibility. Versus fearing something is gonna go wrong kind of deal. So that really shifted my perspective. My dad was a big help in that, of always transforming those negatives to positives for me by realizing that, you know, there's a higher power that's got your back, essentially.

I always lean on that.

Reginald D: Absolutely, man. I can't do nothing without it, I'm telling you. Yeah. At the end of the day, I mean, you know, you was there,

and it was in your mind that I'm not just here. I'm chosen.

John Diggs: Right, Right. And that should give you faith and confidence to feel the fear and do it anyway.

Reginald D: Right.

John Diggs: You know what I mean? That's how I live, for sure.

Reginald D: Absolutely.

So, John, you went from the NFL and entrepreneurship, success.

Then I read that you ended up sleeping on your mom's couch.

How did that shift your identity and your understanding of success?

John Diggs: Ooh, man. Yeah, that was a. That's. That was a very interesting time because after I finished playing football, like I said, I had this real estate background, so I got immediately into the mortgage business after I realized that my football career was over.

And I went on to build one of Southern California's largest mortgage brokerages, where I was.

Yeah, I had this big, large company, and we were crushing it from, like, 2001 all the way up until the mortgage meltdown of 2007. And, in fact, I made a lot more money as a businessman than I ever did as a professional football player.

I mean, we were crushing it.

But then when the mortgage meltdown hit, I mean, it seemed like overnight all of that was gone. I mean, I lost my company, I lost my houses, I lost my cars, even lost my wife and kids.

I mean, I was rock bottom. And for the first time in my life, this was the lowest, lowest point in my life. And I was forced to live with my mom.

I didn't have anywhere else to go. And it was kind of crazy that I had to sleep on the couch that I bought her kind of deal.

And it shook me, you know, I didn't.

Yeah, it was the first time in my life where I lost my identity. Everything that I identified with,

you know, was gone. So I was really lost and didn't know what to do and where to go with my life, you know? But again, by the grace of God.

And I went to my mom's house and took with me just a gym bag full of gym clothes to work out.

Took my mountain bike, and I took this big box. There's literally a huge,

like, moving box that I put all of these books and motivational tapes and CDs that I've collected over the years.

You know, I knew I had to go back into that box to just try to refresh my mind with, you know, all of that stuff that I used to help build my life.

I've always been into self improvement, you know, so I knew I had to go into that stuff to reset my life. And by the way, I did a TEDx talk that talks about this whole story.

So you or any of your listeners want to see that whole depth of that story. It's all ON JOHN DIGGS YouTube TEDx.

But just in short, you know, when I started going through that box, there was a book called the Mind Map Book by Tony Buzan in there. I don't remember buying it.

Somebody must have given it to me. But for whatever reason, it resonated with me. I read it and decided to mind map all of the contents of that box.

And that just transformed my life. Yeah, I mean it just. I spent three months,

literally every day, all day, mind mapping every one of those books. It had to be about maybe 50 books in there. From Think and Grow Rich to How to Win Friends and Influence People, Unlimited Power,

Power of Now, Power of Intention. I mean all of the major self help books. I just spent just all day, every day just mind mapping these books. And that transformed my life.

Where I went from essentially rags to riches in less than eight months to where, you know, I was homeless and fool around and got me like $190,000 a year job in less than eight months.

And I know it's because of what that tool, mind mapping was able to let me do,

enabled me to do with clarity and just understanding about who I am and what I wanted with my life,

if that makes sense.

And in that process, just to kind of button that story up real quick, is that the first three months, like I said, I mind mapped all of those contents of that book and I walked away with two major key points.

Because what a mind map does,

it helps you take whatever you're thinking about and puts it in a form where you can actually see it better,

you can understand things better because it's not swirling in your mind, it's actually on paper. So instead of going through the books and highlighting and underwriting things,

I was actually doing what is called active learning, meaning I was going through paragraphs and chapters and trying to find keywords that would explain that chapter or explain that paragraph to put on my map.

So that process was allowing me to, or causing me to really understand the information better. Than versus just kind of just reading it, you know, I was really looking for what did this mean?

So I can add it to my map. But having done all of that,

I started to really understand what all of these authors and thought leaders were pretty much trying to communicate. And what I walked away with was that they're all trying to communicate the same thing.

And that same thing is that life is meant to be loved. That's it.

They all got different strategies and processes on how to do it, philosophies on how to do it. But their overall thing was like this life is meant to be loved.

So that really shifted that dark period to a more of a brighter period because I was like, wait a minute, I'm going through a section right now, a season right now, but my life is truly meant to be love.

But then the second thing I got out of that was in order for me to love life, I really have to get really clear on who I am and what I want to love life.

So after the first three months of doing that, the next three months, I just spent really just getting totally clear on who I am and what I want.

And I mean, all day, every day. I was broke, homeless, I didn't have nothing else to do but think about this.

And that transformed my whole life to cause me, I'm absolutely certain,

to get that job right away and change my life quickly. And it was all because of what mind mapping was able to do for me.

Reginald D: Right. And the thing about it, you know, if you don't have clarity, man, about where you're going and stuff like that, you'll be stumbling for the rest of your life, man, you know, yeah, definitely will get to your purpose if you don't have clarity.

John Diggs: Clarity is huge, you know, and that's one of my biggest.

I do webinars now, I do conferences, I speak at keynotes and workshops all over the country. And that's my theme nowadays, is to help people get clear, especially when life is loud,

you know, and that's really what I talk about when life is loud. Either,

you know, you suffering from a loss of a loved one,

or you're an empty nester now and don't know what to do with your life, or you just had a divorce or just maybe just bored with life,

you know, things coming at you, you may feel overwhelmed.

Let me show you how to lower that volume and get really clear on who you are and what you want your life at this particular time. And yeah, clarity is so powerful.

And it's surprising how many of us don't have clarity and overwhelmed and overloaded and stressed and suffering because of that. So my passionate mission has just been to change all of that, is do my very best to change that.

Reginald D: Yeah. Because I'm telling you, man, people don't understand when they get in a stressful moment, John, I've talked to so many people,

it becomes so dangerous because it becomes normal.

John Diggs: Yeah.

Reginald D: They don't know what kind of thing is doing internally on the back end to your life and everything like that. Until one day you look up, man, you don't broke down, fell out, something happened, you just lost it because you've been dealing with stress that first of all you're carrying something that God didn't even meant for you to carry.

John Diggs: Exactly.

Reginald D: But you're still trying to carry it.

John Diggs: Exactly. And again, that's been my passionate mission for the last four or five years now just to really help people sort that out. Just because I truly believe my experiences, just like with football, like we talked about before, you know, God put me in this position with this story, with this message,

this, with this tool for a specific reason. And I think that reason is just to really help people look like, look, whatever you got going on that's causing you all this angst,

let's get it out of your mind so you can now see it and have a way to sort it, have a way to structure it some kind of way so it's not just bouncing around inside of your head, essentially killing you.

Stress kills, essentially killing you. Let me show you this tool that I've been using effectively to really get direction and peace in my life, you know, so that's been my mission, which again was why I'm glad you had me on your show, man.

Thank you so much.

Reginald D: Oh, yes, sir, Absolutely.

So let's talk about this, John. For someone who feels stuck right now, mentally, emotionally or financially,

how would you walk them through their first mind map?

John Diggs: Woo. Good question.

Well, what I would first have somebody do is what is called a mental brain dump.

And that's just to grab a piece of paper,

put it landscape, if you will,

and just whatever you have in your mind, just put it on that paper.

Don't overanalyze it, don't overthink it, don't over judge it. If a thought comes to your mind,

get it out of your head as fast as you can and just put it on a piece of paper.

That same paper,

just keywords, short phrases, no long sentences or paragraphs,

just get it out of your mind. Spin 10, 15 minutes of just whatever you're thinking about, it's this person's name, put their name down. If it's a bill, if it's a fear that you have, it's if a goal you have, if it's something that's going on with your health,

whatever's bouncing in your head,

just get it out of there and just put it on a piece of paper. That would be the first thing that I would do. And every time I have people do that, Reginald's.

It's like totally powerful because they immediately.

You can see the calm comes over them just by just doing that exercise for 10, 15 minutes. It's like literally taking stuff off your computer and putting it in an external drive kind of deal.

It's like you just got it out of your head and put it on a piece of paper.

That would be the first step that I would do to people just to get them just to kind of relax and also give them kind of a tangible experience on what it really is truly like to export things out of their mind and put it on a piece of paper.

That would be the very first thing.

Then after you do things like that, then that's when it comes in where the coaching or the guidance comes in, where now we can start to section those things you put on your math, you know, you put on a piece of paper.

You know, are you really.

What does that word really mean? Do you really feel like that?

You know, how else can you feel? You know, what else could this mean?

You know,

is there a way that we can level up that word that you actually put down there? You know, do you really feel,

you know, upset, or you just maybe a little down, or you may be a little tired because. So we can start going through all of those things that they put on their map and really give it some more context.

And oftentimes a lot of people may change the word, you know. Well, yeah, that came out, but no, I really feel more like this.

You know, that's the. I was stuck on that word because it's a habituated word that I use all the time. But if I really sit down and think about it,

I don't really feel like that. I'm more feeling like this, you know, and once you go through and kind of level up all of those words,

now you're starting to reframe a lot of that stuff that people had in their mind that was holding them down and holding them back that they never would have thought of had it not been something they can see,

you know, now they can see it now they can start to restructure it, reframe it, reorganize it to where it takes that stress level completely down.

And now you have some structure to form a game plan to level up your life.

Reginald D: Yeah. So is that a part of what you say are the four I of anchors, right?

John Diggs: Well,

no, that's the brain dump exercise. Okay? Out of all of the possible mind maps people can make, and literally, Reginald D. You can make a mind map for literally anything you're thinking about.

Problems, decisions,

trips you want to go on, stuff in your past that you know that's maybe nagging you, goal setting, the future,

Anything that's going on in your mind,

you can put it on the mind map. There's literally thousands and thousands of possibilities of mind maps you can make. But out of all of those, the most important one you can make is the one I call the I am mind map, which was the one that I made and started making that second three months at my mother's house of trying to get clear on who I am and how that started.

Kind of like with the brain dump I put in the center of that page,

I am. Am. Then I started spending all of this time just asking myself, who am I? What's most important to me?

Who am I really? You know, not the title,

not the role, not the responsibility, but who am I in my heart, you know? And I put that down, and I kept asking myself that.

And after again, hours and hours and hours of grappling with this,

I came to realize that the most important thing to me is my health.

So I put that on my mat.

Then I thought about what else is most important to me? And I landed on wealth.

Then I was like, what else is most important to me? Then I landed on success.

Then I said, is there anything else? And I said, well, absolutely. Happiness.

Then after again hours of thinking about this, I realized that the four key anchors are topics that I need to focus on and make sure I'm the highest and best version of myself to love and live my best life are health,

wealth, success,

and happiness.

So those were the four key anchors of what is known as my I Am mind map. And how mind maps work is that once you see that on your map,

now you can focus on one of those anchors and be like, all right, now, what does health mean?

So broad,

you know, what does really health mean to me?

So as I grappled with that, I come to realize that it was spiritual health,

physical health,

and mental health. So I put that on my mind mat right next to Health.

Then I looked at wealth, and I said, what does wealth mean? Is it really just about money that I want a lot of money?

I was like, well, no, you know, there's gotta be something different. Now I come to realize that I wanted an abundance or a wealth of positive emotions,

specialized knowledge, skills,

and freedom, which does include financial freedom.

Then I looked at success. You know, what does success mean?

If I say I want success, what does that mean?

So again, looking at your map, it caused you to kind of drill down to get clarity on that.

So I said I wanted to have successful relationships,

results and rewards.

Then I looked at the happiness section.

What does it truly mean for me to be happy?

What needs to happen?

Then after again,

all of this thinking and thinking and going over this, I came to realize that for me to truly be happy,

I have to be able to look at my past and really feel blessed for my past,

the good and the bad.

I survived the bad,

the good, naturally. But I have to be able to look at my past and feel blessed for it. Not guilt, not regret.

Then I also need to be grateful for my future,

everything that's coming to me,

you know, blessed for my past,

grateful for my future.

And I need to have fulfillment in the present moment, right now, those three perspectives. If I can live like that, blessed for my past,

grateful for my future,

and fulfilled in the present moment,

I'll be happy.

So all of those little sub anchors, if you will, were surrounding those four anchors.

Then what I teach now and what I did back then is now that I have this clarity on the key components of what needs to happen for me to love and live my best life.

Now you can keep expanding your map out. Now, you know, now that you got spiritual health on there, all right, what needs to happen for you to have excellent spiritual health?

You gotta pray, meditate, fast,

Bible reading, whatever that may be to you.

Now you got those things down there. Now you can go to each one of those sub anchors and really clarify what needs to happen for you to experience those things all the way down to what you need to do every day.

So when you do this process and when I teach and coach my, you know, my appliances, students on how to do this,

when we go through this whole process now, for the first time in their whole life,

they can totally see what's truly most important to them in one snapshot.

They don't have to thumb through pages. They can see this whole map of what's most important to them and what they need to do to achieve that.

And like with me, Mostly with my clients and students,

it becomes like their personal constitution,

you know, their ten commandments, if you will, their GPS system.

So when life throws them curveballs or something happens in life, they always can revert right back to that I am mind map.

And it helps them get back on track faster because now they have this central tool of what they spent time to clarify who they are and what they want in their lives.

So most times when people are dealing with a heartbreak or something that didn't happen, a failed, unexpected, you know, expectation of some sort, you know, it may take them six months or years to get over something,

you know, now people have a tool that can reduce that time to get back on track to who they are, because now they can actually see it.

This is who I am. These are the things I need to do. This is what my life is going to be about. It's a powerful tool. So those are pretty much the four I am anchors.

And again, out of all of the mind maps people can make, there's none more important than this I am mind map, which I strongly encourage everyone to have,

because it will get you connected to who you are and what your life is about.

And once you do that,

the goals that you want to set for yourself, you know, the decisions you want to make about your life is coming from a central location. So you know that everything that you're doing going forward is in alignment with that.

So you're not one of these people that work hard for something and don't find that fulfillment you thought you was going to get.

You know, a lot of people do that. I'm sure, you know, that. You know, they work really hard for a goal, and all of a sudden they get to the goal and it's like,

this is not what I wanted,

because it wasn't in alignment with who you are and what you're trying to do with your life. So with all of my clients and students, I have them start there first.

Let's get clear on your I am mind map, because that's going to help guide us to everything else that we need to do with your life that makes sense.

Reginald D: Oh, man. Oh, man, you broke that down nicely.

John Diggs: Oh, cool, cool.

Reginald D: Nicely. Oh, yeah, because first of all, you said something that stuck out. And I was telling somebody this other day,

you know, you can go years of doing stuff, man,

but if you don't get down to the bottom of who am I? Who am I really,

you know that once you understand that part, it will set your journey and your purpose out to a whole nother level in doing things that you really supposed to be doing.

And like I said, you know, you had all these things you talked about, you said, you break it down. What do I want?

You know,

you got these things, and when you get derailed in life,

you're not all over the place. You might, you know, get sidetracked for a minute, but, you know, you got the main thing written there. I gotta get.

It'll draw you right back, like a Mac.

John Diggs: It's so powerful, man. Because you know what it also does, Reginald, is when you do this inner work like this,

and you start to do that visualization process to where every morning,

every night, you're visualizing your I am mind map, just like in the football days, Michael Jordan days we talked about,

you start to connect to this inner power of yourself where it's almost like you have a deeper relationship with God,

you know, because as you go through it and vacillate and keep evolving in it and changing it and improving it, it's almost like God is with you,

you know, that's helping you be like, yeah, that's who I want you to be.

You know, that's who I want you to be. That's who I want you to be. So you get this internal confidence and clarity about who you are and where you're going with your life, that it empowers people to.

To do things that they may have been hesitant to do.

I've seen people, I've worked with, people that were in bad jobs or bad relationships, and after they completed their imap, they was able to make confident adjustments to all of those things because.

And from the right place, with no fear, because they. This is who I am. And this doesn't work.

You know, this is not working for me. I'm. I need to be over here now. And they can communicate in such a way, not from an angry, emotional place, but just from a clarity place,

you know, like, yeah, this is. I'm clear on who I am and what I'm trying to do with my life, and this is not working for me anymore.

And, yeah, I got a. Just a quick little story that, you know, my youngest daughter I was telling you about earlier.

You know, all my kids, they got their own IM mind maps.

And a couple years ago, my daughter was like 15 or something.

I'm picking her up from school, and she talking about this little boy and just nonstop about this little boy. And, you know, naturally, as a dad, I'm like, la, la, la, la, la.

I don't want to hear that.

Reginald D: You don't deal.

John Diggs: But, you know, some time it went by and she stopped talking about this boy.

And I asked her, I was like, baby, you know, whatever happened to that dude? She's like, oh, Dad, I broke it off with him.

And I was like, really? I said, what happened? She was like, dad, he didn't fit on my I am mind map.

I was like, I love it.

But that's the kind of clarity, you know, that people get when they consciously choose who they are versus adopting who they are, letting society tell them who they are.

You know, very few people, what I found,

you know, and been finding, actually consciously choose this is who I am. You know, people kind of evolve into something and be like, well, I guess this is who I am, but it's not really who I am, but I gotta pay bills.

Or I find myself in this relationship that, you know,

15 years in this relationship now. So I guess this is just gonna be the story of my life kind of deal versus being like, no, this is my. This is who I am.

And so this I am process has been really powerful for me, man, and I've been really excited.

It's been more fulfilling than anything I've ever done in my life to help people gain that clarity. Because you can see and feel the transformation and the impact when people really get clear.

This is who I am now. I see it. I see it, you know, versus,

you know, most people, I'm sure, you know. You know, most people just don't know who they are, you know, know and wonder why their life is not working for them, you know, or the negative experiences keep repeating,

you know, themselves. So, yeah, it's been really cool, man. Really, really cool.

Reginald D: Yeah. John, man, that's amazing. Boy, I tell you what, but them boys gonna have a hard time with them girls. You still in that?

Yeah. You know, back in the day, they just worry about his dad coming to the door, you know what I'm saying? But they were like, man, no. What is. What is she on?

You know?

John Diggs: Yeah, yeah, it's been like that, brother, ever since she been, you know, dating a boiler, too. And next thing you know, boy, be gone. And it's my daughter. Don't play. You know, they know exactly who they are and what they're trying to do with their lives.

And that's the key thing, brother, I'm telling you. Not just with children,

but with even adults in their 60s and 70s. I've been dealing with, you know, I'm working with a client now, and she's, you know, 63, 4,

and she's just recently became a widow and she's just been stuck and lost of this new identity that she doesn't know, you know, and she was married for 30 something years and now she's forced with a new life that she doesn't know what to do or how to be in until she got clear on her I am and her I am mind map.

You could just see the zest, man. She's out taking yoga classes and salsa dancing and stuff now. You know, she just like. And she got this fulfillment and this zest for life again because she knows why she wakes up every morning,

she knows what she wants to do every day. She knows who she wants to be every day.

And it's just,

it's very, very, very powerful, man. Very, very powerful.

Reginald D: Yeah, man, that's. Man, that's awesome, John. That is awesome, man.

So, John, let me ask you this. If someone listening today is in their rock bottom season,

what would you say to them to help them dig deep and keep going?

John Diggs: Whatever you're experiencing right now is not permanent.

It's not the story of your life.

We all got seasons. Everyone alive have a ups and a downs story that they can tell you about. I mean, everyone has a story of tough times that they had to something they had to overcome.

Especially most successful people, you know, highly successful people.

Almost to a man, of all of the books I read, all of the people I've interviewed, all of the people that I met, celebrities and the like, they all have a story of when life was tough and they found a way to overcome it.

So I would encourage people that if you're down now, know that it's not a permanent thing.

Things can and will transform itself if you believe it to be. So you have to believe that you can change it.

Secondly, you have to get clear on who you are and what you want to change it.

You know, you can't keep doing the same thing expecting a different result.

You have to be willing to take a stand for yourself and your life to realize God put you on this earth for a reason.

And you have to declare that reason and start moving in that direction for your life to change.

And it's not as hard as what you think.

It's only hard because you lack clarity.

And that's where the clarity piece comes in.

I would say that, you know, if you're going through a tough time,

first, realize it's not permanent. Second, do what you have to do to get clear on who you are and what you want.

And I've yet to find A better tool than a mind map that can speed that process up for you right away. Start with the brain dump exercise. All of that stuff in your mind that I just talked about that has you feeling a little down right now,

get it out of your head.

Don't let it just keep swirling around, uncontrolled, bouncing.

All this chaos in your mind,

get it out of your mind. Get in the practice of getting things out of your mind. Putting it on a page. Putting it on a page. That will give you immediate relief right now if you just start doing that.

If anyone is hearing this right now and you're going through a tough time,

grab a blank piece of paper.

Brain dump. Get all of that stuff out of your mind. Put it on a piece of paper. That's your first step.

Then you want to start just clarifying who you are.

What do you want in your life?

Then from that point you can start strategizing on action. Steps you can start taking to start transforming your life. Those are the three steps.

Reginald D: Yeah, well put, well put. So, John, I have what I call rapid, quick fire questions.

John Diggs: Nice.

Reginald D: So there's not a right or wrong answer. Man, I'm just going to throw it out. All right.

John Diggs: Yep, yep. Let's go.

Reginald D: What's one word to describe your lowest moment?

John Diggs: Darkness.

Reginald D: Okay. One word to describe your breakthrough.

John Diggs: Enlightenment.

Reginald D: Biggest mindset shift that changed your life.

John Diggs: Possibility.

Reginald D: A daily habit.

John Diggs: You never skip my I am visualization.

Reginald D: Finish the sentence.

John Diggs: I am healthy, wealthy, successful and happy.

Reginald D: There it is. There it is.

I like it. I like it, John.

So, John, lastly, how can Lizard sign up for your program and follow you on social media?

John Diggs: Oh well, I'm on every social media platform you can find me as John Diggs. Diggs,

also known as your mapineering mentor.

What I would recommend is people can go to imassessment.com I did create a free IM assessment where people there's like 12 questions that people can answer. These thought provoking questions that will really help them start to get clear on who they really are.

After you complete that assessment, there's a way that you can click a link and schedule a session with me. If you want we can go over those results and talk about your next best step.

But that's I am assessment.

Com and you can always find me on John Diggs. Com as well. But that I am assessment is what I recommend. People is free. It's like 12 questions you probably never thought about asking yourself to really help you get clear on who you are so you can start rebuilding or adjusting your life.

In the direction you would like it to head. So. But I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here for everybody. You know, this is a message thing.

This is not a money thing for me. You know, I'm just excited to be connected to my divine purpose. Feel like I'm a blues brother on a mission from God, if you will.

And I really just truly want to help anyone and everyone that needs clarity,

that needs direction. I really want to help people love and live their best life. So please don't hesitate to reach out to me if I can help you in any way.

Reginald D: Good deal, John. Good deal, man. Man, I am so excited of what you're doing, man, and the clarity that you bring. I encourage all my listeners or anybody listening to just searching, you know, and just go look at the programs or things you got to offer because it's so mind blowing,

Especially when you broke things down about clarity and then literally like, what do you want? You know? And that's life, man. People run around, scatter and doing this and doing that, and at the end of the day, you got to figure out what you want and why you here.

You know, all this other stuff, you need to let it go. And I love the way you broke it down, man. I really appreciate you.

John Diggs: I appreciate you too, Doc. Thanks for having me, man. I appreciate you. Love you, man.

Reginald D: All right. Love you too, John. All right, there you have it, John. Diggs.

Thank you for listening to Real Talk with Reginald D. If you enjoy listening to Real Talk with Reginald D, please rate and review on our podcast. See you next time.