On this episode of the Circuit of Success Podcast, host Brett Gilliland interviews NBA Skills Coach and CEO of Pure Sweat, Drew Hanlen. Drew shares his journey from a single workout with an NBA player to becoming a full-time trainer. He explains how he gets the world’s best athletes to listen to him, and emphasizes the importance of taking care of the players. He compares his role to Brett’s executive business coach and suggests people should do a self-audit and be consistent in their actions. He also talks about the differences between the best and average players in the NBA and reflects on his own past and his parents’ sacrifices.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Circuit of Success | Drew Hanlen
Speaker Brett Gilliland: Welcome to the Circuit of Success. I’m your host, Brett Gilliland, and today I’ve got Drew Hanlen with me, Drew. What’s going on, my Hanlen, Speaker Drew Hanlen: nothing. Just getting ready for workouts today. It’s it’s early, West Coast time. So appreciate you having me on early and and being flexible with your schedule. Speaker Brett Gilliland: Absolutely, man. It’s persistence, man. You’re traveling all over the country and, helping all these guys and, but I wanted to have you on the podcast because it’s, it’s fun to see what you’re doing, man. It’s really cool. So, before we get really dive into some of the stuff, you are the CEO of pure sweat, in in an MBA, strategic skills coach and consultant, you work with all sorts of NBA players. I won’t name drop on here, but people can check out your, Instagram, and you can pretty much see who you work with. But it’s amazing to see what you’re doing. But if you can, Drew, kinda open it up with what’s made you the man you are today. I know that’s a really big, wide open question, but kinda like to see what’s made you the man you are today. Speaker Drew Hanlen: Yeah. You know, I I always tell people that, you know, you’re not only a product of all the hard work that put in, but you’re also a product of, everything that built you and made you. And, you know, if I look at kind of the the things that have allowed me to, achieve whatever level of success, that I’ve been able to have right now, it really starts way back when, you know, the other day, I was driving two workouts Gilliland, I saw a little lemonade stand. And, you know, my girlfriend was in the passenger side, and I I whipped, you know, whipped quick right turn into like a parking spot. And she was like, is everything okay? And I was like, I literally have a rule. I cannot drive past a lemonade stand. Just because, Speaker Brett Gilliland: you know, Speaker Drew Hanlen: I remember myself, you know, making sure that I had eliminated sand when I was younger, and I cut grass when I was younger, and I shoveled snow when I was younger, you know, growing up in St. Louis, you get, you know, all the seasons. So that means you get all the little, businesses as a youngster. So Speaker Brett Gilliland: When you may cut Gilliland shovel snow in like a forty eight hour period too, you know. Yeah. Speaker Drew Hanlen: I know. Right? I know. Right? So, you know, there’s so many moments like that that just snapped me back to kind of the the grind that I had when I was younger. You know, even now, I’m in the product, you know, the process of publish it my first self help book. And, it takes me back to my first ever self published book that I did when I was in high school and sold them out of my backpack and the trunk of my car. Wow. You know, and then even just, you know, the work that I put in with with my players, you know, Bradley Beal was the first ever basketball player that I ever started working with, and I started working with him when he was thirteen. I was seventeen. So I was still in high school. I didn’t know I had to be a basketball trainer at that time, but I did know how to put in a lot of hard work. I knew, you know, consistent work, you know, plus you know, the right work led to good results. And so all I did was I just put him through consistent hard work that was targeting the areas of focus that he needed to focus on and that led to him, you know, finding success as well. So I think that, you know, all the you know, the things that I’m experiencing now, you know, were really just things that I I learned that worked along the way, or me avoiding things that didn’t work along the way. And you know, it’s it’s fun to, kinda reminisce on those times and realize, where you picked up a lot of the strategies that now you deem so you know, dominance in kind of the practices that I do on a daily basis. Speaker Brett Gilliland: Yeah. Well, what I love too is, I mean, so you played basketball at Belmont, right, in college and and Hanlen a good career there and then decided to get, I assume, right into the coaching with NBA players. Is that how that went down? Speaker Drew Hanlen: Even earlier. So, you know, Brad Beal, I started with when he was, freshman in high school, I was, junior going into senior year in high school. So that was what kind of started it all. Then I wrote a basketball drill book, self published it at Kinko’s. I went to FedEx Kinko’s. Live them. I was like, hey, I’m doing a school project. I need, you know, two hundred copies. They gave me a discount for it. That’s how I was able to negotiate down, like, the price, to five bucks a book. I went around town, and I sold all those copies sold out right away. And so then I was like, alright. Hey, school project. I made a mistake. I gotta reprint the two hundred, you know, and and I kept doing it and then eventually after like a thousand books, they were like, hey, listen. We know this isn’t for a school project, but we love that you’re also in bustling, like, what is this? And I told him, I said, you know, listen, you know, I I’m a basketball player and a lot of other players wanna know what drills and skills I use on a daily basis to improve my own game. And so what I’ve done is I’ve put together, you know, this book that, allows young players to follow the exact same drills and skills that I do but I end up selling five thousand copies that summer. So you think Wow. As, you know, as a gonna be senior in high school, you sell five thousand copies, making twenty bucks a book. You do the math real quickly. You find out, hey, this is a profession that I can actually make Speaker Brett Gilliland: some money. Speaker Drew Hanlen: And then You know, I started doing weekly academies, at ninety six kids that were paying me a monthly subscription to be a part of my, academies where they got to come in twice a week. And so early on, I was like, this is what I’m doing. And then my big break outside of, you know, training Brad who ended up becoming you know, you know, multiple time all star in NBA was David Lee, another mule is born and raised in Louis. You know, he went to the same high school that Brad did. And, he finally gave me a shot. My sophomore year in college. He was, like, in town. Wow. You know, in Saint Louis, and, my AA coach was his AA coach. And so He was like, hey, you should really give this young kid Drew a chance and he was like, well, I’m not working with a college basketball, but I already talking about, like, I’m in the in the NBA, you know. And, I remember him texting me. And I was in Nashville at the time at Belmont. And, he was like, Hey, bro. He’s like, it’s it’s daily. In town, I’d love to, put some work in with you. When can you go? And I was like, anytime when do you wanna start up? And he was like tomorrow, 8AM. And I remember, you know, finishing up a couple workouts I had in Nashville, getting in my car, driving to St. Louis, getting back at, like, midnight at night, I spent for midnight till 7AM studying film of David Lee so I could really understand the ins and outs of his game. Got to the gym at, like, 07:15 because I wanted to mop the whole floor because I was like NBA guys are not used to the floors that like Right. You know, used to working out these kids on, which are just like gyms with no AC, you know, the water fountain was, like, hanging by the last string. And, and that’s what I did, but one workout turned into me being his full time trainer for the rest of his career and and that really, expedited the process of me being a professional skills coach at the highest level. Speaker Brett Gilliland: Well, and that’s what I think is, again, fascinating as well when I, you know, follow you on Instagram, and I see the guys you’re working with, you know, they they all look like they’re, you know, seven foot tall. And so how do you What have you done? Obviously, the work and things you just mentioned, but for these, the world’s best athletes in the NBA to be humble enough to listen to this guy you know, that to your point, high school, Belmont, and now doing this, how how do they stay humble enough to listen to you? Speaker Drew Hanlen: Well, you know, I I heard the best quote, was actually from David Lee, who, like I said, was my first NBA client. And I remember us, we were sitting down, and we’re at Cheesecake Factory in Phoenix. And it was the night before, they were getting ready to open up the season against the sons when he was playing for the warriors. And Steph Curry, had made a comment, you know, about something. And David was like, hey, he’s like, Steph, are you gonna go to Seth, his little brother at the time was pointed at Duke, are you gonna go to his opening night game? And he was like, I don’t know why. And he was like, because Drew plays against him. And and Steph was like, Man, he’s like, Drew, I didn’t know you coached, coach college ball too. And he goes, no, no, no, he plays college. And he’s like, wait, wait, what? And he’s like, Drew plays at Belmont. Belmont opens up the season at Duke. So Drew is gonna be opening up partying seth. And Steph was like, blown away. And I remember him asking David. He’s like, alright, I gotta ask a question. Like, how did you eventually trust this college kid that, like, You know, I was playing out a mid major and, you know, averaging ten points a game and, like, what what are you doing listening to this guy? And Dave said a great quote, great quote that that best, kind of answers your question. He said Phil Jackson couldn’t be Michael Jordan, or Shaq or Kobe in one on one. But Phil Jackson could make Kobe and Michael and Jack better versions of Gilliland he said, Drew’s not a better basketball player than me, but Drew can make me a better version of myself, and that’s why I hired him. And so I think that best describes it is, you know, I I’m I’m humble enough to know that I’m a small part of these guys’ games. You know, my job is to make their work at work outs as strategic as possible. My job is to make sure that I’m spotting things on film that they can’t feel themself when they’re out there on the game. My job is to basically do all the dirty work so that all they have to do is put in the right work that they can get the right results and get the best results possible. I also know that I’m leveling them up just a little bit, but that little bit is the difference between them being a all star and then being an MVP or them being, a starter and then being an all star or them being a role player and then being a star. So, you know, I’m really I always say I’m like a GPS system. You know, like, they get in a car. They’re the one doing the driving, but at the end of the day, they’re saying, hey, This is where I’m at. This is where I wanna be. Help me get there in the most efficient and effective way possible. And then it’s also my job not only to put together that road map. But also if they get off course to get them back on and reroute them back on to the track that they need to be on so they can eventually get to where they wanna become. And sometimes we even get past where they wanna become and and get to really special things in their career that they never thought were possible. Speaker Brett Gilliland: Yeah. That’s a great explanation, and it makes me think tying the basketball world of the business world. You know, I mean, I’ve had an executive business coach for years. Right? So it’s like, does does that mean they’re a better business guy than me, right, using air so maybe maybe not. I don’t know. But the point is is they can see things in me that I can’t see myself. You know, you look at, you can’t see it. You know, Michael Phelps back here. You know, he had a he had a coach, right? Could that guy beat him in swimming? Nope. But to your point, right? It’s it’s amazing. I like the GPS thing. So, what clearly there’s the physical side of that, but what else are you seeing from a mental side? Because the mental the mental game up here is super important as well. Speaker Drew Hanlen: Yeah. I always talk about the deep games, the deep games, the games that you play in your head and your heart that maybe you don’t even know you’re playing and you gotta win those games in order to you know, win the games that take place on the court. And, you know, I I think that most of professional athletes, don’t realize that they’re they’re not as good at compartmentalizing things as they think they are. You know, a lot of times slumps on the court actually start off the court. And a lot of times, you know, when life doesn’t feel great off the court, it’s because their own court play isn’t great. So they’re so intertwined and deeply connected that I think that if a a trainer only focuses on the player and not the person, they’re doing that player and person such as disjustice. And so, you know, from an early age, I’ve realized that, you know, not only do you have to be able to do the skills, but you have to have the confidence to be able to do the skills and games. And then you have to have kind of the, you know, the awareness to understand that everything off the court and bleed onto the court. And so you have to make sure that you’re completely Hanlen care of them as both a person and player and person comes first. You know, it’s it’s funny because you talked about you having a business coach You know, I’m a a business coach for so many businessmen that make way more money than me, you know, multiple billionaire clients And I always ask them because they always hire me. They’re like, hey, I want you to be my business coach. And the first question I always ask them is I’m like, why would you hire me as a business coach when you’re better at business than I am. And they kind of freeze. And I go, tell me what’s really going on. And that’s when normally I realized they’re really hiring me as a life coach. They just don’t wanna put that tag on it because there’s some kind of stigma behind it but it’s so true. I mean, really, the ultimate goal of professional, you know, sports, ultimate goal of business, ultimate goal of anything, is to find peace in your real world, which is your life, not, you know, the little micro world, which is the sport or business that you’re you know, competing and playing in. And so I think the mental side of it is so important. You know, I’m constantly pushing guys to levels that most people feel uncomfortable with, you know, and I always tell them, hey, the direct number of uncomfortable conversations that you have with yourself or with me, because sometimes I have to dodge them, is going to be kind of a a direct proportion of how much success you have in your career. And I think most people don’t wanna have those uncomfortable conversations. Most people don’t wanna have those, you know, kind of heart to hearts with themselves. Most people don’t wanna look in the mirror and say, you know what? He’s right or I know that I’m right deep down, but those conversations, those kind of self checks those kind of digging deep moments, those are the exact moments that propel people to special special things that, most people just aren’t able to get to because it aren’t willing to have those, you know, uncomfortable times that go with those uncomfortable conversations. Speaker Brett Gilliland: So what are you finding? Just stay there for a minute. The the the billionaire, the the business guy, the, the basketball guy. What what are maybe one or two, three things that you can share with our listeners now of Hey, if you could just implement this one thing into your life, right? Maybe they don’t have the means or whatever to hire you or somebody else. So what’s one of the one or two or three three things that you could help with that? Speaker Drew Hanlen: I would say, you know, number one would be doing a self audit. And when I say a self audit, I mean, literally getting into the trenches and asking yourself, you know, what are the stupid things that I’m doing daily that are causing stress and struggles in my life? You know, and not, like, kind of like the keep Juck change ad kind of model. You know, one of the things I need to keep doing that are working, or things that I need to chuck and get rid of, be that aren’t working, what are the things I could kind of tweak and change that’ll really, you know, change the course of, you know, my daily actions. And one of the things that I’m not doing that I should start doing, but keep Chuck Change ad, that would be one thing that I would say would be something very, very good for most people to do that deep audit. Number two is I always say this. Like, think about this. Let’s say, somebody that you love. Whether it’s, you know, your your partner, whether it’s your kid, whether it’s, somebody that you love, a a really close friend, If they say, hey, we need to talk. Your heart drops. Your stomach drops. Like, everything is like, we need to talk. Like, what what’s going on? Well, I always say you should have that conversation with yourself before somebody else does. So if you have some kind of issue, if you’re you’re struggling with your weight, if you’re struggling with drinking, if you’re struggling with stress, if you’re not, spending enough time with your family, if your financial situation isn’t where you want it to be, whatever the the main cause is that’s kind of, you know, one kind of thing that’s overflow life that’s causing all the disturbance. You know, you need to have that. We need to talk conversation with yourself before somebody else has to have that conversation with you. So the second thing I would say is just figuring out what the main problem is and being able to actually address that main problem. And then the third thing that I think if I had to boil it down to three, is consistency. And I think that consistency is where a lot of people slack off. You know, I always say the consistency, trump’s intensity. And I think that both are great. If you can consistently be intense and intense in the right ways, that is awesome. But, you know, you’ve seen New Year’s resolutions all the time where, you know, January first, you’re, alright, here we go. I’m going to the gym. You’re posting about it. You’re tweeting about it. You know, January fourth, you’re like, oh, it’s a brutal, you know, day, but I got after it today. I’m proud of myself. And then January twelfth, the gym’s empty. You know, everybody’s have Speaker Brett Gilliland: goals. Right. Speaker Drew Hanlen: And so I think that there’s so many areas. Think about diets. How many times have people started a diet on Monday. And Friday comes around and the friends invite them to some fancy restaurant and there’s the bread there is just the best bread and they’re going, you know what? One piece of bread won’t kill me. And then after that one piece of bread, well, I already cheated. I might as well enjoy my meal. And then that becomes a, you know what? I’m just gonna have a great weekend and start my diet over on Monday. And it’s like, we know you’re not starting your diet over on Monday. If you do, then you know on next Thursday or Friday, you’re gonna break it again. So I would say the first thing is, you know, making sure that, you know, they do that audit, you know, kind of figure out what things they should keep doing, what things they should change that they’re doing, what things they should add, what things they should chuck, Second thing, you know, like I said, have those, hey, we need to talk conversations, those deep conversations, those uncomfortable conversations. Everybody knows the the thing that they don’t want other people to discover about them deep down. And you’ve gotta discover those things about yourself before other people do. And then the last thing is you know, consistency, trump’s intensity. You know, and I’m big on a hundred percent is easier than ninety five percent, which means, you know, for me, I’m thirty three years old. I’ve never tasted alcohol. I’ve never done drugs. I’ve never never smoked. Never done any of that. It’s easier for me when I go to a night club, somebody that doesn’t know me might say, Hey, do you want a drink? And I’ll be like, no, I’m good. My friends that do know me, they don’t even offer me a drink because they know I am not a drink. You know, and it’s not one of those things where I show up and I’m like, is tonight the night I drink. If ninety five percent of the time you don’t drink, then every single time you go out, you’re gonna get pressured. Your friends are gonna be like, hey, come on, just have one drink, like Speaker Brett Gilliland: Right. Speaker Drew Hanlen: Because they think, like, I’m not a drinker. They think he drinks occasionally, this could be the occasion. And then if you have one drink, it’s, hey, come on. You already have one. What’s two? You know, two is gonna get you. Yeah. And eventually, it’s a scene from, you know, the hangover where the next morning you wake up, you feel bad. You’re, you’re, like, oh my god. I’m off my, you know, I’m off my streak. But a hundred percent means I don’t do this or I do do this. You know, for me, I know every morning I’m gonna do I’m gonna jump in the cold plunge. I know I’m gonna jump in the sauna. I know that I’m not gonna drink when I go out. You know, I know there’s certain things that I do every single day. It’s just who I am instead of what I do sometimes. Speaker Brett Gilliland: I love that. I’m just writing a note here real quick to ask you something later. So what what makes you different do you think? There’s, I mean, there’s thousands of people that would love to trade places you. Right? My I was talking to my buddy, Steve Wienhof last night, and he had some great questions on here. But he’s like, how do you stand out versus thousands of other people that wanna do what you do? Speaker Drew Hanlen: Yeah. I mean, my my simple answer would be that I just get better results. And I think the way that I get better results is by all the things that we talked about earlier, the little things. You know, I right now, I have more MBA clients than than you know, NBA all star clients and any other trainer. And, you know, I’ve I’ve been able to help my clients achieve four billion dollars in contracts. And I still watch more film than any trainer that’s up and coming. I still am doing free workouts for the kids in the parks. Just because I love helping grow the game of basketball. You know, this weekend, I’m going and speaking to, the Missouri coaches association speaking to Illinois Coach Association. I’m running a a camp for five to nine year old so that my nephew can experience his first basketball camp. Those things aren’t money makers, but those things are things that I do because I just truly love helping basketball players, coaches, trainers, And so I think that it’s just the relentless hard work with also the obsession of doing everything that I can to help my clients get the best results possible. You know, it’s weird, but like, I I feel more than my clients feel sometimes after a bad game. Like a regular season bad game. My clients can get over because there’s eighty two games in a season, a regular season bad game. They’re like, it was just a bad game. But for me, when they have a bad game, I look at that as, man, I didn’t do everything that I could to prepare them for that game. Whether it was, it in the summertime, I didn’t spend enough time on their finishing that’s why tonight they had a bad finishing or man, was it their ankles have attacked? Did I not see something on a coverage report beforehand that I should have given them or I’m going through all these questions where they might just be like, I just didn’t have it tonight. So you have to have that level of obsession you know, to me, you know, it’s funny because the definition of obsession is the narrowing of of things that and focus that brings you pleasure. And for me, the things that bring me pleasure is helping other people succeed. Whether that’s a businessman that’s trying to turn their life around, whether that’s somebody that’s trying to become financially free or whether that’s a basketball player that’s trying to achieve great things. It doesn’t matter, but, like, my obsession is helping Gilliland so I think that’s what makes me stand out is that I’m willing to do anything in everything, you know, whether that sacrifice, sleep, sacrifice time. You know, there was a year, I think, five or six years ago, and I spent twenty two nights in my own bed. Think about that. Twenty two nights a month in bed, but I’m willing to do that just because, you know, I put other people’s success over my success. And I think that’s why I’ve been able find my own personal success along the way. Speaker Brett Gilliland: That’s amazing. Gosh. That’s that’s awesome. So, and and another question Steve talked about is the game has changed so much. Right? Back in the day, you, you know, crossover and, between the legs behind the back was a big deal. Then you got the euro step, the step back jump shot. All these different things now. Like, where do you see the game going? And how do you stay a student of the game? Speaker Drew Hanlen: Yeah. To be honest with you, it’s fun for me because, you know, I remember growing up and my birthday present was one ticket to an NBA game. And my Christmas present was a flight to that NBA game. And I remember, you know, how excited I got, you know, I remember also, like, when I used to get, like, the the new shoes, like, I’d get Tracy Mcgrady or Gary Peyton shoes Hanlen and it would be like, you kept the box in your backpack so that the shoes never got scuffed. Like, you know, I remember all those moments, and now I’m on the other side of things where you know, I get to help the best players in the Gilliland I I honestly get to help pivot the game forward. You know, there is a couple of moves that I’ve invented if you will or created or kind of us on the court kind of brainstormed that now are, staples to to young players Gilliland so I would say that the game is ever flowing. The game is ever changing. For me, I’m watching so much film that if I see a mistake happen, like, say, you know, there was one time in transition that I saw, mono ginobili do something. And he literally stumbled, but the defender reacted a certain way And I said, whoa, why did the defender react that way? If you cross the ball one way and you jab or slide the opposite way, does the defender go with the ball or go with you? And I’m will either way you win because if the defender goes with you, now your momentum is a loading and exploding, whereas their momentum is sliding and recovering, Whereas if they don’t go with you, it’s a quick counter, a crossover, and it changes. And I remember seeing that one mistake where you end up getting Gilliland getting, you know, tripped up and then ends up on the floor and shooting free throws. And I turned it into a one on one move. This is like a decade ago. And now it’s become a pattern. So to me, it’s just trial and error. You try a bunch of things out and the things that are working, you keep trying to refine them until they work better. And then when work better. You keep trying to refine them until they work, you know, as best they can. Yeah. And the things that don’t work, you just chuck them. You get rid of them and say, okay. You know what? We tried it. It doesn’t work. You know, I it’s even to the stuff where you look like right now, three pointers are so heavily valued in the NBA that you know, with some of my clients, you know, we started the side step, you know, Gilliland all these kind of different side step threes and different threes that, you know, ways to get inside the three point line and get back outside the three point line. And then you go, alright. So we start shooting floater threes like runner threes off of one foot. And it takes somebody to try it out and say, okay. Now we chart the numbers. Does it make sense? Is that a good shot or not a good shot? Speaker Brett Gilliland: But there’s Speaker Drew Hanlen: a ton of things that we try on an experimental basis that, never see the light of day. And there’s also things we try that we don’t think we’ll see the light of day, and then they use it in a game randomly because it’s somewhere in here, you know, in their bag of tricks. And, then we say, okay, maybe we were wrong. Maybe that does work. And then we kind of, you know, start to kind of reprogram it. So Where are the trends going? I don’t know. It’s just a constant nonstop thing. You know, I do see, obviously, the analytics have taken control of the game, which means defensively, they’re gonna start taking away what the offense is trying to get, which is gonna open it back up to, you know, kind of the older school modern game where more mid range shots more mid post actions or stuff are are made. But the game’s constantly evolving, which is fun for me just because it keeps that challenge on the board where you constantly have to make sure that you’re not falling behind and and you are preparing your clients for anything and everything that could be experiencing when they’re out there on the court. Speaker Brett Gilliland: So what do you see the biggest difference between the best versus the average? And I would say the average in the NBA. Right? They’re still some of the best. But, like, in golf, I look at it is number one and versus like number a hundred and fifty on the p g a two or they’re like, you know, one stroke different. That that’s one putt. Right? That’s one four foot putt. What are you seeing as that quote unquote four foot putt in the NBA? Like to what makes them different. Speaker Drew Hanlen: Confidence. Confidence because there’s different reasons why the best players are the best. You know, you look at let’s let’s start, you know, in the, in the MVP conversation and go down like Joellen Bead, one of my clients, what makes him the best is skill dominance, on both ends of the floor. But again, There’s other players. There’s other big guys. Maybe that can’t do it as well as he can, but they they can still do the same moves and and drills and skills as he Hanlen on zero. But they don’t have the confidence to be able to do it against defenders and games against, double teams and different coverages and schemes. Then you look at somebody like, a Yokich, you know, who’s just unbelievably gifted as a creator, a pastor, great touch, great feel, is IQ. Well, there’s a lot of players that are very smart, that are very skilled that have the ability to make good passes and make good reads. But they don’t have the ability to throw with those cross court passes in a tight space. They don’t have the ability to take the extra dribble to get a little bit close the basket. They don’t have the ability to to do these things when they’re guarded. You look at somebody like Janice. Janice is obviously you know, been so dominant to MVPs, a finals MVP, a defense player, you’re all these kind of things. Yana says, unbelievable, like, will to just compete you know, like he’s not an elite shooter. He doesn’t have elite footwork. He doesn’t have elite ball handling. He doesn’t have elite post moves. What he does have elite is his his ability to compete. You know, he’s worked extremely hard to turn himself into the athlete that he is today with strength and physicality. You see how he’s grown. But there’s a lot of players that play hard, but they don’t have the ability to do what he does because, you know, he just has that extra level. So When you go down the line, each guy has a different thing that they’re good at or great at, but really it’s just they’ve been able to turn it on because You also see players when they change roles like a Mackel bridges, for instance. You know, Mackel bridges was on the the Phoenix Suns and was a a really good role player. But then when he got to the Brooklyn Nets and he had better opportunity, that confidence changed. It wasn’t like he had, you know, in three day span that he changed Jim and got so much better, it was that one is opportunity change and two is confidence in that new opportunity change. And so I think that’s what really helps you know, the best of the best stand out is they have the ability to do it. You know, if you think about businessmen, same thing. How many times Do people have great ideas? Like, they’re watching Shark Tank. And they’re like, I thought of that. But it’s like, did you actually do anything to try to make that thing a reality? No. But somebody else had the confidence to go out there and try to build what you thought of, and that’s why they’re a millionaire or a billionaire And that’s why you’re watching their episode on Yeah. I think that the biggest thing in life is just confidence. Having you know, having thoughts and having ideas is one thing, but having the confidence to act on those ideas and then having the confidence and and kind of, you know, persistence to be able to get past the moments of doubt that are going to be in your way at some point along the lines That’s what makes the best of the best. Speaker Brett Gilliland: Yeah. Great answer. Great answer. So you mentioned, I know we gotta go here in a little couple minutes, but, you mentioned Sona, cold plunge, what other advice would you have for business leaders, that, you know, I’m not an NBA player. So I gotta treat my body, but I still wanna treat my body well. Right? So what are you recommending people do daily to take care of themselves to be at peak performance. Speaker Drew Hanlen: Number one, keep the peace, which means eliminate everything that is not peaceful in your life. And I mean that. You know, the that’s the easiest way for somebody to feel great. You know, I think that there’s too many people chasing things instead of, you know, eliminating things that would actually help them more than the chasing. I always think of like this, you know, this video that I saw, and it was a long time ago. And it was one of these, like, self help motivation kind of Gilliland there was somebody and they had a ton of weight on their back. And they’re trying to sprint, and they’re not going very fast. And they’re trying to sprint, and they’re not going very fast. And somebody just comes over and helps them take off the backpack, the avoid. And now they start sprinting. And it was like, hey, dude, listen, you can either try to run harder or you can just take off the as extra weight and now you’re gonna be moving a lot faster. And I think that’d be the number one thing I’d say is When I look at everybody from the top athletes in the world, the top business people in the world, they’ve been able to, manage stress and eliminate stress and delegate stress better than anybody else. You know? That’s the number one thing that I would say. Second thing that I would say is, you know, what you eat is is so important. And I think that the easiest way, it’s not there’s not a special diet. It’s just, you know, the foods that make you feel good, eat more of that, and the foods that make you feel bad, eat less of that. You know? And then the last thing would just be exercise. Obviously, there’s so many different you know, studies out there that show you that, you know, if you have somebody that’s fat, that doesn’t, you know, that that does exercise and somebody that’s skinny, that doesn’t the fat person, actually, that exercise is actually more healthy in most cases as long as you’re not super overweight. Ideally, you’re you’re you’re exercising and you’re not overweight, that you’re really winning. But there’s even things that, like, I hope my dad lose ninety pounds in a calendar year. Just doing little things. It was eat half of your meal and then save the half for later. And you realize, okay, you’re just your portion size sucks. And then, okay, every time you’re hungry, drink water before you eat and you realize a lot of times you’re thirsty when you think you’re hungry. And then it was get outside. Hey, put your shoes on, start walking around the block. If you go just a lap around the street, that’s okay. If you’re feeling bad, just get back home. At least you walked. If you’re feeling good, then go off for an hour. Those were the three things that we did to start out and it lost ninety pounds just because what happens is you get in the habit of eating well. You get in the habit of eating smaller portions. You get in the habit of, you know, getting out of the house every single day instead of just the days you feel like it. But I mean, there’s a million things they can do. I think that the problem is when people try to do all they try to, like, start this new program. It’s too much. And then the intensity is there, but not the consistency that we talked about earlier. I would say do little things like I always say starter steps. Like what is the smallest action that you’re willing to take and that you’re gonna do even on the days that you don’t feel like doing them do those, build up the habits and then grow those habits until they become things that actually benefits you in the long run. Speaker Brett Gilliland: Yeah. I love that. It’s so simple. Right? But yet, it’s so powerful because I think some people like, alright. I haven’t worked out in months, but now I’m gonna work out six times this week. It’s like, well, dude, that you haven’t done it at all. So you really think you’re gonna work out six times this week. It’s kinda crazy. So last question for you. Future greater than your past. You can see the sticker here having a future greater than your past. When you hear those words, that’s what our mission is to help people achieve as a future greater than their past. What’s that mean? You. Speaker Drew Hanlen: Yeah. I mean, to me, honestly, I always think back of, you know, how I grew up, and I saw my parents make so many sacrifices for me you know, I remember when I was sixteen years old, and the day before my sixteenth birthday, I remember my mom coming in the Hanlen, and my mom pulled me aside and was like, hey, Drew, just so you know tomorrow on your sixteenth birthday, you’re getting a car. And I, like, start smiling. She goes, now the reason I’m telling you early is because it’s not the car that any of your friends have. It’s not the car that you probably want. It is a car that has a hundred and eighty thousand miles it has a huge dent in the driver’s side, or it squeaks a little bit. You know, the tires squeak a little bit. The brakes squeak a little bit. It’s gonna get you point a to b. But the reason I’m telling you today is because tomorrow morning, when you walk outside, I want you to be happy in as you can be. I don’t want your dad to be, like, sad that you weren’t appreciative of the car. Now a little what you didn’t didn’t know is was so happy just to have a car because it made and, man, I got to get to the gym and back, I got to get to my ride, got some back, whatever. But that, to me, my past, I never realized we were, not as well off when I was younger because you know, when when I got Abercrombie and fit stuff, it might have been a a hand me down or, it might have been from a re use it shop or it might have been from a garage sale. But my parents did everything that they could to make sure that we still had all the things that we needed to have or wanted to have you know, if we wanted to play sports, they made sure that we were on the teams that we wanted to play for. If we wanted to travel, they would, you know, I remember my mom you know, cleaning, literally cleaning houses. You know, just so that my sisters could go to St. Joseph’s Academy, which was a private school that had, you know, sports teams and academics, and she did that so that that they could afford going there. But I just think about that when I think about my past. And so when I think about future beating and greater, I always think about man. At some point in every family’s history, there’s somebody that changes the course of their entire Gilliland I wanna be that person, you know, and and I really do think that that’s the one special bond that my clients and I share. A lot of them come from the same backgrounds that I came from, and we get to be the person that changes that. Like, that, you know, our families aren’t going to have to struggle or stress over financial concerns anymore. Our families are gonna get, you know, my nieces and nephews when they get to go to basketball games, They get to be on the court before the games. They get to meet their favorite players. They get to, you know, FaceTime with, you know, it’s their birthday, and Jason Taylor’s their favorite player. I’m Face timing them with I didn’t get to do those things, but they do because, you know, their future is gonna be better than, you know, all of our collective past. So you know, when you said that, that’s what it brought me back to is just I’ve seen all the sacrifices that my parents made, to make sure that we had such a blessed life. And I also realized that, you know, there are tons of people out there that pray for our worst days. And so keeping for that that perspective in mind, I’m going man. How can I help as many people as possible experience the exact same thing that I’m experiencing, which is this, you know, this this, you know, feeling of you know, most appreciation and gratitude, to be able to do something that I love each and every day when I wake up? Speaker Brett Gilliland: True Hanlen, you are the freaking man. I know you gotta get going. Hang with me when I hit record, or finish recording here, but, man, awesome. Awesome freaking information. Gilliland thanks so much for being on the circuit of success.
