#265: How to Tackle Your Challenges With Success with Guest Eric Wood Former NFL Center Buffalo Bills, Bills Radio Analyst & Author of Tackle What’s Next

During times of challenge, it can be very difficult and there's people that are listening that are going through unimaginable circumstances right now. At some point in those circumstances, you have to be thinking to yourself, what can I learn through this experience? Because ultimately I'm going to come out of this stronger. Your ultimate test will become your testimony. The universe is showing you something through these challenges and the quicker that you can gain some perspective through that, the easier it's going to be to transition into that next chapter of your life.

I'm on this journey with me each week. When you join me, we are going to chase down our goals, overcome adversity, and set you up for a better tomorrow.

I'm ready for my closeup.

Hi and welcome back. I'm so excited for you to meet my guest today. Eric Wood is a former center for the Buffalo Bills and nominee for the Walter Payton NFL man of the year award two years in a row and in 15 and 16. Eric played for nine years with the Bills until a dangerous neck injury forced him to withdraw from professional football in 2018. Eric has since approached his post football career transition with enthusiasm, bringing his wisdom of years of experience on the field to broadcast media and public speaking. He currently engages with fans as a color commentator for the Buffalo Bills Radio Network. For an up close and personal perspective into his career transition, Eric host the podcast what's Next with Eric Wood with with a new guest interview every episode. Eric's new book Tackle what's Next Own youn Story, Stack youk Wins and Achieve youe Goals in Business and Life is out now. Eric, thank you so much for being here today.

Yeah, it's an honor to be on. I'm a big fan of your show so I'm excited about this one.

All right, Eric, so digging into your background and I'm always blown away by this and I don't know why. I'm 48 years old. I should not be surprised by this. I see someone as successful as you are, you know the top point 001% of men in the world that can make it to the NFL at the level that you were playing at. And I just think you must have been born this incredible athlete that came out from day one and everyone knew you were going to be this pro choice, but when I dug into your background it seemed like at least in high school it didn't appear like you were going to be the All Star that you ended up being. Was that the case?

You're spot on there and there are some people like that. I'VE had plenty of buddies that were the star all the way through. They were the five star recruit and offered by everyone in the country. Me, on the other hand, I didn't even start on the high school football team. I wasn't a first stringer until my senior year. I played basketball as well. And for me, football was likely going to be the future if I had a shot. I'm 6 foot 4, white, can't jump super high. And so I went all in on football, put on a bunch of weight and was able to get one scholarship offer. Two, the University of Louisville. That's still where me and my wife live to this day. Not I played for the Buffalo Bills. Not many people stick around there in the offseason. We always kept a home in Louisville, so that was an easy transition when I was done playing. But it's remarkable, Heather, how many guys, when you look around an NFL locker room, don't come from an Ohio State, an Alabama, a Texas, it's Eastern Washington, it's Louisville, it's North Carolina, it's from around the country. And guys mature at different stages of life and they peak. And then there's a certain level of grit that it takes to make it to the NFL. And then when you're there, it's how much commitment can you apply? And it's, it's a small field. Yes, there's 53 man rosters, but there's so many people trying to get in that oftentimes, and you've seen this throughout your own career journey, I'm sure those that it might have been easy for early in life, they might not be willing to sacrifice as much later because they're not willing to or they're not used to sacrifice on that level.

Oh, it's so true. The struggle ends up being the gift, although it doesn't seem like that in the moment for sure. So tell me for you, mentally, what was it like going from high school where you weren't this shoe in to now you're playing at the collegiate level. And how were you able to get yourself to that next level so quickly?

Yeah, so I came into the University of Louisville with one goal and that was to make it so that the University of Louisville had a great return on their investment. I only had one scholarship offer, so there was no other options. It wasn't, hey, can I transfer over here? I wanted to make the most of my opportunity. If you look over this shoulder, I have my University of Louisville hall of Fame plaque behind me because that means a lot to me. That's a, that's a sign to me personally that I gave Louisville the return on their investment they were looking for. And that meant a lot to me. And really, when I looked back in writing my book that you referenced, as I looked back on any success that I had in life, there was never an overnight success. It was constant grind, constant stacking wins in my life, whatever that may look like in college. It might be a great workout, it might be one good game, it might be one good practice, stacked over and over. And then eventually you hit this hockey stick effect in your life where, oh shoot, now I'm an all American. Now I become a first round draft pick. And none of that happens overnight. And there's plenty of bumps and bruises and downfalls along the way, but ultimately, when you continue to stack wins in your life, it's going to show up in a big way, some way or another. And for me, a dream come true of being a first round draft pick into the NFL.

Were you that person that was saying to yourself years before that happened, I know this is going to happen, I know I'm going to make it? Or were you that person that was surprised by it happening?

I'll say a little bit of both. So my freshman year, I made the freshman All American team. And I used to joke with my high school buddies that, man, I got this one scholarship offer. If I can come back to my hometown of Cincinnati and make their practice squad, I can make $90,000 a year and I can get a job in the off season because I didn't know anything about pro football. So I can get a job in the off season, I can make over $100,000. And so that's the mindset I went in with. But often when you look at people's stories, there's someone or something that gives them confidence to say, hey, now I belong. Now I can go to new levels. For me, when I made the freshman All American team, I got this letter in the mail and it congratulated you. And then it also talked about what percentage of freshman all Americans make it to the NFL, which ones become draft, how much of a percentage become first round draft picks in my whole mindset shifted. My vision of what my career could look like completely shifted at that point. And then all in, everything I focused on became how do I become this first round draft pick? And I tell the story often about all throughout college, I had this picture that was cut out of a Sports Illustrated of what a prototypical center in the NFL would look like. The measurables at the combine. And I kept it in my locker for three and a half years, let's call it. It's amazing. At the combine, in that picture that I had cut out my locker, it said 6 foot 4. Obviously I was 6 foot 4. That worked out 310 pounds. I weighed in at exactly 310 pounds. At the combine, I ran exactly a 5, 140, which it talked about. I had the arm length. It's amazing how much of that kind of just infiltrated my life by focusing on it constantly. And for me, being able to put a vision out there, like, it became a lot easier to stack those daily commitments and to go through all the sacrifice when I had a clear vision of exactly what I wanted.

So do you call that manifestation? What do you call that?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Manifestation. And I believe in the law of attraction. And, you know, you get your reticular, activating system going and you start focusing on things and then all of a sudden you see it in your life and whether it was already there or not, now you're focusing on it and you're seeing those opportunities come your way as opposed to just lending them pass by. When my goals and my vision weren't quite the same as they were and what they became.

So that became one of your strategies to continue to create more success was to really focus on a visual.

Yes, absolutely. And in creating a vision and really having goals, creating a vision, whatever you want to call it, having daily reminders of where exactly you want to get to in life, I think is just so important. I talk often about not living your life on autopilot, and you never get anywhere great on autopilot. Maybe if your habits and everything else are aligned perfectly. But that's a very rare case. If you're just floating through life without goals, without a vision, you're often not going to end up in the place that you want to be. And so I try to be as conscious as I can and did it naturally at the time. I wasn't into the Heather Monahan's and the Jordan Montgomery's and the Ed Mylettes at the time. Like, I wasn't into personal development material at the time. That kind of happened naturally for me. Now that I've studied it more, I truly appreciate what that can do in your life.

That's incredible. All right, let's go back to when you were a top draft pick, because I think that that must have been the most exciting, incredible time for you when that was happening. A lot of women that I've spoken with Myself included, deal with something called imposter syndrome, which I'm sure you're familiar with. Did you ever have a moment like that when you were. All this light was shining on you, all this incredible opportunity? Were you ever second guessing, am I really good enough for this?

Yes. And I still deal with that to this day. I deal with that on a day to day basis, especially transitioning to new worlds with broadcasting and speaking and writing. I mean, putting a book out there for the first time. I mean, this is probably the most imposter syndrome I've ever dealt with in my life. But when it came to football, it constantly happened. And that's where having people around you that can lift you up in those times or, or just having the right mindset could be so valuable. I remember my first ever NFL football game was a preseason game. And I had only practiced a few times not to bore the listeners, but I got drafted in 2009 when the first round draft picks all held out of training camp. You're just, your contracts couldn't get done in time. And so I had three practices, let's call it, and I go play in an NFL football game and I get beat a few times, which I was so unused to. And then I run down to chase an interception. I was on offense, we threw an interception, and I get crushed. My helmet goes flying. I had already lost my shoe on the play. And so I'm walking to the sideline with my helmet in one hand, my shoe in the other, thinking, what have I just got myself into? But I'll say this, you know, the, the, I guess the opposite of imposter syndrome would be having ultimate self confidence in any situation. And ultimate self confidence comes from preparation. It comes from proving to yourself over and over that you belong. So it's instead of in that moment saying, man, I don't think I'm cut out for this league, it became okay, I got to get back to the drawing board. What affected me in that game? What allowed me to get beat on these plays? What can I do in the future? Do I not allow myself to get beat in those situations? And how many days of great practices, workouts, nutrition, sleep, can I stack to ultimately become a Pro bowl player?

Let me tell you, it's comforting to know that I'm not alone, to hear from someone like you that you felt that way too. But I have to address something that you just brought up, which is surprising to me. So one of the things that I discovered in researching you is how well you did academically, specifically in College, which is not always all athletes stories. Right. So to hear that you have imposter syndrome around writing a book when you were a really strong student, that surprises me.

Yeah. For me it's one thing to get good grades and prepare for a test, to put a book of your story out in the universe and whether your writing is going to be critiqued or this isn't the on the same level or what, what if someone looks at the book sales and they're not that great compared to others? I also played with so many guys throughout my career that I feel would be so much better equipped to write a book and they haven't. And so for me it's like, man, I just feel like he would be more equipped than this. But you could play that comparison game all day long. We live with a cell phone in our hands to constantly be able to play the comparison game. And so for me personally, getting over the imposter syndrome, I've worked with an executive coach over the last few years. He's given me those nudges. You've earned this. You know, this is your platform. But, but I'll be honest, there's times when I was writing the book where I would constantly defer to previous podcast guests that I've had. Hey, Jason Selk, this performance coach, he talks about stacking wins and that creates confidence in your life. I had an Ed Milette on the show and he talked about this and I would constantly defer and as I was working on the book, people would say, hey, want to hear what you have to say? We don't necessarily want to hear what somebody else said on your podcast. And yes, this book is a compilation of podcast guests and things I've learned through my transition out of the NFL and lessons I learned during. But yes, that's, that's something I deal with on a day to day basis.

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So now you're playing in the NFL, you've made it, now you're playing well and you start getting injured. Take us through what an unbelievable hard time that must have. I cannot imagine something so out of your control, how difficult that must be to deal with.

Yeah, and it was unfamiliar too. I had played every single game in college, started for my freshman year on and never missed a game. 49 consecutive starts. I go into the NFL and I start my very first game in the NFL and we're 11 games in and I get hurt for the first time in my life. And I don't just get nicked up. I do the Joe Thysman leg break. So for those out there that are even casual, football fans may remember the Joe Theisman leg break because it was on Monday Night Football and Lawrence Taylor dove through the side of his leg and did the compound tib fib fracture. And so I go straight from the field to an ambulance into emergency surgery for my first ever injury. And I battle my way back from that. I get hurt my second year and do a high ankle sprain. My third year I tear my acl, my mcl, my lateral meniscus. And then my fourth year I tear my other mcl. And I'm thinking, God, what are you trying to teach me in this moment? And, and I say that now in the mo. In the moment, I'm thinking I'm cursed, something's up, you know, I have to change something. And really, God was trying to teach me a lot through those moments. And so luckily the Bills had confidence in me. They rewarded me with a very nice contract that was heavily incentive based based upon playing time. Understandably so. And I agreed with them. Well, then I go on to start 52 straight games, and then I break my other leg on Monday Night Football. And so that was 2016. And then I battle back from that one and end up playing every single snap of the 2017 season, which would be my last season. But, you know, you learn a lot through tough times. You learn the most in tough times. And had my career went on cruise control, to use that terminology again, had I just floated by and everything went perfectly, maybe I make more money, maybe I make more Pro bowl teams, but I would not have learned nearly as much about myself and being able to push through tough times and to be able to constantly prove myself that I could get up, back up off the mat. There were countless games that I was playing in, and I never felt like myself again after some of those injuries. But to go out and prove it to myself means a lot now. And I discuss a lot of that perspective in the book, because during times of challenge, it could be very difficult. And there's people that are listening that are going through unimaginable circumstances right now. At some point in those circumstances, you have to be thinking to yourself, what can I learn through this experience? Because ultimately I'm going to come out of this stronger. Your ultimate test will become your testimony. I wouldn't be on this podcast right now if my career hadn't ended after the 2017 season. I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have these opportunities now. I may be playing on the number one team in the NFL with the Bills right now, as good as they look, but I wouldn't have these opportunities. There is something that God is showing you. The higher power, whatever you believe in the universe is showing you something through these challenges. And the quicker that you can gain some perspective through that, the easier it's going to be to transition into that next chapter of your life.

Did you have someone to model yourself against or like that was leading you through these hardships? Because for me, listening to this, I can't believe you didn't get depressed. I can't believe you didn't become a victim. And maybe you did for a minute or two, I don't know. But I wonder, how were you able to know how to be that resilient, to reframe and see it so differently? Especially because you're in physical pain, too, right? Everybody listening has dealt with challenges, and I've dealt with mine. But to deal with physical pain, plus the actual pain of not being able to play, not knowing, is my career over not knowing what lies ahead of you. That's massively hard.

Yeah, you're right. And I appreciate you saying that. And there was. There was so many times in those first four years where I was down in the dumps and, you know, I be dehydrated, laying in my bed and have to go back into the hospital. I rode in an ambulance for the second time in my life right after that leg break again because I had got severe dehydration. And I just thought everybody should be in a certain amount of pain if you break your leg in half. Well, I had let it go on so long that my body went into shock. And yes, there was some really tough times through all of that. But when you're going through those really tough times, whether it's physical or emotional pain, when your why is bigger, and I wish I could tell you my why was bigger than man, I want to go be the best center in the NFL again. Want to lead the Bills out of this long playoff drought we're in. That was what was getting me up and off the mat each and every day to go in and do countless hours of rehab and when you hit that NFL offseason and now it's time for everybody to travel a little bit, take some time off. I'm still in that same rehab room every single day and truly went four seasons without a single off season. That being said, I wanted to get back out on the field so bad that that drove me every single day. And I'm not going to discount that one. My faith in God. I truly believe that God had a bigger plan for me and that these injuries I could overcome. And then I've been so blessed with just tremendous support from loving parents and in my wife now, who was my girlfriend at the time, and countless friends and coaches and trainers. It's never a one man or one woman journey to success. And I know you can attest to that.

What do you say to the people listening that say, yeah, it was easy for Eric to find a why he played on an NFL team. I mean, that's an easy way. How do you advise people to find their why if they haven't been able to identify with it yet?

That's a great question. And that's something that everyone's going to have to do. A deep internal drive for. So many people are motivated by different things. Some it's by faith, some it's loved ones. It's to provide a better life for your children. It's to honor your wife. There's so many different whys out there, but discovering that is what's going to lead you each and every day. Because motivation on a day to day basis is going to come and go. There's going to be some days you don't sleep as well. There's going to be days where everything goes awry. And if you don't have a bigger why in your life, it's going to be really tough to push through those times. And, you know, I think about now, my, my goal now isn't to be the best center in the NFL. I, I physically cannot play in the NFL again. I'll never pass a physical. So that being said, what does my why become now? Well, I want to honor God for giving me the gifts he has given me. I want to honor my family. I want to give them a great life. I want to, I want to model for my children. What a hardworking Christian provider of a family looks like.

That's a very important why. And I appreciate you sharing that. I know my road to why since I've been fired has been it didn't happen overnight. It definitely was a journey of discovery of, you know, am I going down the right path? And maybe I am, maybe I'm not, and then seeing a sign and then maybe getting feedback. So for anyone listening right now that feels discouraged, just keep going, keep testing, keep trying and stay open to it and ask those questions. Questions. You will get answers inevitably. Okay, you have brought up God in faith a number of times so far on this podcast. Take me into when did you find your faith? What role has that played in this entire journey for you?

Yeah, so I grew up Catholic, but didn't really have any type of relationship with God. And you talk about modeling, people modeling the way for me, for me, it was so much easier for me to buy into Christianity or when I got to college and I got to observe our FCA director, Chris Morgan, I got to observe him on a day to day basis and watch how he treated his wife and treated us and served our team. And then I get to the NFL and there are certain guys on the team just act a little bit different. But these are the stars of our team. These are the rock star husbands and dads, and they're the people that are getting the contract extensions and maybe for not the most pure reasons. I was thinking, what do all these people have? You know, I come from a divorced household and these guys have successful marriages and they're, they're, they have such healthy families and success in their careers. What's the common denominator here, I'm like, okay, these guys are all Christians. Let me, let me give this a look. And so over time, it was no. There was no big moment. I would love to tell you I broke my leg in Jacksonville, Florida. I got in the ambulance and God said, eric, I've humbled you. Now convince your life to me and, and I will bring you peace and success. That never happened. It was a gradual shift over time. And when I was first asked to speak at an FCA group, I asked my wife, I said, what's different in me now than even before to where this testimony even makes any sense? And she said, well, you have better patience and you know, you. You treat others better and, and you know, on a day to day basis, you seem to live with more contentment. And so for me, there was no huge moment, there was no road to Damascus Paul moment where my whole life converted. But over time and being able to observe people allowed me to go all in to where now I've been baptized 10 years ago.

I love that you shared, maybe not for the most pure reasons. I was looking at these people wondering what it was they were doing so right. And that you found that common thread was their faith. I think that's really important for everybody listening. And for those listening who grew up like Eric and I in the Catholic Church and did not have a strong relationship with God, it is never too late to explore how that relationship can be different today. And like you mentioned earlier too, for those who are opposed to having this idea that they don't want to have a relationship with God right now, being open to that, there is something much larger, more powerful than all of us out there. Whatever you want to call it. I know, Eric, you said the universe before, whatever word you want to use. But it is never too late to take a second look at the power that is out there. I call it God, but for whoever wants to call it universe or. Or anything else, definitely ask your questions to something and someone so much more powerful than you and you will find answers so much more quickly. Okay, now I want to get to what that big moment in your life was like when you had that neck injury and found out you weren't going to be able to play in the NFL again. In a weird way, and this is not fair to you. It's like the day that I got fired when you all of a sudden wake up from something that you think is your whole life and you feel like it's taken away. And that hit mentally and for you, physically too. What was that like, yeah, I've heard.

Your story as well, and it resonated perfectly with me. And so for me, before the 2017 season, the Buffalo Bills are now in the longest playoff drought in all of professional sports. And I'm the dummy that signs the contract extension before the season. I said, there's no way I can leave here, and then the Bills make the playoffs. I have to be here when we make the playoffs. And so 2017, I mentioned earlier, I'm the only player on the team to play every single snap that season. One of the only players in the NFL, because you can get taken out of a game in the NFL for a number of reasons. You get hurt, your shoe could come off. You could be beating a team too bad. You could be losing too bad. Well, I played every single snap that year. We make the playoffs, which was absolutely incredible. I'll never win a Super bowl as a player, but making the playoffs and ending that playoff drought in Buffalo was incredibly special. And so we lose our first round playoff game to the Jaguars. Terrible memories down there in that stadium, but that's the same place I broke my leg. But I come back to Buffalo, everyone's got to get an exit physical, and then you're free to go for the off season. I went to the exit physical. I said, look, I'm the only player that played every single snap this year. Clear me for the Pro Bowl. I'm going to go back to Louisville. My son's about to be born. We had already had a daughter at the time, and my wife and daughter were back in Louisville, and that's where she was going to give birth to Garrett. And so they said, hey, you had some Stingers this year. Get an MRI on your neck and then you can go back to Louisville. Said, Stingers. My high school buddy, he's got Stingers playing football. It's a nervy sensation that goes down your arm. You lose some feeling. You can be a little bit painful, but it's common in football. It's common in sports that have head collisions. And so I get an MRI on my neck. Don't think anything of it. Drive back to Louisville, and 50 minutes before my son is born, while we're sitting in the delivery room, I get the call that my career is over, no matter what. Even with surgery, I can never return to the football field. And so that set us on a whirlwind of emotions in the moment, as you can imagine. And so my wife starts crying, and nurse comes in and she says, oh, honey, it's not going to hurt that bad. And my wife's like, it's not about the baby, come on. And so we laugh about that now, but in the time it wasn't quite as funny. But that put me on a path to figure out what's next for me. And look, it was not all sunshine and rainbows. When I've committed everything career wise to one thing, to be the best center in the NFL. And I feel like I'm there. I feel like I'm so close and the Bills are so close and there's so much positive momentum. We're getting ready to draft Josh Allen in the draft, who's an absolute superstar now. All these things are going so right and now it's stripped completely from me. And I just felt like, of all the guys, I feel like I've committed as much as anybody to this. I've sacrificed. I haven't cheated the game once. Why me? And that was my initial perspective from the council of many just important mentors in my life, people that have come on the podcast, so many people that I've learned from. I truly believe that no matter what the circumstances are in your life, you can make the next chapter in your life the best yet. And I talk about it all the time on my podcast. How do you. How do you make your what's next the best yet? And so that's a lot of what the book entails and it's my story of transitioning out of the NFL. And yes, I understand that I may not make as much as I did in the NFL in this career journey I'm on now. I may. That's fine. That's not necessarily the goal. Your best yet can be a life of fulfillment, a life of joy and just having incredible experiences. And that's what I feel like I've been on these last four years.

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I completely agree with you that while in certain times in your life, in certain career moments, the financial impact is definitely the focus and focal point and means so much. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I don't judge anyone for that. I've definitely had moments like that in my life. However, when I got fired and then started over, I found my calling, my purpose, to be a human on this earth more than just, you know, a parent to a child. And for me, that has changed my perspective on how I see the world, on legacy, on so many massively important things. I know for you this transition has been that powerful for you too. What steps specifically did you take? Because I know people listening who are saying, okay, one thing's ending my life. Maybe it's a relationship, maybe it's a career, maybe it's a health. Health issue. What steps did you take to get yourself back up, to reframe this into that? This best is yet to come.

Yeah, so for me, I had to start out with forming a routine. And so for so long, my routine was structured for me. I went straight from high school, where every hour your days pretty much accounted for, to college, same way to the NFL, same way. I had to create a new routine and one that was going to set me up for success. I talk about it all the time with former athletes that are on my podcast. We all get in this who gives a crap mode because in the first time in our life, you're not trying to be the best at your position in the NFL or whatever that may be. You now got to find a reason to get in a routine. You got to find a reason to go work out for so long was working out was to be better at football. Well, why is working out important now? Why is eating healthy? Otherwise you'll see these guys let themselves go and they catch these terrible ruts. And so you got to find a routine for yourself that sets you up for success. You got to create a new vision because your vision is not going to be the same as it was. And so finding a new vision that you can strive for. And there was a lot of days where my vision for the day was walking around my house with some joy as a dad and a husband, because career wise, I'm not fulfilled in this moment. But. But I got to create this vision and how am I going to show up this day? That has shifted since. But creating a vision, focusing on your Health to where you can show up as your best self. And as you're meeting people, you're a presentable. Because, you know, as you're transitioning out of the NFL, it could be a rough ride as people have transitioned from a job loss, maybe through Covid, or a loss of a loved one. There's so many enormous transition in life that are much more significant than football. But in those moments, you got to. You got to focus on your health. What's your morning routines specifically like? Are you stacking wins each and every day that are going to pay off down the road? And we can go through a number of these things, but for me, it's. It's being coachable again. You know, it's so easy to be coachable in the NFL. You're surrounded by maybe the best coaches in the world. Okay, well, now, how can you be coachable where it's not necessarily a sport? It's this. It's this game of life. It's. It's your career that. This new career that you're now stepping into.

So you mentioned that you hired an executive coach. How did you decide to make that investment in yourself and take that leaves?

This was one of the luckier things that's happened to me in my life. And so prior to my last season in the NFL, a teammate of mine had to get an executive coach. He actually needed a therapist, but they hired an executive coach for him, and he needed accountability buddy and an accountability partner that could report back to this executive coach that was on the West Coast. And so I became that person. And eventually I asked him, his name's James McParlan. I said, Mac, if we were to work together, where would we start? He said, well, you talk about your daughter a lot. I'd start this way. Okay. She's two years old. 15 years from now, she introduces you to her high school student body, and you're going to give a talk in front of everybody. How does she introduce you? And I was like, well, I don't know exactly in this moment. He goes, well, I would just help you kind of figure that out. Figure out where exactly you want to get to over these next five, 10, 15 years. And we can kind of reverse that reverse engineer and work backward from there. But we need to create some steps and routines in your life, some habits that get you to the point where she may say, this is my dad, Eric Wood. He played in the NFL. He's a great businessman. He'll teach you how to be successful in life. Or, this is my dad. Eric Wood, and he played in the NFL, but he's the best dad in the world. He's never missed a recital, he's never missed a game. He takes me on dates and lunches all the time. Those are two great things. But like we talked about earlier, don't arrive at one by accident. Living your life on autopilot and wish you were the other. Don't build this life of success that's based on striving for money when you wish you had those intentional moments with your kids. And so in that moment, I hired Mac and I started working with him six months to my career ending, not knowing that he would coach me through this transition. And, and I give Mac a ton of credit in the book in, in speaking gigs, but there's been so many individuals that have coached me through this new chapter of life.

That was brilliant. I love that question that he asked you. And that's a great question for everyone listening right now to ask yourself. Fast forward 15, 20 years from now and how do you want to be introduced by your child? That is really, really powerful. And I see why you hired him and thank goodness you did. So take us through what that looked like because I know for me, I didn't even know there was a speaking business five years ago. I had no idea. Right. When you live, you were living in this NFL bubble. I was living in the media bubble. I only knew the business sector and contacts that I had. So stepping into that unknown is incredibly scary because you don't know what's ahead of you and then you find out there is a speaking business. But why am I qualified more so than someone else? And can I compete with these other people? And what does pricing look like and what does availability look like? And for you, getting off the field and then starting to call the plays and that's such a huge shift. And what did that look like and what did that feel like for you when you took that on?

It was definitely foreign. And so immediately I got into broadcasting and started doing sports media work because that was natural. And as an offensive lineman playing his whole career in West New York for a team that rarely won, if I didn't get right into the media field, they probably would forgot about me really quick. And so I still call games for the Buffalo Bills, but I've called games for Fox and CBS and ESPN and ACC Network. And I really enjoy being around football because I always say it's good for my soul because I wasn't ready to be done with it. So I hopped into there, which is A very foreign field. And a lot of people don't realize the amount of sacrifice that goes into that. And I tell people all the time that are transitioning there or into business, you have to approach it just like you approach day to day business in the NFL, because there are so many people whose livelihoods rely on this. Think back to that practice squad guy who's fighting every day to take your job as a starter. Well, that's what you're. You're essentially that practice while guy fighting your way in. Now you have to take that undrafted mentality each and every day. And so, that being the case, I went all in on broadcasting. I started a podcast called what's Next with Eric Wood, which I still release an episode weekly, which I interview individuals just like yourself, where I'm just trying to learn. I'm trying to be a constant learner. And then when it comes to speaking, anytime I was ever asked to speak prior to leaving the NFL, it would be a Q and A. It's all interviews. And so learning how to be on the other side of the microphone and be able to ask questions has been so valuable through the podcast, through speaking gigs, because that shows tremendous fruit in the broadcasting. It's all encompassing. I often think back to when I was in the NFL and when you play for the Buffalo Bills, let's say, and you go to a dinner, it's just constant peppering of questions about the team and how do you like the city, and you really don't nurture your skills of being able to ask questions and carry on a conversation. And so I had to learn all those things. And it's been a fun journey. Not all sunshine and rainbows like I said earlier, it never is, but it's been a fun journey. And for me, finding something that gives you butterflies that you get excited about, but also makes you a little bit nervous, like that's what makes life fun. And yes, stepping up on a stage, you may get that imposter syndrome, but just to put yourself in that situation, to get those butterflies again, yes, it may not be running out of an NFL tunnel, but I also don't feel like crap the next day after a speaking gig like I did the day after a football game.

Oh my gosh, it's funny. But thank you for explaining that because I can totally see how when you were in the NFL, everything's coming at you and you're just responding your own truth, you know, that's. That's not that hard. However, when you look conversely at preparing a speech, rehearsing a speech and then getting on a stage where no one's asking you any questions. You are carrying everything that is incredibly different and a tremendous amount of pressure. So kudos to you to making that transition.

And I'll often craft a talk almost like an interview, like, why am I here to talk to you? What can this former NFL player bring to your business? And I may not say it out loud, but that's how I'm starting. And then I am almost, as I'm preparing, I'm almost treating it as okay, what would they ask me where I can do it? And I do a lot of Q and A afterwards. And you know, we go right back to who's the hardest player to block in the NFL, who talks the most trash, which is so funny. But it just, you know, when you play the most popular sport in the world, people are fans and they want to know kind of the behind the.

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This is every speaker agent I work with tells Me this have the hardest time with the live Q and A. So that's something that you have a gift and a lot of prior years doing it. So good for you. That definitely separates you from from most speakers. All right, let's talk about your new book which just came out. Tackle what's next, own your story, stack wins and achieve your goals in business and life. Why did you write this book?

I wrote this book because as I was analyzing everything that was going on in my life through Covid, through the pandemic, through others lives that I was getting access to, I just felt that my transition, although you may not be going from a transition from pro sports out, it could apply to so many different people and help some. And if it helps one person, then it was worth the time. If it changes one person's life to allow them to make their what's next in life their best yet, then it was well worth the journey of writing a book. It was another tremendous learning experience. Something completely foreign to what we did in in the NFL. Working with a publishing company, working with a PR company. It's been eye opening along this journey. But, but I truly feel like my journey out as I've talked to people that are former military, former CFOs, former athletes, former businessmen and women. Whoever it may be, the transition, no matter what, there's so many commonalities and like I mentioned earlier, a lot of these ideas aren't my own. These are things that I picked up along the way of my journey. I honor many of them. Throughout the book I felt like I was fortunate enough to learn so many lessons that I was more than excited to pass along.

You know. And Eric, one thing that I've learned having written two books now is that the feedback that you get from people when you hear that you change someone's life by a story that you shared or a tactic that you, you know, shared with, with the reader. That feeling of oh my gosh, if you impact one person, it was all so worth it. You're obviously impacting so many more than just one person. So I'm so proud of you for taking this leap yet again into the unknown. Definitely taking on some butterflies, you know, like you said with putting a book out there, which is so different than these other things that you that you've done, but continuing to grow and model for others what's possible, even though it might be scary at times. So just wanted to say congratulations on that leap. Congratulations on the book and where can people find you and where can they get the book?

Yeah, on social media. I'm wood, 70. I'm most active on Instagram and that's the easiest way to shoot me a message and, and I try and respond to all in some timely fashion that respond on there. My website is ericwoodmedia.com it's been a fun journey. I appreciate anybody out there that does go out and get this book that follows along. I have my podcast, what's Next with Eric. What I try and make myself is as available as possible nowadays. And it's been fun to get out there a little bit. This is a guy that, when I was playing in the NFL, my Instagram was private. I. I treated it like, you know, I want to keep up with my friends, kids, and I'm going to post pictures of my family and. And then I came to a point early on in my media career, I realized one, I should probably open up all my social media. That'll be the best thing to do. And then two, if I can model for someone. Yes, yes. I'm not super comfortable always posting pictures of my family, but if I can show them that I'm taking them to Disneyland last week before the Bills play the Rams, and I can show them that we're going to church together, I'm taking my daughter on dates, if I can model what being a good dad looks like, then I'm kind of robbing my audience or I'm kind of robbing the followers if I don't give them access to that. So I've completely changed my style on that now. I'd probably have a lot more followers if it was open when I was still playing for the Bills. But that's all right.

Live and learn. We can only connect the dots when we are looking back. Eric, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you for all the amazing work you're doing. And I will link everything that Eric just shared with you. The book and his site, his Instagram, everything's in the show notes. Eric, best of luck to you.

Yeah, thank you very much. Thanks for having me. You do an incredible job. I've loved hearing you on so many different platforms, including your own. So keep up the great work.

Thank you so much. And guys, we'll see you next week. Until then, keep creating your confidence. I decided to change that dynamic. I couldn't be more excited for what you're going to hear. Start learning and growing. Inevitably, something will happen. No one succeeds alone.

You don't stop and look around once in a while. You could miss it.

Come on this journey with me.