Podcast summary and Notes on "coffee bean"

Change The World, Don't Let The World Change You | Damon West

My guest today, Damon West, was once a Division 1 starting quarterback, where he faced a devastating career-ending injury that led him down a destructive path of hard-core drug addiction and crime, ultimately resulting in a staggering 65-year prison sentence. However, during his time behind bars, Damon experienced a profound spiritual awakening that changed the trajectory of his life forever.

Like a coffee bean undergoing a transformative process through heat and pressure, Damon discovered his ability to change the environment around him. Through a program of recovery and a renewed faith, he emerged from over seven years of incarceration as a completely transformed man. Damon's story of redemption, grit, and determination continues to captivate and inspire audiences around the globe.

Key Points:

How Damon learned that you can be the change you want to see in the world
Nick Saban and Dabo Sweeney called Damon one of the best speakers they’ve ever heard.
It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose the fight, it matters if you get back up to fight another day.
Positively change your environment and turn your boiling water (LIFE) into a pot of coffee - just like the coffee bean.
Addiction affects everyone in society, whether as an addict or a victim of addiction.

Best Quotes:

09:11 - 09:16

• "God sets people on fire and every one of us gets to be this person."

27:07 - 27:14

• "But here's the key. You have to be receptive to all of God's messengers to receive all of God's messages."

31:35 - 31:45

• "It doesn't matter what environment I go into, no matter what adversity, no matter what prison I have to go into in life, I won't just survive. I could thrive if I kept the power inside me."

39:49 - 39:54

• "Your expectations may not be realistic. This is part of the problem, my resentment that I had against Judge Snipes."

45:56 - 46:08

• "Patience, you had patience, you actually executed patience. Something that you probably, if you're anything like me, have struggled with your entire life. But when we're patient, our best things come about."

47:30 - 47:34

• "The story's worth diving into because there's little nuggets of great opportunity throughout."

48:43 - 48:47

• "You could do whatever you put your mind to and that you are the energy that you put out into the world."

To learn more visit: Scottdanner.com

For more about Damon visit: www.damonwest.org

The High Perfomance Life

en-usJune 13, 2023

EP 93 "The Change Agent" with Best Selling Author Damon West

Show Summary

Damon West, M.S. Criminal Justice, is a college professor, nationally known keynote speaker and best-selling author (with best-selling author and motivational speaker Jon Gordon) of The Coffee Bean: A Simple Lesson to Create Positive Change. His first book and autobiography, The Change Agent: How a Former College QB Sentenced to Life in Prison Transformed His World, was published just three years after his release from a Texas maximum-security prison.

At 20 years old, he was a Division 1 starting quarterback at the University of North Texas, when he suffered a career ending injury. He turned to hard core drugs to cope with the disappointments of life. After graduation, he worked in the United States Congress, was a national fundraiser on a U.S. Presidential campaign and eventually trained to be a stock-broker for United Bank of Switzerland (UBS). One day at UBS, he was introduced to methamphetamines; he became instantly hooked—and the lives of so many innocent people would forever be changed by the choices he made in order to feed his insatiable meth habit.

After a fateful discussion during his incarceration with a seasoned convict, Damon had a spiritual awakening. He learned that, like a coffee bean changing with the application of heat and pressure, he was capable of changing the environment around him. Armed with a program of recovery, a renewed faith, and a miraculous second chance at life, Damon emerged from over seven years of prison a changed man. His story of redemption, grit and determination continues to inspire audiences today.

Today, Damon lives a life of recovery and service, going to meetings and sharing his story all over the country with schools, churches, athletic teams, corporations, conferences and inside correctional facilities. Over the past few years, he has been sharing the Coffee Bean lesson with dozens of college football teams such as Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, and countless schools and businesses. His #BeACoffeeBean message has inspired thousands from Walmart to the US Army to the NBA.

Damon’s story has been featured both nationally and globally. His second book, The Coffee Bean, co-authored with best-selling author Jon Gordon, became an instant best-seller and a part of Forbes’ “Top Twenty Books You Need to Read to Crush 2020.” Damon is passionate about the Coffee Bean message and loves sharing how it changed his life and how it can change yours, too.

His latest book (with coauthor, Jon Gordon), The Coffee Bean for Kids, is the genesis for Coffee Bean Clubs being started by students at schools all over America.

Of all the hats Damon wears, the two most important to him are being a husband to Kendell and a stepfather to Clara. One of his greatest fears upon re-entry was wondering if he would be able to find someone who found him worthy of love and a family of his own. Like most fears we all have in life, this one was unfounded.

Resources Mentioned in the Show:

Watch the Forgiven Felons Documentary:
https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/7abf5e84134e54a394b5b42544c08caa/forgiven-felons/season-1

Damon’s website: https://damonwest.org/

Follow Damon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damon-west-685168152/

Follow Damon on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/damonjosephwest

Follow Damon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/damonwest7/

Follow Damon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/damonwest7

Buy The Coffee Bean book: :https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Bean-Simple-Lesson-Positive/dp/1119430275/ref=pd_bxgy_img_1/142-7511727-4409935?pd_rd_w=237qC&pf_rd_p=c64372fa-c41c-422e-990d-9e034f73989b&pf_rd_r=VN9BYSC46J2RPNTY9RXJ&pd_rd_r=918f401c-412e-44b5-a360-97407de8bc0d&pd_rd_wg=FiYui&pd_rd_i=1119430275&psc=1

Buy The Coffee Bean for Kids: https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Bean-Kids-Simple-Positive/dp/B09ZLYV627/ref=sr_1_1?crid=33C5D35GT042L&keywords=coffee+bean+for+kids&qid=1653654048&s=books&sprefix=coffee+bean+for+kids%2Cstripbooks%2C108&sr=1-1

Buy The Change Agent: https://www.amazon.com/The-Change-Agent-Damon-West-audiobook/dp/B07W682QT7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2OASEVTFBVKWT&keywords=the+change+agent+damon+west&qid=1653654302&s=audible&sprefix=the+change+agent+damon+west%2Caudible%2C95&sr=1-1

Buy The Locker Room: https://www.amazon.com/Locker-Room-Great-Overcome-Adversity/dp/111989784X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23WI8FP2VBLDR&keywords=the+locker+room+damon+west&qid=1653654373&s=audible&sprefix=the+locker+room+damon+west%2Caudible%2C118&sr=1-1-catcorr

Learn about Coffee Bean CARES: https://beacoffeebeanfoundation.org/coffee-bean-cares/

Our Sponsor’s Information: RP Media, robprice6@gmail.com 214-354-6364 Tell them you heard it here.

How to get more involved with Forgiven Felons:

Leave a review and subscribe on iTunes:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/background-check-podcast/id1515831127

Learn about our Future Plans:
https://www.forgivenfelons.org/future-plans

Give to our organization:
https://www.forgivenfelons.org/support

Follow Forgiven Felons on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Background Check Podcast

enMay 27, 2022

Be a Coffee Bean (with Damon West)

Guest:
Damon West, College Professor, Author & Keynote Speaker
Twitter: @damonwest7

Host: Thomas C. Murray, Director of Innovation, Future Ready Schools, Washington, D.C.
Twitter: @thomascmurray

Future Ready Schools Website: www.FutureReady.org
Free Future Ready Institutes: www.FutureReady.org/Institutes
Free Future Ready Virtual Events: www.FutureReady.org/virtual
Twitter: twitter.com/futureready
Instagram: www.instagram.com/FutureReady
Facebook: Facebook.com/FutureReadySchools
YouTube: YouTube.com/FutureReadySchools

Future Ready Schools is a registered trademark of All4Ed, located in Washington, DC.
#FutureReady