DDP is one of the greatest of all time and happily, the man himself is coming to the UK for a series live DDP Yoga sessions ('inspiration meets perspiration') and Q&A's with meet and greet options included. In the first part of our interview with the man himself, we talked his memories of the UK and work with WWE. In this second part, we get schooled in how to live life at 90%. You can be inspired too. Just head to DDPUKTour.com for all the details of how to see DDP in action when he hits the UK!
You're doing live DDP Yoga sessions when you come to the UK - is it for the converted or for newcomers?
It's funny, I did a comic-con about five years ago and I only did two workshops. I had a tremendous response. I didn't even really know how many people knew about it! I knew we'd sold some units in the UK but I didn't know how many, so I was really surprised how many people came. When I do one of these workshops, it's three hours but it's not all working out, it is inspiration meets perspiration. The first 40 minutes it's inspirational talk. I want to get people so pumped up that they feel they can run through a brick wall. My goal is for people to leave there really believing in themselves more than when they came. I always say never underestimate the power you give to someone by believing in them but more importantly, never underestimate the power you give yourself by believing in you.
We put the first tickets up for sale recently and we're already over 40 people in all the destinations. We cap it off at about 100 because that's what we do in the states - I've done as many as 150. The energy in that room is insane! Anybody who has heard about me doing DDP Yoga and you think it's Yoga... I've got two words for you - think again! Remember who developed this, DDP! I was the guy who wouldn't be caught dead doing yoga the first 42 years of my life! I started wrestling at 35 and a half and my career didn't kick off until I was 40. I was on top of the world! I was living the dream on such a different level and then I blew my back out. What I actually did was rupture my L4 and L5 - those are the little discs in-between your vertebrae and they make us unstoppable. I've seen some of the amazing wrestling that's been happening in the UK over these last few years - it's been going for a long time but over these last few years because of WWE and the internet you get to see a lot of these amazing talents out there. Part of the reason these guys can do such death-defying stunts is because of these vertebrae, the discs that are in-between them. They give you unbelievable strength and flexibility but when you blow them out like I did, now you're bone on bone and that pain is excruciating. There is no wrestling if you don't do DDP Yoga. I wouldn't be caught dead doing Yoga but when I blew my back out after I'd signed that multi-million dollar deal, I'd try anything - and that's where it came from, from necessity. I started doing Yoga and was blown away by how much it helped me but it wasn't giving me everything. That's why I incorporated into the workout the rehabilitation techniques that help heal you, like sports rehab. Then we add in some old school calisthenics, the push-ups, the squats, the crunches done as a slow-burn movement because I had to.
At some point, my body just started to get stronger and stronger and less than three months later I was back in the ring. At 42 they said my career was over, at 43 I was the Heavyweight Champion of the World. For me, I knew I was going to do it for the rest of my life. Did I ever think it was going to turn into what it is today? DDP Yoga is becoming a household name in the states. I don't know if I saw that happening at that time but I knew I was going to do it the rest of my life and share it with people because it's not just life changing, it can be lifesaving.
You've said other than DDP Yoga and diet, 90% of changing your life is brain power. Have you got any secrets for maintaining that can-do approach?
For starters, it's about goal setting. I've come up with a concept called living life at 90% based on the formula that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it. We all get to control everything in ourselves, the problem is most of us telling ourselves all the things we can't do. "Oh G-d I can't do this, I suck at that, it will never happen". You're right. I'm coming there with inspiration meets perspiration to get you to understand, if you say you can, or you say you can't, you're right. It's psychology, bro!
If you get to live one dream, it's a really big deal. I started in the nightclub business when I was 17. By the time I was 24 I was running nightclubs. By the time I was 30 I owned them. Not completely but a part-owner and living the dream at a different level. Then I went to professional wrestling at 31. I finally got into Ted Turner's WCW. I'm there, I'm managing, doing colour commentating with Eric Bischoff. Then there telling me I'm too over the top to be a manager - between the hair, the bling, the whole deal. So I started being a wrestler at 35 1/2. If I made it to the mid-card that's going to be a huge accomplishment but I'm wearing a Hall of Fame Ring right now. I hit it at such a level. Then, when I finally get out of wrestling and I start DDP Yoga, everybody thinks I'm crazy because it's never going to work. There's a kid named Nathan Malory who is doing a documentary right now named 'Relentless' and it's the story of me and DDP Yoga. There was no-one who was going to tell me this wasn't going to work or that people weren't going to be blown away by what was happening.
So I take this idea, DDP Yoga and now it's a multi-million dollar company. That's a dream come true and it's not even hit anywhere near where it's going to go. Then take Jake Roberts, and unbelievably Scott Hall. Take them to my house, tell everyone I'm doing this resurrection of Jake the Snake because you're going to see Jake change and he's going to be this different guy. Now I didn't know if that was really going to happen or not but I'm sure as hell going to throw that out at the universe. Then not only does Jake completely change and own his life, Scott completely changes and does the same thing. Now Scott has fallen from time to time afterward but he's still so much better than where he was. Jake is a juggernaut right now. Then we had it all on film and the Resurrection of Jake the Snake turns into this unbelievable movie that is so heart felt.
Everybody said it was impossible but it happened. Then my acting career. I've been working on it since 1998, that's when I did my first film. It looked like it was never going to happen just little roles here or there. I have my own series about to break on Netflix - it's going to be a Netflix original this winter. I'm not going to say anymore. Let people talk about it, we'll see. But that show right there could completely change my life in the acting world.
So there are five huge things. The nightclub business, the wrestling, Jake's Movie, DDP Yoga and the acting - I'm living the dream on all of them. My point is, if anybody could just do one of them, they would be mind blown and think 'I'm living the dream'. I'm doing it and have done it five different times. So that's the message that I'm bringing. If I can do this, so can you.
The repetition of affirmations leads to belief - and once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. Do you know who said that quote? You've never heard the quote before, you don't know who said it but if I tell you what he said, you'll know who said it. "Im the greatest, I'm the greatest of all time, I am the greatest". Who is that? [DS - Mohammed Ali?]. Damn right! What's the odds of that> How many times did he have to say that for you to know that? You haven't heard the late great Mohammad Ali say that for 20 years but he said it so much that it sticks inside you and you know! Just by saying I'm the greatest, I'm the greatest of all time since he was a teenager. So, the repetition of affirmation works - by saying this stuff over and over and don't let anybody tell you what you can't do.
Don't set your goals low, set them high. Don't set yourself up to fail but set yourself the daily, weekly, the yearly. Two, five, ten years from now, that fantasy goal. I've achieved every goal I've ever gone for but they haven't been exactly the way I've wanted them - a little to the left or right or under but not by much. There's a lot of times I've gone so far past that it's blown my mind and that's when inspiration meets perspiration.
Wow! Well, get set to be inspired by the man himself and visit DDPUKTour.com for full details!