Winning Starts in Your Mind: Dre's Takes on Competition, Mindset, and Music

Some people wait to feel ready.
I don’t.

I’ve spent years learning that winning doesn’t just happen. It’s not a fluke. It’s not a streak. It’s a mindset. And it’s one you have to build for yourself.

For me, competition is a heartbeat—it’s always there, pulsing underneath everything I do. It’s the lens I see the world through. The force that’s helped me get through some of the hardest moments of my life.

It’s not just about beating someone else. It’s about solving the equation in front of me—whether that’s a game, a lift, a launch, or a life decision. I crave the challenge. I’m obsessed with the process of mastering the art of life. And oddly enough, that obsession brings me peace.

The Power of Music

Here’s something I believe to my core: Music is a drug.

It changes my energy, my focus, my inner dialogue. It helps me access parts of myself that aren’t always at the surface. When it comes to competition, it’s not just a vibe—it’s part of the routine that gets me to the next level.

“It helps me unlock the next gear. The zone. The one where nothing else exists except the goal in front of me.”

This playlist?
🎧 Andrea’s Hype-Up Playlist
It’s not curated for aesthetics. It’s built for fuel. For anyone who needs to flip the switch from “I don’t know if I can” to “Watch me.”

Mindset: The Good, The Hard, and The Real

There’s a dark side to competition no one talks about enough. I’ve lived it.

There were years where I competed to earn approval—to hear that I was good enough. Mostly from my mom. I thought that if I could just win more, do more, prove more—maybe I’d finally hear that I made her proud.

But that kind of mindset will burn you out. It’s a treadmill with no finish line. And the moment that changed everything? It was when I chose to do it for me.

That’s when I started seeing my achievements for what they were. That’s when I started feeling proud—not just relieved. I stopped outsourcing my worth. I stopped letting the scoreboard decide if I was enough.

On Winning

You can’t win if you’re not lucid.

That one took me a while to learn. I’m a deeply passionate person, and for a long time, my fire made everything feel urgent and chaotic. I wanted to win so badly, I sometimes lost sight of the path to get there.

Eventually, I found what I call the “slow-mo state.”
It’s where I can see the steps, stay calm, make decisions with clarity—not emotion. Whether I’m dealing with something big or small, it’s that mindset that helps me move forward.

And you know what? A lot of the layers that once made me feel like I couldn’t be a “winner”? They were self-imposed.

So I threw them in the mental recycling bin.
Not to erase them—but to transform them.
Now they’ve become the beliefs I live by.

It’s Not Bragging—It’s Living

There’s nothing wrong with being layered. With having big goals. With going after them and actually achieving them.

That doesn’t make you too much. That doesn’t make you “intense.” It makes you you.

You don’t have to shrink to be liked. You don’t have to dim the fire that’s helped you get here.

It’s not bragging, babe. It’s living.

So throw on your playlist. Pull your hair back.
And show up like the win was already yours.

—Andrea