Nicholas D Marts

Let’s look at the picture above and put it into a different perspective. Imagine you have an ultimate goal that you accomplished and these steps (located above) showing the path you took. You had to take small steps, make small changes, and eventually you got closer to your goal.

Think of the steps above as goals or the steps you took to get there. Each foot print looks different which shows that each step you take will not be the same, your foot prints represent the size of YOUR foot which shows that even though you may follow a similar path as someone else the steps will still be a reflection of your unique self. Each step has a different stride length which shows some steps are bigger than others and you need to stretch yourself.

Stretch myself?

What’s the best way to learn? To read a book, right? Wrong! The best way to learn is through experience and reflection. This is very uncomfortable for most people. Let us concentrate on that this week and realize we’re having more experiences each day then we truly realize.

Action Items:

1. Reflect for 5 minutes each day on some experiences worth remembering and turn off auto pilot!
2. Write them down and learn from them

Short and sweet this week! I hope to hear from you.

Nicholas D. Marts

What is incredible about the human species is that we get into routines that tend to allow the days to “fly by”. Have you ever said to yourself “Wow, I just don’t know where the day went!” Next time you do that, stop to reflect just on that day and see how much you have learned. If you honestly cannot remember most of the day then, you are on auto pilot and life is slipping through your fingertips. Hitting the change button all starts with one small step. It’s NOT a radical changes that propels people into success, it’s the small seemingly insignificant changes that cause life transformation. What is most amazing about this is that people think you have made HUGE changes when it may have been one small habit, overtime which caused this. Here is an example….

Two friends, both just graduated college and have started awesome careers. Each makes about $40,000 which is great for young people who are single and debt free. Friend one, we’ll call him Michael, has been saving 10% of his income, exercising regularly, and avoiding potentially bad situations such as bars and nightclubs. Friend number two who we’ll call Jose, has started partying with this “new money” and think that retirement is too far away to worry about. Jose does not save a dime left, but is having loads of fun. Oh, and he stopped working out like he was. We’ll stick to one side of where this situation could go and focus on health.

Michael has been burning an extra 3,500 calories per month which is about 1 pound of weight loss each month. Jose has been gaining that same pound per month. After about 6 months no one would notice a 6 pound weight gain, Jose blames it on water retention because he is tall, while Michael keeps with his routine. I want to jump ahead only 5 years after college and show you that Jose gained 12 pounds per year….ut oh.. That is 60 pounds! WHAT!?!! Michael lost about 60 pounds. Michael was slightly overweight in college but not anymore! Jose on the other hand…. Obesity is in his future.

All that from such a small change!

Yes! Time is the most important factor when making change. Why do you think New Years resolutions fail? Speaking of which, are you still with yours? I have already heard many people I speak to say “Well I had some New Years resolutions but I stopped.” When asking “why” I hear the same responses “Oh just some life stuff, nothing out of the ordinary but I lost track.” If we can recall from my previous blogs, life will ALWAYS HAPPEN.

Remain focused!

What an incredible reality it is that such small changes can help or severely hurt a life. Do not let this be you! You’re too focused! Right?!

Action Items:

1. Write down some small habits you have and see which ones are harming you
2. Only change 1 of them

I hope to hear from you.

-Nicholas D. Marts

With change come many opportunities. At your old place of employment you may have been looked at in a way you did not like. Maybe it was not a bad view point but you wanted something more. Meeting new people gives you control over new first. If you act like you always act then people will see you the same. If you want to become a different person, it’s up to you.

What does he mean?

Let’s think about a new job. At your old job you may have started on the bottom and engaged in personal development. You were slow to progress and built a reputation of an average worker. You do not like average so you learned how to become better. People who have known you may or may not see the change. Reputations can be strong and your co-workers may always think you are an average worker. Now you get a new job and are motivated to come in and show everyone how it’s done but you work the same way. They will see you the same way! THIS is your chance to show what you have previously through work and other experiences. This is your opportunity to show people you are above average at what you do and build an entirely new reputation. It can come to the point where a co-worker from your new job and one from your old job may know one another and have a conversation about the “new guy”. The co-worker from before will have NO idea who they are talking about until they say your name then you’ll probably get “What?! There is no way that he/she could have changed that much!”

Improvement at its finest!

How are you dealing with change? Have you ever been working on your dreams when all of a sudden BOOM a huge life event happens! What do you do? I want to share an impressive story about a friend of mine named Lance Snow. Lance has become my business mentor, as he has a wealth of knowledge and experience while I have very little. Lance also has been attending a group I put together call the “Master Mind Alliance.” The “MMA” is an idea Napoleon Hill put together in his book Think and Grow Rich where a group of intelligent leaders get together to brainstorm ideas. Similar to the government or congress but the only difference is…. we make good decisions (OH!) But anyway, Lance and I were to meet one week when he and his wife just had another baby! Like all good people I quickly say “WOW congrats! We can definitely skip the meeting and wait a while until things get settled!” What does Lance respond with? “Can we meet this Saturday at 9am in Panera bread?” As I re-read the text message a few times to make sure it is really him I realized what true focus is. No matter what life circumstance comes or what type of change happens it is important to remain focused on the goal.

Incredible!

Incredible, I know, I read the text. What does this mean for you? Life will ALWAYS happen. If you find yourself constantly saying “I’ll wait until things calm down to get started.” I hate to remind you my friends, but things will never calm down. Focus is key to accomplishment.

What next?

No action items this time around but a short summary will do…..very short.

1. Realize change will always happen and STAY FOCUSED!

I hope to hear from you.

-Nicholas D. Marts

There are many words in the English language with some having a ring of fear behind them. Think of about five, I came up with public speaking, death, night time, zombies, and running out of toilet paper.

Most people fear similar items (probably not the last one) but what is one that scars everyone? Change of course!

What is change?

Change is the end of one thing and the beginning of another thing.  Consider at work how you feel when you know an old process is changing, one that you have used for years. It’s the end of the old process and the beginning of a new one. How do you feel when that happens? Scared, angry, excited, or neutral?

Your ability to adapt will show your worth in the market place. With times how they are the ability to adapt with change is vital to career, business, and personal success. With the onset of the internet information has increasing at unreasonable speeds. Think about 10 years ago when cell phones were the new thing, then the flip phone was amazing, now we have smart phones that can talk back to us. What’s going to happen in another 10 years? I wish Steve Jobs was still around to tell us!

How do I adapt to change?

Adapting to change is in all respect a willingness to learn new information. That was change is! Learning the NEW and putting the old on the back burner. Most people lack the motivation to continue school which I feel is why we fear change. So many times after or during college I have heard “I can’t wait until this is done so I can never open a book again!” May I ask a question? If you’re not learning and keeping up with the times do you know who is? YOUR COMPETITOR IS LEARNING! Yes they want you to do exactly that; not learn. It makes their life so much easier.

Take time each day to keep up with your industry and review the new information that applies to you. Some news is just media sucking you into negativity so be careful.

What are my next steps?

Action Items:

1. Find relevant news to your industry and review for 10 minutes each night
2. Purchase a book or find a mentor that has information about what you need to know and learn it!
3. If your company offers to pay for continuing education JUMP ON IT!

I hope to hear from you!